My 60th birthday present

[MaxPete]

...or possibly they may have been installed because the shop was out of -7s...

I could also be the way the bike was ridden by the P/O. Despite the vibration, in my experience, the odd blast above 5K rpm is good for the 650 engine. Too much putt-putting around always tended to foul the plugs on my '75 B-model. I don't have enough experience with the '76 yet but I wouldn't expect it to be too different.

My point is that you really won't know until you've had a chance to ride it for a while.

Pete

 

[Paul Sutton]

I have just been catching up on you 60th present - awesome and much improved over what already was a nice bike. I love what you did to those rims. Do they put salt on the roads where you live? The salt is what attacks the aluminum and if left on too long turns a dark colour. I now spray the bike lightly after each winter ride and dry the water off. This would be much easier if I had compressed air.

I look forward to the finished article - Well done.

 

[Mailman]

I love what you did to those rims. Do they put salt on the roads where you live? The salt is what attacks the aluminum and if left on too long turns a dark colour.

Thanks Paul, I live in the desert southwest , no snow, no salt here, and it rains so infrequently that the only time this bike will get wet is when I wash it! The only things that dont fare well here is rubber, vinyl and batteries due to the intense sun and heat.

 

[MaxPete]

Yup Mailman is a lucky duck - great weather every day, no salt, no road mush.

What a paradise....compared to where I live (and you too Paul). Canada is nice but cold and Cardiff is nice, but perhaps a bit....damp....from time to time.

Pete

 

[DanielBlack]

Yup Mailman is a lucky duck - great weather every day, no salt, no road mush.

What a paradise....compared to where I live (and you too Paul). Canada is nice but cold and Cardiff is nice, but perhaps a bit....damp....from time to time.

Pete

Yeah, check in with us in July.

Pete, I believe you live near Stratford. I used to go there every year in early October. Beautiful autumn.

 

[Mailman]

Yeah, check in with us in July.

Yeah, Roger that! We've had year after year of record breaking heat and a long running drought. We have 8 months of beautiful weather and 4 months of blistering heat. But as they say " You don't have to shovel sunshine!"

 

[Paul Sutton]

MaxPete - I hope Mailman goes outside sometimes and throws salt, ice cubes and some of that wet stuff at his bike so that he appreciates his weather better.

 

[MaxPete]

Yes - I think that would be a great idea! Perhaps he and DB could get together and do it as a team!

...of course, that would likely provoke a visit from those nice young men and their clean white jackets from the funny farm...

 

[Mailman]

Today was a humbling experience. I went out to the garage to do what I thought was going to be a quickie job, drain and refill my forks with fresh oil. I figured that most likely the forks would have thick black crud, if anything in them. So I put my bike up on the center stand and drained the left fork leg. Much to my surprise what came out was fresh clean looking automatic transmission fluid, 5 ounces worth.

Then on to the right leg, and what drained out was thin and black, not ATF, 6 ounces worth. Hmmm, that's weird.

So I got everything drained, refitted the drain screws, and moved on to removing the fork caps so that I could add the new fork oil. I am using 7 ounces of 10 weight Bel Ray fork oil per leg.

HOWEVER....I could not get the fork caps loose. I had loosened the top fork clamps and sprayed WD-40 on the caps ,I had a few tools, a 17mm Allen head 1/2" drive socket and a 17mm piece of hexagonal stock that I purchased from Mikes XS that you can fit a wrench over, anyway I could not for the life of me break them loose. I finally used a big hammer and beat the crap out of it and it broke loose.
At this point I was feeling pretty good, I removed the left fork cap and then I started working the right loose with the socket wrench.
This is where things got ugly fast. I don't know what I was thinking. The bike was just on the center stand and as soon as the last threads came loose the front end collapsed with a bang the bike lurched forward and came off the center stand and the whole thing fell over on its side with a crash. I was stunned.

I struggled to get it upright and get the bike jack under it so I could get it up in the air and get my forks back together.
Afterward I was surveying the damage which fortunately was minimal, the right side front and rear turn signal have very minor scuffs and also the right side mirror has a very minor scuff.
I share this as a warning to anyone else who might be attempting this job. Don't remove the fork caps unless the bikes front wheel is elevated.

Until next time,
Cheers Bob

 

[MaxPete]

Awwww Bob - what a drag. Well, just chalk it up to experience. I've got TONS of experience.

That's why I call my garage the Disaster Central Workshop.

Anyhow, it sounds like nothing was too badly damaged and if the scuffs really bug you, the parts can be replaced quite inexpensively.

Dammit - I hate it when stuff like that happens.

Pete

 

[Mailman]

Haha thanks, I'm evolving as a human being. Not one swear word was yelled, no wrenches thrown. Believe it or not , after it was over there was nothing to do but groan and survey the damage. I told my wife, " Well that was a learning experience."

 

[MaxPete]

You're a better man than I, my friend.

Among my many faults is an unfortunate tendency to turn the air a bit blue for a moment when things like that happen. I put it down to time spent in the petroleum industry in the developing world. At least, that's my story.

Pete

 

[David Toll]

Firstly Bob, my commiserations. I know the reflective self cross-examination an error like that can bring on especially in someone like yourself who has devoted such care and attention to the restoration of his motorcycle. C'est la vie my friend and it doesn't sound like the reparations will prove too costly. Any smash we can walk away from...........
Secondly, if you don't mind, what were the mechanics of that tumble? Do the springs pop out causing the forks to collapse? Did the forks disengage from the triple tree? What caused the bang you described? When you say "elevated", do you mean supported in some way so that the weight is off the forks?
I only ask so that I may avoid the same situation when my time inevitably comes.
Cheers Dave

 

[MaxPete]

Good questions David.

Mailman: I suspect this mishap would not have occurred had there been a block of wood under the front of the engine.....n'est-ce pas?

Pete

 

[gggGary]

Anything under engine or front engine mount. Once front wheel is removed the bike will "sit" on the rear tire but I tend to back that up with a jack under the engine somewhere. Hint; do not OVER DO raising the jack, too high and it will take the weight off the center stand and over she goes, yeah, caught it just in time. I normally have the bike on the HF table lift and ratchet strap the rear down to the platform.

 

[Mailman]

Yes , I just didn't think. The springs are what keep the forks extended. As soon as the fork caps are off it allows the springs to come up and out the top of the forks. When the bike is on the center stand the bike is weighted onto the front wheel,( you know the rear is off the ground.)
So as soon as I removed the last cap the chain of events happened very rapidly. The springs were no longer contained , the forks collapsed, the whole front of the bike slammed downward with enough force that it jumped off of the center stand and it was laying on its side within seconds of my removing the cap. Faster than I could say "What the hell just happened?"

 

[Mailman]

You know I had my Harbor Freight Bike Jack leaning on the wall just a few feet away. I just didn't think I needed it.
Had I used that, I wouldn't be splainin myself now. Haha!
I also didn't remove my front wheel.

 

[David Toll]

My thanks Bob. Don't be too hard on yourself. I made a mistake once, I think it was a Tuesday.....
I will re-read both your response and Gary's post before I touch the front forks. Probably still screw it up.
No further need to revisit the incident on my behalf.
Cheers

 

[fredintoon]

You're a better man than I, my friend.
Among my many faults is an unfortunate tendency to turn the air a bit blue for a moment when things like that happen. I put it down to time spent in the petroleum industry in the developing world. At least, that's my story.
Pete

Hi Pete, not just working in the petroleum industry, aerospace work will do it too, or indeed, shop floors in any industry.
My wife and I were just starting our life together and I'd just stepped into the kitchen from doing an extended grunt, groan and vile words centrestand spring installation to see my wife cowering in fear. I asked what had scared her.
You! she said. I heard that terrible language and I was frightened of what you might do when you lost your temper like that.
But I'm not angry at all, I'm happy.
But those words, the vile cussing?
It's like when we drive past the refinery and there's a tower with a big flame on top.
That flame is burning off all the refinery's gas leaks so the whole thing don't blow up.
Cussing at things until they work right is the same thing, it burns off the rage so I don't bring it into the house.

 

[David Toll]

Interesting sideline this "cussing" one. In Oz, indecent language is part of the national identity. There is no other English speaking country in the world that can apply so many different intentions to the basic swear word. You can be;
a bastard - which means your parents weren't married at the time of your birth, or..
a lucky bastard - which means you're a good bloke who's had a stroke of good fortune or...
a right bastard - which means that you are a relatively poor example of humanity or....
a Bastard - which means that you're a mate who's just gone one up on you in friendly contest or...
a grumpy bastard - which means you're unapproachable and anti-social.
We Australians have taken "cussing", as you term it, to the state of a linguistic characteristic. Which is not to say that we don't approach our dialogue with a sense of decorum. Men moderate their language in the presence of women, children, clergy and the police and most of our Aussie girls extend us the same courtesy.
Of course, certain terms are universally considered to be unacceptable for public broadcast, but these are the obvious ones that would be so identified in your country.
No genuine Australian male would "drop his bundle" and apologize for it. As Fred points out, it's a way of relieving the tension and making your point both clearly and succinctly.
Now back to the bikes.