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I wouldn’t to be surprised if it started leaking again. Many times things that fix them selves unfix them selves just as easy. I had something similar to this on my GL after sitting all winter long. It left a wet spot underneath it during storage. When I got to the shop I pressure tested it and it held pressure with no signs of leakage.After doing the repairs and work that I wanted to do I drained and filled the cooling system and all seemed fine. Until I walked in one morning and found it it started to leak again. I pulled out two bath and install new O-rings and gasket and that took care of it. Easy job and peace of mind that it’s fixed is good.

DUGG - I agree that I should definitely not plan a serious trip unless/until I've clearly sorted out that leak. But it does appear not to be a head gasket, which I take as something of a bonus given the story I was told before buying the bike.

I'm guessing that the leak at the elbow was making its way into the spark plug wells and down the drain holes, which are right between the header pipes...

I'll keep an eye on a water leak around the #2 head. For now, I've moved on to sort out some of the (lack of) brake issues.

All three calipers have really nice paint, actually, so that's sweet. The bleeder valves were so frozen in I feared I'd shear at least one off. The right front 8mm had been rounded off, forcing me to go right to the Vice(grips). PBB, heat, persistence, and, ultimately, taps with the hammer to the ratchet freed things. (Whew!)

Fronts weren't too difficult to get working well enough. I'll do an overhaul this winter. For now, I've flushed them, freed things up, and have good feel at the lever.

Rear is stymied by the master cylinder. I pulled it easily enough on Friday evening, but with all the rust and corrosion things didn't go as hoped. I struggled mightily to free up the circlip.
It took on/off PBB, pliers, and frustration, but it eventually came loose after my Saturday ride with my son. (Fun fact: This was our last ride before he sets off tomorrow morning for a 5-week post-graduation crosscountry trip with his girlfriend - in her Volvo 240 Wagon.)
Then I faced a second big obstacle: the piston just wouldn't come free. I started with compressed air, and the master laughed at my pitiful efforts. After considerable irritation, I opted to get serious and go all hydraulic on its a**. I hooked up a brake line and a lever to the MC outlet. Once things were primed, the piston quickly bowed before the gods of fluid.

I sort of, kind of, knew there's be no reusing the rubber bits and getting this master to prime - and work - but I had it apart and all the pieces were clean. The rubber didn't even look that bad. I put it all together and had what appeared to be a functional rear master. The spring was working to return the lever, so bits were moving just fine. Good omens? I bolted up the master, connected it to the pedal, and added fresh fluid to the reservoir. Then I put a finger on the outlet to start priming the MC. Nada. 50 pumps in and nothing.

I thought maybe I didn't quite get that tiny hole clear, so I pulled it all apart again. I made absolutely certain I had brake cleaner running through and got ye olde wirebrush bristle in and out, confirming things were ok in that department. I decided to bench test before mounting. No workie.

I knew it, really, but was trying to hide from the truth.

Rebuild kit it is.

Bonus: I'll paint the MC while I wait on a delivery. Why not?

Perhaps the next "big" move is tank removal and cleaning.

Put these in your parts order list, too. With these water crossover items in hand, reseal both sides and be done with it.

ref #7 GASKET, WATER JOINT
19429-371-306 quantity 2

ref#14 O-RING (21.9X2.3)
91301-MB6-003 quantity 4

https://cdn.datamanager.arinet.com/imag ... 9aae9c/Max

Close, but no cigar - yet - on the gas tank extraction.

I put in some time before and after my Father's Day ride removing the bits needed to yank the tank: taillight and rear fender, battery tray, petcock, caliper, wheel and final drive. As the rear master is out for a rebuild, and the false tank, seat, etc. are already squirreled away for a bit, I'm close.
By my reckoning, I have to remove a rear brake bracket, one bolt, and work some presto magic to deliver the tank from between the legs of the swingarm.

With luck - and the wife's permission - I may get it out tonight and start the derusting.

Now for a v. basic question:
How might I remove the gear oil fill plug? I did the classic no-no and drained before confirming I could refill. (Of course, sludge oozed, so perhaps it was really a yes-yes, and more yes.) The bolt was a bit "rounded" when I got to it (not gone, but sorta gettin' there, like someone before me struggled just the same). I used PBB, some heat, time, the RIGHT socket (6 sided), more PBB and time, etc. Whacks with a hammer on the end of the ratchet to try to "break free" the glue of...time and weather. I even pulled out ye ole vicegrips. More time, sure.

I've not quite had this trouble before - and on what seems to be some pretty soft metal. I'm now at the point of saying, "Just swap the final drive and wheel from the parts '83 for what is probably a straight up bolt on situation - if you can get that fill plug to budge. You want the alloy wheels on the Cab anyway."

I might manage a refill through the breather at the top, should I locate specs on the quantity of Hypoid required. I think standard is fill until it drips out the fill hole, a super close tolerance spec if ever there was one. (Use enough but not too much.)

I would grab it with the big visegrips, don’t worry about destroying it, it has an o ring, so pb blaster won’t help, the same plug was used in dozens of applications ... most of us have one or two lying around.
I’ll send you one, your 83 should have 2 ...

Gord

Rat wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:59 am I would grab it with the big visegrips, don’t worry about destroying it, it has an o ring, so pb blaster won’t help, the same plug was used in dozens of applications ... most of us have one or two lying around.
I’ll send you one, your 83 should have 2 ...

Gord

Good to always carry one, or two, on the bike , hey?

OK. I won't worry about destroying it in getting it out. Thanks.

And the tank is out and soaking! Pics will come soon enough.

I do say that tank removal isn't that tough if you're already pulling things off the back end for other reasons. I feel like I did something serious - and the bike looks it. But it was really only about a dozen bolts.

Looks like a candidate for a Harley muffler conversion.

DUGG - I spent a couple hours poring over the various threads describing those conversions. I went as far as even scrolling CL for Harley takeoffs. I don't have the fab skillset to do it, or I'd give it a go.

I have a set of stock pipes, with a couple small, patchable holes, I'll bolt on once I sort out the tank issues. I have some other schemes bouncing around as well.

I won't toss the pipes, as the headers at least seem serviceable.

First, I want to share a shot of a bike I gassed up next to on my Father's Day ride, a genuine California Highway Patrol Kawasaki circa mid-'80s. The owner - you can see a bit of him in the photo - also had a beautiful Moto Guzzi (partly visible in photo). The bike was in amazing condition, and the blue lights were all taped up, presumably to be road legal without molesting the bike. Fun. I was on the Blue Phoenix, and the guy was just as interested in our GoldWing as I was in his bikes.

I got the tank out with little drama - uneventful delivery, one might say. With the tank out, I started cleaning it with Evaporust, which is a pretty good product. I had bought 4 gallons.

After rotating a couple times last night, and again this AM before work, and again this PM after work...things were definitely getting better. But they also weren't happening quickly. I had tried the Evaporust move over 2 days with the tank in situ before deciding I needed to be able to shake the tank a bit.

Honestly, I don't think the chem-treatment is the way to go with a rusty tank, or I need some stronger stuff (muriatic acid?). Yes, I used a bunch of nuts/bolts to do a bit of abrasion in there too.

With all the reported success folks have with electrolysis, I decided to take the plunge this evening. I headed first to our supermarket. Then armed with a 18" long piece of threaded bar, a box of Arm & Hammer washing soda, and an old charger I have not plugged in since 1998, I got busy. And if "action" on the diode and brown bubbly in the tank signal good happenings, I'm in for some great happenings. (I was pleasantly surprised the charger even worked, to be honest.)
With luck and science, maybe I have a clean tank in a day or two.

I may need to adjust my initial estimate of a "winter" build, as I'm finding that a "second wing" goes a lot faster than the first. I think I should start shopping for tires before long.

The tank is now derusted, dried, and full of gas (with a bit of Sea Foam to stabilize the fuel in the event of a long delay in running).

I've never done the rust removal thing, so there's been a lot of learning for me.

First, Evaporust works pretty darned well on parts. I might have gotten impatient with it in the tank. I know it removed some rust. But it just didn't seem to be attacking things, and I couldn't do more than shake the tank with a bunch of nuts/bolts in it. I now have a big bucket of the stuff, and I've been derusting all sorts of bits - pegs, battery tray, etc.

Second, electrolysis is pretty darned cool. Pictures show it, but it's hard to believe it until you see it happen in your workshop.

There's nothing here that just about everyone on this forum hasn't seen, but I'm pretty pleased with the results. (It means I still have a good spare tank because I can actually use the formerly rusty bucket that came with the Cab.)
That's a look that calls for a tank replacement - or it did for me until this last week. Oh, my. It's not a new tank interior, but for a forty year old steel bladder, it's looking pretty good. I'm thinking of doubling up on fuel filters for a bit, until I make sure I'm doing ok on the sediment thing. I flushed the tank a few times, for sure, and I blew out the lines with compressed air. But I don't want to be pulling carbs over and over once I get the bike back on the road.

Ordered tires yesterday. I'm going to need to make a decision about the wheels and fork before too long. I keep going back and forth: to swap in the '83 fork for the integrated brace and run the alloys, as I sort of planned, or not to swap.

I have not yet done a real evaluation, but I think the '83 fork seals (and definitely the dust caps) are good. The Cabbie needs dust caps - and possibly seals. The super heavy oxidation on the Cabbie's lowers will call for lots of cleaning, but the donor '83 legs are pretty darned sweet.

I don't think the '82 calipers will bolt onto the '83 forks, as there's the TRAC system. The right caliper on my donor '83 has a snapped bleeder, and I'm struggling to sort out a removal plan - if I move that fork over.

Side note: One of my neighbors is 77, and he just gave up his motorcycle after nearly 60 years of riding. It's sad, I think, but he said it was time. He dropped his bike the other week when a lady backed out of her driveway in front of him, forcing a quick stop. He didn't get hurt too badly, thankfully. He gave me the chance to buy his Cycle Shell, a pretty cool cocoon for a bike. I've got the Cabbie under it. I have a crazy mess right in the driveway, and I easily tuck it away when I'm done tinkering. The good news for my neighbor is that he's loving his new electric bicycle. He's riding it all over with a huge grin on his face.

NotSoLilCrippseys wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 10:40 am DUGG - I spent a couple hours poring over the various threads describing those conversions. I went as far as even scrolling CL for Harley takeoffs. I don't have the fab skillset to do it, or I'd give it a go.

I have a set of stock pipes, with a couple small, patchable holes, I'll bolt on once I sort out the tank issues. I have some other schemes bouncing around as well.

I won't toss the pipes, as the headers at least seem serviceable.

If you were closer I’d come over and help.

Thanks, DUGG!

I pulled my "spare" originals off the wall yesterday to assess the situation. Initially, things seemed like they might be serviceable - with some patches. I started in with a wire brush and, straight away, I semi-accidentally severed the pipe/header connection, as it turned out to be already half gone. (I didn't remember things being that bad last Fall, when I put them on the wall.)
In Shop Talk last night, I found two really good tutorials on fitting Harley pipes to the stock headers - page/ST - one by Roady and one by Rdurost.

I prefer Rdurost's, as it just seems more straightforward. And I saw some older, clean Sportster pipes on eB**. Then I started thinking of bags, the upward angle of Rdurost's pipes, and more...

I want to be able to run with the OEM interstate bags - at least as an option. Not sure Rdurost's angle on the Sportsters will quite fit, so then I started imagining the next options. That's custom bends, a shop - and, well, you've just been there with your excellent work mounting pipes under the bag mounts. (Your bike is looking exceptional, by the way! I love the Super Sport decals on the bags.)

And I started running time/material/$ numbers in my head - and looking again at the $500 Delkevics with the pea-shooter tips that evoke OEM a touch. Delkevic reports they tuck right under the bags, and the build quality is reportedly excellent.

More to mull over.