what did you wrench on today??

[Toasty]

Wow that looks great, how long did it take you?

[8ball]

I've got a couple hours into making the tray, another few hours laying out the components and sorting out the wiring and maybe an hour or two making new battery neg and starter cables.

Hard to tell total time since I had to do it in stages due to waiting for parts (battery and flasher relay) and that pesky work thing, but maybe 6 to 8 hours total.

[pete]

Mate nice work, very neat! Those Shorai batteries sure are small!

As for me... wonder if anyone could guess what I did tonight?

I'll get final confirmation after the commute tomorrow, but I believe I have been barking up the wrong tree and in my noobishness at carb tuning have completely misinterpreted the symptoms for rich/lean in my case.

I believed that I was experiencing "bogging" just off idle due to a too rich condition, and also that I had "surging" at around 1/4 throttle also due to a too rich condition. I haven't done plug chops to verify this, partly due to it being very difficult to find somewhere safe to do it here without attracting the wrong attention, and partly due to not making time and enjoying riding it too much.

Anyway, my test run yesterday revealed it was just about unrideable just off idle... did not want to accelerate and I really needed to open the throttle to get her going. At around 1/4 throttle she was hesitating and had a big flat spot.

So today after last night's adjustments, it's better, but essentially still the same. Hesitates just off idle and a flat spot at 1/4 throttle. The feeling at 1/4 throttle is almost identical to that when I am about to hit reserve, and that's definitely a not enough fuel situation! (Yes I do have a full tank at the moment).

I now believe that at 1 notch richer than stock, what I thought was bogging is actually a hesitation just off idle, and what I thought was surging at around 1/4 throttle is a flat spot and hesitation. Both of these point to a lean condition.

So, tonight I went the other direction and I am now 1 1/2 notches richer than stock, so I will see how she goes tomorrow.

The jury's still out on whether these needles need to be changed of course, but that'll get interesting because the needles available are actually about 2mm longer than the stock needle, so comparison will be quite difficult.

[simonw]

Mate nice work
I am VERY interested in seeing how your Shorai operates over time with the workload..I have a turntech 2.5aH that I am fitting now.
BUT I love your layout, its what I am doing to my project now and I was just figuring out how it all would fit in! Then I found your pic! yee ha..
bout to weld up my underseat box this weekend.. will post pics when it is done..
I love forums!

[pete]

Well... if I didn't know better I'd think someone ducked in the garage and swapped my bike last night... today's commute was quite awesome in comparison to the last couple of days

Still a minor hesitation off idle and still a bit of a stumble holding the same low throttle opening position for a while, but a lot less pops on decel and it is like a different bike all through the throttle range, not that I got to WOT much at all.

I've always been hesitant on U turns and slow speed manoeuvring, and it's been even worse with the hesitation at the throttle opening you really need for that stuff, but I didn't have an issue with that at all today.

So given I was heading in the right direction, I went all the way tonight and it's now as rich as it can go on the stock needle (without shims). If it's still hesitant at all then it will mean I definitely need a new needle type, otherwise if it's ok I reckon I'll let it go at that.

I'm absolutely stoked at how fun it made the commute today and I'm kicking myself very hard for not doing this much much earlier...

The other thing I did tonight was verify my new you-beaut dual USB socket is definitely faulty, so I ripped it off ready to send back. They reckon they can replace it in time for me to have it ready for the 2nd March run. We'll see...

[coolshaft]

As my GS Wes Cooley shafty resto is nearing it's end I have restarted on this project building a TR3 out of a RD350A
\
Been sitting waiting to be completed for a few years

[pete]

Now that looks like fun!

[8ball]

Made this:


into this:

[5150/gs]

Put gas in the sled,Anticipating snow,put screws in the foot rails,my feet slipped off a few times.Carb clean and leakdown test on the blaster,cleaned wiring connections on the blaster.Brake lines on the Van and pulled the 65 Impala onto the lift for body work prepping.Going to the Shinedown show.

[chuck hahn]

Installed the pistons on the 73 TX 750 project and got the jugs back on. Then I swapped some like new sprockets from my (someday) 78 1000 project onto the 77 750 so i got me a good LICENSES AND INSURED driver again.

[Whitedog]

Spent some more time with the '80 XL. pulled carb and did some more paint work. Should be ready for clear next week.

[pete]

Mate I love the colour!

[Whitedog]

Mate I love the colour!

Thanks Pete. Red metal flake. Looks more burgundy than red in the sun light. Gold flake really jumps out when in better light. Hope to have pictures after clear coat in a week or so.

[wally]

Cool Whitedog!

Put in fresh oil, new oil filter and plugs into the 450.
Also bled front brakes (which went really quickly - not like I struggled with the black one last year!).

I decided to jump the starter from the car (as the electrics still need to be done) to let the motor swing and see if there any leaks somewhere. And only the starter swung.

So....I will have to pull stator cover off to check the starter is slotted in where it needs to be.

[pete]

I didn't wrench on anything today... But I did take the 450 for a test ride after Friday night's needle work and she's like a whole new bike!

No hesitation just off idle, I can U turn safely and tight slow corners don't kill my confidence any more. No stumbling or flat spots at part throttle. I can open the throttle and wind it out and she just wants to go. I'm so stoked!

I'm uploading a video of the test ride at the moment and it'll be added over in the Did you go for a ride today? thread shortly...

Yeehaa!!!

Thanks Pete. Red metal flake. Looks more burgundy than red in the sun light. Gold flake really jumps out when in better light. Hope to have pictures after clear coat in a week or so.

Nice! I did my 450 in a Honda red pearl colour that's sort of similar, and looking at the black outlines on your white lines makes me wonder if I shouldn't have done that with my white stripes... bit late now but something to consider for next time!

...
I decided to jump the starter from the car (as the electrics still need to be done) to let the motor swing and see if there any leaks somewhere. And only the starter swung.

So....I will have to pull stator cover off to check the starter is slotted in where it needs to be.

Could be you need to check the starter clutch Wally, make sure it's all there and operating as normal. You've got the stator cover off already so should be an easy check

Don't forget you'll lose a little oil doing that too...