Topic: What did you do to your non-SOHC4 motorcycle today?

[Kelly E]

Today I rode the 77' KZ 1000 80 miles up to my buddy's house. Then we rode around up on Mt Baker Hwy and ended up riding down Hwy 9 to the Blue Mountain Grill for lunch. After lunch we split up and headed home. I rode south on Hwy 9 to where I turn west towards home.
I got around 32mpg running I-5 at 80mph all the way up. Cruising the back roads and coming home on Hwy 9 averaging 50mph to 60mph got me 43mpg. Apparently it's a thirsty pig when riding at speed with the RS34 carbs.

[grcamna2]

I bet it was a nice ride on your bike Kelly 

[rchrdms]

I chased a short in the lighting circuit. It appears to have been a stressed ground on one of the instrument lights. It may have gotten pulled around a little too much. Anyway, I resoldered it and it lights up fine. Now I have to work on the neutral switch contact, and then rewire everything up through the handlebars to the light control switch.

Oh yeah! It's a k4(1972) Honda CL 350, BTW.

[Gurp]

Got the Sportster I'm working on for a fellow ready to fire tomorrow. It's truly amazing how bad people can mess stuff up and still be considered a mechanic. Looking over the work of the people he had work on the bike previously and the guy he got it off of, whom I know pretty well to be just a local trader rig stuff up to send it down the road....
Regardless the owner is going to be very happy when his bike is back and it's functioning better than when he got it. Aside from needing tires.

[Kelly E]

Today we installed a new set of springs on the Progressive series 12 shocks on the 77' KZ 1000 LTD. To replace the 90/130 springs we ordered a set of 70/120 springs. J&P cycles sent a set of 75/120 springs.
They were better, bridge abutments aren't hard and harsh anymore but it is still pretty firm. We'll send a message about what happened to the correct springs.
Then I took out the 94' ZG 1000 Concours since I hadn't ridden it in two years. I was running it on the stand in gear to keep it running right. It's a little big for me to ride it for general use. I gave it an Italian tune-up and it ran better but the idle was low. I added a dose of acetone to clean the idle jets and ran it for a while. The idle came up 100rpm's so it should clear up by the next fill-up.
I'm going on a three day ride on Wednesday, the first ride with my long distance riding buddy since he almost died 4 times in late 21'. I don't want my bike having issues on this ride.

[C317414]

My 67 Triumph TR6C has had a leak from the oil junction block for a while.  I changed the gasket twice, checked the mating surface for flatness, etc.  Finally, I decided to try a new junction block, and that solved the problem, no more oil leak.      

I believe the oil was seeping between the casting and one of the brazed oil tubes.  The part in question is #12 in the diagram below.

[grcamna2]

My 67 Triumph TR6C has had a leak from the oil junction block for a while.  I changed the gasket twice, checked the mating surface for flatness, etc.  Finally, I decided to try a new junction block, and that solved the problem, no more oil leak.      

I believe the oil was seeping between the casting and one of the brazed oil tubes.  The part in question is #12 in the diagram below.

#32 ?

[C317414]

My 67 Triumph TR6C has had a leak from the oil junction block for a while.  I changed the gasket twice, checked the mating surface for flatness, etc.  Finally, I decided to try a new junction block, and that solved the problem, no more oil leak.      

I believe the oil was seeping between the casting and one of the brazed oil tubes.  The part in question is #12 in the diagram below.

#32 ?

#32 is the rocker shaft oil feed.  Here's a photo of it.

[grcamna2]

My 67 Triumph TR6C has had a leak from the oil junction block for a while.  I changed the gasket twice, checked the mating surface for flatness, etc.  Finally, I decided to try a new junction block, and that solved the problem, no more oil leak.      

I believe the oil was seeping between the casting and one of the brazed oil tubes.  The part in question is #12 in the diagram below.

#32 ?

#32 is the rocker shaft oil feed.  Here's a photo of it.

I see. Do you have a picture of the junction block ?

[Kelly E]

I've been getting the 94' Kawasaki ZG 1000 Concours ready for it's first road trip in 2 years. Yesterday I rode it and the idle was low and trying to die. Since it would still kinda idle I gave it a 20cc dose of acetone in the 7.5 gallon tank and ran it for a few minutes. The idle came up 100rpm so I think it's working. By the time I need to fuel up the idle jets should be clean along with the rest of them.
Here it is at Grand Coulee Dam a while back. It's one of the best sport touring bikes there is, it just doesn't go way into triple digits like the new ones. I can plow through huge wind and rain storms without getting wet. I also really like the FJR, I swap bikes with my long distance riding buddy quite a bit since he really likes my bike. My brother has a C-14 Concours but it is a little tall for me. My C-10  can beat them to 85mph but then they go flying by. With the minor changes I've made it handles great, it thinks it's a Ninja. I bought it in 17' for $1800 with 24k and now it has 37k miles.

[C317414]

My 67 Triumph TR6C has had a leak from the oil junction block for a while.  I changed the gasket twice, checked the mating surface for flatness, etc.  Finally, I decided to try a new junction block, and that solved the problem, no more oil leak.      

I believe the oil was seeping between the casting and one of the brazed oil tubes.  The part in question is #12 in the diagram below.

#32 ?

#32 is the rocker shaft oil feed.  Here's a photo of it.

I see. Do you have a picture of the junction block ?

[grcamna2]

I noticed that on the parts description page you uploaded 

[BenelliSEI]

Got it running for the first time in +5 years. The VERY original “Trusty Triumph” (1917 Model H, 550cc single) fired 4th kick! From my friend’s collection of WW1 vehicles, SOLD.

Change the gearbox oil, make some new leather washers for the hand operated oil pump, and true the rear wheel up. Then it’s off to a collector in Michigan.

Shipped it! Of to P.A. with Mackie Transport. Looked pretty funny in an empty ‘53’er! Driver is off to Ottawa to pick up three cars too.

[Terry in Australia]

A couple of years ago I traded up my 2001 Yamaha FJR1300 with 143000 miles (228,800 Km) and some cash for a 2005 Triumph Rocket III. The FJR was a great bike and one of the fastest I've ever ridden @ 170 MPH, but the Rocket was cheap, and already owning a 2007 R3 from new, I couldn't help but buy it. Spotty had just bought a minty 1998 Honda Valkyrie which he really liked, but with a bad hip he couldn't ride it, being that he's 7 feet tall the Boxer engine's cylinders got in the way of his legs making for a cramped riding position.

One day we went for a ride on both of my Rocket III's, and Spotty was besotted by the enormous torque and BHP of the Rocket III, so we swapped bikes. Awhile later he had hip replacement surgery and could ride more often, but sadly the Rocket's electrical issues let him down on several occasions, and it got to the point where he told me that he was so sick of it that he was going to leave it outside his garage and let it rot into the ground.

As nice as the Honda is, it never really floated my boat, so I asked him if he'd like to swap them back, so we did. There was a caveat on the deal though, that he'd help me pull the Rocket apart to replace the output shaft/cush drive assembly. Failing assemblies aren't necessarily a design issue, but the one on my "In the family since new" Rocket grenaded when the bike had done only three or four thousand miles. The culprit was that the bearings are sealed on one side, and several hundred bikes were built with the bearing installed backwards, not allowing oil into it. I remembered that one time I was riding Spotty's Rocket I either heard, or felt, a bad bearing, so I found a good used assembly on Ebay from a low mileage, later model R3 cheap, and bought it, just in case Spotty's failed.

Anyhoo, this week, Spotty stripped all of the outer assemblies off the bike, to make the task of dropping the monster 2300cc engine out today.

Rocket III repairs Saturday 29 Jul 2023 a by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Today I drove over to Spotty's place, and he was ready to go, with the bike already on the lift. The first task was to remove the rear wheel assembly, differential and tailshaft assembly. I'd scoured Youtube and various R3 forums and was surprised that most of the guys who had had this problem had taken their bikes to the dealers to fix them. Triumph had never issued an official recall, so some folks (like me) had to pay several thousand dollars to get it fixed, while in a very few cases, Triumph did it for free, or at a reduced price. Regardless, this bike is 18 years old, has done over 90,000 miles, and while it's a big job to get to the assembly, we decided that we could do it. Surprisingly, we didn't break anything.

Rocket III repairs Saturday 29 Jul 2023 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr     

Lowering the engine out of the frame was a lot harder than I first thought, but by the time we'd removed both wheels we were able to jiggle the frame away from the engine enough to remove the assembly. Here's a pic of the two assemblies side by side.

Rocket III repairs Saturday 29 Jul 2023 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

As expected, they're a a big, heavy duty assembly. Interestingly enough, the front bearing that came out of it, was back to front, but didn't appear to be in bad condition. There was evidence though, that the engine's been out before, so maybe someone replaced the bearing, but put it in backwards? Weird. In fact I was a bit worried that there was nothing wrong with the old assembly until Spotty pointed out that if I spun the output shaft fast, you could hear the rear bearing (inside the case) making a grinding sound. I don't think it was a bad bearing, so much as just a worn bearing off a big heavy bike that's done over 90,000 miles, with plenty of hard launches, wheelies, burnouts etc, and was fitted with a car rear tyre on it when I bought it, which probably didn't help. By contrast, the replacement (the black one) was smooth and silent. 

I drove over to Supercheap auto and bought some JB Weld brand gasket sealant, and a big jug of coolant. I had a $24 credit, so was happy to walk out only 27 bucks poorer. I drove back to apply the gasket goo to the new gasket on both sides, and in my absence Spotty had been cleaning several years of crap off the engine that you can never usually get to, which was great. He snapped a pic of me installing the new assembly, just so I could show my wife, so she wouldn't think I was having a secret rendezvous with a hot babe. With a head like mine, there's not much hope of that..........

Rocket III repairs Saturday 29 Jul 2023 9 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr   

By the time the new assembly was in, and I'd cleaned and greased the splines on the output shaft we'd been at it for 7 hours, and being old men, decided we'd had enough. I'm not going for a ride tomorrow, even though the weather is unusually magnificent this weekend, I've promised the wife that I'll mow the lawn, then I'm heading back over to Spotty's to do more bike work. Hopefully we'll at least have it back on it's wheels by end of play tomorrow.

Rocket III repairs Saturday 29 Jul 2023 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Gurp]

Took a scoot to get get part for the 61 GMC on the Sportster.
I was always opposed to having a Harley but I do like this bike. After I changed the gearing.of course. Perfectly stock I didn't enjoy it too much. The seat position wasn't great for me and it was short geared being the 883.
After new seat bars and a front pulley I rather enjoy it now.
It's still no 550-4 but it's got a place for sure.

[MauiK3]

if it works...it works

[MauiK3]

So, it’s not a bike, but it’s a Honda and it’s an Sohc, 660 cc 3 cylinders.
This finally got the paint and body work done over on Oahu out in a shop in Halawa. I got it shipped here, put the lift kit on, new tires and rims, shifter bushing kit, some other suspension parts, a nice little sound system and some other little improvements like the wood rack which I made from some Jarrah wood, a south Western Australia hardwood, cool stuff and hard to find here. They are not fast but they sure are useful and fun. This one has A/C, a 4 speed stick with a low range granny and reverse gear, all wheel drive. The rack can be broken down for removal.
The color is 2012 mini Cooper British Racing Green.
Sorry for hijacking with a 4 wheel vehicle.

[grcamna2]

So, it’s not a bike, but it’s a Honda and it’s an Sohc, 660 cc 3 cylinders.
This finally got the paint and body work done over on Oahu out in a shop in Halawa. I got it shipped here, put the lift kit on, new tires and rims, shifter bushing kit, some other suspension parts, a nice little sound system and some other little improvements like the wood rack which I made from some Jarrah wood, a south Western Australia hardwood, cool stuff and hard to find here. They are not fast but they sure are useful and fun. This one has A/C, a 4 speed stick with a low range granny and reverse gear, all wheel drive. The rack can be broken down for removal.
The color is 2012 mini Cooper British Racing Green.
Sorry for hijacking with a 4 wheel vehicle.

Your little green Honda mini-truck is looking good;I see why you like that color.
How'z-it to park when someone blocks you in front and back? Must be a Snap 

[MauiK3]

Very tight turning radius.

[RAFster122s]

Little too long to pull in nose to curb and be the width of other cars...
Nice looking little Honda... It's a 2 wheeler x2

[Gurp]

Killer kei truck!!!!
Been wanting on but I need to sell stuff first. I want a 2wd to lower. Lol

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

After changing the oil in my 750 for almost 50 years I'm trying to figure out how to do so in my BMW K1200GT. BMW is a great bike but it's not so user friendly. Too secretive. ie take it to the dealer, no way.

[grcamna2]

Little too long to pull in nose to curb and be the width of other cars...
Nice looking little Honda... It's a 2 wheeler x2

The front doesn't look to long,imo.

[ofreen]

After changing the oil in my 750 for almost 50 years I'm trying to figure out how to do so in my BMW K1200GT. BMW is a great bike but it's not so user friendly. Too secretive. ie take it to the dealer, no way.

That intrigued me so I looked on youtube.  Not a particularly straightforward job for sure.  Reminds me of one time we were down at an independent VW shop called Doug's Bugs.  A lady drove up in a Passat.  She walked in and and asked if anyone could tell her where the oil filter was on her car.  We all looked at each other and thought 'silly woman.'  We went out to look and we couldn't find it either.  Turned out it was tucked away where you couldn't see it either from above or below.  I have other stories about veedub's and their engineering.  Worst cars to work on in my experience, except for maybe some Saabs.

[MauiK3]

I hate it when they build stuff that can't be serviced by the owner or user. States are considering "right to repair" laws to unlock computers in vehicles and equipment.
sad