First Bike

[TJDukit]

So the fork seals were really not that difficult once I figured out how to get it done(the first one took really long since I didn't have everything I needed).  Some people say you can do it without the fork damper tool but I could not, instead of going and spending 30 bucks on one I went to lowes to get a 5/8" bolt which has a 23mm head on it which will hold the damper so you can get the drain bolt out.  I just took each fork off the bike one at a time after losening the top cap on the fork tube.  I drained as much of the oil out as I could after I got the fork tube off the bike.  I then used a tie down strap on a saw horse since I don't have a work bench with to hold it down.  I took the 5/8" bolt and ground down the threads square so it would stick into a 1/2" drive socket and used another bolt with a 9/16" head on it with two nuts jammed together and a 9/16" deep well socket and some extensions to reach into the fork tube and loosend the damper.  Next time I do it, it will probably only take me about 30 minutes per side.  I also just googled "motorcycle fork seals" which brought up a bunch of hits on how to do it yourself and there is a write up in the F.A.Q.s section here on the forum about doing fork seals.

If I had a welder I would have just welded the bolt to a long T-handle but instead I just taped it all together and it set me back less and $1, you will also need a 2 foot peice of 1 1/2" schedule 40 pvc tubing, I picked up a 9foot section for 3 bucks.  The seals and oil set me back $44.  If you like I can post up a picture of my home brewed fork damper tool.

[dohabee]

ok, lets see it.

[TJDukit]

3" 5/8" bolt threads ground to about 1/2" square to fit into the drive side of a 1/2" drive socket.


Bolt with 9/16" head and two nuts jammed together to lock them in place.


1/2" drive 9/16" socket and a 3/8" drive deep well 9/16" socket.


All put together without tape.


I kinda wish I had gotten a 10" long bolt then I wouldn't have had to use two extensions to reach but it got the job done cheap.  Like I said I will get a steel rod long enough and make a T-handle to weld the bolt to when I get around to it, since I don't have a welder it will have to wait until I get over to my buddies house to get it done.  Maybe this will help some other people save themselves the 30 bucks I didn't want to spend.

[TJDukit]

So I finally tore into the carbs today.  It's amazing how simple these carbs are compared to the ones on cars...I'll never even need the manual again to just pull them and clean them.  So when I was putting them back together I put the washer on the jet needle on first on one of the carbs...stupid I should have looked at the book but I didn't.  It ran like crap for a while until I decided to pull the covers off the carbs and look at them to realize what I had done.  I thought after riding it a few times that I was getting into a guttless wonder of a bike but after getting the carbs cleaned and put together right it's not a bad little bike...it was still backfiring a little so I pulled the plugs and sure enough the gap was way too big almost .045 inches so I adjusted fixed that...by that point I'd had a few beers in me so my friend took it for a ride.  Huge difference just hearing it...no more backfiring and it just went like it should.  So I should have it registered this week and I think saturday I am gonna go for my first real ride should be a couple hours up and back down one of the canyons.  I'm gonna put some sea foam in it before the ride and hopefully the performance gets a little better as things get cleaned out a little more.

I also checked my air pressure today which I hadn't done yet(I guess I'm kind of an idiot...tires seem to be the last thing on my mind sometimes) but the other day I was riding and making a left hand turn and the front tire just slipped out from under me a little bit.  Scared the crap out of me, I think it rolled onto the side wall and just lost grip.  I'll check it out this week and make some turns progressively faster to see how it does with the tires at the right psi.  One of the fork tubes is bent a little from the previous owners spill but it is bent right at the lower clamp and doesn't affect the shock movement at all.  If it feels at all this week like that it is affecting anything I'll replace it before I take it out on any roads above 30mph.

I really think this is gonna be a good bike for me to learn on and my best friend wants to learn and my other friend wants to teach his wife to ride, and then there is my wife who is a little iffy but I think she can handle this bike just fine.  I really want my wife to learn so next  year when I get a cruiser she can go ride with me.

Well other than synching the carbs I dont think there is much else I can do to make this thing run better.  It needs a new tach because at idle mine reads at about 3200rpm and when it's not running it sits at 1500 but it's looking like it's going to be a really fun bike.