Topic: Given a Gold wing

[heffay]

I was hoping Karma would bite you in the ass, but NO, it gave you another bike!
lol, just kidding.   

Congrats... you should update your signature in CeLeBrAtIoN!

I predict this thread to take on a life of its own and grow exponentially... in 3... 2... 1

[78 k550]

My carb's came off and cleaned out 3 clogged needle valve screens out of 4. Put them back on major leaking out the #3. Turn gas off tap float bowl go inside have a smoke with my friend. get ready to pull the carb's. I fire it up petcock not on ofter a min I notice then turn on petcock. No gas runnning out the #3. I'm off for a ride.
I hope I never get stuck 18 miles outside Torrington, Wy. again.
I'm surprised my bike even ran.

Paul

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Damn engineers!  They're everywhere.

Had a 84 Z28. 305 150hp. I just had to have a Camaro. Held up well though. May be because it wouldn't burn the tires.  Looked nice I guess.

[scottly]

The Smithy again works good as new, which isn't saying much, really. (Another "cheap " tool where I got what I paid for, even though it was a good sum of money outlay.)

Sorry to rub it in, but this sounds to me like a case of "A poor craftsman blames his tools".

[TwoTired]

Sorry to rub it in, but this sounds to me like a case of "A poor craftsman blames his tools".

Well, I have doubts you are truly sorry.  But, I never claimed to be proficient on a lathe.  Of course, I've never operated a known good one, either. 

So you tell me, it is normal for the cross slide wheel to turn very tight through half its rotation and be way loose through the other half?  The tool slide lead screw does the same thing, only worse.
Cross slide movement direction play is 7 graduations (.014"), 6 graduations (.012") on the tool slide wheel, And 20 graduations (.040") on the saddle lead screw hand wheel.
This is normal for a quality tool?

How interesting would it be for a master carver to be given only a butter knife, no sharpening tools, and hard maple to carve?

I began to play guitar on a cheap $5 used Stella.  (Mom was pissed I quit her piano lessons, and $5 was about all I had.)  The neck was warped upwards with 3/8 to 1/2" action at the fretboard near the body.  Worse, the top sound board was cracked and allowed the neck to list upwards to where the sixth string missed the fretboard upwards of the 8th fret.  I'd never known what a good guitar should be as I had no instructor.  I was able to learn chords only if finger positions above the 4th fret were never used.
The guitar was so hard to fret, I nearly gave up completely, and did so for three months.  I did learn all the chords I could up to the 3rd fret.  5th fret chords were near impossible to play clearly.
I could finger them, but I couldn't fret them.  When I traded and HO train for a sears Strat copy, it was so easy to play that I advanced capability tremendously, and learned more in a month than I had learned in the previous year.  People wanted to listen to me play.

I love tools, and can usually recognize a good quality one if I see it first.  The Smithy was mail order.  If I knew then what I know now, I'd have sent it back.
The Stella looked like a guitar when I bought it.
The Smithy looked like a lathe when I bought it.
They seem to be equivalent quality and both make the operator work harder and struggle more to do even simple things.

I think the Smithy can be reworked to function way better.  But, I'll need another lathe to make new parts for it. 

[TwoTired]

Damn engineers!  They're everywhere.

Had a 84 Z28. 305 150hp. I just had to have a Camaro. Held up well though. May be because it wouldn't burn the tires.  Looked nice I guess.

The IROC was danged impressive when new.  Soft sticky tires.   I could take clover leaf on ramps at 50MPH +.  It was remarkable that just when you thought it may not make the turn, simply turning the steering wheel some more would make the car just tighten its turn.  Pity those tires only lasted 15K miles.
The Michelin Pilots I put on the car are nice tires.  But, they don't grab like the originals did even though the tread width was 12" across on both.  It's a mileage vs traction trade off.  The car will spin the rear Michelins far easier on take off than the originals, too.  But, the launches were better with those original Goodyear tires.

Cheers,

[TwoTired]

I made good progress on polishing today.  I made a new tool.  I bought a pack of Scotch brite pads. And cut three pads into  4 inch rounds.  Then center punched them for a 1/4 inch arbor, stacked all three pads, and chucked it all in a 3/8" drill.  All the intake runners now have a nice brushed finish, with only a couple small crevices needing attention from the dremel.  I might make some smaller Sctochbrite wheels for the Dremel tomorrow.  I wonder how much RPM they'll take?

The satin finish looks pretty good.  Now, I'm torn between just clear coating them as is or going on with a more polished look.

For the Carb tops, there is that pesky raised lettering on top; Keihin and Japan.  Polishing and cleaning between the letters, has me a bit perplexed.  Anyone solved that task?

Cheers,

[Bankerdanny]

I did some experimenting with a set of parts carbs I have and rather like the semi-brushed look over a mirror polish.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Sand the letters down??

[CBGhia]

I made good progress on polishing today.  I made a new tool.  I bought a pack of Scotch brite pads. And cut three pads into  4 inch rounds.  Then center punched them for a 1/4 inch arbor, stacked all three pads, and chucked it all in a 3/8" drill.  All the intake runners now have a nice brushed finish, with only a couple small crevices needing attention from the dremel.  I might make some smaller Sctochbrite wheels for the Dremel tomorrow.  I wonder how much RPM they'll take?

The satin finish looks pretty good.  Now, I'm torn between just clear coating them as is or going on with a more polished look.

For the Carb tops, there is that pesky raised lettering on top; Keihin and Japan.  Polishing and cleaning between the letters, has me a bit perplexed.  Anyone solved that task?

Cheers,

Did you see the guy on the NGWclub forum that did that to his whole bike?  The whole engine and frame, pretty much everything. 

[TwoTired]

Did you see the guy on the NGWclub forum that did that to his whole bike?  The whole engine and frame, pretty much everything.

No. Have link?

Polishing pretty much requires OCD, I reckon.  I just spent 2 hours standing at the bench with the Scotcbrite buffer and then the muslin B&D buffer.  Had to stop because of back and neck pain.  I'm sure it is age related. 

The Scotchbite buffer tool I made took care of the raised letter problem.  All the runners are now polished.   Still have two more carb tops to polish.  Then I think I'll clear coat.

Not sure I'd have done this much detail work if I didn't already know the engine was good.  But, I know of another 1100, that needs carb work.   Must focus...

Cheers, 

[CBGhia]

http://ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=24698&start=345

Polishing definitely requires OCD.  I get bored and my stuff shows it.  I could do better with the sanding, but I will be trying the scotchbrite method.

[TwoTired]

Thought I'd show the well worn Scotchbrite wheel I made and the carb top finish it creates below it.  The polished runner and carb top on the right is the buffing wheel step right after the Scotchbrite.
I've decided I just can't make it perfect, and I don't need it to be.  There were already tool marks on all of it before I started any cleaning.  So, what you see on the right is what I'll put on the bike.  I don't need it to win shows.  But, I think shiny is good and it looks shiny enough for me.   

Cheers,

[scottly]

So you tell me, it is normal for the cross slide wheel to turn very tight through half its rotation and be way loose through the other half?  The tool slide lead screw does the same thing, only worse.

That may well be a quality issue with regards to the lead-screws. Does this happen in the same manner over the full travel? Are the tight and loose spots exactly 180 degrees apart on the hand-wheels? Are all moving parts properly lubricated? What model of lathe?

Cross slide movement direction play is 7 graduations (.014"), 6 graduations (.012") on the tool slide wheel, And 20 graduations (.040") on the saddle lead screw hand wheel.
This is normal for a quality tool?

That's not bad. All Acme thread lead screws have back-lash, and rack-and-pinions have even more. You learn to deal with it, just like you learn how to tune a guitar: it doesn't matter how good a guitar is if it's not properly tuned.

PS Hit your semi-polished parts with some Mothers instead of clear-coat, and call the job done, unless you are feeling a surge of OCD.
 

[RAFster122s]

What compounds are you using TT?
I will have to pull the domes on my CVs off my CX500 to show what's possible with some more work. 
I have had good results using Maas polish for protection after polishing. It lasts pretty long between touch ups.
With quite a bit of buffing you can even have polished float bowls...far more work than the domes...just start at 400 or 600 and go up to 1000 before polishing on the buffer. 
Die grinders make nice polishing tools with decent buffs...not as close quartered capable as a dremel but faster results. You need to let the compound do your cutting, not higher pressure, but you probably already learned this...

[TwoTired]

That may well be a quality issue with regards to the lead-screws. Does this happen in the same manner over the full travel?

It's variable over the length of travel.  And the amount of slop varies with slide position.

Are the tight and loose spots exactly 180 degrees apart on the hand-wheels?

Pretty much, for the peaks and valleys.  But the amount of tightness and looseness varies with slide position.

Are all moving parts properly lubricated? What model of lathe?

Yes to lubrication.   They don't make this AT300-3 model anymore.  A blessing for all but those unlucky enough to have bought one new, imo.

[TwoTired]

What compounds are you using TT?

I just used the Devine Dico stick I put in the photo above.
I do have some tripoli, emery, and jewlers rouge sticks, too. 

I have had good results using Maas polish for protection after polishing. It lasts pretty long between touch ups.
With quite a bit of buffing you can even have polished float bowls.

The carb bowls are pretty burried in the Goldwing.  Not many look at the bike with an inspection mirror.  I really don't want an ongoing polish routine.  Washing is plenty of work on its own.  Particularly so, if you have several bikes.  I suppose if I only had one or two it would be ok to polish at six month intervals.  But, I don't want to be polishing every week or month.

You need to let the compound do your cutting, not higher pressure, but you probably already learned this...

Yes.  Must keep the wheel speed high.  The B&D forces you to do that , as it had no real torque.

The new buffing wheels I got are quite out of round.  I've not faced that problem before.  Gonna have to find a rake.

Cheers,

[TwoTired]

So, the carbs got rebuilt with Randakk's master kit.  I polished the tops and runners and clear coated with acrylic.  Then put them back on the bike.
Rebuilt the seriously dragging rear brake caliper.  Then found that the left front was also dragging badly.  So, I rebuilt the front calipers, too.  Turns out the left front caliper had been assembled incorrectly, and likely contributed to the major drag.  Oh well, they need a good cleaning, as they not only had what appeared be black jello in them, but they also had white crusties at the seal and piston, too.  Bike rolls easily, now.  Then I found the oil leak source.  Remember the tach didn't work?  Well it goes into the fuel pump which is driven by the right camshaft.  Fuel pump is held on with two bolts and one doubles as a tach cable retainer.  That one was stripped, bolt threads survived aluminum in head did not.  The pump gasket actually had dirt on the contact face where the oil was dibbling out.  The tach cable was bad, too.  Casing had pulled out of the crimp at one end, and the internal drive cable had rusted solid to the end piece.  Freed the internal cable and lubed, then hammered the end back onto the cable sheath.  I put a Perma-coil in the head casting.  So, now the tach works and the engine doesn't drip.
I started it up and vacuum balanced the carbs.  The stop-run-stop switch hasn't any detents, and must have been bumped while putting on the rebuilt vista cruise, replacement throttle tube, and getting those frickin' throttle cables back on and adjusted.  Took a while to get the thing to start before a little experimentation with the stop-run-stop switch got fire immediately.  Something else to refurbish.
Engine now runs really well.  I took the naked carcass (the bike) around the block a few times.  Didn't get over 40 in a residential area, though.  Good power, responsive.  I wonder how long it will take to get used to heel toe shifting?  I guess that will change the wear pattern on the top of my boot toe.  At the very least, I'll have to take out the slop in the linkage in the future.
Cooling system works, doesn't leak and the fan cycles on and off when it gets hot enough.

Anyway, the bad news is that there is a rattle/clunking coming from the rear section of the motor unit.  Only does it at RPMS below about 2500-2000.  Seems like a trans issue, but the timing of it seems like a loose valve rocker.   I haven't taken the rocker covers off yet, as I was told they were just adjusted 10 miles ago before parked.  So, it seems I'm looking at taking the motor out and splitting cases.  This has dampened my enthusiasm, considerably.  And, reinforces my desire to NOT accept bikes that have seen internal work NOT done by the factory.  I'll check the tappets anyway, and hope that's the issue.  But, I think that is just wishful thinking on my part.  I'll study the manual some more to see if I can devine what is going on with the nasty racket.  It does seem to go away with speed over 20 MPH, clutch operation doesn't effect it, and neither does changing gear selection.  We'll see.

Cheers,

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Did you use the 'correct' lubricant in the calipers?! 

Keep up the good work and keep the reports coming.

[CBGhia]

Check the U joint.  I have heard that it can be a source for funny clunking sounds.

[TwoTired]

Check the U joint.  I have heard that it can be a source for funny clunking sounds.

... When the bike is not moving?   

[CBGhia]

Check the U joint.  I have heard that it can be a source for funny clunking sounds.

... When the bike is not moving?   

Sorry, just saw where it was speeds lower than 20. 

[chickenman_26]

Check the U joint.  I have heard that it can be a source for funny clunking sounds.

... When the bike is not moving?   

TT,
If you're sure the noise is in the rear case, it's possible the clutch inner is loose on the shaft. The retaining nut has to be correctly torqued and staked after replacing the clutch plates, and who knows if the PO had his hands on that?. That can be checked/corrected with the engine in place.

Stu

[TwoTired]

Thanks for the suggestion, Stu.  There has been a lot of shoddy work done to this bike by someone with a very vivid imagination of what a mechanic should do.  That the bike has withstood such attention so long before I got it, is a testament to its endurance and fortitude.

However, work on the GW is currently stalled.  The neck bearings were shot due to a PO putting 90 lbs of preload on them.  The front wheel bearings were shot due to being hammered into position, possibly with a screwdriver as a ram.   So, I took the whole front end off the bike, and the unicycle now sits in the garage on the main stand and a jack stand keeping it as a big ornery obstruction in the garage.  Then the while-I've-got-it-apart disease took over and a started to refinish parts.  I got as far as repainting all the tree parts, with the forks and fender left to do.  I lost the race to get it all done before the house roofing job intervened, as well as an exterior, crack and stucco repair, seal against weather, and repaint project, into which I am still embroiled.

As to the rear case noise, my current thinking is that I just don't have the carbs properly balanced and the pilot screws adjusted finely enough, as I was just too impatient to drive it about some.  I took it to my mechanic shop friend Tom.  He proclaimed they all make that noise and not to worry about it, but my bike IS the loudest he's heard.

In the mean time, the house is now only 1/3 painted, and it is raining... 
 There are a lot more parts on the front of this GW (now strewn about the garage and workbench)  than on any CB I've had.  I hope I can remember where they all go back on. 

Cheers,

[madmtnmotors]

There has been a lot of shoddy work done to this bike by someone with a very vivid imagination of what a mechanic should do.  That the bike has withstood such attention so long before I got it, is a testament to its endurance and fortitude.

I've got a CB750 project just like that! 

Then the while-I've-got-it-apart disease took over and a started to refinish parts.

Happens every time...  took me three months to "just do fork seals" on my regular ride.