Topic: 500/550/650's that followed me home

[RAFster122s]

Good on you RB...glad you swung a leg over and committed for a ride. Hope your health issues are behind you for a good long while not to hear a squeak from them again...

I took a ride to pick up my bike as I had some issues with removing the rear wheel and my lumbar back went nuts as something moved in my spine Tuesday two weeks ago and I woke up with severe pain. Could barely stand or sit as it was excruciating. Heat and ice and muscle relaxers were doing little so week ago Friday I tried to get my doctor to prescribe some narcotic pain meds or any pain meds and he failed to do what he said and narcotic pain meds are locked down like you would not believe now. No one will prescribe them...
It is crazy I had an MRI of my lumbar and thoracic spine my neurosurgeon scheduled this past Tuesday the 31st and learned in the 31st my neurosurgeon was retiring that day. So, Monday I am going to call to find out when I am going to be scheduled with another in that office. This guy was good and well respected by hospital doctors who knew him. Neurosurgeons and spine guys like this one have a lot of emergency surgery cases for injuries that require their skills. The back finally started working itself back into position as the oxycodone the ER prescribed helped the muscle relaxers ai have been using to relax enough for whatever moved out of where it should be to a position where it hasn't been as painful. Car rides and any bump was a solid 8-9 pain level and we have less than smooth roads and my Mini Cooper S even in comfort level Green mode most would say rides firm to very firm. They should try Sport mode on a curvy undulating road at speed, nothing like the smiles per mpg factor off the charts.
As I mentioned, I had dropped off the VStrom 650 I haven't been riding because of needing tires on it and finally put some on it...
So, I took a ride Thursday to pick it up then lost my big sun hat, an SPF 40 or 50 sunhat that was $40 10-12 years ago. It is a little goofy but it's broad big brim keeps me from getting burned when the sun is high overhead and the mesh in the brim to top filters enough sun and gives the cooling needed. Well I thought it blew off as I had tucked it under the loose mesh net in the back I had hoped to the small plastic cargo platform. It, the net, apparently gave up the ghost to heat as it was stretching way too much. I think I partially dislodged the hat getting on and it blew off the 10 mile hop from the MC dealer to Ina Rd. Back traced path after an appointment at 3pm a TeleHealth video call and didn't spot it so I rode to South Tucson as my back wasn't doing too bad on the bike. Better than the ride with a friend on the car to pick it up . It isn't better as it still spasms but it isn't intolerable like it was.  Just getting too old and falling apart... But thought I might have seen it on ride home after getting some good shrimp tacos... So I looped back down and took the access road from Orange Grove Rd  where I could ride much slower and low and behold it was on the Ina Rd off ramp having been ran over many times blow up against the concrete chest high barrier that formed the off ramp overpass for Ina and I10. So, I tossed it on the seat and straddled the bike and checked traffic after refiring the bike. Rode home exhausted while the back tolerated it I had little energy after checking on the stray dog feeding him some and giving him fresh water. I bought him a 5 ft plastic pool so I have been dumping it every few days and refilling it. I decided to strip out of my MC gear and take a sit in the pool for a bit as it felt great out... High 90s and sun was setting so the high 90s feels wonderful for my arthritis and joint issues...the sun once it passes 105 gets a bit intense and the hot air while it feels good you overheat if you aren't working in it everyday and not doing AC. Since ai like not to feel it quite so bad I keep the house 75-76, which dry air again is quite comfortable. I will turn it down cooler if I am working inside and burning a lot of calories getting warm from the exertion and movement... But usually 75 or 76 is fine. When I visit places that cool it below 74 I am uncomfortable and below 70 air actually starts hurting and pain often if I am not active with my muscles generating heat from working.
Myofasciatis is the cause of that cold air sensitivity.
I would say it is just getting old but I have developed that sensitivity over 20 years ago. Just one of my weird health issues many cannot comprehend what it is like.  Once my Mom started developing neck issues in her 80s I told her welcome to the club, I have been dealing with what you are starting to complain about since I was 33-35...nearly 30 years now. She showed little to no understanding of it then and doubt she even does now. It wears you out and affects you every day. Life with pain is no fun, you learn to hide pain that is constant and steady and even sharp up to a level 7, you won't know I am in pain when talking with or around me as like my depression I have learned to live with high levels of pain and hide it behind a mask and only those whom are observant of my actions and mannerisms will detect to learn to read me or they hear me softly say "ow" when getting up or doing something that I know will cause pain. Researchers found that saying Ow or ouch when doing seeing or experiencing pain has your mind reduce that pain perception and it is less painful. You verbalize it, thinking it doesn't seem to work. Funny how it does work.

So, some time with a good tile scrub brush and Dawn platinum dish soap and most of the road dirt and grime washed out of the sun hat I had temporarily lost.

I took a ride Friday night to the south side of Tucson for a late showing at the XD Cinemark theater with the special powerrecliners and extra special sound and screen experience and sat where it was an emersive experience in handicap row down front. It was nice to adjust the seat where it was just right on amount of reclining and legs up just enough to be neutral so no strains or discomfort for the show. I took my motorcycle boots off so my feet were not too warm and it was only 90 or 92 around 10pm for the 10:30 show and was I think 82 around 1:30 when I looked after the movie.
 It was a good movie but their target was rip off of Star Wars very much so... Miracle #1 you hit this small target them miracle #2 you hit it again...
Yeah, Variant of a theme...real creative Tom and the directors. I wonder if any of the movie critics also pointed that out?
It was a good movie. The best would be a real stretch though...

Really good movie worth renting or streaming in my opinion is Father Stu.

David

[rb550four]

  Can't believe that you were lucky enough to find your hat! A comfortable hat isn't an easy thing to replace, it takes a while to get it from factory form to the owner's form . As I was reading down i thought there would be a chance that you may spot it on some fella pushing a shopping cart with his belongings in trash bags and I wondered for a second ...what would I do? Ask nicely  or buy it back, would I rassel him for it? guess we'll never know  but I was surprised that you found it and are able to once again enjoy it.
  Wife is calling ,gotta go to a flea market ..a 1/2 hr. ago.

[RAFster122s]

Yeah, God was smiling on me... I figured it was gone. So, I was surprised to find it and thanked God for allowing me to find it.
 Yes a good hat is tough to find and they are expensive. It isn't the most fashionable hat but I have always been a strong believer in function over form. Why else would I drive the over engineered Volvo 240s for 26 years? Safety and an overall good engineered product I appreciate and I grew quickly to like them for what they were...safe reliable and it is fun to drive a slow vehicle at it's limits ... That's why the CB160 and SS50 racing before it turned into a money event , dumping tons of money in the bikes to give them and edge was fun to watch and fun to do I am told. The Volvo 240 could be made to handle the curves very well without spending a fortune and then you learn how to corner with good energy management and you could out drive people in faster cars because they didn't know how to corner fast and would not apex correctlyamd would be slowing down far more than I would. It would piss off Corvette drivers that you would be riding their asses as they are exiting a couple of corners where their drag race pull away in the straightaway leaves you but you are all over them by the next corner exit or series of corners. They didn't know how to drive their performance car except in a straight line or close to a straight line. Once they learned how to corner and drive the car properly if they learned it well that embarrassing tendency would no longer be true.
I am a G-Force junky and don't like slowing down a lot for corners. Unfortunately, the Mini Cooper will eat tires when you drive it hard through the corners day after day even with frequent rotations...
So, I am learning to slow down and enjoy it without having to use the dead pedal for bracing. When sales people ride with me in a sports car or car with any performance on curvy roads I have been known to scare more than a few. There was never any danger but they drive like grannies and if I am testing a car to see if I like it I will push the car and safely learn the car's tire adhesion and I have never wrecked or went off the road in any test drive and I am usually even staying in my lane.

[rb550four]

   I remember years ago driving like that with other people in the car, I had lots of fun back then...but never figured out how to get the
fingernail marks out of the plastic on the dash.  No fear of that anymore as I  usually catch myself around 50 mph..and i'd like to say that it's to conserve fuel, but it isn't.
   Got to play with that green 500 a little more last night. I still haven't found out the true reason or reasons for the locked up engine. I did notice besides  a leak like crazy pan gasket a week or so ago, yesterday I discovered that there was a missing large O ring ,not on the oil filter . I'm hoping the PO didn't run it dry. What was left in the pan didn't look good so I pulled the engine and will break it all down in the garage along with my fave 500's old blown 500 engine. Doing one any how , might well do both, you know, just in case.
   Buffed out some of the aluminum bits that won't be painted as they were removed , I always feel like it's a waste of time to do that while in the assembly stage and I worry about cross contamination so every thing will be cleaned and/or buffed or painted before being  laid out on a white painted door I use as an assembly table( I can find the parts easier on white) . The engines are on large baking sheets now during dis assembly . makes for easy clean up and parts don't drop off the edge.

[grcamna2]

subscribed

[RAFster122s]

Hope you can sort out the issues with the motor and manage to find the time to play in the shop more.
Give us some photos of your breakdown, would love to see it if you have the time to share that...
David

[RAFster122s]

RB, find time to play with the bikes some more this summer, riding or wrenching?
David

[Kelly E]

I have to pull the head off my 74' 550K0 too. It has only 65psi on cylinder #2 and I don't know why. I'm frustrated so I think we'll resurrect the 83' CB 1100F first.

[rb550four]

   It's been a while since I picked apart that 500 engine from the green bike....I have been riding as much as I can this season, make the "out of milk" more than a few times just to take the 750 with bags to the store....been drinking a hell of allot of milk just to keep riding.. worth it.
   so that green 500 engine had zero oil in it,somebody took it all apart and put no gaskets to speak of back into it when they buttoned it up, there was however a tube or two of that RV type high temp silicone on every mating surface... there is no substitute for gaskets.  So I took off the top end , it came apart surprisingly easy for a change , took it all down honed the cylinders  , found a chip on an intake  valve  so I changed it out.
 In the meantime , my fave 500 engine that I figured I had blown a few  seasons ago that had an excellent transmission  that I had split the cases and thoroughly gone through years ago and would have no issues with it if I swapped heads ,re ring and change every top end gasket and freshened valve train  and Bob's your uncle for a fresh top end and a known excellent bottom end and transmission ...so in the green machine it went after paint. Adjusted the valves , adjusted spark timing, new brakes and cables  . then pulled the tank dents out , filled what I couldn't get out , derusted the interior of the tank with pounds of stripped 6mm screws dumped in the tank and have a 1/2 hour workout , then toilet bowl cleaner a good rinsing and lotsa 91% alcohol that wiped out any chance of flash rust  then sealed it with orig. POR 15, then prepped the replacement side covers and primed them all . so it isn't green yet  but it will be . The green orig. 500 tranny is all locked up,shift dogs .kick start and all, I'll take that apart soon to see what is actually the trouble . The fave 500 engine had no sign of failure  of pistons, rings, sleeves etc. the valve train is suspect , though the only sign of visible failure of that engine was a running stream of oil coming out of the powerless #1 cylinder exhaust pipe on it's last ride....thought it might be one of the usual suspects , hole in the piston ,failed rings you know the obvious stuff, no, none of that yet so I'm guessing that the answer to that failure must be in that valve train , I'll know better when it gets taken apart but I'm guessing a valve guide failure. It's all fun for me.

[RAFster122s]

RB, glad to hear you are getting your calcium and vitamin D in with all the milk you have been scarfing down. Glad you could assemble a good engine for the green or yet to be green again bike...
Was 101 at home and I didn't have the motivation to gear up in AGATT and use the cooling vest and soaked helmet liner to stay cool enough for a ride to get some fish tacos for dinner. Tuesday movies are cheaper so I'm waiting for the showtime to come up as I figured I would catch something on the big screen I haven't seen...
$5.50 tickets at the theater I went to...
Clouds rolling in to block the sun some and wind is up so it isn't too bad. Didn't feel like taking a change of shirts and changing into a dry shirt for the movies...

Hope you get some good weather for spraying the tank and side covers. Frame need any touch ups?

How are you pulling/working dents out of tanks? Rivet gun puller? Or paintless dent removal tools working from inside the tank?

Glad you are enjoying riding again!
David

[rb550four]

I picked up a couple paintless dent removal tools a while back  and have had some success and it's a bit easier than only pushing a dent from the inside out, still can't get all of them out but it's a dam sight better than the way I did it years ago. Even so ,still have to sand it all down , and you just cant get those tiny dents out, and I end up with a filler coat over the entire tank anyways. It just turns out better when the entire tank is covered and sanded smooth, then a high build primer coats, then light sand it smooth with a red scrungy pad. I let it dry for a day to whenever I get around to it  but won't hit it with the red scrungy pad until the day that I will shoot it so there is some fresh tooth on the surface.
  Yeah it's been real hot for a while and recently cooled off into the 70's but didn't bring any rain. We were 14 inches shy of average last month and have had maybe a quarter inch so far this month.Swimming is out of the question in lakes and streams as they have been stagnant for long enough to turn septic, wells are a concern too, and  well, when was the last time millions of acres burned in NY ? I don't know if it ever has , but if it gets much drier we too could be in trouble like everyone else out west.
  I did the frame touch ups before I loaded the engine in the cradle , it's all back together now and I have't scratched it yet, oh oh you know what that means, it's just a matter of time before something falls on it when it's totally finished...maybe I should  go out and put a few scratches on it now and save some aggravation later.

[rb550four]

 It's been a couple months since my last post, been riding as much as I  could instead of rebuilding extra 500 engines. This was one of my most active summers riding, took them out every chance I could but never left my county , seems strange when I think about it. Last weekend was the last rides for the season for me and I tucked them in for winter.
  Already purchased  all the oil and filters for the spring oil changes just before riding season comes round again, have put Stabil in everything including the riding mowers, So there is no excuse for me not to be ready next year whether it's lawn or rides.
   I did loose a month in Pa. at a jobsite this past month and all I could think about was riding around Butler County on a bike. Nice rolling hills and roads around there. If it happens again ...next time I bring a trailer and  a couple  machines.   

[RAFster122s]

RB, glad you got a bunch of riding in this year, hope it tides you over for the winter.
Hope the winter finds you in the shop working on the motors for the next project bike...

[rb550four]

  Thanks. Yeah it's been a good year to ride but I kinda wish that I put them up after this weekend.... it was 70's during the day all weekend...best made plans, ya know .
   Yes there are still a couple of projects to do before next season. Still have the Wing restore, the Python to make ready for sale,  that sad little 500 to paint before it's finished ( it's wearing temporary orange tin work now but at least it isn't ugly and moaning in the corner) , and that 83 550 that really wants that 84 650 in it's frame ,... so there is stuff to do yet before this circus leaves town. I've been eyeballing a couple 450 twins in the corner that need some help since there has been a bunch of them for sale on FB and CL recently but I'm getting that "maybe running out of time feeling" about all this stuff since the leaves have dropped, may feel different by the Daytona 500 weekend,will find out then I suppose. I'll check in if something interesting happens here during winter but mainly I live vicariously through other members builds until spring.
   

[Gurp]

Been a unusually warm winter down my way Ohio/KY border.
Makes me wish I would have not decided to put stuff up and kept it out and fixed minor things to ride the nice days.

[rb550four]

  The past 3 weeks have been unseasonably warm here . 4 weeks ago a fellow , my age, came to the theatre and dropped of his childhood machine that he and his brother and sister learned to ride on . It is a 1964 c110 50 cc sport that hasn't been run since those kids left home and has been parked in the parent's garage since the last child parked it and left home.
   The little bike had been kid tested  for sure and they racked up a hard 3800 miles on it. And after that 30 +years of sitting hasn't been kind to it.  The owner wanted to hear it run again, I wasn't sure if it hadn't been too beat up to ever run again and said so before anything was done to it. We settled on a reasonable budget only to see if it could run,  and that was fine because it is so easy to overspend on these little bikes ,get upside down, and never get back what you have into it. Well I know that may have happened to all of us here once or maybe twice....
  Long story  short , took 3 weeks , cleaning and going through everything  electric and gas related ,just to get it  to run  and improve any parts that needed immediate attention along the way making a running parts list for a realistic estimate for a total restoration . The funds were used up on the 2nd week  and it still wouldn't fire so I called him and asked if I could keep it for another week , no charge ,because I had enough effort in this little bike now I have to see it run too . I wouldn't want to trailer a dead machine back home either . So I took whatever I touched, set  or cleaned and did it all over again being careful to recheck continuity on every wire and circut  and by Wednesday  I gave it it 's first kick with pump gas and it fired right up. We were all very happy about that . The running list of replacement parts needed for restoration  alone was enough to stop the project from moving forward ,  and just as well , he knows that as an adult he would never ride it and it would just be parked along side of his Harleys.

[grcamna2]

  The past 3 weeks have been unseasonably warm here . 4 weeks ago a fellow , my age, came to the theatre and dropped of his childhood machine that he and his brother and sister learned to ride on . It is a 1964 c110 50 cc sport that hasn't been run since those kids left home and has been parked in the parent's garage since the last child parked it and left home.
   The little bike had been kid tested  for sure and they racked up a hard 3800 miles on it. And after that 30 +years of sitting hasn't been kind to it.  The owner wanted to hear it run again, I wasn't sure if it hadn't been too beat up to ever run again and said so before anything was done to it. We settled on a reasonable budget only to see if it could run,  and that was fine because it is so easy to overspend on these little bikes ,get upside down, and never get back what you have into it. Well I know that may have happened to all of us here once or maybe twice....
  Long story  short , took 3 weeks , cleaning and going through everything  electric and gas related ,just to get it  to run  and improve any parts that needed immediate attention along the way making a running parts list for a realistic estimate for a total restoration . The funds were used up on the 2nd week  and it still wouldn't fire so I called him and asked if I could keep it for another week , no charge ,because I had enough effort in this little bike now I have to see it run too . I wouldn't want to trailer a dead machine back home either . So I took whatever I touched, set  or cleaned and did it all over again being careful to recheck continuity on every wire and circut  and by Wednesday  I gave it it 's first kick with pump gas and it fired right up. We were all very happy about that . The running list of replacement parts needed for restoration  alone was enough to stop the project from moving forward ,  and just as well , he knows that as an adult he would never ride it and it would just be parked along side of his Harleys.

You make a bid on it ?

[RAFster122s]

Ran hard and put away wet... I'd pass on it

[rb550four]

  While I got that little Honda running mid week of the 3rd week ( the free one)  I had some extra time at the shop in reasonable working climate , without heat, to finish up another project.
   This time ,not a Honda. It was the 97 Bourget Python,, with less than 100 original miles on  an 40th anniversary S+S engine with dual NOS  bottles mounted partially inlayed in the fuel tank, 12 inch wide rear tire, tons of chrome and polished aluminum....
Hasn't been started in over 6 years with the gas left in it...everybody knows what was in the tank and it all had to be flushed. A relative of the former owner wanted to help get it started...dead battery, so jumper cables were involved . Nothing good could come from this  and it didn't.  But the damage  wasn't as bad as usual, instead of burning up the starter and fuse block and wires, 
for some reason ( I got so lucky)  the positive terminal melted off before anything else got damaged.
 So I picked up a new battery , checked the 10 amp fuse block and installed it  , which isn't as easy as it should be. The hard tail  has so much material  (large tubing cause the oil system tank is the frame) and I guess no one knew what size battery was needed because the battery it uses can not fit between any of the tubes to get the old one out or the new one in.
  That wide rear wheel has to come off to replace the battery as the battery box is welded into the frame and not bolted on so it could slide out the bottom. Not that hard , just a PITA, and has to be reset perfectly in line and equal axle spacing each side on the frame so it won't dogtrack.
  Got it all back together , all clean fuel system , fresh oil and cleaned filter in that frame, filled that tank with  fresh high test. and on Saturday at 3 oclock  I was on that machine on the sidewalk just outside the theater doors when it fired flawlessly for it's first time in many years.  I was alittle scared of this machine since the former owner  was  so scared of his 45 thousand dollar machine being such a  handful that it never even got 100 miles one the clock  , but after putting around on  the sidewalk for a while ,all I want to do is take it out on the road and see what it is all about. Right now the rear tire is like new , the front tire is stock from 97 ,hard , tubeless and flat in 10 mins. does not instill confidence so I'll order a new one this week  and hope for warm weather and clear pavement soon.
 

[RAFster122s]

Adventures abound with toys you borrow to get running, so to speak…
Be safe…
 Congrats on the successes!

[rb550four]

grcamna 2 ,  owner didn't want to spend that much on a bike he won't ride. Did you mean did I make an offer on that machine  to purchase? I would have no use for something that small , I never had a personal connection with those little machines, I like the way they look though. A while back after we got flooded by Irene I was asked to get a Dream back into working order , Loved the classic design , could hardly wait to take it for a test drive when it was finished. I took it out  down the road when I was done  , not at all what I expected, suspension totally sucked , tires seemed too small , handle bars not wide enough ...once I got over 45 mph I realized that these old machines are for older guys to ride at 30 mph and talk about how crazy they were on them when they were young . I stopped my test ride and turned it right around after reaching it's unsafe speed of 45. Those old guys  are still crazier than they think, I'd never take a ride on another one....but I do like how they look.
  RAFster122s I always have fun working on anything with 2 wheels , but I can t imagine putting time into a machine and having it never run, I can't let that happen . But I do enjoy a challenge every now and then. It's all just fun and games.

[grcamna2]

grcamna 2 ,  owner didn't want to spend that much on a bike he won't ride. Did you mean did I make an offer on that machine  to purchase? I would have no use for something that small , I never had a personal connection with those little machines, I like the way they look though. A while back after we got flooded by Irene I was asked to get a Dream back into working order , Loved the classic design , could hardly wait to take it for a test drive when it was finished. I took it out  down the road when I was done  , not at all what I expected, suspension totally sucked , tires seemed too small , handle bars not wide enough ...once I got over 45 mph I realized that these old machines are for older guys to ride at 30 mph and talk about how crazy they were on them when they were young . I stopped my test ride and turned it right around after reaching it's unsafe speed of 45. Those old guys  are still crazier than they think, I'd never take a ride on another one....but I do like how they look.
  RAFster122s I always have fun working on anything with 2 wheels , but I can t imagine putting time into a machine and having it never run, I can't let that happen . But I do enjoy a challenge every now and then. It's all just fun and games.

Ok    The owner took it back home with him 

[RAFster122s]

It stimulates the brain and helps sooth me when working in things with my hands, be it as mindless as sanding something, which I oddly enjoy, or adjusting and cleaning and installing parts. It is all good. That's why I don't mind the hours involved in polishing work... It can be tedious some times when there are hard to reach areas but the finished results are worth it to me.
Haven't polished anything 8some time though...been struggling with health issues and it has been limiting.

[rb550four]

   I haven t bought any 500 550 or 650 in a while, it's what I like to do, tear down rebuild , love it .
 With the coming of spring I have been dedicating all time ,motorcycle related ,to actually putting my but on a seat and some rubber to the road. I'm not letting a day go by without a ride if I can help it. So I was getting tired of riding alone on the road and asked my friend , who has been motorbike free for 5 or 6 years, to  come out and play on my 750 since he sold his 750. It would be just like his last one so it would just be a matter of hopping on , going on a slow, comfortable backroad ride , then we could build up the length of the rides until he was comfortable enough to just go out riding all day again. We used to ride together a bit a while back and always talks about buying some old BMW that he has always wanted....and for some reason , never got one.
 I took my fave 500 ,he  took the 750. I took the lead at 30 mph and kept an eye on him from the mirrors. The first 1/2 mile was okay , then I started loosing sight of him and waited for a while til he caught up . This had happened a few times after that and the wait time only increased . Hmmm. So I stopped at the intersection to the highway and waited. When he got there I asked him if he was ready to continue and he said  that sadly enough he no longer feels comfortable on a bike , can,t do it anymore  and was afraid to go any further. It was a heart breaking ride back home.... seemed to take sooo long. He has reached the age , he,s a young 76 year old in great shape who now fears 2 wheels. I felt so bad for him when  he explained his sudden realization and had that I my start to cry look, then I felt so sad for him that I might start to cry too, but didn't. We all manned up and road them back to my garage  and sadly walked him back to his house down the road. It's sad when people don't feel able to enjoy bikes anymore.  That  being said , I decided that I'm going to ride as much as I can before I am surprised by the same realization some day. At least I have the chance to ride as much as possible until that day arrives.

[rb550four]

   So , now that I have promised myself to ride as much as possible, I took the Bourget python with the superwide car tire on the rear out for it's second maiden ride..... the first owner managed 97 miles on it somehow in 1997, I managed a one mile ride of horror today. No, I didn't fall over...all good that way,  but I understand why it only has so few miles. It's a rolling disaster looking for a place to happen. It , with that super wide car tire on the rear is totally uncontrolable at any speed. I could ride in in a straight line with no corrections okay up to 2nd gear, any corrections that need to be made by leaning or steering are being hampered by the rear tire. The rear tire has total contact with the road when going straight and not leaning and seems doable because the center of the rear tire is in line with the skinny front tire giving the rider a false sense of hope.  when the bike is turned or leaned at all , the rear tire on the outside of the turn begins to lift leaving the traction /road contact area of the tire on the inside of the turn getting all the traction off center from the skinny front tire...the center  of the rear tire is no longer trailing the front tire because the traction is now off set up to 6 inches from center of an inline trail and is pushing the rear end of the machine further out of line with every revolution....it's either going to be a tank slapper or a high side unless the drive is disengaged by pulling in the clutch relieving the push from the rear wheel that has overpowering traction over the skinny front tire before all control is lost. like riding on marbles. I suspected at first sight of this machine that this rear tire is gonna be a problem but never expected the machine to be un rideable. So the next thing I want to try is getting a rounded rear tire meant for a motorcycle and see how much that will change controlability...at this point it s the only thing that can be done to be able to ride it at all. If that fails I'm afraid the parts are worth more than the machine and certainly medical bills so parting it out may be an option at a later date. It's a shame really , it runs fantastic, looks tough but it's not rideable the way it is .