what did you wrench on today??

[dorkburger]

SIDETRACKED! Even small projects can take on a life of their own and cause direction change.....
While the exhaust was off, I figured I'd change the oil due to the ease of not having to work around the header, which I did. Then I thought that it would be a good time to install my new to me stator cover before I top off the oil...... but it needed paint first.
Painted that tonight, already have a gasket. Hopefully all is well on the stator side, and it will be a relatively quick swap, although I will need to swap the stator over as well...
I also hung the header just to get it off of the bench, and began preliminary cleanup (soot removal mostly) of the tailpipe to prep for paint.

[dorkburger]

Bit by bit...
http://

[Blue Falcon]

1981 GS450EX, spring broke in rear brakes, I had just been waiting for the right moment to replace them anyway. Taking off exhaust bolts and broke one....ugh. Luckily for the price of a Captain and Coke, one of my buddies was able to weld on a nut with the stub left and after an hour of PB blaster, small back and forth movements and several 4, 5, and 6 letter words... out it came. Not having to remove the engine is a score in my book... Luckily Ace Hardware had the 35mm bolts... whew. Changed all 4, yes anit-sieze was used.

Note: you have to remove the exhaust to get the the rear axle on the 450.

Yesterday.. vacuum line to petcock, split at the petcock under clamp. new clamps and new hose. Been searching for that vacuum leak for a week.

[pete]

1981 GS450EX, spring broke in rear brakes, I had just been waiting for the right moment to replace them anyway. Taking off exhaust bolts and broke one....ugh. Luckily for the price of a Captain and Coke, one of my buddies was able to weld on a nut with the stub left and after an hour of PB blaster, small back and forth movements and several 4, 5, and 6 letter words... out it came. Not having to remove the engine is a score in my book... Luckily Ace Hardware had the 35mm bolts... whew. Changed all 4, yes anit-sieze was used.

Note: you have to remove the exhaust to get the the rear axle on the 450.

Yesterday.. vacuum line to petcock, split at the petcock under clamp. new clamps and new hose. Been searching for that vacuum leak for a week.

Glad you got it out... but you don't have to do that. It's been years since I had a stock exhaust but I definitely left it on to get the axle out. In fact I did my swingarm bearings with it in place. From memory it was a simple matter of up on the centre stand, undo all the drum brake attachments, undo the top shock mount bolts, and bob's your aunty...

[Phred]

Thorsghost came over last night and we set about taking his carbs apart and putting them in the sonic cleaner. Finished up this morning and he was happy with a completely clean set of carbs. They were filthy but cleaned up nice.

[dorkburger]

It's always something.
I finished the tedium of polishing the exhaust can. Some of the nicks are deep enough to require further work - or accept them as age related and earned dings. I did the latter.
Moved on to the stator cover. Removed the 1100 one, checked things out, swapped over the stator, then installed the 1150 cover. I then found out why the stator cover bolts weren't chrome as typical on 1150s. The 1100 cover bolt bosses are longer, and thus use longer bolts. Now they are too long for the 1150 cover.....
Every time I think this bike holds no more secrets.....

[steve murdoch]

Thorsghost came over last night and we set about taking his carbs apart and putting them in the sonic cleaner. Finished up this morning and he was happy with a completely clean set of carbs. They were filthy but cleaned up nice.

Phred, what is your potion of choice for the cleaner?

[Phred]

I bought my sonic cleaner from Sharpertek. They had a shellac buster so I also ordered a gallon of that. You mix a 10 or 15% solution with water. On the bottle it says that it is a semi aqueous micro emulsion solution formulated to remove oil grease, corrosion, varnish shellac carbon and rust from metal parts. Removes many of the toughest of oil and water based paints, ink and adhesives. Prevents future build up. Does not leave residue. Does not attract dust, dirt or grime like petroleum products. There is a slight odor to it and it looks like slightly colored water.
I would not order it again the way I did as Rev. Can. dinged me $90 customs for the sonic cleaner and solution. Next time I will go across the border and pick it up.
I used it on some brass kick plates that were badly tarnished and varathaned. It worked like a charm.
There is another product that I was experimenting with. M83 or KP83. It has been renamed KP83 I think. This is an emulsifier that was developed by Benjamin Moore paints for the slaughterhouse industry. It is mixed with water as well and is available in gallons at Benjamin Moore paints. They used to carry pre mixed spray bottles for about $6.00. I have been using it for years to clean kitchens in apts. before painting. It turns grease into detergent. They use it at O'hara airport in the kitchens. Spray it on the grease and wash it down. I ran out of saw blade cleaner one day a few years ago. Varsol did not work and thought I would try this. It is amazing for removing pine pitch from saw blades. Spray it on and a few minutes later I use a small bristle brush which removes all the pine pitch. I left a badly varnished float bowl soaking in it for a while. Within a few hours most of the varnish was gone. I left it in overnight but the aluminum turned black. I will have to experiment with it in the sonic cleaner to see how it works. It is a solution that shows potential.

[roeme]

(...) I will have to experiment with it in the sonic cleaner to see how it works. It is a solution that shows potential.

Re. ultrasonic cleaner; I used mine around 10-20 times now; with a cumulative run-time of around 30-40 hrs. I found the following process to work best:

1. Clean pieces superficially beforehand, so the ultrasonic doesn't have to go through layers and layers of dirt first, which takes a long time.
2. Use either distilled water, if not available economically, filtrated tap water is good as well. The important issue is that the water doesn't contain too much lime/chalk, lest your pieces will get stained.
3. Ultrasonic cleaning doesn't really need an emulsifier per se (it helps though), but bringing down the surface tension of the water is what makes for a big difference. I use plain old dish soap.
4. Heat. The hotter the water, the better it works. The ultrasonic action will heat up the water over time, but with the help of the integrated heater of my cleaner, I bring up the solution to at least 50°C. At this temp it doesn't boil off too fast as well.
5. While a dirty solution helps the ultrasonic (more particles to 'bang' against the stuff you want to remove), I felt I got diminishing returns after it got too dirty.

[dorkburger]

It's a wrap.... literally.
Exhaust is back on. Need to snug down the header at the head.
Once I get my stator bolts, I can fill it with oil then run it to cure the paint per the directions.
http://

[Grimly]

GS850G
Been annoyed by a slight step-like wriggle as I cornered, gradually getting worse over the past few hundred miles. I'd put it down to a mis-match of half-worn tyres, and replacing the front certainly helped, along with a different wheel with new bearings in it (although the old wheel and bearings felt fine).
Finally got the beast on the lift and gave everything at the back end a good push, pull, heave, crowbar lift and inspection. The only thing I could find was the slightest free play on the swingarm - a just discernable motion 'twixt s'arm and subframe I could feel with my fingers.
I tightened the s'arm bearings up by about 1/12th of a turn each.
Gave it a good run out yesterday and it's back to being as solid as a rock on the twisties, with no disconcerting feeling in the handling at all, and that's still with the old half-worn tyre on the back.

It's been so long since I last had to adjust swingarm bearings, I'd forgotten what it felt like when they were worn a bit.

[dorkburger]

Received my stator bolts from Posseux today. Cover in place. He sent, I think, every chrome cover bolt for the engine, so now I have all of the bolts on the sprocket cover too - I was missing a couple.
I also snugged up the header bolts. Hopefully I'll have time to pick up oil tomorrow so I can fill it.

So after 17 years I finally have a correct stator cover.... another 15 years or so I may have a nice bike.


Ooooh shiny..... on an otherwise dingy lump. The only other shiny parts on the engine are where oil leaks are. Unfortunately the case halves seep, so that will be fixed no time too soon. Still, I'm satisfied with progress so far.
http://

[Burque73]

Received my stator bolts from Posseux today. Cover in place. He sent, I think, every chrome cover bolt for the engine, so now I have all of the bolts on the sprocket cover too - I was missing a couple.
I also snugged up the header bolts. Hopefully I'll have time to pick up oil tomorrow so I can fill it.

So after 17 years I finally have a correct stator cover.... another 15 years or so I may have a nice bike.


Ooooh shiny..... on an otherwise dingy lump. The only other shiny parts on the engine are where oil leaks are. Unfortunately the case halves seep, so that will be fixed no time too soon. Still, I'm satisfied with progress so far.
http://

Boy you're having a productive winter.

Whats this 15 years till it's nice, its already there, and getting better every day!

[dorkburger]

Compared to last winter and its house projects, I'm on a full on tear....
Little by little. Functionality is generally the main end of my wrenching. The bike photographs relatively well. Real life shows its flaws. In motion, it doesn't matter.

[thebrandonbeezy]

Blasting rancid, getting ready to start building a proper lighting harness tomorrow.. LOL