7/6/12

A sad day...

My motor died on the highway yesterday. With close to 500 miles on my new top end, I'm a little puzzled.  If something wasn't done correctly when I put it back together, one would think that it would have failed a lot sooner. Today I plan on tearing the heads off and see what I find. I must admit, I'm a little apprehensive.  I have the same feeling in my gut that you get when you open the mail box and find a letter from the IRS when its no longer tax season. Time to crack open a beer and light a cigarette before I open this bitch.   I'm afraid my riding season is over and I just don't wanna find out for sure just yet. I think I'll go grab another beer...

On a side note, the ol' lady hated the fuckin seat. She had back surgery a few years back. About 10 miles in to her first ride on this thing, she told me she couldn't feel the left side of her body. But, this is why I love my wife, about a week later she wanted to give it another shot. She found a spot on that strangely cool excuse of a seat, to allow us to put about 30-40 miles on that thing, with only mild and normal discomfort that you notice from a rigid. I do plan on turning that seat pan that I have into more of a king and queen style seat. God knows I'll probably have time for that, since I already have the materials. I think financially, I'm not going to be able to get that motor back together anytime soon. So until next time, crack open one more beer.

6/23/12

Got er' did!

I got some accommodations for the ol lady added today. It's not exactly how I would liked to have done it. But it will work. And doesn't look bad. I eventually want to run everything raw, so I left the fender raw. So now I'm gonna get everything cleaned up and then try to scare the ol lady on her first spin with this beast.





6/10/12

Top end tore apart...

Well, I got her apart. They were .060 over and about .006-.007 over that now, with significant scoring in the cylinders. One of the ring grooves on the rear piston collapsed, see pic.  Hopefully I can use the cylinders. I see that they sell up to .080 oversized pistons and rings. I will have to forgo the head job for now since money is tight. The rods move side to side approx. 1/16". Bruce Palmer's bible says I'm good up to 3/32".  Very little up and down movement on them. Talk about carbon build up. Look at the dome of that piston. I'm glad I'm not going to be scraping those. I scraped one of the combustion chambers and that took about an hour. I'm hoping I can get the cylinders bored, new pistons and rings for under $300.  Hopefully that will get me to winter. Then all I need to do is by a winning lotto ticket and the hole thing can be gone through...







6/8/12

Broke ass biker!


Well, I've been working my ass off lately, and after catching up on my bills I still find myself with limited funds to throw into the bike. I'm seriously thinking about getting a sign and standing on the side of the road. It will read "will work for parts!".  I needed a new fender because I would like to add a sissybar for the ol' lady and mine is too short. I found a fender from a 1971 aermacchi for $30.  Tried to mount it, but it will hit my battery box, damnit. So now I'm looking for a cheap stock style oil tank, with a battery tray, so I can get it out of the way.
I was hoping to nurse the top end until winter, but I don't know if that is gonna happen. I'm getting way to much oil in my combustion chambers. I'm talking wiping my plugs off after 10 miles give or take. I might have to shut her down by the weekend.
So maybe the chopper gods will shine down on me soon and give me a break!  Till next time, - Toby...