Gold Member

[robin1731]

Your right, my bad I've been in so many forks since I did the ones on my '76 that I forgot. You know though, every other set of forks I have had apart had that spring though. That's why I would have sworn this did too. Oh well. Carry on

[Cookie]

I thought you were younger than a lot of us senile old farts Robin...

[robin1731]

I thought you were younger than a lot of us senile old farts Robin...

LOL, younger than some. I'll be 52 in April. Probably about the median age on here I think. That don't mean I ain't senile though. Like I said, I've had 3 different sets of forks apart in the last week or so. All had the small spring. I just really don't remember taking any apart without it. Thats what comes from buying 9 bikes in the last month I guess.

[Hoosier Daddy]

...younger than some. I'll be 52 in April. Probably about the median age on here I think.

That's one of the reasons I like it here so much... at 47 I am the "Kid" again!

[Track T 2411]

...younger than some. I'll be 52 in April. Probably about the median age on here I think.

That's one of the reasons I like it here so much... at 47 I am the "Kid" again!

Ditto!

Todd

[Cookie]

If you guys don't straighten out you'll have to go to bed without supper.

[sos]

Well, I spent nearly all day in the gargae yesterday. It was wonderful.

I got a bunch of little issues sorted out; fender, mirrors, seat, exhaust, fuel pump, etc. all installed. I checked all the fluids and started the GL up. It started pretty quickly, took a bit of time to get up to speed on the fast idle but once it did it went right to 3,000rpm and smoked out any oil that was left in the cylinders. That cleared up, but it just wasn't running right at low rpm. Kind of like an air leak where it would hesitate, then the rpms would come up, but then hang there for awhile before they would settle back down to around 1,000.

I got it up to temperature, checked the sync on the carbs again and it was fine. The plugs were lean on the right side and a bit dark on the left side which I though was strange since they all have their own carb, but I swapped the plugs to the opposite side and then did the idle mixture adjustment. That took a little while but in the end the carbs for 1 & 3 (right side) got richened up and the carbs for 2 & 4 (left side) got leaned out a bit. Now the plugs are looking pretty good. I need to get a good run on the road to tell for sure, but they were all starting to tan.

It is running much better, but still not right.

I ran into a couple issues on startup. The petcock started leaking pretty significantly. Luckily I happen to have a new selector gasket handy. But when I openned the gas cap to make sure the fuel level was below the petcock body there was a significant vacuum on the tank. The cap spring was moving, but maybe the vent hole is plugged. I'll try and clean it out today. The exhaust was stronger out the right side pipe. It is crossconnected, so maybe a bit of an obstruction in the left muffler section? There is debris sloshing around in there.

I did get a road test, but it was very short. I just spent the last 2 months basically cleaning and servicing this bike and I really didn't want to load it up with road salt. I stuck to the dry parts of the road and the bike performed pretty well for as much as I road it. The clutch was stuck before the road test and I got quite a workout trying to push it down the driveway and pop it into gear to break the clutch loose. Finally, I just put it on the center stand, started it up, put it in first and I could stop the wheel with my shoe. It hasn't dragged or stuck since. I should have tried that first.

The bike has very good power. I was a bit surprized. Not as much as my DL1000, but respectable for sure. The brakes are a bit soft, but fully functional, the steering and suspension seemed fine, the transission shifted well, and I don't have any leaks that I can see. So far, so good. I'll check the tech boards and see if I can't get it running the way it should.

[robin1731]

IMHO, I wouldn't try to get it too perfect yet. The temp. outside right now is pretty cool. If you spend the time to get it perfect now you'll need to do it all over again once it get's to about 60-70 degrees (which can't get here soon enough). I would get it close, then about April or later work on getting in real good. I have had some people want to bring their bike to me to get carbs dialed in here the last couple of weeks. I told them just like i did you. I can do them now but come summer they won't be very good and you'll be cussin me. Even if you do them in a heated garage they won't be the same when the outside temp gets to 70. The above message is truly just my .02.

[sos]

IMHO, I wouldn't try to get ot too perfect yet. The temp. outside right now is pretty cool. If you spend the time to get it perfect now you'll need to do it all over again once it get's to about 60-70 degrees (which can't get here soon enough). I would get it close, then about April or later work on getting in real good. I ahve had some people want to bring their bike to me to get carbs dialed in here the last couple of weeks. I told them just like i did you. I can do them now but come summer they won't be very good and you'll be cussin me. Even if you do them in a heated garage they won't be the same when the outside temp gets to 70. The above message is truly just my .02.

Point taken. I'm petty sure that I have a vacuum issue to take care of. If fact after going through an idle issue thread in the tech section I went out and tugged on the vacuum lines and at least one is very loose. I used 1/4" fuel line with the original clamps and they are just not holding tight. I just picked up some vacuum line and I will swap that out. I want to get problems ironed out now and then I can do a final tune later in the year to get it dialed in for summer.

Thanks.

[sos]

I have some new goodies arriving this afternoon, so I wanted to get the leak in the left side exhaust header fixed before my new mufflers arrived.



You can see the dark line along the seem where the leak was. It was a significant leak that would blow the dust away underneath, even though I could not see any obvious opennings.

And after some grinding to get to bare metal.



And a bit of welding...



And a quick spray with exhaust paint.



Hopefully that will keep the exhaust where it should be.

[Cookie]

Nice job!

[sos]

Nice job!

Thanks. The fuzzy camera and a grinder help a lot

[Cookie]

I figure if anybody lays underneath to inspect my welding they deserve to get dirty.

[sos]

Well, a bit of a disappointment on the mufflers that I ordered. I didn't check where they would set carefully enough and they would hit the rear wheel axle. Dummy

Not that big of a deal though. I will use them on another project. The good news is that the repairs on the exhaust header worked out well and the sealed up exhaust system did help to smooth out the engine. I still have a bit of a stutter when I crack the throttle and it smokes when I first start it up, but like robin1731 said ... don't try to get it perfect until the temperatures are closer to riding weather.

I did throw the manometer back on and tweak #2 a bit, but nothing that would be noticeable. All the plugs look good except #4, it is a bit dark. I know that when I cleaned the coils one of the ends was different and had an extra resistor. I think it might have been #4, but I can't say for sure.

Other than that I need to get front signals, the lower radiator hose (it shipped today), new clutch and throttle return cables and a kick start lever. The starter clutch slips from time to time and I don't want to get stuck push starting a 600 pound bike .

Oh yeah ... and some decent weather

[polkadot]

sos, Lets just delete February from the Ohio calendar. I know what you mean, I can't wait to ride. ernie