A Little Tinkerin', A Little Drinkerin'

[Leigh]

Sheesh..
All I'm doing is giving my bike a bit of a rub with a wet rag by comparison.

I will be out in the shed this weekend to do a bit more T & D..

Photos will follow..
I got my mirrors($24), tank pad($4), knee pads($8) and exhaust wrap($55) in from ebay..
The forks($100 to service/oil) will be done tomorrow..
Griffin is posting me some blinker lenses this week (bloody champion!)..
The shocks are out on the ocean somewhere..

Then it's tyres, probably Avons I think, the RWC and rego..

All this by the GP?
Maaaaaaybe.

[pete]

Sheesh..
All I'm doing is giving my bike a bit of a rub with a wet rag by comparison.

Bet you you're done years ahead of me though

If I had've realised how little time I would have to work on it, I would've done a tidy up like your doing rather than the rebuild, I'm having serious riding withdrawals and have been for a few years now...

I will be out in the shed this weekend to do a bit more T & D..

Photos will follow..
I got my mirrors($24), tank pad($4), knee pads($8) and exhaust wrap($55) in from ebay..
The forks($100 to service/oil) will be done tomorrow..
Griffin is posting me some blinker lenses this week (bloody champion!)..
The shocks are out on the ocean somewhere..

Then it's tyres, probably Avons I think, the RWC and rego..

All this by the GP?
Maaaaaaybe.

That's all sounding real good!

What sort of mirrors and knee pads are you getting? I'm undecided on mirrors, whether stalks or bar ends, but I'm thinking of trying to get some custom made rubber knee pads designed for my tank along the links of the old trumpy rubber knee pads.

I also discovered Michelin sell some tires called Pilot Sporty I think they were that could be good for our old GS size rims and are based on the Pilot Sports, so theoretically they should be good.

And don't worry, still a month or more to the GP, plenty of time (you lucky b*&%%%)

[Leigh]

The mirrors are these..


..and the knee pads are these..



Michys eh?
I'll have to have a look.
The BT45, Avon Roadriders and Shinkos are all about the same price, $290 to $350..

[pete]

Those are like the mirrors I currently have... undecided yet and a long way from needing to worry about it

Apparently there are Michys, however a quick look again this morning showed me a completely different story... no good at all! So I may be leading you up a garden path without a paddle there...

[Leigh]

I am off to my happy place this afternoon to pick up the forks so I'll talk to the blokes there then and see what they can get for me..

[pete]

Ooooh a happy place? That sounds promising...

I'm unfortunately still in my work place... 11 hours and counting today

[Leigh]

The forks are back..
The report from the surgeo..erm.. mechanic says the springs are in really good nick and he reckons possibly heavier than stock.
Good.
He stripped and cleaned them and refilled them with chunky 15w.
Lovely.

I spent some of the weekend escaping the kids and hiding in the shed.
"No, don't come in. It's vitally important that the door stays shut."
I attacked the front of the motor with degreaser, 2 stiff brushes and a towel.
I managed to achieve about 1/15 of 3/8 of nothing.
The nylon wheel will be next! that stuff is determined to stay.

So I turned my attention to the body work and managed another couple of coats over three days.
It's starting to look nice and deep now.


I also took to the front wheel..

[Leigh]

Oh, the mate doing the sandblasting of the exhaust has had a setback.
He split an airline and has been delayed getting a new one.
But on the positive side, a mate has a pair of tyres with under 1500 kms on them that he has donated to the cause. Metzelers I think he said.
That has saved me $340 for the moment anyway.

Onward, ever onward.

[Leigh]

Pete.
I checked out Michelin while I was with the mechanic.
He has no listing for anything to suit our bikes.
There were Pirellis.

I had settled on the BT45s and was going to order them when I book in for the inspection. But I don't have to now.

Oh, those mirrors? Sheesh. they would have sat above my helmet when I was riding.
The stems are so long.
I got in touch with the seller, explained the situation and he said it was cool to send them back. Lucky me.
I was going to go for bar ends but my bars are solid in the ends.
So I ordered these instead.

[emjay]

Lookin great Leigh.

... old nappies ...

Cleaned, I hope.

[pete]

Mate that's lookin' good! And good news on the forks! I fear my springs are waaaaay too soft, even with the fresh 15w fork oil I squirted in there. It may be Progressive time down the track...

Anyways, I digress! I had a feeling the Michy's were gonna be a no-show because my Google searches were inconsistent, but worth a shot.

Bugger on the exhaust, but the rest is looking good.

I thought I'd stumbled across all the online parts shops around Oz in my travels over the last few years, but that's a new one to me! Must bookmark it

[Clone]

The mirrors are these..


..and the knee pads are these..



Michys eh?
I'll have to have a look.
The BT45, Avon Roadriders and Shinkos are all about the same price, $290 to $350..

Those are crazy prices for tires, that is almost as bad as canada. Take a look at Conti GO tires, they are a new tire and a little better priced.

[Leigh]

Emjay.. yes, clean ones. I'm trying to get it off the bike not rub it back on. hehe

Clone.. Thanks for the heads up, I'll have a scout around for them.

There are a few sites in the States that ship to Australia for $80ish but they only seem to do 17 inch tyres for newer bikes.

[Leigh]

Ergh..
A week off crook has seen my desk pile up with ebay goodness.
The new mirrors are in and look great, the stainless lines are sitting here too.

My new dilemma (where would life be without one?) is the headers.

29 years of being in the wind has not done them any favours.
Removing the scale has left a lip of about 30 thou in the pipe at about 1/3 of the diameter.
Plus some pinholes in the collector.

Now, the pinholes I can fix (read: get fixed by a mate with a mig), but the corrosion might be a worry.

I had planned to VHT them to an inch of their lives and then wrap them.

So, Dear Hive-mind of The GS Resources, my dilemma is this.
Do I :
A) continue with Plan A and bake each coat on..
B) source a new set off the interwebz..
C) try for a custom job of a muffler shop.

Each option carries it's own risks of longevity, cost and/or delays.

I'll get some photos tomorrow in the daylight and show the damage.
I'll be off to a shop on Monday morning to check that option out anyway.



Thanks in advance..
Leigh

[pete]

I say repair, VHT, then wrap...

One thing with the VHT, if it's anything like the POR 15 temperature paint, then make sure your preparation is perfect... then do it again.

Quick edit here... how rude of me! A week off is just slack! (hope you're feeling better)