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What did I do to my ride today? Pumped half a tube of grease into it. Wheel bearings just took a few squeeze's but the forks took a shitlload. 7 grease nipples on this old bike. One for each wheel. One for each fork. One on the headbearing. One on the clutch shaft. One on the speedometer gear. I also lubed all the cables and cleaned the chain. Just waiting for a set of tires to get delivered. 2.75x19 and 3.25x19 are not common sizes these days but I was able to find a Canadian supplier. 
helno fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Apr 11, 2021 |
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Apr 11, 2021 23:32
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builds character posted:Nice bike. What's the grease doing on the forks/where's it going? The grease is the only damping in the forks. It pumps into the space around the springs and slowly gets pushed out the bottom.
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Apr 12, 2021 23:15
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Didn't think I would have to do any work on this bike. 2008 Victory Vegas Low. Sold it and it left running great. A few days later the new owner fills it up with gas and it made it home but would not start after that.  Fuel pressure regulator o-rings were hard as rocks so perhaps being ridden shook it loose. Either way bit of a pain to get to but a 50 cent fix that would have cost a lot of money if they had taken it to a shop. Apparently getting the large plug out of the bottom of the fuel tank is a real pain in the rear end. It came out quite easily probably because my old man had installed a new fuel pump assembly a little over a year ago.
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Apr 17, 2021 15:10
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Baby needs a new pair of shoes. Not many options for 2.75x19" but I found a set of Mitas for the BSA Bantam. Hopefully the extra weight doesn't slow it down to much.  Real pain in the rear end to get the old tires off. They had been on there since the 90's. Cleaned out the wheel bearings and really got the fresh grease into the hub. Funny to see felt washers as the only thing keeping crap out of the bearing but it is the same on my PA28.
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Apr 21, 2021 00:06
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With the help of an old millwright fixed a few things on the BSA that my old man never got around to. Made a proper adjuster for the throttle to replace the small bushing that was there in it's place. This allows for full adjustability in the cable and means I can actually get the bike to idle without holding a bit of throttle in once it warms up. The "Strangler" aka external choke and filter housing has always been a bit wobbly. The brash bushing looked like the screwed on to the carb but would not turn while also being super wobbly. Turns out it had a tiny pin locking it in place and it had been blended in with the rest of the ring. Tightened the ring down so it was not wobbly and then redrilled for the pin and drove it back in. Still need to manufacture a tickler that is actually long enough to unseat the float. The joys of owning a 70 year old bike that was a basket case for 40 of those years.
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May 3, 2021 00:59
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Installed a new axle to replace the bent one I found earlier. It wasn't much of a bend but it caused the bearing retaining nut to be tight on removal and the bend was in the thread. $20 to get one made by and old British gunsmith. Oddly enough the unthreaded part is exactly 12mm so it appears to be half metric and half imperial (threads are 7/16 BSF.)
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May 28, 2021 18:48
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There are seven nuts in the rear end and only two are plain.
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May 28, 2021 21:13
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:Sorry I missed this until now, what is this bike? A Bantam or something? It is a 1950 Bantam D1.  Luckily this bike was restored by my old man who was not an engineer so no stupid hacks. I did notice that the chain adjusters had different threads but had the same nuts yet somehow it had not fallen off. 
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May 29, 2021 13:38
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Got a friends bike running after sitting in his barn since 1985. https://i.imgur.com/Oim92Qs.mp4 1981 Honda C70 Passport aka Honda Supercub the most produced vehicle in history 100 million and counting. Had no spark and a fuel system full of rust, motor turned over and had good compression. Points were crusty as gently caress so hit them with the file and set them up. Got a good spark with a new plug. Tank was filled with vinegar and left to soak for a few days. Shook it up with nuts and bolts in it to get the loose bits. Gave is a good rinse and then hit it with some mixed gas and gas line antifreeze to get the water out. Carb was filled with a mix of varnish and rust. Took it completely apart and the local lawn more place put it in an ultrasonic bath for a few hours. Main jet was still plugged but a poke with a needle got it clear. Once the carb was clear it fired up and ran ok but was a bit hesitant. Had an exhaust leak at the head turned out the muffler was plugged by mud dobbers, screwdriver got a lot of power back and it stopped leaking. Going to need new tires and a battery to get the electric bits working properly probably a few light bulbs to pass a safety. helno fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Jun 12, 2021 |
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Jun 12, 2021 00:54
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This was the first shake of the fuel tank to get the loose bits out. 
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Jun 12, 2021 01:16
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Steakandchips posted:My Honda CBF125 2014 could do 100kph after about 10 minutes on the flat. I was constantly being overtaken on that thing. If there is no headwind and I get a good tuck going my Bantam tops out just a hair over 40 mph.
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Jun 19, 2021 21:36
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 81' C70 passport update. Tires are on order along with a new chain and rear sprocket. The new old battery is working great and identified an issue in the hacked wiring. The battery was dry never filled with a date code of August 1980 filled it with acid and put it on a slow charge and shockingly it works. Replaced the headlight with one that was purchased back in the 80's and swapped out the blown signal lights. This bike had started the process of being made to split in two so it has a bunch of spliced in connectors in the harness. One of these let go and was stopping the lights from working. So once I get my hands on some solder splices the connectors are going away and the harness is getting restored. The starter would not operate so it was removed. Found a broken spring on one of the brushes. A bit of bendology later and the brush spring is working again and the starter works off the bike. Checked the solenoid and voltage was getting to it when the button was pressed but it was not energizing. Checked the coil it was fine, checked the neutral switch and it was bad so it got jumpered to ground. SO the electric starter works but it is barely needed since you can turn this over by hand with the kickstarter and it fires up. So just tires and it should pass a safety. Still have to get the registration figured out and the owner is going to go write his M1, he is a bit worried since he hasn't had to write for a drivers license since he was 16 and he is retired now.
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Jun 27, 2021 00:16
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 Bought a new bike. Completely rewired it since it had a few questionable splices and connectors.
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Jul 25, 2021 22:48
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Installed a set of new wheel bearings and with that the 74 CT90 is ready for the road. Still need to straighten the footpeg so that the kickstand works correctly.
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Aug 7, 2021 00:20
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Friend of mine had an interesting failure on his C70. Bolt backed out on the drag link to the rear drum brake. It promptly started shredding the spokes while the brake engaged hard. Tore the spokes right out of the rim. Luckily it is a C70 so a new rear wheel is cheap. Not sure if he had forgotten to install the cotter pin when the tires were changed or if it rotted away. We found the bolt near the intersection where it happened. Two grown men on a Trail 90 slowly riding down the road looking for a bolt must have been a bit funny to the locals.
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Aug 11, 2021 01:46
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Martytoof posted:I’m certain the answer is super obvious and I will feel like an idiot when someone tells me. You can run wires in heat shrink and not shrink if all you want is to tidy it up and provide abrasion resistance.
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Aug 25, 2021 18:34
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Slavvy posted:Please don't do this it makes me vomit. Heat shrink is not conduit or sheath material, it has a specific job and that type of thing is not it. Unlined heat shrink in most cases is just irradiated PVC. In an application where it will never get hot enough to shrink it is functionally identical to PVC sleeving. Any application where it would get hot enough to shrink on a bike would probably leave electrical tape a sticky mess so neither is ideal.
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Aug 25, 2021 21:40
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You must have really lovely heat shrink. We literally use it unshrunk as sleeving in nuclear applications because it is easier to get with a certified chemical composition compared to PVC sleeving. We use it like this on vibe probes for massive pumps to prevent chafing. The shrinking property also acts as an indicator that something got hot and might need to be replaced. When I first read don’t shrink it I was confused but after going back in to remove/replace it I was sold. In this guys tail light wiring I’m sure it will be just fine. It’s not like he is covering an entire loom.
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Aug 26, 2021 00:09
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Slavvy posted:That sounds like a smart use of it but also nuclear plants don't move and vibrate and are generally indoors afaik. The stool of a gigantic pump is not very nice environment for a connector to be in. Oil and vibration are a constant enemy. Remember that the context of this was a guy looking to cover two wires for his tail light.
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Aug 26, 2021 00:22
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Deeters posted:The shrink tubing I've seen in nuclear-adjacent stuff has been nicer than the cheap harbor freight tubing I bought for a home project, and I'm guessing Slavvy runs into the latter more often. Similarly, I've used good 3M electrical tape that left much less residue than the unbranded stuff I found laying around. Some of the nuclear spec stuff is awful to use but that is because it has to meet some weird chemical spec. But yeah buying good quality heatshrink, zip ties, terminal connectors, and electrical tape make things go way better.
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Aug 26, 2021 02:27
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40oz of fury posted:Use "self-fusing silicone tape" if you don't want to deal with the sticky bullshit of cheap electrical tape. It's way more expensive though. Self amalgamating tape is wonderful stuff if you need to keep water out. Still needs something for abrasion resistance if there is anything it will rub against.
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Aug 26, 2021 03:55
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Martytoof posted:
My way of remembering to turn the fuel off is I do it before shutting the bike off.
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Sep 11, 2021 13:50
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New seat for the Trail 90. Old one was a bit janky and the padding was bottoming out frequently. Interesting that this was a genuine Honda part with a manufacturing date of Feb 23, 2021. I wonder if they use the same seat on the CT125.
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Oct 28, 2021 00:41
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Changed the gear oil in the Bantam. Pulled the side cover to take a look at the primary chain and it looks brand new. The pitting on the clutch basket was from when this engine sat in pieces for 40+ years.   Bonus video of it turning over. https://imgur.com/hbwEeB8
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Oct 29, 2021 17:02
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:The dirt nerd in me is cringing at the master link clip being the wrong way around but I’m sure the oil isn’t viscous enough to pull it off I'll flip it around next time if I remember. The colour is Mist green and apparently it was not very consistent as it was mixed in day batches out of WW2 surplus green paint.
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Oct 30, 2021 15:50
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LimaBiker posted:Ooh, is that the spring you wind up to make it go? If only it had as much power as a wound spring. Dog Case posted:Can you please make a video of honking the horn as you ride past the camera. Preferably in some sort of pastoral setting with a hedgerow Best I can do is drag racing a pitbike. https://mechanicalsympathy.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/MVI_4615.mp4 My old mans yard was reasonably pastoral. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBA7sLNguZQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiEr-Ps4hEk Slavvy posted:
My late father certainly looked like he was rolling in coal in the video he made about this bike. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9pw_sJDCyU To stay on topic I cleaned the exhaust and air filter today. Not as much carbon as I was expecting. While scrubbing carbon I noticed that the band clamp that connects the muffler and exhaust header has a tiny BSA logo stamped into it.  It's put away for the winter now. Should get a few more weeks out of the trail 90.
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Nov 1, 2021 00:37
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Martytoof posted:
That certainly looks a bit disastrous. Hopefully the failure is obvious so we can all learn a bit from this. Maybe something not happy in the starter clutch?
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Nov 8, 2021 14:20
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Pulled the side over and cleaned out the centrifugal oil filter in the clutch. Also replaced the oil filter screen. Nigel see it pretty lean with just a bit of grey greasy poo poo in the clutch filter. Just about time to park it for winter. 
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Nov 15, 2021 01:39
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Cleaned and properly lubricated a suspect timing advancer. I have been having a strange random stalling issue where the bike bogs down when I slow down at intersections. It idles but dies when throttle is applied. Thought it was an electrical issue and scratched my head for a long time when I could not find anything. After electrical I thought carb but someone suggested the advancer was stuck. And it was not very smooth even when cold so perhaps it was sticking badly when warm. Hopefully this is a permanent fix.
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Apr 15, 2022 23:52
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right arm posted:best smelling gas is leaded VP race gas 100LL has entered the chat. Only gasoline that doesn’t smell bad before or after it is burned.
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Jun 25, 2022 00:00
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Finger Prince posted:Lead additives to gasoline are like the Toxoplasma gondii of the chemical world. My love for cats and airplanes is totally genuine.
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Jun 25, 2022 00:13
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Replaced a failed ignition coil and finally diagnosed the charging issue with my 71 Yamaha R5. I had been blaming the mechanical voltage regulator but I finally dug it out and took a look at it. The contacts were fine and the resistances were pretty close to factory spec. Since that could no longer be blamed I checked the rotor and found it open circuit. Time to hit up ebay. We had a local guy who was an automotive electric repair guy, he could have had this rewound in an afternoon. Sadly he passed away last year and people like him are few and far between.
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Oct 17, 2022 02:13
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Managed to finally get rid of the off idle stalling on the 82 CM250 I traded a 78 CB400T for. Despite many rounds of cleaning the final fix was #42 idle jet rather than the stock #35. It still bogged with a #40. After taking the carb on and off about half a dozen times I can do it blindfolded. Not the best trade I have ever made but it has new tires, electric start and my wife likes the seating position.
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May 16, 2023 20:34
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Blew a piston on my Yamaha last night. No picture of the carnage yet but it lost power while at high RPM and engine load and one cylinder has no compression. Luckily it appears that pistons are readily available despite the limited production years. It was the left cylinder so perhaps the left had crank seal went and it leaned out. So plan will be to tear the engine down redo the crank seals and case gaskets and then do a top end with two new pistons and rings. While I’m in there might ditch the points and get some electronic ignition.
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Aug 31, 2023 18:44
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helno posted:Blew a piston on my Yamaha last night. Confirmed. Bits of the spring fell out of the left hand dust seal so I imagine the real crank seal is hosed as well. Not unexpected since this bike sat in a shed since the mid 80's. 
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Sep 7, 2023 20:48
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Slide Hammer posted:Is that a lean condition hole? (Meaning, the crank seal drying out is what caused this?) Slavvy posted:That is textbook lean running turning the spark plug into a gas torch yeah Somehow those old seals lasted about 900 miles. Engine is going to get a full teardown and rebuild. Nice to see that the parts are still available for a bike that was only made for three years. I guess the only unique bits are the pistons with no holes compared to the RD350 pistons.
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Sep 8, 2023 02:09
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Why buy one 600cc bike when you could buy 12 50cc bikes instead. Spent a few hours triaging these for an acquaintance who hoards old Hondas. Apparently they are the leftovers from someone who bought a seacan full of Japanese rental Supercubs sight unseen at an auction. They are Honda C50's with 12 volt electrics, electronic ignition, and round headlights so maybe 1983? We actually had one running briefly on a bit of gas in the cylinder so off to a promising start. The upside is that the gas tanks we checked were not rusty just with a layer of tar from whatever was left in the tank. The downside is we could not check the other tanks as they have locking gas caps and no keys. Between 12 bikes there are four keys. Besides the missing keys the next challenge is most of them have stuck slides in the carbs so the tar appears to be there as well. Despite being a bit of a hoarder he has assured me he plans to sell all but two of these so it might be an interesting winter getting them back together.
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Nov 26, 2023 23:44
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Beve Stuscemi posted:My bet is they all run That is what my bet as well. The owner was questioning if the bike we started on had any compression while kicking it over. Then it ran for 10 seconds on a teaspoon of gas in the plug hole. Sagebrush posted:They're Hondas. Put in a new battery and fresh gas, kick them over with the ignition off a few times, then flip the switch and ride away I think the hardest part will be getting past the locking gas caps and replacing 24 tires.
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Nov 27, 2023 00:11
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helno posted:Confirmed. As an update to this it turns out that the seal was actually installed backwards by whoever overhauled it in the 80's. Despite the carnage the crank bearings spin pretty smoothly. Not sure if it will be possible to clean the crank well enough so I'll likely be buying a new one.  
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Dec 5, 2023 03:01
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The case halves cleaned up pretty well despite 40+ years of baked on grime. Could really use a vapour blaster rather than a pan full of varsol and a toothbrush. Just waiting on parts to begin reassembling. New crank, full seal kit, electronic ignition, and new pistons (cylinders will be bored to fit 64.5mm pistons) 
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Dec 30, 2023 03:25
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