Recovery.

So Sunday my dad and I drove up to Urbana to fix and retrieve my bike. We rolled in at 9:00am sharp and after coffee and chatting, we got to work on the bike at 9:30. Rolled the bike into Tom's air conditioned part of the garage and took off the tank, seat and grip and loosened up the carbs so we could get at the cable connections. There's really no room in there, so it took awhile. Finished the job at around 12, and I was shocked at the results. The throttle response was really quick and not loose and slow like it used to be. There was way too much slack in the cable, and by the looks of it, it was going to snap on the road anyway.

So we put back on the tank and seat and put it all together and took it out into the driveway for a test ride. It took longer than usual to warm up with the choke on, and when I turned off the choke...so did the bike. The bike would not run without the choke on, which is unusual and just not good for the engine. I took it out on the gravel road about half a mile to go through the gears, and it worked fine until I noticed that the bumpy terrain was making the choke work its way down to the bottom, eventually shutting it off. We took it back to the garage and after tinkering with it for about an hour, decided that the rubber intake ports were cracked through and were leaking air. We sealed them up the best we could with electrical tape, and as long as we kept the engine going and giving it throttle, it would run. If I come to a stop sign and let go of the throttle, it'll turn the bike off at the stop sign. I decided the job of riding the bike home should be left to the elder rider with over 35 years of riding experience, and he was cool with it.


We only got 4 miles before the battery died at a stop sign.
Battery!? We didn't even TOUCH it!
So I got out of the car and pushed my dad for about 1/5th of a mile on gravel so he could bump start it. We got back to the garage, diagnosed the problem, and realized that the battery connections were really loose. A quick fix with a screwdriver and we were back on the road. This time we made it home with no problems.

Grant Wood's "American Gothic" painted on a barn Along Rt. 30 near Mt. Vernon, IA

The next day, we took a look at the carbs for leaks, and found bad O-rings and replaced them. Took off the electrical tape from the boots and replaced it with a sealant, adjusted the idle and it works great now! We found like 5 problems we had to fix in one week, which I guess is pretty good.

I decided I was sick of my foam grips, so I ordered a set of rubber grips from JC Whitney, which will hopefully come tomorrow along with a Vista Cruise cruise control unit. That will be really nice. Took the bikes to the car wash for a quick pre-ride rinse.

Also, my dad introduced me to a bench grinder on Monday so I could polish some parts. I started with my fuse box cover, and it turned out great! The beginning product looked exactly like the cover on the left, and the finished cover is polished up nice :)



I still have a lot to do before my trip Saturday!