what did you wrench on today??

[gustovh]

I wrenched on nothing for once and just rode.

V

[jeffgs]

2015-05-31 18.39.11.jpg

I did a brief mock up just to see how the colors are coming together. Sanding, spraying, sanding, spraying

[dorkburger]

Changed the oil which led to the inevitable mess, which then led to the yearly degreasing and wash. The silver part on wheels has degraded to the point that I had no qualms with running over them with a Scotchbrite pad to brighten them up a bit. I also noticed that the paint has taken a beating and the tank top in particular had a buildup of dull stuff, some old directions written in Sharpie, and possibly a bit of overspray from various projects in the garage. I compounded the tank and plastics, dents, scratches, mismatched colors, and all, then waxed it. I was pleased with how the white brightened up. I rubbed a bit on the aluminum Yoshi can. Improved, but that needs more love still.

[JEEPRUSTY]

Hmmm rims respond very nicely to Solvolene Autosol Great stuff.
Quit abrading your rims unless reduction in unsprung weight is what you after.

[Charlie G]

I drilled out a stripped bolt that holds one of the horns on the front web of the frame under the steering tube. Thank goodness the frame threads weren't stripped. New bolts, parts degreased and connections cleaned. a bit louder now without the right horn vibrating to no end. Washed the bike today. I hate the black paint on these engines. There is some kind of burnt on oily dust that just won't scrub off without ruining the paint.

cg

[dorkburger]

Hmmm rims respond very nicely to Solvolene Autosol Great stuff.
Quit abrading your rims unless reduction in unsprung weight is what you after.

Thanks Jeep. I'll keep it in mind....

[AKC75]

Finally put my new powder coated tank on today and new Petcock. Also put on new spark plug leads.

[dorkburger]

This probably the only part on the bike that I feel bad about if it doesnt shine. After some polishing. Could be better, but its the shiniest its beeen in years. The badge is starting to show its age though.... Also polished the windscreen. It looked clean, but wasnt smooth to the touch. After some polishing, that looked much better also.

[dorkburger]

Prep work......I need to do a vacuum synch after this winters carb work. I found the fan in a dumpster at the job. It was absolutely grimy, but worked. I took the grilles and fan blade off and cleaned the whole mess. Now i can aim it at the engine while synching. I salvaged the gas tank from a recently junked weedwacker and added a fitting for a fuel hose. I dont know if it will hold enough fuel, but we'll see. Last time I set the gas tank across the framerails, which i wasnt comfortable with, even though the tank is banged up.....

[jeffgs]

I am getting warmer!

[ecoli]

pulled the turn signal housing to diagnose my horn issues......upon investigation there was a ton of build up and the horn pin was not centered right.....cleaned up and centered pin and now horn works as intended...now to by air horn and hook that up.....

[dorkburger]

Carb synch last night. I aimed my free fan at the bike and turned it on before starting. It quicky tipped over and one of the fan blades broke off. Being a 5 blade fan, I couldnt even take off an opposite blade to give it some balance ( did that at work once in a pinch).
I weighted it down and moved on. Did the synch to the best of my limited abilities- Im still new to this task. Also adjusted the mixture screws. The weedwacker gas tank did not have enough capacity, but if I was better at this (quicker) and had the proper tools (need to get), it may have. While the gas tank was off I poked and prodded around inside the fairing and FINALLY found the source of its rattle- A couple of loose screws at the headlight adjustment ring. Took care of that too. Also found an oil leak at an oil cooler line.
Took a ride...I think I goofed the idle mixture, as it has a lumped up idle and a small stumble when taking off. At speed, it has a nice sweet spot at 60-65 where its very smooth.....nice. And the rattle is gone....nice also. Back at home I put the idle screws back where they started. Job for another day...

[Grimly]

Sorted the slight roughness of the GS in a most unexpected way.
After spending a couple of days on the XS, when I got back on the GS, it was so incredibly smooth it was like a new bike.
It's not like the XS is a rough old dog, just different enough to make it noticeable.

[gustovh]

Installed new mirrors on Scruffy.

V

[jeffgs]

2015-06-06 09.22.33.jpg

I am making a pedestrian slicer out of a cement trawl.