Another Aussie GS rebuild - GS1100G

[pete]

It was quite odd taking bits of engine into the machine shop and asking for a head job. But he was very accommodating.

Hahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha

Getting the engine back together, Very satisfying, especially with new shiny nuts.

A head job and shiny nuts? Your luck's changing Jimmy! Hhahahaah

Sorry, couldn't help myself...

Looking very nice, keen to see her all together again!

[Johnny Drummond]

Steady lads!

HAHAHAHA I agree with you Pete, but not half as embarrasing as asking the very attractive and well built recptionist in a firm I worked in to order grease nipples-espically after she thought I said "greased nipples".She looked down at her chest and said "sorry,grease brings me out in a rash",what a thing to say to a single 20 year old lad, I'm convinced she did it in purpose-and before anyone gets bent out of shape, SHE knew all the filthiest jokes in the factory.looks good Jimmy, hope you get sunshine to ride it(somebody on the planet must be-it's pouring down here AGAIN).Johnny

[pete]

Hahahaha classic Johnny!

Does it ever stop raining there? One of the guys over on DTT in the UK has been trying to get a video of his Sachs 650 for months but it won't stop raining there either!

[Johnny Drummond]

it doen't rain all the time,just between friday and monday and just as our works holidays start and end hahahaha,that is why we have a saying here"what comes after 2 days of rain?,monday!".we seem to get off pretty light compared to some parts of England and Wales,although the last thunderstorm our neighbours allegdly had all the electrical fittings blow out of the wall when the house was hit by lightning,and I remember the telephone exploding when the line was hit when I was a kid.It can be sunny here but if we get 23 degrees celcius(70F) people fall down with heat stroke.As Billy Connoly says"the Scots and Irish are naturally pale blue people,we need 2 weeks in Spain to be white!".Poor Charlie was standing at the races last year in 2 coats and a pure wool jumper shivering and everyone else(including me) was wandering about in either t shirts or with their shirt sleeves rolled up-it was around 16 celcius that day.

[JimmyR]

We've had a fair bit of rain here lately but all this week has been blue skies and around 20C. I love June and July here - winter but when it's sunny it's beautiful. Cold at night though. And I need a lining in my jacket when I ride.

I may have told this one before, but I used to work in a music shop here. The leading brand of violin strings was an Austrian brand called Dominant. One day a girl in a posh school uniform came in with her very serious-looking mum. The mother handed me the violin and said - I'm not kidding - "I want a Dominant G-string for my daughter and I want you to fit it now please!" ( For the US folks here - G-string = thong here)

[Charlie G]

I really had to restrain myself from commenting on your post about the valve job, not wanting to be the crass American. I see I misread the situation and am in good company.

cg

[JimmyR]

Hey we're talkin' bikes here, not flower arranging! :-) Although being American you are allowed to be crass. It's unAustralian to worry about something like that.

[Charlie G]

It's unAustralian to worry about something like that.

I used to know that. Pete and Leigh had me all trained at one point. I just don't retain knowledge as I use to.


cg

[nikosg]

hey Jimmy,

are these those bar end mirrors you have?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Billet-CN...#ht_1783wt_898

[JimmyR]

Hey Nikosg - yup those look like the right ones. Except I got natural aluminium stems and ends with black mirrors - exact opposite colour scheme to those. Motolanna sell direct from their website and I believe it may be a little cheaper that way. They make some nice stuff.

[pete]

We've had a fair bit of rain here lately but all this week has been blue skies and around 20C. I love June and July here - winter but when it's sunny it's beautiful. Cold at night though. And I need a lining in my jacket when I ride.

I may have told this one before, but I used to work in a music shop here. The leading brand of violin strings was an Austrian brand called Dominant. One day a girl in a posh school uniform came in with her very serious-looking mum. The mother handed me the violin and said - I'm not kidding - "I want a Dominant G-string for my daughter and I want you to fit it now please!" ( For the US folks here - G-string = thong here)

Hahahaha that's just pure gold Jimmy... how on earth did you keep a straight face with that thrown at ya'? I think I'd be rolling on the floor...

And yeah June/July is definitely nice riding when it's not raining, crisp clear blue skies make for good times on two wheels

I've had to go the quilted and rain liner in mine to keep warm and keep the wind out as I'm normally at work by 7:15 and it's a touch chilly. Gotta go in 10pm on Monday night and home at probably midnight... that's gonna be a cool ride!

I used to know that. Pete and Leigh had me all trained at one point. I just don't retain knowledge as I use to.


cg

Trained? Us? Never! We wouldn't corrupt you Charlie, not us! Mind you Leigh hasn't been corrupting much of anything in months.. haven't seen him on here for ages! Slacker... no wonder you forgot

[nikosg]

Thanks mate.
p.s i remember you saying you got your gauges etc from a shop in Melbourne (collingwood?) or was that another Aussie.... what was the name?

[pete]

Thanks mate.
p.s i remember you saying you got your gauges etc from a shop in Melbourne (collingwood?) or was that another Aussie.... what was the name?

I think you're thinking of the guy with the 450E... Collo I think? He seems to have disappeared...

Oh, and it was the Modern Motorcycle Company I believe...

[JimmyR]

Yeah I did get the gauges from Modern Motorcycle Co in Collingwood. They get some nice stuff in there. I've been quite impressed with Christian there - good service.

I have got to an interesting, slightly frustrating point with this rebuild. The tank and front fender should be ready tomorrow which is good, although I need to work out how I am going to get some sand out of the tank which got in during the blasting. I'm sure I can, one way or another.

But it's the shimming of the valves. Because I had the valves all seated they took off a bit of metal getting the seats just right. Apparently they then reduced the length of the valves to compensate but they didn't reduce the length enough, so all of my shims are too thick. Most of my shims were around 2.35 to 2.5, and none are now thin enough. So I had the machinist grind some down to around 2.3, but still none are thin enough. Thing is, because my thinnest feeler gauge won't fit I have no idea how much thinner I need to go. If I need to go thinner than 2.15 I will probably need to get the valves shortened some more which will be a right PITA.

So tomorrow morning I want to see if I can measure from the top of the valve to the cam, in the hope that I might be able to work out which shims to use. If I can get the shims sorted tomorrow then I might be right for a ride on the weekend. And they are forecasting rain! Sun all week and rain for the weekend. Typical, isn't it??

[pete]

Aaah, I thought you got your gauges from Dime City... wrong again! Ha

As for the valves, be careful you don't need smaller than 2.15 as that's the thinnest the bucket was designed to hold.

I had the same work done on my valves but the valve seats just needed lapping in which I did myself. From memory my thinnest now is 2.35 or 2.40.

If I was you I'd get the valves tipped again regardless. The wear with the valve seats in use results in the clearance shrinking, so if you're getting on the low side with the shim sizes now, it will only get worse and you'll need to get it done again at some point anyway.

Edit: A tip if you can't measure the clearance... Rotate the bucket with the shim in it and if it rotates easily, there's clearance, and 1 shim size should do it. If you can't rotate the bucket easily, then it will more likely be 2 shim sizes or more. And of course make sure you're measuring with everything torqued down correctly.