Highway Boards are Great.

So the highway boards that I originally bought fit the first case guard fine but were too small for the new case guard. Well, I went to my go to guy(Dad)for anything metal and the next day he brings me back a finished product. He took them to the school where Hart and one of the students bored them out to fit. I bolted them on the bike the other night but only got to ride with them today.

It doesn't seem like a 4 inch square board would offer much more comfort then a peg until you ride with one. It is night and day different. I rest my feet there now with out gripping the tank or burning my calves on the valve covers. Glorious.

Road Trip with Trailer

Yesterday, Rachel and I took off for the night. We loaded the trailer with camping gear(despite not having trailer lights) and took off for Bicknell. You must be wondering what in the world would take us to Bicknell so I'll tell you. We went over to see the BIFF, Bicknell International Film Festival. It was a little like weird ville USA. We saw a movie called "The Claw" that we highly recommend.

The trailer pulled fine and follows well. Paving crews had chip sealed the dugway so we had to take it easy going up it. I would really like to get the trailer light connected however because it blocks the bike lights all together. One good discovery however is that the cooling fan does indeed work. I had never heard it kick on and worried that the sensor or thermostat or something was bad, but once we pulled into Bicknell I could hear it running. When we stopped at the campground to drop the trailer I turned off the motor but left the key on auxiliary so the fan would continue to run. After about a minute or so it shut off on its own.

We stayed in a campground just outside of town. It just so happened to be the same camp ground that all the crazy's were also staying in. Surprisingly it was pretty quiet. I locked the trailer to one of the picnic table legs with the safety chains and locked the hitch. We left it there while we went to the movie.

On the way back we decided to take a different route so we circled through Koosharem and over to Otter Creek. We stopped there for a few minutes to stretch our legs.


The bike averaged about 40 mpg which I didn't think was too bad considering we were riding 2 up and pulling a trailer with total weight of about 200lbs. The bike still held 70 mph comfortably while bucking a head wind once we got out of Marysville canyon. 190 miles total and the bike did fine. It is a far cry from a new bike but it still has some life left in it.

Trailer Hitch

So tonight I took on the project of switching the trailer hitch from the 78 to the 79. First off the hitch is a home made contraption that I have yet to prove worthy of actually pulling a trailer. Second, I had to take most of the rear end apart on both bikes. Once I got all the tupperware off of the 78 I caught the naked bike vision again. I really think it would make a nice cruiser. The biggest fight was getting the bracket to line back up on the 79. With a lot of persuasion I mostly got it. I will however have to make some small changes in the rear floorboard mounts and get longer bolts for the boards.

Word to the wise

Use lock tight on any and all bolts that hold aftermarket foot controls in place. I lost the toe pedal off of the aftermarket heel toe shifter that I just put on. The vibrations must have worked the nuts loose. I replaced all the bolts on the controls today with locking washers and Red lock tight. It is suppose to harden so tight that it requires heat to remove them. Sounds good to me. I really don't want them coming off again.

Brake Bleeding

I have been playing with the front brakes again and still not having a lot of success so I turned, like always, to the source of all knowledge. Google. This is what I found at
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Motorcycle-Repair-837/1994-Gold-Wing-SE.htm


Brake/Clutch Bleeding 101
By Mark Shively

Use high quality DOT 4 brake fluid (or preferred type) from a sealed container. Remove the old fluid from the master cylinder reservoir. Use a cooking type squeeze bulb baster to remove the bulk of the fluid. Use a paper towel to remove any remaining fluid. Top off the empty reservoir. Top them off periodically during this procedure. Do not spill any fluid on your bike because it may damage the paint. The front brake reservoir tends to spit fluid out the top during this process so make sure you place a bunch of rags, old blankets, or towels over the fuel tank.

You can make a bleeder drain container fairly easily by taking a plastic container with a screw on lid. Put a hole in the container lid just large enough to get the hose through. Put a short section of hose on the bleed valve on the brake caliper. Put the drain container on the other end to catch the runoff. You'll need to move the hose and container around to each caliper as you work, or use more than one container.

Use a wrench to open the bleed valve while simultaneously squeezing the lever (or pedal). About 2/3 of a turn on the wrench will do it. Fluid should run out of the hose at this time. When you squeeze to within 3/4 of your full lever pull, use the wrench to close the bleeder valve. It is important that you close the valve before hitting full travel on the lever. Release the lever and repeat the process (squeeze lever, open valve, close valve, release lever) until the fluid runs with no bubbles and the lever is firm. You'll be amazed how firm you can get your system.
While this way will work and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, it is a big misconception that you have to shut the bleeder valve between every pump/squeeze of the lever. People do this on their cars, too. Pump, Open/Close; Pump, Open/Close…. You really don't need to do this. As long as you've got fluid flowing through the bleeder tube, you can just keep pumping/squeezing the lever until fresh brake fluids runs through the system. The end result is a flushed and bled system. Just make sure the reservoir stays topped off. If you bleed it dry, you'll have to start all over again. This how pro motorcycle mechanics flush a hydraulic brake system.

I'll have to give it a shot. So much for DOT 3.

Found: 1 Front Brake Switch

So I was talking to Dennis Jorgensen today at the gym after he offered me to take a ride on his new Kawasaki bullet bike, and decided that I'd see how much they would charge me for the parts. I went into the store this afternoon and started talking to the parts guy. He was able to get me the switch for under 20 bucks with tax. I went with it because that was the best price I could find online as well.

He looked up the rebuild kit for the master cylinder and it was 50 something. I told him that I was waiting for an after market one for $20. He then said that he could sell it for $40 and if I changed my mind about waiting for the after market parts he would still honor that price. Not bad, but I'm holding out for partsnmore. I'll likely order new clutch plates at the same time.

Parts Hunt

I found the front stop switch online for about 20 bucks plus shipping. The master cylinder rebuild kit is anywhere from 20 to 80 dollars. I'm going to check with the Honda shop here and see what they can get it for. I'm not expecting it to be less but it is worth a try. Otherwise I wait for partsnmore to get it in stock.

MSF Basic Riders Course

Here are the Dixie College dates for the rest of the year. I'm going to go on Oct 14-15 I think. I like the two day course better then the 3 short days.

September 3-5 BRC 01

September 10-12 BRC 02

September 17-19 BRC 03

September 24-26 BRC 04

October 2-3 BRC 05

October 9-10 BRC 06

October 14 ERC 01

October 14-15 BRC 07 Thursday/Friday class

October 16-17 BRC 08

October 23-24 BRC 09

October 30-31 BRC 10

November 6-7 BRC 11

November 13-14 BRC 12

November 20-21 BRC 13

December 4-5 BRC 14

December 11-12 BRC 15

December 18-19 BRC 16

December 21-22 BRC 17

Vicki Baldwin
Community Education Secretary
652-7664

Backordered?

How many people can there be that are ordering master cylinder rebuild kits? My favorite busted old bike vendor is sold out of them. It is clear that I need to rebuild the cylinder. After cleaning the calipers and greasing them up it took a ridiculously long time to pump them back up and once they are the won't hold pressure. It makes for a scary ride pumping the brakes every time you need to stop. Forget about stopping fast. It just isn't safe to ride until I get it changed. I can't even salvage from the other bike because Mother Honda changed the control from 78 to 79. Guess it will be a while longer before we take it out again.

Brakes

I started asking around on forums about squeaking brakes and the best advice I received was to rebuild the calipers. So, they are off the bike and mostly in pieces. The pistons are stuck in the caliper. Likely the cause of the squealing. I'll need to use an air chuck to push them out then brush them up with some emery cloth to clean them up. Lube them up a little and put it all back together. With any luck I'll have a winner. While I'm at it I'm going to drain all the synthetic DOT 3 and use the traditional DOT 3. I bought the synthetic on mistake and didn't realize it until I started pouring it in. It seems really slick and I don't think that the master cylinder pumps it as well.