First few rides (trails, failures, questions)

[curt698]

So last night I put the finishing touches on the old girl around 10:00pm and take her out for a test ride. My parents like about 3 miles away figure I'll head that way in case of trouble. Bike is running great! Torque on top of torque! First few issues become apparent quickly; gauges don't light up (short ride no problem), left turns shorted out FAST (fender rubbed rear wire). Then about a mile from the destiation something hits my foot and the sound of the motor changes. I come to the corner and the bike is laboring and then dies. I'm not sure what caused but the bar that holds the drum assembly from spinning is dragging on the ground and the brake actuator bar wrapped around the hub and snapped! Rear drum is locked. Dad comes with some tools and we free up the brake and I head home. So $30 of parts more and the brake is good to go.

Question, I bought some mirrors from Mikes and they basically flap in the wind. They are good for only 1 thing, the law. Has anyone tried a return for something like this?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[curt698]

Well day 2, left turns had a short from the rear fender pinching the wire. I fix that ride 1.5 miles flip the switch to turn right and the light is solid. Look behind me and the bolt holding the left rear has sheared and the turn is hanging by the wire.

I look forward to the day I go for a ride and nothing falls off.

Other than that seems to have a small flat spot somewhere around 5k. All in all running well.

 

[pumps]

Loctite everything. In some instances I also use the nylon locknuts. Remember these are 30 something year old bikes ( mine is 33 yrs old) and a lot of them have not had a lot of TLC. Slowly but surely you'll get to a point where not TOO many things fall off! But I always have my toolkit.
I don't know about mikes mirrors but mine which I think are the stock ones, vibrate so bad I can't see much in them anyways.

 

[curt698]

Yep I'll be busting out the loctite tonight. It is fun to be on it instead of looking at it though!

 

[curt698]

Well last night went for a ride and this time the nice little plexiglass shelf I made to hold the recifier shattered. Luckily I pulled the clutch right away bacause the recifier was on the chain. The fuse blew but no futher damage. I now have to find a stronger mount and wait for the next thing to fall off!

As Pumps suggested I'm going to have a loctite party for the old girl this weekend.

 

[curt698]

Well, recifier is back on and secure. I have a couple short rides now with nothing going wrong or falling off so I was starting to feel pretty good then.....

I noticed a small wet brown spot on the cemment There might be a drop or two every hour from the size of the spot but I am deffinently leaking oil.

This is getting a little frusterating. I know she's old but I just want to ride!!!

 

[gggGary]

Park it on gravel, it is old. Most likely culprit is hte clutch push rod seal not a bad DIY repair and not critical don't let it stop you from riding. As always clean any possible leak area with solvent, ride it, see where the fresh oil is. a puff of talc (foot powder) makes a great oil seep finder.

 

[curt698]

Thanks for that gggGary, I really did not want to have to park her. Great weather here and just starting to feel like I have a good chance of getting to me destination with out a break down. 70miles since rebirth!

 

[gentlemanjim]

Not to lecture, but I always do a thorough inspection and check out fuctioning applications before I ride. Lights, bolt tightening with a torque wrench at the proper ft lbs. settings , drive chain adjust, cam chain adjust, valve lash, chain lube, fresh oil change and cleaned filter screen, clutch adjust at the pushrod and at the lever.

Yes the leak is most likely the pushrod seal, mine leaks too and I just put a new one in.

PM is your friend. Time spent upfront will avoid safety, mechaincal failures and lost time down the road.

Happy riding

 

[XSLeo]

To keep the spots off the cement, put a piece of cardboard under the bike.
If you have had the bike very long you will have many cardboard boxes around from getting parts.
I agee with eveyone else, the spots are from the push rod seal. Easy fix. Read through the how to at Mike's, has pics too.
The leak could also be from the nut on your front sprocket being loose. many have reported this nut being barely finger tight when checked.

 

[xjwmx]

As leo says, it's as likely the seal behind the front sprocket nut as the pushrod seal. Check the front sprocket nut, as it could come off. Having the nut tight fixes that leak. Another thing it could be is oil slinging off the chain and running down inside the cover. Oil from oiling the chain.

 

[realgone]

in other news, i bought some mirrors from mikes a few weeks ago and have the same problem. they're fine until about 55mph, then the wind pushes them inward. unreal.

 

[curt698]

Leo and xjwmx, I am going to check that sproket nut before my next ride because I was hearing something funny towards the end of my last ride. At first I thought it was the brakes and then I realized that it was the chain making a rattling noise.

Thanks for the info!