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.

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!

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?

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.

carb take 1

I took the carburetor out so it was time to clean the thing. All the books tell you do it one of two ways. One - buy some dip solution and leave it in there for 30min and then wash and blow it dry. Two - get the spray cleaner, coat it, then wash it off and blow dry. I wasn't satisfied with this for multiple reasons. I didn't have carb cleaner, dip or spray, and Pep boys (the nearest thing to me) is *evil*. Doesn't it seem weird that there is no agitation or rubbing or something? How is it supposed to get squeaky clean that way? Lastly, what is in that cleaner if just sitting on gunk for 10 min makes it magically go away?

I decided to use an ultrasonic cleaner. The bath order was as follows (each warm and for at least thirty minutes)
*50% Simple Green and %50 DI water (to get rid of the oil and gas junk)
* 100% DI water (to rinse)
* 100% Isopropyl Alcohol (cleans and gets any trace of H2O out and dries up fast)

I had to separate everything because I didn't want the fragile jets getting scratched. I used little bags to label and keep track of everything.

All went really well except when I was blowing the carb body dry and the choke assembly shot out across the room. Serious "Oh Shit" moment. The book says not to touch the thing and to leave it in there. But I got it back together and it seems to go up and down just fine.

All and all I think this was a successful alternative.

Two points to me for giving cleaning advice!

Valves

Now that the screws are ancient history - I can get in to see the goods. With the markings on the rotor, I can tell when the engine is at top dead center (TDC) so I could adjust the valves! Isn't that the most fun thing ever? Not so much.

Turns out it was wicked hard to get my feeler gauge in the tight space. And with a gap so small (0.002in) it was really hard to tell if I had "slight" friction because of the spacing or if the curve of my straight gauge was causing the resistance. Bahhh. Do they make right angle feeler gauges? I didn't have the heart to bend mine.

I only had time to adjust the exhaust valve and then I had to jack my tail into a dress to go down to see a dance performance with Gabe. A note to the boys out there - if your wife rarely dresses up (and especially if your wife wears a bodice with no fewer than 6 bones pressing and squeezing her into place AND an *under-wire* strapless bra with even more bones!) you should, maybe, say - "hey you look nice" or "different" or "like a girl" or SOMETHING! Nine hours in that damn thing and not one word! Yeah the impact driver makes up for it... but still!

I may wrench like a boy but I can bitch like a girl.