ericheath wrote:You jumped right into the deep end, but it looks like you're a pretty good swimmer to get that much done. Hook your throttle cables up when the carbs are half-way in to save on swearin'.
They are 'spensive carbs to rebuild. Advice is usually go with OEM float valves. If you get bored waiting for parts, you could pull the other head and replace that gasket too so you won't have to do it next year. Seems like sitting weakens gaskets in horizontally opposed cylinders.
Hey, thanks!
. I started wrenching when I was in high school (about the time this bike was wrecked lol), and I've restored a bunch of old cars, and rebuilt all kinds of stuff. My first car was a '71 VW Super Beetle, and that 1600 was the first engine I ever rebuilt. The little boxer in the GW kind of reminds me of it
. Though, honestly I'd much rather work on the Honda
. Anymore, I'm not afraid to jump in with both feet...the internet makes it possible to learn pretty much everything you need to know before hand, so there aren't any huge surprises. Compared to a lot of stuff, the GL seems like a very mechanic-friendly machine.
Appreciate the tip on the throttle cables...I'm picturing them needing a few four letter words in order to get them hooked up again
. I might do the other head, but I've got quite a few little projects to complete in the mean time...
Speaking of, this will probably make you guys laugh. I'm still cleaning the last little bits of junk off the block mating surface, and so I decided to pull the oil control orifice in order to get that spot really well (you can probably guess where this is headed). I was wearing nitrile gloves that were kind of oily and slick. I grabbed it and gave it a tug, and in one graceful motion I managed to pull it out, squeeze it, and have it SHOOT FROM MY FINGERS LIKE PIT LAUNCHED FROM A CHERRY BY HITTING IT WITH A HAMMER! And as anyone who's done any kind of mechanical work knows, there's a force in the universe that makes all lost parts automatically go to the least accessible spot possible. In this case, that would be...the waiting mouth of the exhaust headers.
. Yep, I'm dumb.
I started my rescue effort with one of those extend-a-magnet things. Wouldn't bend into the curve far enough to reach it apparently. Sooo...that means I have two options. Buy a new one, or remove the exhaust and dump it out. Well, my Scottish ancestors would be disappointed if I spent $20 on one, so I tried to pull the left side pipe off. Predictably, the crossover pipe won't come apart. So, I guess I'll be dropping the entire system. I've got a cherry picker, and I'm going to try to just drop the exhaust in one piece, and then just pick up the bike and pull it out from under... It's one of those things that seems like a brilliant idea in my head, but I may find the realty doesn't work so well. I guess if all else fails, I"ll spend the $20 to get a new (used) one. Oh well, nobody every said being dumb was going to be easy...