Cruising into Portsmouth

As promised - video proof!

Assault on Reason

I think the first picture explains the blog title just fine.

There were three main goals I had for Lizzy this season.
1)Get some more riding experience
2)Get her past inspection
3)Ride into Portsmouth, with hubby, on the weekend and park with all the bikers in front of a favorite local coffee shop. (Its quite the biker hangout)

Gabe named the ride "Assault on Reason" because it was a little nutty of an idea. But we did it folks. #3 is officially under my belt and I am positively glowing with pride. Read on.
We started with a *slightly* illegal trip over a pedestrian bridge to avoid the highway. I mean, really, there is no way with two-up.
Got some nice Fall riding in near the Pease Airport. Gabe and I both did the fist shake near the runway in our best Top Gun impression. Take that Tom Cruise.

Then we rode into Portsmouth (video posting to follow).
I ejected Gabe and parked next to some huge Harleys in front of the coffee shop and oodles of on lookers. People laughed. But whatever! At least I made an effort to get rid of my helmet hair and look good for the crowds.


Yummy Mocha and sweets - only made sweeter because I was looking at Lizzy and all the other bike porn that was rolling past.

When it was time to head out, I decided to intimidate these guys with the roar of my single. Yeah baby!
Gabe and I decided it was time to clear out of Portsmouth and head over to Newcastle for some island riding.
We got heckled by a cop! Yeah this is the guy. Right before going over the first of two "death bridges" Check the surface at the bottom of the picture. Terrifying! And two-up. I am glad Gabe and I have so much tandem bike riding experience under our belts. I wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else. Of course he was saying "Oh My God!" the entire time...
But we basked in the seacoast glory - if not the sun. It was mega cold.

On the way home, we ran into a Goldwing Gang. We are of the same Honda ilk, so I felt a strong kinship, all the while having a Sesame Street Moment.... sing it with me....

One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just does not belong....

All and all, great day! Thanks Gabe for making it happen. You're da bestest!

It's not cheating, Lizzy - really

A colleague at work brought in his mid 60s BMW with a sidecar and I couldn't resist the temptation to go for a ride. I mean, its a sidecar! Freaking awesome. It was slightly terrifying being that low to the ground, going at a good clip. I can't believe people race these things.

What was really awesome is just how much bystanders light up when they see the thing. It must be cool to own something that makes people happy just by being...

Anyway I got to drive the beast. It needs serious manhandling to make turns. But I have to admit it is nice that there is no way to dump the thing.


The problem is that when I tried to ride Lizzy soon after this fun excursion - she totally misbehaved! I was trying to go fast ~50mph and she lost power suddenly and then could only maintain 35mph or so on the way home --- she kept hesitating (kind of like choking). I was kind of freaked and a little bummed.

I am thinking something is funk with the spark advance mechanism since this only happens at high RPM but I dunno. I have one other idea to check.

The season is coming to an end, and I really don't want to go out on a bad note. I don't know who told her about the BMW, but they need to remember ...

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Going Tandem

Looking back, we should have taken a picture. Really, 'cause you are not going to believe this.

Gabriel and I decided to go get ice cream on Lizzy. Together. We finally procured two helmets and we were totally legal. Keeping with our modus operandi - - "It might not be a good idea, but it will make a memory" we set out. Most of the 4 mile trip to sugary satisfaction was on back roads. The last mile, not so much. We had to get onto a road with a 45mph speed limit.

We both had to get into a severe tuck to make it up to 45, but we did it. Gabe was yelping at me the whole time. I think he was both really nervous with me at the helm, and a little amazed at how much you **feel** 45mph on a bike. Especially on my bike.




Chowing down on two cones, he fired questions at me - working up to the one that was first and foremost on his mind. 'So, um, is the vibration, um, good for you?'

Um, no.

I didn't add that I am saving myself for a Ducati. Sorry Lizzy, a girl has to aim high.

We made it back home and I wanted to continue going along the river on a pleasure cruise together. I mean, we just had a really fun trip; we laughed a lot and we were on a motorcycle *together*. Why not prolong the experience?

Because Lizzy's vibe made Gabe's butt itch too much.

Just when you are riding high, feelin the groove and that cosmic connection with your bike, your world, your man - hubby yells something in your helmet that solidly yanks you back to Earth.

And makes you laugh your ass off.

Inspected!

I have been asking around, to see who would be a good person to take Lizzy to for an 'inspection'. Someone who would 'understand' older bikes. Several folks directed me to Morrison Cycle in Madbury. I called him up, to see if he was 'receptive' to looking at older bikes. Here is an example of our conversation...
-----------
Sam: So I hear you are a good person to bring older bikes to...

Morrison: Age is irrelevant.

Sam: Ok *nervous chuckle*

Morrison: What kind of bike is it?

Sam: It's a 1973 Honda cb125s - a tiny little thing...

Morrison: Size is irrelevant.

Sam: I will come by tomorrow *gulp*
------------

According to this guy, age is irrelevant and size is irrelevant - men of the world rejoice! Anyway, I thought I was seriously screwed, and that this hard ass New Englander would never let me pass. But .... I ***did****!!!
It was actually painless, until it was time to leave. Lizzy wouldn't kick over. After 7 tries, Morrison comes out and asks if this was "normal". I told him no, that she should have started right up. I felt like I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. Inspected indeed. But guess what!? I *really* wanted to crawl under something when he suggested I turn the key on. Yeah. I am one smooth operator.

In conclusion, it always helps to turn the motorcycle on. But embarrassment be damned, I am legal baby!

Redneck BBQ

It all starts - as it should - with the Blue Angels!!!! Yeah Baby!

What a great reason to assemble the gang and watch the airshow from the yard, while enjoying some yummy BBQ goodness!

Things didn't stay high-brow for long. Rolf and Claudiene, Meryl and Marco, & Krissy and Newton were in the house and they wanted entertainment of the Lizzy variety. After listening to the sound of freedom (thank you Angels!), it was time to listen to some beautiful OHC Single purr. But first - the thing I have been *dreading*...(drum roll)... changing the rear tire!
Marco is looking a little bored here holding the girl up, while Newton and I are looking at the rear of the bike. Newton, the crazy viking bastard, is all about wrenching first and asking questions later. Seriously, he tore into the job. Shocks in the way? Take them off. Extra nuts? Who needs them.
I must say his fashion of sandals and blue socks entertained all, as did the wife-beater cape combo. They lined the seats up around the bike and watched us work. Gabriel and Rolf worked on the rear tail light that wasn't flashing and cured the problem by removing the seat, unplugging the wire - having a drink - plugging it back in and voila! (Should I mention the other tail light mysteriously stopped working after that point? Nawhh, that would just be mean and belittle their accomplishment!)

Seriously, it was an epic day. I haven't had that much fun in eons. Or laughed that much. It was a wicked decent day.

Front Tire Fun

I decided after I commuted into work for the first time and hit blazing speeds up to 55mph, that I shouldn't be repeating the speed-racer moves with a front tire that goes flat by the end of the day and a rear tire that has cracks all in it. I ordered some tires from Depot Honda here on the NH seacoast and got to work.

Getting the wheel off was interesting. I used a jack under the engine (green thing in picture above). It only took dropping the bike one time before I lashed it to a pole. Scared the shit out of me when it happened. Poor Lizzy. Bad Mommy.

Gabriel and I watched You Tube videos of how to change a tire. Most of them were bunk. We really liked the one of the guy at the dealership who was like "Take the tire. Deflate it. Then put it on the tire changing machine." Um, why are you posting this dude? Not exactly DIY.

I used cut up milk cartons under the irons, because I was worried about scratching the wheel. It came off OK. But the new tire that we ordered from the *dealership* didn't even fit between the fork. Awesome.

My front tire was fine so I just replaced the tube - because that was totally f-ed up. Totally. It had 4 ---- FOUR ---- patches on it. Really, Mr. Previous Owner ( and I know you were a man because no woman would be this stupid) is a $8 tube too much to spend, to put your life on?

Arggghhh!
I decided to clean the wheel with Simple Green which was going fine until the break came out and bonked me on the head, when I had the thing flipped over for inspection. That *hurt*. The book should warn you those things are free ranging when you remove it from the bike.

Yeah I know it should be obvious - but still! Ouch! I was so grumpy I had to yell at Gabe even though he was across the yard when it happened.

I measured the drum ID and looked at the pads. They were OK - not great, but OK. I made sure their surfaces were clean (dry brush only) and free of oil/grease. Before putting it all together.

The new tube holds air and the old tire looks OK.

For future reference small bike folk out there - go to smalltires.com to find the freaking old things that are impossible to find elsewhere. I learned that from the cb125 yahoo group - a little too late.

Next - the rear tire. I shake with fear.

The Mystery Machine

We inherited a lot of junk when we bought our house three years ago - like two freezers full of ammo, two kegs of black powder, tubes of liquid Mercury, a gun ... and an engine analyzer?

Why would I care about this Magical Machine of Mystery? Well, I don't have a tachometer on my bike, so I have no clue what the engine speed is. Even though I had the carb put together and working OK, I had no way of tuning it with the air and idle adjust needles.

Folks kept telling me "I do it by ear" but I have no clue how things should sound - so that was not only cocky advice, but totally useless to a newbie like myself.

Of course the engine analyzer didn't come with directions, so I hit the internet to try to understand the bugger. It was surprisingly difficult. For reading RPM, the thing has a black clip, a red one, and a green one. I did a butt-ton of research and still I just went with my gut in the end.

Red clip - positive terminal on battery. Black - negative terminal on battery. Green - the lead that comes in and attaches to the points.

It's a single cylinder bike which means when I have the analyzer at its lowest setting (4 cylinders) I needed to take the reading and multiply by 4. So when it read 310RPM, it really was 1240RPM. Check the awesomeness...
The gauge is from another era - but what-ev's ... its bitchin.

The problem with using this beauty was threefold -

1) The bike or the analyzer was not super stable so the needle drifted around by a bit

2) The bike seemed fairly insensitive to changes in the two needles. Yeah I could go way off the mark and it would stall or sound nutty, but it wasn't like I could tune +/-50RPM, which would have been fun.

3) Gabriel was *supposed* to be keeping track (on paper, no less) of the # of 1/4 turns out or in and recording the corresponding reading of the gauge on the mystery machine. I, being on the other side of the bike turning the screws, trusted him with this task. After about 15 minutes, he turns around and asks me... "How many turns total out did you go?"

Really Gabe? Why don't you tell me - seeing as you have all the freaking data!!!

This is why, folks, an engineer and an artist do not work well together on projects such as this.

What the what!!??

Anyway I succeeded at getting annoyed with my husband, so the day wasn't a total loss. And I totally cracked the mystery of the analyzer wide open. Take that, all you 1960's smarties.

First Commute

It was a big event - my first ride into work. Hubby captured my liftoff.

I shook with adrenaline nearly the entire ride. Real roads. Real cars. Real speeds.

I maxed out at 55 and cruised at 45 mph. It was a stretch for Lizzy but we had tons of fun.

I don't think I will do it again until I get those tires but it is liberating to know I can!

Salvage This...

Once Lizzy and I agreed that fuel was a good thing, I needed to turn my attention to what I really need to be road legal. Knowing my speed would be nice. Neither the speedometer or the odometer ever worked for me. I also needed mirrors, blinking lights, new tires and and inspection but that is getting ahead of myself. One thing at a time. Gabe and I took the speedo unit off and tried to find where the problem was.
Jacking the bike up, and spinning the wheel let me look in and see that the tang that rotates with the wheel, was indeed rotating - so the portion on the wheel looked fine. Then I tried to rotate the cable, and it went freely. Too freely...
The cable was broken partway up! See the broken chunk I pulled out. So sad. Not only that but the speedo was shot too (could tell with the drill). So this was the perfect opportunity to go to my first motorcycle salvage yard!

Someone recommended Coopers Salvage in Franklin NH
http://www.mcsalvage.com/coopers.htm

I have to give Gabriel serious props for driving the hour and change there and back while yours truly was reading Chloe Neil's Chicagoland Vampire serious (most fabulous read by the way. I heart Ethan!) And he let me spend money that should go into the house on the bike. What an angel. I will always heart Gabriel the most!

Coopers had crates of speedos! Crates! I got to pick one with a trip meter! FYI a speedo should read ~20mph when you spin it with a typical hand drill at top speed in reverse.

They also hooked me up with a new speedo cable and two (mismatched mirrors) and a new 6V relay to get my lights to blink (not just turn on).

Coopers was an experience. When was the last time you were in a room with this many carburetors?

Dang didly!

There is the new (old) guy installed with the new cable. I snugged those mirrors on and hooked up my new relay and I was ready to hit the road. (Yeah I know I need an inspection ... working on it! Really, I will try after I get new tires!) I went out on real roads for the first time on a 17 mile joy ride! And oh the joy!

The black leather and the sweet bike - kick ass!

Motorcycles Need Gas?

This post is hard to write. Obviously, I put it off for awhile. But I am going to be honest even if it pains me to do so.

The good news is that I got Lizzy started. The bad news is all that frustration, binge romance reading, and tears were for nothing! All I needed was fuel.

*taking a deep breath and writing on..*

So, I got so freaking frustrated that I joined the CB125 yahoo group (which by the way is awesome) and posted a short description of my woes. It was titled "trouble starting".

I got two responses back in less than 24 hours. Both folks suggested I look into stale gas. I was less than convinced because the fuel I put in there was less than a month old. But whatever, it wouldn't hurt to dump the contents of the carburetor fuel bowl and refill it.

So I dropped the bowl and noticed, um ... it was, um... empty? Yeah, empty. What the what? So I started looking for obstructions in the fuel line. Nothing. Then I looked into the tank and saw fuel and really started scratching my head.

The petcock (thing that controls gas flow) has three settings: off, on, reserve. When it was on, nothing came out, but in reserve it gushed! What happened, you ask?

Turns out the take-off for the "on" position is above the level of gas that I could clearly see in the tank. When I was away in Austria, Gabe reported riding the bike around in a parking lot and that it became increasingly hard to start. Well its because the gas level got too low! I put the petcock over in the reserve position...

I let fuel back into the bowl and seriously was wincing when I kicked...

She started right up. Oh the sweet sting of humiliation!

I had to write back to the CB125 guys that posted responses and all I could bring myself to say was "putting fresh gas in the bowl worked"

The real mystery is why the plug smelled of gas when I pulled it and mistook it for being "wet".

The recovering Catholic in me requires that I come clean. So I am.

The pain was almost worth it as I blasted down the street, to the nearest gas station, and filled up my bike for the very first time (see the receipt for proof)!

I had to take a class in small engines, study CB125 books, work my ass off - only do discover I needed gas.

Life is freaking awesome.

Static Timing

So I got to the point where I was sure I had fuel, air, and spark - so what was wrong? Could it be my timing is so off that she won't consider starting (the spark happens at the wrong time in the 4 stroke cycle)? I doubted it, since it would be near impossible for that to change while I was abroad. But whatever - I was desperate.

My Clymer book tells me how to check the timing by hand. I couldn't get Lizzy started so I had to do this the "static way". All I had to do was make the gizmo as picture above...
Ok, so it doesn't look like it - but all I had was tape and nails! It lit up when the two leads were connected, so it did what it was supposed to (which isn't winning a beauty contest).

I connected one lead to the fins, and the other to the breaker points. The idea is that when the breaker points are closed - the light bulb is on and visa versa. You want to get the point where the points *just open* (and the bulb starts to dim) such that the match mark that indicates the appropriate time to fire "F" is aligned properly.

Well - the first time I connected the gizmo and rotated the crank shaft the bulb died. Okaayy... so I just had to find another. After I found the last flashlight bulb on our property and plopped it in, it popped too. What the hell?

Turns out,I was stupid. I totally forgot that I had turned on the bike initially to play with my new battery (honk the horn, turn on the lights) and forgot to turn it off! The spark plug was disconnected but the battery wasn't and was blasting my poor bulb filament to dust!

That said, I noticed that when the battery was on the points would spark when they disconnected. Hey - no need for the gizmo after all! I just watched for the lightning show as I moved the crankshaft. Turns out my timing was a bit off. So I fixed it by rotating the points slightly. I am not sure how to keep the spacing while doing all this... (ideas?) but it didn't look that bad after I cranked the screws back down.

About a minute after I accomplished that, I was on the bike kicking away. After kick 50, I gave up and went inside to sulk and read trashy books.

Condenser ... but still no love

After I got back from Austria, Lizzy decided to take sulking to a new level. She won't start anymore. Both Gabe and I couldn't walk for trying to kick her over so much. I have only a few ideas left. One was replacing the condenser (really old word for capacitor that for some reason hasn't kept up with the times). The other was to check out the timing. The condenser was easy. But it didn't work at all.

We pulled the plug and I held it against the engine fins while Gabriel kicked it over. She has spark, so I don't think that is the problem. What *was* the problem was that Gabe didn't *listen* to me when I said 'enough' and kicked over after I pulled the plug off the fins (of course my hand was wrapped around the part that is supposed to be grounded). Well it found a way back to the bike through both my arms and Gabe's sweaty leg (which I was holding onto with the other hand, belatedly trying to stop his kick). Fellas - you want to be on the wife's good side? Yeah? Here is some advice...

Start by *not* putting thousands of volts across her body. That will increase your chances.

Dramatically.

At least he got zapped too.

Anywho - I have spark; I have fuel and air (plug was wet when pulled); I even checked the compression (150psi). What is wrong with my baby? I am starting to feel out of my depth...

I even asked the Honda dealership *if* I brought it in 'would they let me watch and learn?'

The answer? "The guys don't want you back there."

Nice. Far be it for me to make guys feel uncomfortable.

So any ideas out there?

Hot German Babe in Austria

So it has been a very busy few weeks. Work has been totally all consuming and Lizzy hasn't seen any action. In my defense, I did spend the last week in Austria (no not for fun - for work). One evening, we pulled into the garage and found 6 enduro bikes (5 BMW and 1KTM) that were parked all together. They were covered with awesome stickers from past rides - Transylvania, the Arctic Circle, Chernobyl... I got to talk to the Brits who owned them the next day and turns out they were on their way to Greece. I was really excited because I would LOVE to do that with hubby at some point - get two bikes and go around the world.

I tried to engage them in conversation about Lizzy (hoping to get some advice) but one of the guys said "When my bike has problems it just goes into the garage." .... OKaaaaay. Maybe I would do the same thing if I were riding a +20K machine. But I hope not.

Got to go past KTM (which is an Austrian company) and see a bunch of crossbows stacked on top of one another. Weird car. I like their motorcycles much more.
On our last day there, I ran in a race in Graz through the woods. It was a relay race and it was quite last minute that I joined in. It was mostly populated with thousands of students that dress up in crazy kit. It was my first race and I finished, but that is the most I can boast. Now if I dressed up as a Smurf and ran the course while chased by some dude in black with a net, then I could say something about how awesome I was. Sadly, this honor goes to 6 guys, that I didn't even know.


But I can down the Wiener Schnitzel and Almdudler well enough to kick it in an Austrian beer garden while watching the world cup. Now that, I can handle.
On the way home I kicked back and read the new Nook that Gabriel got me (huge surprise present before I left!) And you know what??? My coworker didn't have a clue I that I was reading some seriously steamy stuff - 8 hours of seriously steamy stuff. Most excellent. Put me in the right mood for a homecoming with hubby. Nice move, my man. Well done indeed...

It's not the size that counts

Me and the Viking - Rock...Rock...On!

Tune Up Miscellany

A few Saturdays ago Chrissy's man, Newton, came by to help me out. I prefer to call Newton the Viking because he is a huge man of Scandinavian decent that should be wearing a horned helmet and conquering parts of Europe. Anyway - besides being a beast, he is a motorcycle wiz and he also owns a KTM that makes me seriously jealous. Sorry Lizzy, it is true.

The viking came equipped with tons of tools, which was very nice. And yes they do make bent feeler gauges! Imagine my excitement!

I cleaned my first petcock (restraining myself from making dirty jokes here) - the thing that turns the fuel on or off on the base of the tank and slightly filters it. It had a huge booger in it. Nasty. I replaced the gaskets while I was at it.

Then it was time to adjust the breaker gap. It was hard to decide when it was open to its greatest extent, but I just winged it. Turns out it was *way* too big. So that was dialed down. I need to check the timing now... another thing on the "to do" list. Changed another gasket. Keeping this girl in gaskets isn't cheap!

Next I got to play with the compression tester Gabriel bought me. Thanks honey! Big sloppy kiss for you... I did a compression test with the engine cold (yeah I know it should be hot - maybe next time I will do it right) and got 150psi which is a bit lower than the allowed range 153-187psi. That's not bad, right? She is old. And I really, really want to ride this summer and not hone my cylinder and piss with my rings. Am I lazy?
At long last - the carb was in, the engine kind-of tuned, and the tank and seat put back on. Took a few kicks and she turned over. Beautiful sound! That is me sliding my motorcycle license into my back pocket.
The Viking and the Ox followed me down the street and watched me zip around and blaze up and down the block. Lightning quick. Gabe took the best picture ever of me and the Viking - it is so good, it is getting its own post. The tune up worked wonders, but Lizzy is still having some problems. If everything worked the first time, I wouldn't have anything to blog about, right?

carb take 2

Yeah - so I am a little behind on the blogs. Had a hellish week at work followed by a heavenly vacation. Back to the real world now, which means not nearly as much time to read smutty books. Which by the way, Nalini Singh is my top paranormal romance author right now. Hot stuff - the covers, however, make me hang my head and blush like a fire-engine when I go up to the counter to buy them (sometimes you just cant wait on the mail!). Hostage to Pleasure - yes please!

Besides being well read - I finished my carb before I left for the beautiful South. The ultrasonic cleaning did wonders for the jets. The slow jet was completely clogged, and it looks nice and clear when held to the light.

I was already to plop everything back where it belongs and measure the float height and call it a day when I realized one of the float balls was wicked lower than the other. Hubby assures me this is ... natural. But I have trouble accepting anything less than the best from Lizzy. Look at how much it is torqued! I think this was done when someone tried to adjust the float tang previously. Shame on you!

I lovingly bent it back to where it should be. Now that's better.

Lastly I spent a shameful amount of time adjusting the float height. It took me a long time to realize that the tiny little nub you see touching the tang is springy! Who knew? You want to set the height when the two are just touching and you are not depressing the spring. Lots of bending and rechecking height, all the while making sure I didn't torque the floats out of whack again.
I was a little unsure of how much to put in the air set screw and the idle adjust screw, so I just did the former flush with the carb body and the other somewhere in the mid range of its travel. I put the float bowl on and called it done. The carb looked great! Then on the bike it went.