As I got ready for a monster motorcycle maintenance session today, I told my youngest daughter I was going to degrease my 1986 Connie to try to find an oil leak. So we started talking about why the term is degreasing instead of de-oiling, since in most cases we are removing mainly oil but sometimes grease, other lubes, brake and fork fluid, etc. So "de-oiling" became our term, and one of us coined the phrase that is the title of this post-"Just De-oil With It".
The 86 Connie has a pretty consistent oil leak, maybe two, and is really dirty, gritty and nasty on the bottom of the bike from the oil getting everywhere and then picking up road dust, dirt and other junk. Besides not looking good and making the bike probably run a little hotter, it's starting to get on my pants when I ride. I'd like to find the leaks and repair them. Originally I wasn't going to if they had stayed small and I was closer to 100K, but I'm at about 92.6K and the leaks are sometimes pretty bad. So I spent about an hour and a half wiping, cleaning and generally taking care of Miss Swail. The final drive housing, aka the "pumpkin" used to be almost solid black! It appears the leak is coming from the back of the water pump or the alternator shaft, which means a pretty major job. Not routine motorcycle maintenance, but not pulling the bevel gear either!
I also got most the critical parts back on and working on the 1996 Connie. The replacement front brake set isn't bleeding quite right still, but I was dying to take it on a test ride, and needed to get some fuel through the carbs, so I got the main fairing and mirrors back on, suited up and went for a short, conservative test ride, especially since I didn't have much in the way of brakes. I had to cross Miss Swail's tank over, as "Belle's" tank leaks badly in the usual lower "corner" spot. Very difficult to fix, so I may just move the tank over and repaint it when I retire Miss Swail. It also appears the left front fork seal is failing, but I can try a few things and have an upgrade set of springs from the Connie forum.
Over-all a good day and I got a good deal done. I'll look for leaks again tomorrow and see if any are more apparent.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Friday, May 9, 2014
Kawasaki Concours Projects weekend-started last night
After finally getting it titled and registered in my name, it's time to get the 1994 Concours on the road and get serious about finding and fixing the leaks on Miss Swail. I actually got started on the projects last night, as I had some time and renewed desire to get the new front brake system on the 1994 bled. Well it's still not wanting to completely bleed, so I moved on to re-installing the main fairing stay, main fairing and speedometer.
Here's a helpful hint for Connie owners that do alot of work on the front of their bike and often find themselves working alone: If you take the main fairing off the stay and then the stay off the bike, you can do it by yourself much more easily than rigging a way to hold all the weight together. I learned this sorting out the broken main fairing stay on Miss Swail. So I ran up to Home Depot (the other H D) to get some replacement fasteners as some were missing or beat up. I quickly mounted the main fairing stay (BTW the fairing to frame bolts are 8x1.25 and probably 20mm long, but I forget and am not in my shop). Then it came time to mount the fairing. Here it does get a little tricky with only one person, but I've found getting 1 of the 6x1.0 nuts on the two post "tabs" on each side will hold it in place while you insert the bolts on each side of the fairing, route wiring, and then add and tighten the other two nuts. One thing I didn't do and I wish I had was I didn't wipe down the wiring harness with a moist rag to clean it up-between the blown brake caliper and dust it's a pretty big mess. If it comes back off I'm definitely doing that.
Battery is dead from sitting since February, so I left it on the trickle charger last night and will re-install it, the main fuse (stolen for Miss Swail when I blew that one....) and move the good fuel tank over. I'll try to fire it up and test ride it, soft front brakes and all, tomorrow afternoon. Fortunately I live on a quiet street and have a parking lot right around the corner for testing, or I'd really sort the front brakes out first. Due to the damage when the front left caliper blew, it may take a bit more work to get them right. I'll post more as the work progresses, and as I hunt the leak on Miss Swail.
Here's a helpful hint for Connie owners that do alot of work on the front of their bike and often find themselves working alone: If you take the main fairing off the stay and then the stay off the bike, you can do it by yourself much more easily than rigging a way to hold all the weight together. I learned this sorting out the broken main fairing stay on Miss Swail. So I ran up to Home Depot (the other H D) to get some replacement fasteners as some were missing or beat up. I quickly mounted the main fairing stay (BTW the fairing to frame bolts are 8x1.25 and probably 20mm long, but I forget and am not in my shop). Then it came time to mount the fairing. Here it does get a little tricky with only one person, but I've found getting 1 of the 6x1.0 nuts on the two post "tabs" on each side will hold it in place while you insert the bolts on each side of the fairing, route wiring, and then add and tighten the other two nuts. One thing I didn't do and I wish I had was I didn't wipe down the wiring harness with a moist rag to clean it up-between the blown brake caliper and dust it's a pretty big mess. If it comes back off I'm definitely doing that.
Battery is dead from sitting since February, so I left it on the trickle charger last night and will re-install it, the main fuse (stolen for Miss Swail when I blew that one....) and move the good fuel tank over. I'll try to fire it up and test ride it, soft front brakes and all, tomorrow afternoon. Fortunately I live on a quiet street and have a parking lot right around the corner for testing, or I'd really sort the front brakes out first. Due to the damage when the front left caliper blew, it may take a bit more work to get them right. I'll post more as the work progresses, and as I hunt the leak on Miss Swail.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Great day to ride and Poker Run/motorcycle ride raffle prize idea
After a brief hot spell in San Diego County that set records, we're back to our usual beautiful weather. The "heat wave" wasn't too bad, as we rode about 180 miles Saturday and only one stretch was particularly hot. As part of CMAs annual Run for the Son the San Diego streetbike chapters did a big loop around the county, and while we rode down from Laguna to Campo and the 94 stretch from east to west it was a little bit warm but not too bad. Tempuratures were in the high 80s and low 90s since we passed through in the late morning and got to the Barrett Junction Cafe around 12:30. This is a stretch of road you sure don't want to ride at 3 or 4 in the afternoon in the worst of our summer/early fall! This morning it's much cooler and the highs are back in the 70s for most of San Diego county. Yep, as always, blessed to live out here at least weather-wise!
OK, here's the idea on a cheap if not free way to built a decent raffle basket for poker runs or other motorcycle rides. Harbor Freight (www.harborfreight.com) always runs ads in motorcycle and car magazines, includes coupons in mailers, and generally has on-line ads that include freebies. You can get one freebie per day, even if you don't make a purchase! My current coupons include a magnetic tool dish, a "fluke" multi-meter, a clamp and other assorted tools. Sure, none of these are professional mechanic quality, but you can't beat free. If one of your group of riders lives or works near a Harbor Freight, why not swing by every week or two, grab one of the freebies and throw it in a box? Every three months or so, you'd have a collection of items that would get a few tickets during a raffle. While I didn't ask the manager of the Harbor Freight on Miramar Road here in San Diego, I bet if I nicely mentioned why I was collecting the items, they'd let me cash more than one coupon, or throw other stuff in. It never hurts to ask, right? BTW I am starting a box of items for this year's EXTORTION ONE SEVEN Memorial Poker Run.
OK, here's the idea on a cheap if not free way to built a decent raffle basket for poker runs or other motorcycle rides. Harbor Freight (www.harborfreight.com) always runs ads in motorcycle and car magazines, includes coupons in mailers, and generally has on-line ads that include freebies. You can get one freebie per day, even if you don't make a purchase! My current coupons include a magnetic tool dish, a "fluke" multi-meter, a clamp and other assorted tools. Sure, none of these are professional mechanic quality, but you can't beat free. If one of your group of riders lives or works near a Harbor Freight, why not swing by every week or two, grab one of the freebies and throw it in a box? Every three months or so, you'd have a collection of items that would get a few tickets during a raffle. While I didn't ask the manager of the Harbor Freight on Miramar Road here in San Diego, I bet if I nicely mentioned why I was collecting the items, they'd let me cash more than one coupon, or throw other stuff in. It never hurts to ask, right? BTW I am starting a box of items for this year's EXTORTION ONE SEVEN Memorial Poker Run.
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