(don't) Flip This Bike!

[olered67]

Hey Roady,
Winnie is looking great!!!
I hate to admit it... but I really enjoyed reading through this thread. The part I hate is how I feel like I have been suckered into something, just like my wife suckers me into watching one of her chick flicks and at the end of the movie I am a snivelling snotting sobbing tear soaked poor excuse for a man!
I read this thread through tear filled eyes!!! Its the classic chick flick story.
The hero...which starts our story as the villain! Meets the not so attractive and not so well preserved gal. He sees in her nothing other than what he can get out of the relationship.
She's showing her age, no makeup, hiding behind clothes that do not fit and are outdated. But as they work together for a while, he develops a fondness to the point that he gives her a pet name. and then an hour later after all the drama and the turmoil... she steps out as a raving beauty. Ugly duckling turned to swan before our eyes! And the hero and the dame ride off deeply and madly in love into the sunset to live happily ever after!!! sniff sniff Where the F++k did I put those tissues???

Just kidding
But I have ebjoyed seeing what you have done to the girl.
And thanks millions for all that you have done for the forum!!! I have relied heavily on your posts as well as the others info in the last two months to get my old girl in better shape, with more to come as well.
Thanks again and tell winnie I said HEY!

[olered67]

Im such a sap for a love story!!!

[Roady]

Such a nice post, OleRed.

I dunno what to say but you've summed up the experience with the skill of a expert critic.

Hope to run into you at Randakk's Rally, I'll buy you a cold one.

[Cookie]

Let's hope it doesn't end with her dumping him....

[olered67]

Ain't that the truth Cookie!!! I guess thats one of the biggest differences between women and motorcycles... both of them can dump you and leave you in a heap... one of them scars you on the outside and one on the inside.

Roadie, I'd love to take you up on that offer! I have been thinking real serious about trying to make it to Randakk's. 509 miles according to Google, which is definitely within Goldwing range... But I have some things to do to the old girl before I will try her that far from the house. I may even HAVE to do a carb rebuild...hoping for the miracle cure in the can to get me by! Seems like the more I run through the worse it gets. After looking inside the front tranny cover at the gunk in there I am scared to deaTH TO SEE WHAT'S INSIDE THE CARBS!

I also have to work on my stamina! I haven't quite got my riding butt up to snuff yet!!! if I can luck up and get some sunshine, I plan to circumnavigate the Okefenokee Swamp which will only be a 200 mile round trip... baby steps...baby steps!

[Track T 2411]

Olered, When I popped the front cover to do my water pump, I too was shocked by the gunk and goo. BUT, after I pulled the engine for painting, I popped out the oil pick-up screen, and was amazed by the LACK of gunk in the bottom of the engine proper. I think the front cover area may just be a "settling point" for some of that "stuff"
Good luck on getting her ready for Randak's... I'm trying for the August run to the Black Hills, more a 'funds' issue than anything right now!

Good wrenchin!
Todd

[Roady]

A little mad at myself for violating, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Of course there was a tiny crack starting at the top of the shield. And I wanted to change the braces from their handlebar attachment to the fork ear bolts, as suggested by Silvertramp. Much easier on/off since I wouldn't have to un-bend them to get them off the bars.

So, while it was off I just figured I'd trim a "skosh" off the top and smooth it up a bit. Been reading that windshield trimming thread and thought ... well, I've done that, it's easy. Yeah.

Marked it and started cutting with the sabresaw, about 2/3 of the way across and "CRACKKKK", a 3 inch split. So, marked it lower and cut it again. Success. Sand it down. And I notice a little crack in about the same area as the first one. Well, it's little, it stays. Adds character. Chicks dig scars.

Here are the new mounts. Right side.

shieldx1.jpg

And the left one.

shieldx2.jpg

New shape from the front.

shieldx3.jpg

Old shape. This is more vertical than the above.

shieldx4.jpg

Also while it was apart I lowered the forks back down to stock height. I had raised them about 3/4" (as far as 1100 allows with the air cross-over) thinking that it would ride better. I took it out for a little ride. The new shield shape seems to work as good, maybe a bit better than the old one. Less helmet buffeting anyway. And she literally rolls into corners with the stock fork height. Go figgur, eh?

[Graham Cracker]

Roady,
Excellent work, beautiful bike, great chronicle and another terrific contribution to the site. What I admire the most is your patience. Thanks for sharing

[Roady]

Thanks, Graham. But sometimes I gotta sit back with a couple fingers of Scotch to repair my patience.

Today I dropped into my local Honda dealer -- about a mile up the road -- and picked up a speedometer cable. The speedo started whining a couple months ago and has been unhooked while I debated tearing it apart. I have a spare with a broken face but it shows 20k more miles on it and I was thinking about trading some guts between the two.

Anyway ... installed the new cable and the horrible whining and grinding noise is gone. Speedo works great now, hey, I didn't know this thing could go that fast.

Of course, being an '81 she tops out at 85 MPH. Umm, seems to keep going faster but damndest thing, still holding steady at 85. Tach keeps going up but ... nope, still doing 85.

[TechNomad]

Cool! You stole it! Now comes the pain for the gain! Looks like you got yourself a concubine! Careful! Women get jealous over Iron Mistresses!

Keep up the good work. It's a KEEPER!

[Roady]

I've been curious about the MPG since several threads have been popping up lately. With the Randakk Rally looming, I thought it best to do a test. So I filled 'er up and in the last few days I've done almost all highway riding. Ran a loop around the city and then a fast run across and back.

Went on reserve at 169 miles. Then ran through reserve as far as I dared to 198.5 miles. It took 4.8 gallons to fill so I still had about .7 gallons (if I can trust the book).

That figures out to 41.3 MPG running between 4,000 and 5,000 RPM (mostly).

I can live with that.

Also, I wasted a few days trying to fit some hard bags that were sent to me a while back by Mooseheadm5. That was frustrating and I'm beginning to think that Winnie just does NOT WANT to be dressed! One of the boxes cracked and then I cracked.

Bungies it will be for the trip.

[Cookie]

Did you see the leather bags I picked up off Ebay from a Harley. For $30 and an hour to mount, maybe five bucks worth of mounting hardware.
They are better than bungees.

[Roady]

I like those, Cookie.

But with my HD pipes pointing up the way they do I'm afraid that I'd burn a hole in them the first time out.

Would be nice to have toasty undies on a cold morning when camping.

[Cookie]

I've seen bags for sale with a hole burned in them before that may have had just that problem. These have been running pretty cool on my bike. I got the idea to go around the end of the muffler from a hard bag set I bought on another 76 wing.

[Roady]

Polish, lube, shine and deciding how to pack in prep for the trip to Randakk's Rally in Roanoke, VA. I wanted to get a good sound clip of the pipes after they have about 5k miles on them. She sounds nice, don't she?

3 minute YouTube clip...



Why was I polishing on such a nice day? DOH!