First real shakedown run!
Mo and a friend of mine (Rick) came by to escort me on my first real shakedown run. Things started out pretty well the bike runs a little rough just off idle but pulls nicely from there up. Ten minutes down the road, loss of power then nothing, coasting to a stop. The three of us stand pondering the possibilities as traffic zips by. I put the bike into neutral hit the starter and the bike lites up as if nothing is wrong.
Now it may have been smart to turn around and head home to debrief the situation, nope we were heading to a local bar for a beer and wings and I figured it can't be anything too serious 'cause she was running again. Off we head but another ten minutes later and again the three of us stood at the side of the highway scratching our heads. There was gas in the tank but we were not sure if there was enough to please the petcock. Turned the petcock to reserve and headed down the road once more with plans to fill the tank at the Esso station on the way to the bar.
Ran fine to the gas station, filled up with fuel and set out on the last leg to the bar. Pushed the needle up above 100 kmph and she sounded real sweet. Well things work much better with gas, I guess. However, I could hear a scary clatter when I rolled off the throttle. Couldn't help but think this isn't going to be good if the internals let go right about now! Oh well she does sound sweet when I get on it so because I didn't have a radio to turn up I got back on the throttle.
I make it into town and motor down the main street sounding pretty rattlely as I decel into the parking lot. Oh well a beer will make things much better I'm sure. A couple of beers later and an hour of hypothesizing with friends it was time to head back home to check out some of the theory's, and of course draw some pics. I decided to take the backroads home, one because I had had some beers, and second I could let the throttle stretch out a bit more without drawing too much attention.
Damn does that inline four ever sound mean up around 5000 rpm. The clatter didn't get lost when we were at the bar though, but I'm had an idea. I figured if it was serious it wouldn't be long before things got real ugly, but it just sounded worse than it was, I think. Rick followed behind and from my vantage he wasn't stopping to pick up any pieces so I continued to push her harder each mile we went. As we rolled back into my neighbourhood I tried different things to make the clatter happen. It seemed to occur consistantly if i rolled off the throttle in any gear. I must of looked pretty strange leaning over or hanging off the side of the bike trying to determine where the sound was coming from. Grabing components to see if it stopped the rattle or changed the sound.... nadda.
I pulled into the driveway, immediately rolled the bike up on the hoist and started to inspect everything. Pulled the plugs, nice and brown, jiggled the carbs and listened for that distinct note.... but nadda. Then the evidence appears, the powdercoat on the underside of the chainguard was missing, two shiny lines exactly the same width of the chain. Nothing too tough, a piece of nylon to act as a slider will help quieten that down.
So all in all she ran well, a little noisey but nothing terminal and she did what she was designed to do... she took me to the bar and back home in one piece!!!!
