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

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.

I finally got some half way decent pictures and video this weekend. sorry about the sound quality in the video. used a digital camera for video

Back on track...Nuts to that!

Since the last post i have fixed the starter issue. ground wire wasn't hooked up and i didn't see it. also got the front brake rotor turned (turns out yes you could that) while i had the front wheel off i pulled the old speedo gear and housing becuase i wasn't going to use a speedometer. without the gear and housing the axle had about 1" of lateral movement that meant the wheel would wobble all over the place. i was going to find some axle spacers or cut them or something like that. "Something like that" costs time and money, 2 things i am running out of so i trudged through my odds and ends box and found 2 identical nuts that had an arbor big enough to fit the axle through and together they were exactly 1". free nuts and the ability to get the job done tonight took precedent over making a part that you can't see without a flashlight pretty. would post a picture but you can't see it so no point in trying. just down to rebuilding the front brake system and rehanging the horn. my biggest problem will be keeping my hands off it til i get my parts assembled. i keep fuckin' with things and make more work for myself.

FUCK...me...running

if anyone read the last post you would see that i said "from a list of things i'm down to two." well that may have been a little over optimistic of me. while i was tearing down the front brake caliper for rebuild i decided to hide my wiring in the bars, while i started prepping for that i wanted to start the bike one last time. fucker wouldn't start. the starter sounded like shit so i pulled it off to count the teeth, they were all there. i couldnt pull it apart because one of the case screws is bent and won't unscrew. i'll  cut it off and put a new one on but when i put the starter back on the bike won't start now. when i turn the key the lights won't even come on. i deduced i lost ground somewhere because the ground locations i used to use don't work anymore but the battery is fully charged up. i was ready to roll this in the drive way and put a road flare in the tank.

Everything Louder than Everything else.

got the exhaust finished this morning. Danny called me at 830 on a saturday saying he'd be over in 45 min. by 11 the pipes were all welded up and rehung. when i fired it off to hear it with no leaks it actually shot a piece of slag out of the pipe and blew past danny. when i reved it up i aparently hurt his hearing a little bit. I can't thank him enough for helping me with this. i am a novice welder and didn't have the tools at home to make it come out this good. still gotta wrap and paint the pipes but from a list of things i gotta fix before its drivable i'm down to two. gotta make sure it charges itself while driving and gotta make sure it stops. front brakes are next and checking the generator / vr while i wait for parts in the intermin. then. its done. the last post will be a video of 360 view and startup.

Bath Time!

i've owned this bike for almost 10 months and have never washed it. having starting issues right now so i'm dead in the water until i get it figured out so i figured i would roll it in to the drive way and rinse it down.

now i have to figure out why its not starting. i'm thinking the neutral safety switch has an issue. i couldn't get any power to the wire when i probed it on sunday. i'll hot wire the starter and see if i get a grind or not