What did you do today?

[venomousr1993]

Tried to fit into the new (used) 1 piece leather suit I got in October....legs and arms no longer fit.  Gained 15lbs of muscle and now my clothes don't fit right.

BTW: anyone looking for a nice 54/44 full leather fieldsheer leather suit (will fit 5'7-5'9" 160-180lbs well) for a great deal?

[The Mad King Pepe']

Gained 15lbs of muscle fat and now my clothes don't fit right.

Fixed it for you 

[venomousr1993]

Fixed it for you 

I would have figured a comment like that from Ben, Jim or Steve...but now you??? all hell!!

[tocino]

Finally started to replace the starter solenoid and wires on the 900SS. Yet again a simple project takes waaay longer than expected. The culprit was the nut that keeps the cable from the solenoid attached to the starter. As might be expected from the decision to place the starter at the front/bottom of the engine the area just gets sprayed with water / dirt / small animals coming off the front tire and this results in the nut getting corroded.



Took an hour or so of repeated spraying with PBlaster / trying to be nice with the wrench before I said "screw it" and resorted to vice grips. Figured I wasn't going to be reusing the nut anyways. The big worry is stripping the bolt or breaking it off inside the starter - which means getting a new one or finding someone who can / will rebuild it. Luckily all went well.

Until I realized I didn't have a nut on hand to replace it with. 

Ah well, since I was there I decided to change the oil.

This maintenance ensures there won't be nice riding weather until June or July.

[Slide Panda]

Yeah... I've probably got that pain coming as well. My starter switch has gotten stuck in the depressed position a few times and now the starter doesn't really. Pretty sure it's junk now. But to even make that determination, it's gotta come out. So any more tips on that will be appreciated as you get into it.

[jrswanson1]

I rode the Monster into work today.  It's nice not having to fight a bike's gear shifter like I've been doing with the 85 Nighthawk I'm trying to make into a commuter.  I picked this little gal up Saturday



I ordered a couple of cables to make her safe enough to ride on the street for a bit.  New tires are on the way, courtesy of MFI in Woodbridge.

[Slide Panda]

Shiny! Though, and i hope it's a trick of the eye/camera with the chrome fender - but is the fork a bit bent?

[tocino]

I picked this little gal up Saturday

Sweet. Nice to see you can still find them original in that great of a shape. 350? 450? Must've been stored correctly or well looked after to have the seat and chrome in that shape. What year?

[The Mad King Pepe']

I see a future scrambler! 

[venomousr1993]

That little Honda is a beauty

[JoeP]

Yeah... I've probably got that pain coming as well. My starter switch has gotten stuck in the depressed position a few times and now the starter doesn't really. Pretty sure it's junk now. But to even make that determination, it'sgotta come out. So any more tips on that will be appreciated as you get into it.

Same thing happened to me a few months ago on my monster. I got a new starter  from Ricks Motorsports for cheap and a new crankcase gasket from CA cycleworks. It was pretty easy to replace even with my limited mechanical ability. You should have no problem.

[Slide Panda]

best price I've seen was $132 in the cheap parts thread. It's a pretty common starter - just wish it wasn't an ass pain to get out.

[The Mad King Pepe']

best price I've seen was $132 in the cheap parts thread. It's a pretty common starter - just wish it wasn't an ass pain to get out.

Been there, done that.



For some idiotic reason I was smiling in this photo, must have been the gas fumes...

[jrswanson1]

Shiny! Though, and i hope it's a trick of the eye/camera with the chrome fender - but is the fork a bit bent?

No, it's a trick of the lighting on it.  

Sweet. Nice to see you can still find them original in that great of a shape. 350? 450? Must've been stored correctly or well looked after to have the seat and chrome in that shape. What year?

She's a 1974 CL360 Scrambler.  I have a new battery in her, so she's running with lights now.  I have new tires on order, but I can still ride her as is for a bit.  She is originally from Arizona, so that helps.  The seat has a split on top due to dry rot.  The paint on the tank and side panels needs to be done correctly, they were rattle canned on by a previous owner.  If I can get home in time tonight, I'm taking her for a spin.  The idiots in Richmond decided that they wouldn't stock antique motorcycle tags at any of the DMV locations, so I have to wait FOUR WEEKS for them to ship me a new one.  

Yeah, I paid $700 for her.  Put another $125 in to her for the battery, tires, and new cables.

[Slide Panda]

Finally the stupid slim wrench needed to get the cap off the KTM forks arrived and I set to on one.

- Polished the slider tube. Nice and slick now
- was glad I'd ordered up bushing as well - found some nicks in the coating of the inner so on with a new busing set.
- Fit up the new caps with adjustable preload
- Swapped in some billet rebound adjustor knobs - the stock plastic ones were such a pregnant dog to turn
- Partial reassemble, need to oil it up.

The action of the lower is much nicer now. Prior to the new seals and polish the lower would stay in the position you pushed it to then let hang - with the cap unthreaded from the tube. There was enough friction to prevent gravity from pulling the mass of the lower, spring and cap down. Now, it's FREEEE!