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

[rb550four]

  So , after trying the sohc 10 step program the garage hasn't had but a couple new additions...Ain't really backsliding, just testing my strength over the lure of out of control purchasing of old Hondas. Cold Turkey is just a cruel and unusual treatment to try to curb the need to purchase as many 500,550, and 650's as possible. I haven't purchased a bike for a while maybe longer , and there's really nothing wrong with that....but it does mean it'll take me allot longer to collect every one of them on the face of the planet.
  Anyways , I was minding my own business just a lookin' at Facebook one night when suddenly, as I was a scrolling, much to my surprise , there came a 71 500
tortured project that someone gave up on a few years back just a couple miles down the road from my garage. I saw a picture of this poor incomplete machine that had obviously hid out in a corner long enough that the owner forgot about it , and now there it is on the owner's lawn trying to escape by putting a for sale sign on itself. I know it doesn't have the strength to make it to my garage on it's own.  But what was I to do, I've dam near recovered from all of this.... I'll give it a couple days and see if it escaped.  7 days passed and that poor bastard was barely standing, laying far into  the mud on it's side stand from the rains it was left ito endure  in.  I tell ya  man , I tried to look away......but just couldn't.  I called the owner at 10 at night on that pitch dark , raining night, not knowing anything about it's condition, only seeing it and it's relief  for the first time by my trailer's tail lights as I was loading it." Just a couple miles more down the road  there is a safe haven for bikes like you, you poor bastard, don't worry, you're safe now " I assurred it.  And had it in the garage safe and sound by eleven. 

[Gurp]

Safe sound and warm. You're a good man. Rescuing that innocent motorcycle

[RAFster122s]

Rich, that is a good bit of creative writing... Very humorous it made me smile while reading...
That is a challenge with the way life has been lately ...

Hope you are enjoying the late spring and warmth of your coming summer. We broke 100 in Tucson before the end of April and today reached the century temp mark out here in the desert far NW of town...
Enjoy!

[rb550four]

  Spring seems like it's been a long time coming here in NY, 39 last night and a windy 53 for the high today but it seems we may just skip spring and head right in to summer this year as the forecast for next week will be in the low to mid 80's. No time to get acclimated but I'm thinking we might just get used to it.

[rb550four]

 So I gave that 71 500 a look n see , to find out what ails it, and that gave me a chance to find some parts that I may have been squirreling away ...you know just in case. And now this  so far un named 500 might just be the just in case I have been waiting for.
  I'm gonna get this right out in the open straight away....I haven't taken a picture of it when I picked it up, and I have been helping it along with some shelved parts whenever I could steal away from the other things that I'm supposed to be doing. so there are no pics yet.
   The last owner did take the whole machine apart except for the engine as far as I can tell right now.  He removed all the paint from the frame and repainted it and did a halfways decent job. except there is allot of black pain on things that don't need black paint ,like the ground cable...both ends all sides completely covered in paint, even the engine mount hardware was almost completely painted. guessing the battery didn't get to do what it is supposed to do.all that is getting cleaned up.
   The fuel tank has a ding on one side where the fork  has hit it, didn't like that much usually means a chance of a bent frame from impact . I gave it a thorough looking over and found that there was no road rash on anything, not on the headlight ring, not on the blinkers  or seat , the forks looked straight ( but I didn' reuse them ) the top tree was busted at both forks and they had the D washers in place, the bars were straight but the master cylinder was missing , the grips look orig. the bottom tree had a turnstop that is almost broke off on the dent side but I couldn't find any other damage that would suggest anything more than someone dropped it from their  parked truck while moving it and it measures out fine compared with the other 71's here.  So the triples got replaced along with a new set of all balls rollers for the neck. I had a very nice set of forks from a 500T that took the place of the orig rusty ones along with a better rim than the rusty orig.  , the fender was in pieces in a box, it's complete buffed and mounted  and looks nice now,a fresh pair of gaiters  and  viola. all better.
 I cleaned up the wiring harness that had all kinds of numbers on masking tape on every wire.....they are color coded, one of the few things that didn't have black paint sprayed on them, why number them ...maybe he was color blind. but the wires are all clean and plugged in where they are supposed to be, the hardest part was getting all that dam numbered  tape off of the wires. all better.
  Been cleaning off rust from the rear wheel,  have brake shoes going in soon .The brake actuator was taken apart and now sports a return spring too, orig was MIA. all better.
  The engine is an unknown ,locked up for some reason ...but PO thought it was a good idea to remove the grease and shine up the chrome and aluminum parts  with a wire wheel on a grinder then paint....we'll see how that goes. I'll get some pics next time.

[rb550four]

  I went back and put some new brake shoes on and did the usual greasing and polishing of the aluminum parts after getting some of that black paint off the parts that i like to be shiny. I did bring the camera this time so you know it happened.
  Out of all the bikes that I've gotten a hold of , I can't remember a single one being a factory green color.I look on facebook and it seems that everyone else seems to have them, how is that possible I wonder, is it just that our local Honda shops thought maybe only the orange or gold would sell? Did  anyone really like that green or did they just get a green bike at a better price because they sat around longer than the other colors? Don't know for sure but after seeing all those green ones on FB , well that's all I want now.
  This is the poor bast#4d as it sits now since under going a beautification exercise, rust removal ,front end, and a buffing of parts that should shine'wire harness clean up and rewire.
  Not all the rust has been removed yet ,I want to soak some other chrome parts like shocks spokes on rims in Evaporust and see if that'll help, I saw that someone here did that in a wheel tub and it made a decent difference.
  Once everything else seems to be in order I will take that engine apart to see what the problems are. I poured oil in her when It came home and it only took a couple days for it to all leak out....i'd bet there is no pan gasket in it or maybe it's a silicone job  or some kind of cost saving idea like that..... or the string from a Leatherman seat cover . No telling what you can find in a project engine.
   Speaking of engines, I'm down to my last on the shelf rebuilt 550 engine .Was saving it in case I blow one up ....and I'd put it in this bike in a flash but I'm fresh out of 550 clutch cable engine mounts....would anyone have one laying around that they may never use and would care to sell it?

[RAFster122s]

Well Rich, you can repaint this one to be Freedom Green, we will not stand in the way...
Statistically green cars are more problematic, or that used to be trufor some reason... Not pulling your leg at all. Maybe dealers knew that and shyed away from stocking green bikes in your neck of the woods...

Working outside on car...
Oil change at night when it is much more pleasant temp wise than the 106 yesterday or 105 Saturday afternoon between 3 and 5 typically peak heat. Didn't the planet get the memo? We are Not suppose to be having 100s consistently until next month and it is only suppose to be in the 90s up to 100 later in last half of month? We broke 100 for 3rd earliest date in the last week of April.
I put the car on ramps Friday night and pulled the drain & filter housing and Saturday morning I began looking for the T55 I had bought for the job to not find it! Gave up and decided I would need to go buy one around noon I was ready to go ride to buy another and it was 100f already. I had a migraine Friday night and worked at night. Saturday morning after sun up and tending to the dog and putting plenty fresh water out for the stray dog that began living on my property in at least late January. He was looking pretty ragged skinny so I began feeding him and he will not let me get near him. He looks to be a lab mix and 8s black except for a white patch 9n his chest. He is really sneaky at night...

I've created shelter for him but he prefers hanging out under a tree and burrowing  beneath the bush to create more room...he must be an Army dog as he burrows or digs down to where he is recessed to ground level In his foxhole...

Saguaro Cacti are blooming again, same time as last year. The saguaro are the cactus with the arms... Native only to the Sonoran desert in Mexico, Arizona, and part of California. So any old westerns with Saguaros likely we're done here in Tucson at Old Tucson Studios less than 10 miles from me or they might have been filmed in another studio in California.that has some Saguaro Cacti. But most were filmed here if they featured the Saguaros.
The lights draw in the bugs.
Well, I gotta finish up and go get the a Redbox DVD I rented earlier so I can watch it...

Developed bad migraine during my ride for the tool as it returned with a vengeance and ride back home was very painful and I stopped for about 60 min to cool down, eat , and hydrate. Cooling vest didn't last 15 min... didn't soak it long enough and 8% humidity sucks the water out of everything.
Sunday I stayed inside after feeding dog and giving him plenty of water around 7:30am and didn't go outside again until after dark.

Today no migraine, thank you God...
So, was able to do some stuff outside this afternoon until I got into some Cholla cacti with them penetrating my tennis shoes on the side. The walk back to the steps of back porch wasn't fun. Cholla are evil cacti and their spines are barbed on the end.they often feel like they are burning pain as well when they embed themselves in your flesh.
At least mosquitoes aren't too bad (yet), I keep the water changed so they cannot start breeding if any are around. DEET keeps them away at night.
If it is calm I can use a repellant device I have that will give me about 15 sq feet of repellant protection.

[rb550four]

  I just don't know how folks can survive temps in the 100+ range, I 'm having a hard time in the 80's as we hadn't the time to acclimate. This weekend is supposed to be 93 here, been eyeballing the air conditioner out in the barn and thinking it might be more useful hanging out the window in the house if it's gonna be like that.
  I'm told that the key is massive water intake, air conditioning and plenty of breaks during the day . Sometimes it feels like it works  but most times we just know that we're just baking and overheated . Anything short of grabbing a long nap in a dark cool place or being in cool water just won't do.
   Arizona in the summer sounds like Hell to me , don't know how you do it.

[RAFster122s]

Well, it is something that you have to adjust to..it takes a while but my arthritis and joint issues feel so much better in the dry heat. Until you experience dry heat of the desert you cannot understand it. You adjust to it the best you can.
The sunshine helps with Seasonal Affective Disorder and folks with Depression, if you get outside to enjoy the sunshine.
Sitting in the sun early in the day helps with your vitamin D levels as well. But, you have to have exposed skin...

The sun here has given many visitors a nasty burn especially in winter as the rays are pretty intense and the dry air doesn't filter as much UV. It doesn't take long to get that sunburn either...

The tough part is when the monsoon rains happen, if they do, and the humidity goes up and that my friend is unpleasant...very high heat and 50% humidity is pretty crazy... Body temp temps become sticky and unbearable.
I will take bone dry and hot anyway over 80s and humid.
Only problem with extreme temps is you dehydrate very quickly and the intense heat leads to headaches and you can get heat stroke if you don't stay hydrated and take breaks to cool off.
You quit needing to go to the bathroom and that is a warning sign you are dehydrated. A gallon a day of fluids that aren't caffeine laced or sugary is a good rule of thumb for many strapping working males...
You learn the hard way sugary drinks in the heat will make you sick...
I lived in NE TN growing up, then NC for a couple years before being in central Ohio for 19 years...
So I am familiar with humid weather, not Mississippi or Louisiana levels but sticky humid heat never the less.
I prefer the desert.

[Gurp]

Yes Raf I agree.
I was born in So Cal. It's not bad until the damned rainy season hits.

[rb550four]

  I've been stealing a half hour here and a half hour there taking the engine apart in the cradle to see what ails it... and to make it lighter for when I pull it out of the green 500. Covers are off , clutch is out ( the plates were all stuck together from sitting w no oil), new brakes on the rear, polished  whatever I took off if it needed it or not,new rear sprocket ,rear brake rods are cleaned polished and installed...with the the addition of new replacements for the missing cotter pins. All in good working order there so far. Rubber and steel front brake lines are on order.
   So I haven't ridden for 3 years now , last week I got the 2001 750 ace , my fave 500 with the 550 engine upgrade and my fave 1980 650 road worthy and put  the 3 bikes back on the road. Had nice rides on all of them except the fave 500 which ended in front wheel bearing failure after I hit a bump a half mile from the house on my way back...they all wear out sooner or later so I replaced them with All Balls sealed units today, took it out , problem solved and another very nice ride was had.
   Ordering new chain and front sprocket for the green 500 . A few more parts to remove before I can set the engine free from the cradle and up tp the work bench to brake it down completely. 

[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.