New Parts

I posted a question on the Steve Saunders Goldwing Forum about who people liked as aftermarket parts dealers. I was pleased to find the responses. Two that I am quite impressed with are Partsnmore.com and good ol' JC Whitney. I was looking at clutch cables and plates, oil filters, and just some bolt on accessories. This is what I ended up getting.

Parts:
Clutch Cable (Pro Motion the same brand as the new throttle cable)
Master Brake Cylinder rebuild kit
Oil filters ($3.00)

Accessories:

Driver Floor Boards (includes rocker shift lever and at 1/2 the price of everywhere else I looked)
Passenger Floor Boards (folding, matching and also 1/2 the price)
Highway Boards (10 bucks more then the highway pegs, also folding and matching)

I scored free shipping from JC Whitney and Partsnmore is $5.00 shipping on all orders. Now I just have to find ways to stay occupied until the parts get here. I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas.

The Clutch Saga Continues

I did get a chance to take the bike out again on Saturday. I played with the clutch for about 30 minutes before going for a ride and this is what I figured out.

1. Which ever way you think the clutch should be adjusted is wrong. Start just the opposite.

2. After you have adjusted it a little bit try the clutch only to find out that it makes no difference which way you adjust it, the clutch engages exactly how it did before. 

I put the bike on the center stand and started the motor. Made several adjustments. Engaged the clutch and shifted into first gear. If I took the adjustment too far in then it was hard to get it to shift into first gear. If I took it to far the other direction then it would only engage when the handle as all the way released. So I found what I thought was a happy medium only to find out that it engaged exactly as before.

Back to the drawing board I guess.

Snow Day

We had another snowy day here. According to the weather channel we are in store for a lot more rainy/snowy days. Tomorrow may be the only chance I have to go for a ride until after Easter. That's the pits.

Motley Crew

I wished that I had taken a picture of our motley crew yesterday. Dad, Brant, Trev and I all saddled up the bikes and went for a ride. Thanks is largely Brant's for bringing his bike up and also for putting Dad's back together. Trev rode my BlueBells, Honda CM400T. Round trip was right about 40 miles covering the back highways. I thought the ride was a lot of fun and would like to do it again. Thanks everyone for going.

I was able to do some adjusting of the clutch before we left with Brant's help. It still engages on the very end of the handle. However I can now shift into neutral once the bike is stopped. I would like to put just a few more miles on it while the Sea Foam is in the case before changing the oil. The forums that I have read say around a hundred miles before changing it. I may go to a synthetic as well. 

The Wing definitely needs a set of highway pegs. The riders feet are too far underneath to ride very long. Part of the problem is the width of the engine. I am very impressed with both the speed and power of the 4 cylinder. It is quite sporty but also pulls a grade very well.

Before and After

Taking advantage of the nice weather this afternoon I decided to wash the Wing. The project started as, "I'll just wash the frame and get some of the dust off of it." Well it started looking good so I continued to the panels and then the saddle bags, seat and... well... all of it. So here are some pictures to document that I actually did something today.

 I had to take it for a ride since it was looking so good. As I started down our street towards main I could see that the left side was still smoking a little bit. I turned on to main and drove up the north end of town and quickly noticed that as the bike warmed up the smoke increased. By the time I passed Lin's, the bike was producing a smoke screen that would make James Bond proud. I circled around and picked up my brother and the two of us rode a few more miles together. Little by little the smoke quit. The only thing that I can figure is that because I had the bike on the side stand while I added the Sea Foam that it flowed heavy into the carbs on that side. It must have taken some time to burn it all out. I guess I'll know if it smokes again next time I take it out.

I took it on the freeway for the first time as well. It holds 75 mph comfortably at about 4,000 rpms. I didn't push it any harder then that because of strong cross winds from the incoming storm. I think that I'll do the clutch adjustment this weekend.

Sea Foam

We finally had some nice weather today and so this afternoon I decided to take the bike for a ride to the local Auto Zone. I found the Sea Foam which turned out to be a little more expensive then I had first thought. Ten dollars later I rode home to start my experiment with a warm bike.

Sea Foam can be added to fuel, oil, vacuum lines and probably every other part of the bike. I read the recommended quantities for each and then got started. I first poured a 3 or 4 ounces into the gas tank. I think it is a 5 gallon tank and I was a little over half full. Again I am guessing as to how many ounces I used based off a 16 oz bottle. I then added about the same amount to the oil by pouring it directly into the the oil fill. This puts me at roughly half the bottle.

Next I removed the air cleaner cover and started the bike. The Sea Foam website recommends pouring Sea Foam directly into the intake until the motor stalls. Well I didn't stall the engine but I poured slowly and little at at a time.  The website also shows a car smoking like mad as it burns the Sea Foam and true to form so did the bike.

I rode the bike around just a little bit after adding the Sea Foam. It smoked the whole time. Interestingly enough only from the left tailpipe. I don't know if one of those cylinders has bad rings or what is causing the extra smoke. I did notice how ever that the valve noise was almost immediately reduced. I'll have to ride a few more miles before I can give an honest assessment but so far so good.

Blasted Snow!

I'm sure having a hard time working the bugs out of this bike with this snowy weather. Friday was so nice and then Saturday the sky turned gray and rain. Sunday... SNOW! and LOTS of it. The only upside is that it is melting fast. I'll have to get out on Tuesday and fire it up again. I want to wait to add the seafoam until I can ride it a little and get the oil moving.

Shanghai Odometer

So I used one of the free widget sites to get a page counter widget which I called the odometer. (clever eh?) Well the jerk face site high jacked the widget and turned it into a link to a rip of cell phone site. Bunch of dirty good for nothings anyways. 

To make things worse it keeps snowing here. Today wasn't bad and tomorrow should be quite nice, but the weather shows heavy snow for the weekend.

Common Spring!!