One Hundred Twenty Seven Days! That's how long I've had this bike. I have worked very nearly every weekend on it. Every chance I got I was out in the garage working on it. When I wasn't working on it, I was planning what my next move would be, researching, reading threads on this forum and others until my eyes were bleeding. Asking questions and seeking advice from those more experienced than myself.
Today was the first time I was able to take it out and just ride it like a motorcycle. Still not perfect but I feel like I could actually go for a ride somewhere and not get myself in trouble. Haha!
Today I started out by pulling my tank off and removing my old throttle cable and replacing it with a new Motion Pro cable. I cleaned and lubricated the throttle housing and drip oiled my new cable. I then was very careful about installing it exactly the way the factory assembly manual shows how to.
Next up I wanted to change out my main jets for one size up to try and rid myself of the lean condition that I believe is causing me so much grief. 5Twins had told me that they could be changed without removing the carbs by just removing the drain screws and replacing them from the bottom. Cool idea, I'm all about less work, except I didn't have a short blade flat screwdriver with a narrow enough blade to reach the jets. So plan B, I decided to drop the bowls and install the jets on the bench.
Pulling them wasn't too hard, getting them back on wasn't so much fun. I dropped a screw down in never never land between the frame and the motor and had to fool around trying to retrieve the screw.
Also the inside screws had to be installed totally blind. I had to use a dental mirror just to align the screw.
Jets are now installed, and I also richened up the air mixture screws by 1/2 turn.
So I fired it up. It now starts easily and idles steady. I warmed it up and went for a ride. My hanging RPM'S is for the most part gone. It rides and shifts and idles SO much better, with the larger jetting it also feels like it has more power and accelerates harder. I said the hanging RPM'S were mostly gone and that is true, it only occurred a couple times. Usually when I came to a stop after running hard, a quick twist of the throttle brought it right down.
I cannot overstate how much better behaved the bike feels now. What a difference a week makes!
When I got back home I wanted to test a couple things. The charging is spot on, I put a multi meter on it and it is charging perfectly at idle and increasing with rpm. Beautiful!
I also checked the timing. Again , right on at idle, but for some reason , still not advancing fully at 3,000 rpm.
I have not yet installed my Pamco E Advancer, but it's on my bench ready to go..
I think I'm just going to ride it for a little while to see if it smooths out a little before installing it. All in all I'm very happy with the way things are improving. Thanks to everyone that has offered moral support when I was getting discouraged.
Still to come steering head bearings, swing arm bushings, E Advancer, and, and,and....
Until next time,
Bob
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