what did you wrench on today??

[Burque73]

My son's car door would not stay shut so we took apart the latch and found a broken torsion spring. It held tension on the lever that locked the latch shut. With this being a 96 Audi Cabriolet, used parts are pretty rare. New latches go from $120 on up. We took a quick trip to Harbor Freight for an assortment of springs and figured out a solution.

Here's the under side of the latch mechanism. I drew arrows to the lock lever and the broken spring on the bottom.



Our fix was to drill through the lever and insert a cotter pin, creating an eyelet for the spring to grab. A dab of JB weld (not shown in the pic) helped hold the cotter pin permanently. Then we wrapped a small key ring wire around the pin at the bottom. It's a total redneck repair but the door locks and latches just fine now.

[Redman]

My son's car door would not stay shut so we took apart the latch and found a broken torsion spring. ...
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It's a total redneck repair but the door locks and latches just fine now.
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I bet the son is impressed with his ol' dad.

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[Motojoe2492]

I LOVE The SR650 tank. I painted the one my dad had for a school project. The bike got chopped but never ridden much... I would love to have one of those lol

True but the Triumph hasn't ;et me down yet! The HD already started to have electrical issues at this point (3K miles)...


HAHAHA Non of my Harleys had chrome! I would say my Buddies SR650 and my GS650L is what did me in with chrome on a Standard motorcycle!



And Don't delay... Ride a T120 if you can, they are AWESOME!

[Burque73]

I bet the son is impressed with his ol' dad.

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Meh, I think he's just glad it works now.

[ddaniels]

Chrome might not get you home, but it makes you look good wherever you are...

[GSLove]

Does anyone have any experience with machining the valve seat on a GS1100G (8 valve)? I am wondering whether I should have my machine shop keep the standard angles (15, 45, 75) or go with an interference seat (15, 46, 75). I am keeping the valves stock at 45 deg so the titanium coating is not disturbed.

[Skinner]

Installed a speedometer error device on my wife’s Honda CBR300RA - the SpeedoDRD. The speedometer read 10% high and this little device took care of that. Installation and programming was quite simple.

[themess]

I checked their site. Sounds nice. I might buy one.

[Steve]

One (mostly) done, two more to go.

On the "what did I do" front, I finally got the wife's bike on the road. The process to get it there included:
- new fork seals (old ones leaked on the brake pads)
- new brake pads (see above)
- new steering bearings
- replaced clutch cable
- replaced older LED headlight with a newer one
- fixed some electrical problems with the radio/intercom/CB system
- replaced exhaust system (original "L" pipes had rattling baffles and were discolored)

Still to do before our "little ride":
- replace stator (starting the ride with a new one)
- replace tires (new ones will easily survive the duration of the "little ride")

Weather had cleared up after a brief thundershower session, so I took a ride and stopped a moment to grab this:



Now that that bike is back on the road for a while, I can turn my attention to this:



Headed out now to start re-assembling the head, then will work on getting the rest of the engine together.

Talked to the painter, some of the parts will be ready to bring home tomorrow, really looking forward to seeing them.

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[DaveR]

Will you know where all those bits and pieces strewn all over the floor go Steve?

[Burque73]

That's quite a project Steve! I too hope you remember where all those nuts and bolts go.

Mine was quick and simple, small exaggeration here. Fork seals on the KLR 650. I purchased them from the local MotoAuthority store/ shop. When I pulled up yesterday there was quite a mix of bikes out front.

20180525_124844 by Roger, on Flickr

The owner came out to look at my 850 and went "wow, what a classic! You should strip all that stuff off and make a cafe bike out of it". Nah, I said, I like it this way but thanks for the suggestion. He was impressed with the nice old bike though.

Back to wrenching...

Fork seals should take what, two hours? I stripped everything off last night, flushed and let drain. One leg, then the other. The fun part was getting the old seals out. I used compressed air to pop the seals out. It took about 55psi in one and 75 in the other but they both popped right out, then pushed the new ones in with a piece of PVC. Two hours last night and four hours today to get it back together. Next time it will be quicker I'm sure since I'd never done fork seals before.
20180525_170223 by Roger, on Flickr

[dorkburger]

My first go at fork seals took about 3-4 hours as well only to find a leaker a few days later due to installing one upside down. The fix was much quicker. Practice........

[Steve]

Yeah, most of those pieces have now been somewhat organized, or at least grouped in the general vicinity of where they need to go.

This is not the first time doing this, so there is some familiarity there. Won't be the last, either, as my bike needs new gaskets, too, but I really didn't want to have all three GSes down at the same time.

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[Steve]

... When I pulled up yesterday there was quite a mix of bikes out front.

The owner came out to look at my 850 and went "wow, what a classic! You should strip all that stuff off and make a cafe bike out of it". Nah, I said, I like it this way but thanks for the suggestion. He was impressed with the nice old bike though.

You should have said "No, thanks, I just got done putting all that stuff ON, to make it a comfortable bike."

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[Burque73]

My first go at fork seals took about 3-4 hours as well only to find a leaker a few days later due to installing one upside down. The fix was much quicker. Practice........

Indeed, practice makes perfect. Or like we say on the jobsite, perfect enough. Haha
I had to look at the all balls instructions online to see which way was up on their fork seals. Two wipers toward the oil, one on top or something like that. Anyway both installed with dust seal and no leaks....from there. One fork leg had a drip and my heart sank a little. Turns out the drain screw was loose.

You should have said "No, thanks, I just got done putting all that stuff ON, to make it a comfortable bike."

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Didn't think of saying that. I guess comfort and functionality don't get as much consideration as style. Personally, I like the style of a "bagger" type bike.