what did you wrench on today??

[Grimly]

Take an old van rim, add some all-thread and some angle-iron, stir it up with a welder and Bob's your slightly deranged relative.

[JTGS850GL]

That is one NASTY wheel.

[Grimly]

That is one NASTY wheel.

It lay up the back of the shed for 15 years, unloved and forgotten about, but apart from needing a set of bearings, it's quite sound and has good discs. It will be cleaned up, painted, and put back into service fairly soon.

[Grimly]

Well, that was easy...

On the XS650...
I put some new pads in the fronts - cheapo Caltrix, as I didn't want to spend too much if I was wrong - and the lost motion has largely disappeared, thanks to the presence of unworn and square pads now. There's still a bit, but I suspect that's caused by slight wear on the sliding pin and bush and possibly ancient rubber of the bush on both sides. The angled wear on two of the pads was a dead giveaway to worn sliders and pins. I'll replace those in due course, but for now it's got two-finger stopping with the 14mm m/c and the lever is still a reasonable distance from the bar at full squeeze. These old brakes are actually decent enough if kept in good order, and when these bikes were new, I don't recall them having rubbish brakes, especially with the twin fronts.
Moving on to the rear brake - I dismantled the rear caliper and found nothing out of order, everything was free to move, but when I laid the brake line down on a slope and cracked off the union at the top of the m/c body, a spurt of air came out.
I know where that came from - when I laid the bike on its side when I was doing the starter blanking plate. Oddly though, it didn't show up until a couple of hundred miles had passed.

The small brake bits and pieces - the anti-rattle and anti-squeal shims don't seem to be available outside of getting an OEM overhaul kit, so I'll have to stump up for a couple of those by the look of it. Since I'm planning to replace the Caltrix pads with something decent, I'll buy OEM with the kit included - seems to be a fair price anyway.

[wymple]

Stuck a Denso alternator on my Moto Guzzi. 2 wires, 14.4 volts, 35 amps.

http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL683/2961393/5987839/411485351.jpg

[Grimly]

Struck by a need for a welding cart, and realising I had one under my nose...
Take a KitKat display trolley - which had been doing sterling service as a holder of soap powder and other crap by the washer/ drier for a decade

It had been so long since it was put there, I'd forgotten it had castors.

Add some green wire shelving which was kicking around, but turned upside down so they have a lip all around...

The shelves were almost a perfect fit for it - just supported by some 1" copper pipe at front (with Jub clips) and resting on wire stays on the rear. The whole thing tightened up with plenty of tie-wraps, the bodger's friend.

And, here we go...


It will do for now, simply as proof of concept, or something like that. I might improve it, if I cba.

[JTGS850GL]

New addition to my carb rebuild equipment:


Just picked up a 40lb Soda Blaster from ebay. I know it's not a big commercial model but for the small jobs like carburetor descaling, and occasional engine/frame paint stripping, it should work out just fine. I've found I can pick up some pretty grungy carbs for cheap and get them working really well but they still looked a little grungy because of the oxidation and scaling on the outside. Figured a little soda blasting and they'll look like new again.

My process to clean carbs now is to Berrymans dip for 24 hours, sonic clean for 30 minutes, poke/spray with carb cleaner to verify passages are clear and then blast the bodies with soda for a nice finish.

[Redman]

I knew front tire had some wear, and would need replacing maybe near end of season or before next season
.
.
.... then I found this

Wheel off.
Tire and brake pads on order.

.

[steve murdoch]

Obviously neither is good but is that a cut or crack?

[Redman]

................... is that a cut or crack?

I was thinking it was a slice from probably running over something sharp. But looking at it more, the two don't really line up, and some areas are lot deeper than others... so... I don't know.

But wheel is off the bike, and in trunk of car.
Local shop had price of tire only a couple bucks more than online+shipping.

You know, I do look at tire tread often, and have been noticing the wear (and others have mentioned it). Just yesterday, after a 200 mile day Saturday, and an 1100 mile weekend a few weeks ago, I took a look and noticed that. Yikes. Wonder how long its been there. I probably should more often turn the wheel when looking at the tire.


.

[themess]

Struck by a need for a welding cart, and realising I had one under my nose...
Take a KitKat display trolley - which had been doing sterling service as a holder of soap powder and other crap by the washer/ drier for a decade
It had been so long since it was put there, I'd forgotten it had castors.

Add some green wire shelving which was kicking around, but turned upside down so they have a lip all around....

How to you plan to keep the lady of the house happy? Maybe weld her up a nicer replacement?

[themess]

I was thinking it was a slice from probably running over something sharp. But looking at it more, the two don't really line up, and some areas are lot deeper than others... so... I don't know.

But wheel is off the bike, and in trunk of car.
Local shop had price of tire only a couple bucks more than online+shipping.

You know, I do look at tire tread often, and have been noticing the wear (and others have mentioned it). Just yesterday, after a 200 mile day Saturday, and an 1100 mile weekend a few weeks ago, I took a look and noticed that. Yikes. Wonder how long its been there. I probably should more often turn the wheel when looking at the tire.


.

I used to examine returned scrap tires as part of my job. The shape is more like a crack than a cut. Tread rubber is designed to have good cut resistance. That doesn't mean that it is difficult to cut. It means that a cut won't propagate on its own. I'd be concerned about an underlying tread separation. You made the right decision.

[Grimly]

Replaced the O-rings on the valve adjustment access caps of the XS, and discovered another stripped thread or two. Thank you, gorillas.
Ho-hum, out with the helicoil kit (again).

[GS1150-STREET-DRAG]

1984 gs 1150 with 1229 big bore the bike sat for two years took it to the track and the next day pulled of the header and found oil leaking from cylinder number 2 out the exhaust port, found the bike had too much oil in it so I drained the oil to normal level, should it be ok ? the valves appear to be moving up and down , it stopped leaking and head gasket appears to be fine but I'm not sure what to think I'm just an armature DIY not sure if I should ride anymore like this any suggestions

[Grimly]

Possibly a bad valve stem seal or worn valve guide on #2 exhaust, but the amount of oil in the top end is largely unaffected by an overfilled bottom, so <shrug>. Might be the valve stem seal softened up a bit after being run for a while.