Uncle Mike's BIKE Dead on Chicago Expressway - Coil question

[7981GS]

He left on a 3 thousand mile ride with a bad chain and sprockets too?



Tell us that you are joking. PLEASE.

Eric

[BigD_83]

I'm sure everyone has done road trips at one time or another with something that is less than optimal. An oversight here or there, or running out of time to get this other thing done over there. Thankfully most of those mistakes don't cause any harm, so we come out the other side a little wiser, without any stitches or plaster involved.

This thread has provided a good learning experience. I know that if I ever break down, I'm hoping I'm not 1000 miles from nowhere, and have access to the GSR. You guys really are good.

[Killer2600]

He left on a 3 thousand mile ride with a bad chain and sprockets too?

Is this some kind of "Repair My Bike" north american tour?

[Baatfam]

Mike just left and all appears to be good...rockin' the 530 conversion.
He will be staying at Planecrazy's house tonight and leaving in the morning.

I've never seen a chain that was worn like this:

Really just that one bad link...the roller must have been frozen and wore through....

We put on a fairly low mile chain and sprocket set that will get him to California...
It was a non-o-ring chain that I only used for a short while...

[TheCafeKid]

Chain and sprockets may have appeared good when he left. He has traveled a third of the way across the country on it after all. Unfortunately when they decide they're done, they get sacked rather quickly. Ive had chains to from "gonna have to replace it soon, but has another trip left in it or so" to "holy crap this thing is toast" within a few hundred miles. And I'm an anal SOB when it comes to chain maintenance. Well, most maintenance really, but chain cleaning for sure (just ask the guys who snicker at me at rally's )
But, as has been said a bazillion times, a maintained chain and sprockets will last a very very long time. Clean and lube every 400-600 miles, even if you're on a trip. I always have a can of Maxima wax, WD40 and rags with me...

Good job you Chicagoland guys! And good luck with the rest of your trip mike! Hopefully you've gotten all the stuff that could go wrong out of the way...

Oh, and before you leave town, I'd pick up a spare master link for that chain...and a spare clutch cable

[Baatfam]

Oh, and before you leave town, I'd pick up a spare master link for that chain...and a spare clutch cable

Nothing is open until Tuesday and he is heading out tomorrow, but I told him to stop somewhere and get a spare as soon as he can...
I also gave him the o-ring master off my 1100E just in case, which should work good enough in a pinch...

Mike is a great guy...and it was a pleasure to finally meet him this weekend...

And a big thank you to Planecrazy, (Steve)...who only dropped by to watch the fuse box change...
He did a lot of the work, stayed until the end and offered Uncle Mike a place to crash tonight....

[koolaid_kid]

Great job, Bob and company. I agree, Mike is a great guy, we had some really good conversations. I hope all goes well for the rest of the trip.

[Baatfam]

Great job, Bob and company.

Could not have done it without you, George...you are an electronic star

Forgot to mention GBW, (Greg), also stopped by to lend some moral support...
In fact, he had the troops out looking for a 530 master link before we found my spare...

[UncleMike]

You guys are all incredible. I'm lounging on a queen-sized airmatress at chèz Steve as I type.

And Eric -

No, I didn't leave for a 3000-mile trip with a bad chain and sprockets. It looked fine when I cleaned, lubed and adjusted it before the Adirondack camping trip I took right before I left for this, and still looked fine when I did it again after I got home. I noticed the chain making noise after my last stop for gas about 60 miles outside of Chicago. We had about four pairs of eyes on it at Joe's place and no one noticed the damage then either. Sometimes they just go bad quickly, or no one noticed it.

Steve and I didn't know what to do with ourselves if we weren't fixing something on my bike, so we repaired a broken mounting post in my gauge cluster as well as a side cover post that broke at Bob's today.

Bob - I can't thank you enough. To those who don't know, he selflessly donated his fuseblock and chain masterlink off of his 1100 as well as a spare 530 chain and sprocket set. (As well as some slick hex-head nuts for my front brake master cylinder, just for the hell of it.)

I'm not really sure I can even call this my bike anymore and I'm humbled. Back on the road in the morning.

[UncleMike]

And Greg, thanks for coming out again. Can't wait to spend more time BSing instead of GSing when I come back through next month.

Don't worry everyone - I'm flying for that trip.

George and Brian, I believe you've been named electrical legends.

[Planecrazy]

Mike beat me to it (He's upstairs in the "guest" bedroom, and I'm downstairs at my computer before turning in myself)... Despite the fact that we were working on Mike's bike most of the afternoon at Bob's, I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to get to know him better, and to spend time at Bob and Amy's, where we lunched together and even met son, Justin, who arrived for a visit while we were there.

After leaving Bob's in the late afternoon, Mike had an uneventful ride thirty miles to my place, where he reported the bike was running very smooth and much improved! We grabbed some grill fair and had a nice dinner with my family (Thanks for buying most of the fixin's, Mike!). My son even gave him a good run for his money in a game of chess. Then we tackled the broken stud on one side of Mike's instrument cluster. Originally I thought we might MIG weld a new stud on to the broken piece, but I was concerned that the heat from even a quick zap would be too much for the surrounding plastic ... so I found a better solution.

The broken stud protruded through the metal bracket it normally tightens down to just enough so that I was able to drill a small hole through the side of the stud and use a home-made (read "thin") washer and a cotter pin to firmly attach the broken stud to the bracket ... works perfectly! Pics to come tomorrow...

Next we used some Harbor Freight five minute epoxy to reattach the broken stud to the side cover. I always drill small holes through the stud itself, and drill shallow dimples into the side cover to promote better adhesion and make the epoxy become an actual part of the stud, rather than just an adhesive. This thing will never break off again, hehe! Pics to come tomorrow on this as well.

...So we have Mike well fed, hydrated, and as of tomorrow morning, rested for his next big leg of the trip, where nothing will go wrong! Bike looks good, sounds good, seems to be running good, and should be good to go! Bob did a great job of improvising with parts off his 1100E, though by the end of the afternoon we were kidding about how the 1150 was slowly morphing into the 1100, LOL! It was a pleasure spending time with all of the Chicago GSR family, even if the circumstances were not optimal.

Good to see Greg, too. I got your PM about dinner after we had finished dinner, but figured that not hearing from you by phone was confirmation of what we really already knew - will look forward to getting the families together sometime soon, Pal!

...And now some well-earned sleep - 'nite all!

[UncleMike]

Man, it feels like a sleepover with us both posting from different rooms!

Also - I did bring a spare clutch cable, and coils, and gasket material, and ...

[Baatfam]

[UncleMike]

Those are my "performance sport stockings."

[Baatfam]

Mike...You are very welcome...

Like Joe said the other day..."It's what we do."

Make sure you ride safe and keep us updated on your travels in your trip thread...

And BTW...I am not working on any bikes today...