Topic: What did you do to your bike today ?

[MCRider]

Tonight I taught my bike that it is owned by a f**kin' idiot.  I went for a late night ride with a friend who has a '73 350 Four and she wanted to try out my '76 550F so we swapped and rode out along the Toronto lake shore for half an our or so and stopped for a coffee.  After chatting in the parking lot and deciding where to head next I got back on my bike and she got on hers.

I decided to kick start mine because, as I mentioned, I'm a dip#$%*.  I swung my leg over, kicked up my side stand and gave a good solid kick. Nothing. WTF? Kick again. Nothing. This bike fires up like a dream, every time. As I went to lean it back to the left it slowly dawned on me the side stand was in the (duh) UP position and I ever so (not quite) gently laid the ol' Honda on its side and busted the clutch lever.

Turns out my friend, whose ignition key is on the side under her tank (as opposed to mine, on the dash) is used to turning her bike off with the kill switch and did the same with mine (I've never touched my kill switch, I always use the key - diff'rent strokes.) So, the moral of the story is that I'm dumb but luckily such dumbness (among other life experiences not always brought on by said dip#$%*tery) has given me the opportunity to drive many manual transmission vehicles with many different (often non-existent) clutch configurations.  I was able to get home none the worse for wear and tomorrow I'll try to find a new clutch lever in town so I don't have to wait too long to ride again.

Thanks for indulging my little tale of self-inflicted woe. If you're like me, don't try to be cool... yer not.

The MSF safety course teaches, or at least taught, to always use the kill switch and then, to review the kill switch on/off position in the pre-fight protocol. So my wife, so trained, always did so as well. I could never agree with that, but never told her not to.

[70CB750]

installed a sidecar. scary, but fun

Nice!  Do you mind sharing details on the attachment links?  I am in a oh-so-slowwwww process of building me a sidecar.

[goldarrow]

Found my electrical shorts by the dashboard connectors. Taped them all up, all good!

[Terry in Australia]

I'm one step closer to having all my bikes back on the road. My Triumph is registered, so's my 'Wang, Yamaha FJ1200, and BMW K100RS. Last (and definitely not least) is my CB750. Yesterday I took it in for it's "Roadworthy Inspection" which it passed with flying colours, so next week I'll go pay the 70 bucks for it's "Historic Plate" (which covers me for registration and personal insurance for 45 days per year) and I'm back on the road after a 2 year hiatus. All I gotta do now is fix my alternator...........

[Stev-o]

Found my electrical shorts by the dashboard connectors. Taped them all up, all good!

Well, that oughta last at least a couple weeks?!

[goldarrow]

Had to get it out in the road.  Just rejetted the bike and needed to test out the motogpwerks pipes . Not perfect, but whole lot better than before.

[flybox1]

With it just being a roller, it's time to get after it....
Chain on, axle torqued in place..
Rear drum stabilizer bar
Rear brake lever
Clutch lever, cable and new chrome cover
Timing advance shaft, advancer, points plate, shimmed, wires run, timed, New chrome cover
Cam chain tensioner installed and set.
Starter cover
Oil lines, oil tank, lower case vent
Exhaust studs

I'll save the rest for tomorrow....

[WhyNot2]

Fired the 750 up and backfire......sheeeesh.

Guess the carbs are coming off....tried to do the jets by them selves, pulled and cleaned w/wire......still back fires.

All just because I put Lucus in the gas tank. Damn, been farting with this about a month now.

[Bailgang]

Well I took my 750 F2 to the dyno yesterday to see were it was as far as how I had the carbs jetted and was a bit disappointed because it only put out 46.5 hp and I was hoping for at least 50. It turns out that at partial throttle it's way too lean but too rich at WOT, it was blowing out quite a bit of black smoke on the full throttle pulls and the exhaust sniffer showed it when it figured the A/F ratio. The carbs are stock except for the 108 main jets so the original 105's are going back in today to lean it up a bit but raise the needles a notch to fatten it up a bit at partial throttle. I figure I can pick up 1 maybe 2 hp with it tuned right. While I was bummed with the results the dyno operator was actually impressed because he said mine ran better than most older bikes he's seen on his dyno. That made me feel better but I'm still shooting for at least 50.

[bjbuchanan]

^^^Lots of guys seem to think older bikes don't run well. Not passing judgment but I have definitely seen it. My buddy greg got on my 750 and he was amazed at how good it ran, and smooth. Kept saying it was a lot smoother than he thought it would be

Imagine how nice it would have been If it hadn't had two broken piston crowns

[Bailgang]

^^^Lots of guys seem to think older bikes don't run well. Not passing judgment but I have definitely seen it. My buddy greg got on my 750 and he was amazed at how good it ran, and smooth. Kept saying it was a lot smoother than he thought it would be

Imagine how nice it would have been If it hadn't had two broken piston crowns

What the dyno operator meant more than anything was most vintage bike owners who's bikes he's had on his dyno simply didn't do a good job when it came to getting their bikes running again, mine wasn't perfect either but was still better than most he's seen. He said the day before he had a bike on the dyno that was so out of tune it belched so much black smoke he couldn't see the road than runs in front of the shop.

[Greggo]

On the sandcast project: new front wheel bearings and seal yesterday..ordered bridgestone tires today..

[Jerilee]

Cleaned the garage a little, opened up my eBay -left front brake bracket-, changed the oil on the car. Didn't get much done over the last week, got a few stitches last weekend so I was a little slow for a few days.
Nothing exciting  , I ran into a pointed bit of spar on the metal shelves I'd been paint stripping bike parts on. Opps! 

[Adam_F]

I was finally able to source a gasket for my stock muffler (I have a subtle air leak where the pipes meet the muffler).  Based on the yellowed Honda order record, it looks like its been sitting on a shelf since 1977   

Excited to throw this on today!

[elizabethgypsy]

Was still impressed about the ride home sans clutch..

[Markcb750]

The new tank trim I ordered came in this week so I installed it this morning.  Tried to buff out a minor scratch, confirmed how thin the candy coat is after 38 or 39 years.  Best to just let it go till I decide to paint it. (if ever)

[Stev-o]

Rode the "big bad Z1"! [as SeanB calls it]

[goldarrow]

Took me 5 hours to get piston 1 off the bore and mishap piston 2 broke piston skirt and fell into the bottom end. 

[Stev-o]

Took me 5 hours to get piston 1 off the bore and mishap piston 2 broke piston skirt and fell into the bottom end. 

836 kit?

[goldarrow]

Great idea Stev-o, but bores look good, quick hone is all they need.  I do have replacement piston in the bins and NOS honda oem gasket kit on the shelves.  All I really need is just to get them cleaned up.  Hardest part of the job. 

[Nic]

Bores will probably be out of round. 836 cruzin image kit kicks arse way better than stock. You put new rings in out o round bore n they won't seat ever.

[ryanj]

Was still impressed about the ride home sans clutch..

AHAHAHA! Awesome. For those following along at home, this fine, understanding lady is the one who was lucky enough to witness my late night bike drop/clutch lever destruction and I'm pretty sure the score on my behaviour is:

Throwing the bike to the ground - Unimpressed
Not freaking out about dropped bike - Impressed
Riding home sans clutch like it ain't no thang - Impressed

And, according to Meatloaf, two outta three ain't bad.

[Terry in Australia]

Well it was cold and miserable again today, but being the manly man that I obviously am, I braved the slings and arrows of outrageous weather conditions and whipped my dirty old "Wang out for a lazy 150 mile ride. I dropped in to see Steve K0 in Wallan first for a cup of coffee and a chat, then headed off into the frozen tundra.

I headed north, and took the Broadford exit, then east across to Yea (pronounced "Yay", not "Yeah") for another coffee and a couple of jam donuts, and a smoke. The lady that served me must have been bored because she came outside for a chat about my magnificent 'Wang, saying that she'd never seen one that big before? "I bet you have", I thought to myself, but being the gentleman that I am, I thanked her politely.

By now my bladder was full of second-hand coffee, so it was time to head for home. The 'Wang was in it's element cruising at 75 MPH at a leisurely 4000 RPM in 5th gear, and silently passing all and sundry, and whilst bitterly cold, the warm air coming off the engine provided some comfort as I rode west into the setting sun. All in all a lovely ride, and a nice way to spend an otherwise miserable Sunday afternoon. Cheers, Terry.

   

   

[maduncle]

Well it was cold and miserable again today, but being the manly man that I obviously am, I braved the slings and arrows of outrageous weather conditions and whipped my dirty old "Wang out for a lazy 150 mile ride. I dropped in to see Steve K0 in Wallan first for a cup of coffee and a chat, then headed off into the frozen tundra.

I headed north, and took the Broadford exit, then east across to Yea (pronounced "Yay", not "Yeah") for another coffee and a couple of jam donuts, and a smoke. The lady that served me must have been bored because she came outside for a chat about my magnificent 'Wang, saying that she'd never seen one that big before? "I bet you have", I thought to myself, but being the gentleman that I am, I thanked her politely.

By now my bladder was full of second-hand coffee, so it was time to head for home. The 'Wang was in it's element cruising at 75 MPH at a leisurely 4000 RPM in 5th gear, and silently passing all and sundry, and whilst bitterly cold, the warm air coming off the engine provided some comfort as I rode west into the setting sun. All in all a lovely ride, and a nice way to spend an otherwise miserable Sunday afternoon. Cheers, Terry.

Always happy to trundle along beside you on the XJR if you want the company on a Sunday ride Terry.

[Bailgang]

I pulled the 108 jets out and put the stock 105's back in my F2 then raised the needles one notch and wow what a difference at part throttle, I feel stupid for not doing this earlier. I did try playing with needle height last year to no effect but the difference between now and then is that last year it had a tired engine while this year it's fresh so now it's responding like it should.