Saturday, November 20, 2010

back tracking

good news, i took the bike for a short test run to check for bugs

bad news, i found a shit load of them. coolant leak, cooling fan draws too much current, fuel started to leak.

comforting news, bike road good, i didn't drop it, road more comfortably then i thought it would for a hardtail, seat springs absorbed any vibration. bike is loud as a mutha.

already started to tear down, first order removed the cooling fan. it was built for a honda civic and draws like 8 amps when it kicks on. stalled the bike at idle. i'll scavenge some pc fans out of the old computer i''ve been waiting to part out. that should be less than an amp and still suficently cool the radiator.
next i will deal with the pissing cross over pipes, while the radiator is off i'm going to fix the broken oil pressure light and relocate it and my neutral light to  a more convient location. fuel leaks are gonna suck because the carb is buried in the frame. i was hoping to be done before this coming thursday, my pads are due on tuesday or wednesday. looks like this won't be happening unless i conger up a miracle

Sunday, November 14, 2010

old gremlins

cleaning up the garage today so i moved the bike to the driveway. i've let it run to operating temperature before but never hot enough to get the fan to kick on so i started it up and just let it idle. after about 10 minutes the fan kicked on. then i started to see a drip, further investigation led to the coolant cross over pipes that i thought i had sealed up with the correct o- rings were leaking. i did this back like 6 months ago and i thought all my cooling system issues were behind me. quick venture to the auto parts store came back with red high temp silicone. sealed all the locations that showed a leak and will let it dry for a few days before starting it up again. my biggest fear right now is that i saw the coolant leaking from there and made the leap of faith that it was collecting right near my left side head where it meets the block. i will be royally pissed if i have a head gasket thats leaking. only time will tell.

also i am ordering the last of the parts i need for the front brake so i will have those on by thursday and the horn attached at the same time. if my coolant leaks are solved it will be 99.9% finished. i just have to reattach the viynl on the seat that i pulled loose to attach my seat springs.