82 850GL Resto...here we go

[Good Times]

Well hello there Mr. Drippy oil drain plug. We will have to go all "Basscliff site" on you before this is all over.



....and a watched battery never charges right?

[Good Times]

Well, how about that. Success....

[GateKeeper]

yay..........

[Daffid]

Yay! Congrats GT!

[Good Times]

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!



She's looking good and will be running good shortly!



Please feel free to join me in the Happy Dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5-Kyl5Bmx8&feature=fvwrel

After she's tuned I'll order the last bits and pieces, get the tins painted and the header ceramic coated and we'll be riding baby!

[musicman]

Don't get it dirty! Its too pretty! Keep up the good work

[GateKeeper]

Music to our ears......

Very nicely done...

High Five.....

.

[Good Times]

Don't get it dirty! Its too pretty! Keep up the good work

Don't worry. I'll take pictures!

Music to our ears......

Very nicely done...

High Five.....

.

Thanks GK. I just read your latest post! That's frustrating. Keep at it. You'll get it figured out.

[Good Times]

Tuning in....

Well I got the carbs synced today. That is not as easy as one might think. First, my motion pro carb adjustment tool was too small for the lock nuts. That made it VERY sporty to fine tune the screws. I had no idea that it would be so sensitive.

After working at it a while I finally got it here:


I used the colortune on one cylinder, but I couldn't get the flame to change color by adjusting the mixture screw. And it kept backfiring and blowing the cap off the sync adapter.

I will be putting the regular screws back in the sync ports instead of running the bike with the adapters installed. Those caps come off too easy once they get hot. One little sputter and they shoot off. It was quite comical at first. I looked like a juggler trying to keep my caps on!

I put the exhaust on right, tightened down the spark plugs and the intake boot clamps on the carbs. Discovered that I hadn't done any of these things before I started it yesterday. That's what I call the Odie complex. If you have ever seen Garfield you know what I'm talking about. Excitement seems to be the inverse of intelligence in my case.

Here's what it sounds like now:





I picked up some grips today and will be putting those on tonight.

[SVSooke]

Been noted that Colourtune works better with VM carbs better than the BS CV carbs.Sounds REAL nice there GT!

[Good Times]

Thanks SV. Steve mentioned to me that he had the same experience with his 850 as well. I'd already purchased the color tune though. Live and learn.

I am pleased with how the bike is currently running. I just need to get it on the road to see if I need to adjust the needles anymore. Won't know until I shovel on the coal to see if she's too rich.

[SVSooke]

Thanks SV. Steve mentioned to me that he had the same experience with his 850 as well. I'd already purchased the color tune though. Live and learn.

I am pleased with how the bike is currently running. I just need to get it on the road to see if I need to adjust the needles anymore. Won't know until I shovel on the coal to see if she's too rich.

Hey you can send it to me(wink wink nudge nudge).

[Good Times]

You know what SV. I was tempted to actually do that.

But then I remembered, this may not be the last bike I ever restore.

A buddy of mine has a little Honda CB550 that is barn fresh. Hmmmmm....

You never know. It may have SV carbs.

[Good Times]

Today's report

It's fun to be buttoning things up rather than wondering what I'm going to do. Got the brakes bled today. Used the mighty Mity Vac.

Laughed at myself a lot today. First time bleeding brakes so this was a learning experience. The process is pretty straight forward, but there are some things like being sure that you've tightened all the brake lines, put teflon tape on the bleeders BEFORE you put fluid in the master cylinder, know that brake fluid takes the shine off the pretty black paint, stuff like that. Luckily I discovered that last point before it got anywhere that mattered.





Got the grips on last night. Also got the motor and lower triple emblems. They look good. The crash bars went on.





I've never adjusted a clutch cable before, so that took a little time, but I got it right and it's smooth. How do I know? I hooked the Aux tank to the handle bars, put the seat on and slowly rode it around the block.

It runs as smooth as silk! Loving it. Can't wait to get the last little things on. Made an order yesterday.

[Steve]

Well I got the carbs synced today. That is not as easy as one might think. First, my motion pro carb adjustment tool was too small for the lock nuts. That made it VERY sporty to fine tune the screws. I had no idea that it would be so sensitive.

Yes, it can be a bit difficult, even if you have the correct tool. Especially trying to get the adjuster in the middle.

What I do for that one is to use my 8mm nutdriver with a LONG extension, turn the right grip to give it about half-throttle (with the engine OFF), then reach down at an angle from over the airbox to loosen that locknut. Once the locknut is loose, it's easy enough to make adjustments with the bike running at idle. To tighten the locknut, turn the bike off, give it half-throttle again, reach in from behind and tighten the locknut. Start the bike again to verify that you did not change the adjustment any.

After working at it a while I finally got it here:

You might want to go back and do them again.

The book shows a slight "smiley-face" like you have there, but it is done with their "special" tool that uses steel balls and NO MARKINGS. Nobody knows for sure how much the actual difference is in the "half a ball difference", but we are assuming it is only about 1 cm. You are showing a 4 cm difference between #2 and #4.

Also, that "smiley-face" is only for the bikes with a crossover in the exhaust (nobody really knows why). With your header, you should line them up as close to even as you can.

I used the colortune on one cylinder, but I couldn't get the flame to change color by adjusting the mixture screw. And it kept backfiring and blowing the cap off the sync adapter.

Exactly what I found, on both accounts. Did you see the flame go a bit erratic, then go out? That's what I saw.

Here's what it sounds like now:

Sounds Great.

Will sound just a little better when you get it synched a bit closer, like I mentioned above.

Might also sound a bit better if you set the idle closer to factory setting. I haven't looked recently, but I seem to remember 1050 +/-50 RPM.


I have not bothered to go back through 10 pages (yeah, my pages are longer than yours ) to see if you have jetted your carbs for your pods and pipes. What jets are you running?

.