what did you wrench on today??

[robertbarr]

From time to time, even water-cooled guys have to get in there and wrestle with the intestines, and monsoon season is as good a time as any. These are the guts of a V-Strom. It's shim-under-bucket, so I had to pull all 4 cams (lucky me), but an oil-based paint pen made reassembly a little more certain. I'm 1,000 miles early for this maintenance, but all 4 exhaust valves were two steps too tight. Eeek!

While these guys don't present the headache of dealing with that H-shaped cam cover gasket, there's about 2 hours of shenanigans to get them torn down just to this level. Body parts all over my garage, like Dexter.

No matter how diligent I am in reassembly, there's always a nagging doubt, and it's still a relief to hear the bike light up instantly and idle like a watch, with no leaks or disturbing noises or other signs of distress...

So now, it's on to the other machine; the Goldwing needs a look-see at its valves too. Three times the number of cylinders, yet half as many cams and far less disassembly involved. Can't wait.

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[Hayabuser]

Helped a friend with his 1978 Roadrunner today. We did an aluminum intake and carb swap two weeks ago, today was valve covers, oil change, minor adjustments and set the timing.

[Burque73]

Changed the clutch lever and cable on the 850 today.

Nothing spectacular, but did use a wrench. Two in fact! Lol

[themess]

From time to time, even water-cooled guys have to get in there and wrestle with the intestines, and monsoon season is as good a time as any. These are the guts of a V-Strom. It's shim-under-bucket, so I had to pull all 4 cams (lucky me), but an oil-based paint pen made reassembly a little more certain. I'm 1,000 miles early for this maintenance, but all 4 exhaust valves were two steps too tight. Eeek!

While these guys don't present the headache of dealing with that H-shaped cam cover gasket, there's about 2 hours of shenanigans to get them torn down just to this level. Body parts all over my garage, like Dexter.

No matter how diligent I am in reassembly, there's always a nagging doubt, and it's still a relief to hear the bike light up instantly and idle like a watch, with no leaks or disturbing noises or other signs of distress...

So now, it's on to the other machine; the Goldwing needs a look-see at its valves too. Three times the number of cylinders, yet half as many cams and far less disassembly involved. Can't wait.

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Boy, that looks clean inside! Please tell me about your "oil based pen".

My Wee Strom has 10K on it, and has probably never had valves checked or coolant changed. I sort of dread the body parts, as I've had trouble putting things back together for previous maintenance.

[storm 64]

I cut down my windshield on the FJR. I took about 4" off the top and 2" off the sides. I should get some air now! Also put on my Alaskan leather company Sheepskin "Butt Pad". So far I like both modifications 👍

[Grimly]

Dropped the running-in oil, replaced with a semi-synth 10w40, fitted new centrestand (using the washers-inne-spring trick), replaced a dodgy spark plug, re-tightened head, valve cover and exhaust bolts, most of which took a touch more. Just as well I didn't leave it longer.
Tomorrow, hoik a spare starter motor from another lump, test it on the bench and if good, fit it to the brute. I'm impressed how cheaply good used starters can be bought in the US, up to now shipping was an obstacle, but not any more. Think I'll acquire another spare just in case.

[robertbarr]

Boy, that looks clean inside! Please tell me about your "oil based pen".

OK. Here: At Michael's, no less. Or Amazon, of course. No matter how oil-free I got the timing chain (acetone, alcohol) the paint didn't stick very well -- so I kept my mitts away from the marked link. It's possible, obviously, to just use the diagrams and double-check with the 16-pitch count between cam gear marks, but I really prefer that as a backup; a nice, thin white mark as a reference gives me confidence. Believe it or not, the toughest part for me was the plastic heat shield just behind the radiator. That fought me every step of the way. Like most operations of this type, my second and subsequent valve checks should take about a third as much time.

I really lucked out on needed shims. Although I wound up altering 7 of the 8 clearances, I had to buy just one 5-pack of 1.65's, for about $5.25 shipped. The intakes used the discards from the exhausts, and the results were as close to perfect as you'd ever get with a shim system. So I'm happy!

[dorkburger]

With temps in NJ hitting 90° today, I figured it would be a good time to check my vintage (1986) cooling system for the house. Like my old GS, it's leaky....
with that sorted, I gave the cycle its yearly washing / degreasing / delousing.....

[Grimly]

... and today, the old starter from the other lump worked fine, so fitted it and good to go. Need to get a couple of rebuild kits for the others. With occasional brushplate replacement (like, about once every half century or so) these old Mitsuba starters go on forever.

[themess]

OK. Here: At Michael's, no less. Or Amazon, of course. No matter how oil-free I got the timing chain (acetone, alcohol) the paint didn't stick very well -- so I kept my mitts away from the marked link. It's possible, obviously, to just use the diagrams and double-check with the 16-pitch count between cam gear marks, but I really prefer that as a backup; a nice, thin white mark as a reference gives me confidence. Believe it or not, the toughest part for me was the plastic heat shield just behind the radiator. That fought me every step of the way. Like most operations of this type, my second and subsequent valve checks should take about a third as much time.

I really lucked out on needed shims. Although I wound up altering 7 of the 8 clearances, I had to buy just one 5-pack of 1.65's, for about $5.25 shipped. The intakes used the discards from the exhausts, and the results were as close to perfect as you'd ever get with a shim system. So I'm happy!

Thanks! I now remember a grease pencil that I used to have. Haven't thought of it in years. Next time I get near Micheal's, I'm stopping to get one.

[Carter Turk]

Blew 5 freeze plugs in W/C 750... Result water in oil.
So used to aircooled bikes didn't think to check if radiator had a coolant mix or not.
Did not. Froze over winter, and let go in the first 7 minutes of riding it.
Waiting for parts. Will see what the outcome is.

[cowboyup3371]

Even with my bum leg I made it over to the garage this afternoon to get out of the house. All four carbs are now essentially put back together but I still need to reconnect them and do a bench sync. I'll have to wait to put them back on the bike until I'm allowed to put weight on the leg again.

[Hayabuser]

Got new shoes for my Dart today!

[Boriqua]

Just boring stuff

Did a valve check/adjustment, New Air filter, Check the plugs, Clean and reinstall crankcase breather filter, oil tach, speedo, clutch and throttle cables. Adjust throttle and clutch play and top up with a little fresh oil. Put my new rear tire on a few weeks ago so I am good now at least for the summer.

I must say ... my bike is currently running SWEET!! Smooth like glass.

[Buffalo Bill]

My track bike was not reving as high as last year, power fading off above 8000rpm. So I needed to look at the plugs, evaluate what to do.
Plugs were in the ideal zone but on the rich end of it.
Two things I changed since last summer, valve job and changed the ignition box.
Used to use the OEM GSX750 Katana ignition box, but changed that out for a GSX1100 Katana ig box. I think that was the wrong move so I just put the 750 box back in there, it must have a more aggressive advance curve, I know it has a 500 RPM higher redline.
Ordered a K&N airfilter, not sure how much that will help the top end but with carbs on the rich side it won't hurt.