Posts filed under './fix stuff'
Got the front wheel off the other day, knocked out the bearings and inspected them. The grease looks brand new and overall they look in good shape. I have no idea if the previous owner had already replaced them or if they really are just in remarkable good shape.
Joe showed me how to test the wiggle room of the bearings. I think these sorts of diagnostics require a fair amount of experience. I wouldn’t necessarily differentiate “good wiggle” from “very bad wiggle”. I’m not sure the flange is supposed to be bent back that way, either. Doesn’t seem like it should.
I went to order new oil seals from MikesXS but strangely, Mike’s seems to only offer 1 of the 2 oil seals I need… which causes me to question if my wheels are from 1972 or some other year? How to tell?? So, the search begins - how to identify the year of the wheel.
In the meantime, I need to order new sprockets - the ones on there are pretty rough.
The gear ratio on the bike right now is 17:35 which from all reports should translate to a noticeable vibration at high speeds. From what I’ve read, a 17:32 ratio will improve the higher rpm vibrations. I just hope that bringing the ratio down like that won’t introduce vibration to mid-range rpms.
I researched whether I should consider a drive belt conversion. While I didn’t really learn any specifics, my gut tells me it’s just as much maintenance as a chain, and the chain is a known quantity so I’ll stick to that unless someone convinces me otherwise. So, after I’ve changed the gear ration, how do I figure out how many links should be in the chain? {sigh} more research
I read on new xs650 garage that the 2 into 1 exhaust that came with my bike seems to provide better power at high ranges, but the 2 into 2 exhaust is better for mid-range rpms. Hmm. The exhaust is fairly rusted so if it doesn’t clean up well (ie, cleaning the rust off leaves behind pin holes) I’ll have to think about what to replace it with. I like the look of the 2-1, especially black chromed.
So, that was this afternoon. Not much accomplished, but plenty learned.
December 28th, 2005
After establishing a decent music station, I used my new motorcycle jack for the first time ($50 at Schucks was a great deal!) and took the front wheel off today. It took a little longer than I would have liked and somewhere in the middle of the day our classic December fog turned to freezing fog. 
Things I know I have to do with the front wheel:
- replace tire
- replace bearings, preferably with sealed bearings
- replace all seals & wearable parts while I’m in there
- drill the brake disc. I’ll post the drill pattern I decide on here
- (new discovery) replace speedometer cable
- (new discovery) replace brake lines
- find any high/low spots, adjust & balance spokes as needed
- clean up the wheel, polish and seal/wax it
My Haynes manual is pretty good but a couple of steps were unclear.
Before I took the wheel off, I tried spinning it and noticed it was catching badly enough to stop spinning consistently at one spot. I’ll have to look into that. I was going to look for high and low points but lost patience with the catching. Hopefully it’s just a brake caliper adjustment issue.
The manual tells you to disconnect the speedometer cable at the wheel end - I found that it was easier to disconnect it at the speedo end first. While disconnecting the speedo, I discovered that the cable will likely have to be replaced. Later, I noticed the brake lines at the reservoir appear to be leaking.
Next, Haynes instructed me to loosen the “spindle clamp bolts” which were nowhere to be found on any wheel-related diagrams. I finally located them on the bottom of the fork tube (duh).
Next, removing the split pin and castellated wheel nut. Haynes says to use a “tommy bar” to pound out the spindle bolt. I don’t know what a tommy bar is, but a 3/8″ oak dowel worked well.
I removed the valve core to deflate the tire a little so it would come off more easily. Now that the wheel is off it’s time to figure out how to break the bead on that old tire. The tire is most likely the original - - 33 years old!
December 19th, 2005
For project management, I’ve been using basecamp. I’ll run an rss feed from the to-do lists to this site eventually. for the moment, I’m pretty confident that I can complete the work on the bike by spring and when I have a few minutes, I can always look at my to-do list to find something to pick off it.
December 18th, 2005
okay, so it was over a month ago that I’d figured out the whole rust-in-carb thing. Well, I picked it up from Vince’s motorcycle shop and a couple weeks later we had a few sunny days so I rode it….
until the carbs got plugged again.
Oh yeah, that whole rust in tank thing. So, time to put it up and start getting to work on all the things that need to be done anyway.
Sure was fun to ride though.
December 10th, 2005
You’d have to have quite a sense of humor to even think up a chainsaw chopper
November 8th, 2005
Previous Posts