My Turn

Haha. For now I don't expect to ride this thing anywhere but round the neighborhood as I don't have my license yet and won't take the MSF course until school is out. After that I may reconsider the plate mount.
 
It looks good. Telly you what, bring it up to Firestone and I'll ride it for you until you get your endorsement.
 
I've still only ridden the bike around the neighborhood. I'm still trying to sort a rich condition. Plugs are fouling out and they are soaked in gas. Tonight I tested the coils. They seem fine and showed right at 4.6 ohms each (for 5 ohm coils). The wires, however, were in terrible shape. They are very dry rotted and 2 and 3 fell apart. An inline spark tester showed very weak spark. It's amazing the bike runs at all with 40 year old coils and wires. I'm still learning as I go here but is it safe to say that better, hotter spark will burn more fuel and alleviate some of that rich condition? The wires are actually part of the coils on the 500 and 550 motor. So you have to do everything at the same time. I could splice in new wires and that would probably be a fine route if I were just looking to sell this thing. I could buy stock coils/wires for about $100 but then I may have to deal with this again at some point. Or I could buy Dyna coils and be able to replace the wires as needed for about $160.
 
Not much going on with this project right now because I'm waiting for parts. Since I have more time than money, I decided to work on the original side covers. I sanded the right side cover down, and got the badge holes filled in tonight. Tomorrow I'll work on repairing the crack in this side and then start on the other cover which is in horrible shape.

 
This cover had a small crack near one of the mounting points. I decided to try and use staples to kind of brace the crack. So far it feels pretty stout but time will tell.



I ground the staples smooth with a Dremel and forced some melted plastic from another side cover that is completely destroyed down in those voids.



Then I sanded and then put some filler on and sanded it down again.



I started the other side cover tonight and it's in really bad shape but it's amazing how much it beefed things up. I'll order new rubber grommets to make it easier to install and remove these covers and use them until they break before ordering new/modern replacements. It was fun to just try to fix them. This one is all sanded out now and tomorrow morning I'll put a coat of filler on and sand some more and then hopefully get them primed tomorrow if they seem strong enough.

 
Both covers turned out nice but that left one needed a ton of work.



I even got out for a little ride tonight. It's amazing to me how many thumbs ups I get riding this around little old WP.

 
To bring your gauge mounting dilemma back up.
I saw this and thought it a very modern way to keep a clean and classy look.
image_zps81f890a3.jpg
 
I just like the way this picture turned out.



The school year is almost over. I am so tired that I haven't even ordered coils yet so the bikes been doing a lot of sitting.
 
New Dyna coils showed up last night along with new plugs and plug wires. I took everything off this morning and got that stuff installed. I also readjusted the cam chain. As soon as I started the bike up I knew things were better. I took it a for a quick spin around the block. I got flagged down by a guy who was really interested in the bike. He said he's been trying to get some motorcycles entered into the car show that happens every fall up here and in Cripple Creek and wanted to know if I'd enter. Pretty excited.
 
Twas a tough night in the garagenous zone last night. I came in, kicked the dog upside down and announced that I was selling the bike.
 
I'll give you fiddy cents for it.
 
Yeah I was pretty disappointed at the time. I just got a little bummed because it's not a turn key bike and my budget and workload (during the school year) means that I just don't have much time to get it done. But...I know that when I do finish it up (even if it takes me a while), it will be unique so I'd sure like to see it through. I've been riding it around the neighborhood more but the motor started blowing smoke (oil) and I know I will have to rebuild it (at some point but I pretty much expected that anyways). I didn't know how to rebuild carbs but would be fine doing that again now. Right now I'm hoping to scoot around on it locally after I get my license and then take it off the road for an extended rehab in the fall.
 
Well, it looks sharp, and shows attention to detail.

Old bikes are like boats and Jeeps, they are just places to throw your money:D
Go slow, take your time and enjoy the hobby. That's the point anyway.

-Ron
 
Sidedraft carbs, unless they are flooding out or the throttle is sticking, leave them alone. I've rebuilt more carbs that didn't need it for no effect, meh. You should be able to mess with the jets without rebuilding the whole thing.
 
I rebuilt the carbs a while ago and they needed it. Still not sure what I'm going to do next. I did not reuse the stock main jets or needles so very soon I will probably pull the rack off again and take them apart and replace those 2 in each carb and see wheat happens before diving into different jets (which I should be able to swap out with carbs the still on the bike). As long as I can ride this thing around a bit this summer up here I'll be thrilled (even if it's blowing a little smoke). In the fall, it will come back off the road and down to the frame for a major overhaul that could take 1-2 years to finish due to my ummmm....budget and work schedule (if I still enjoy it).
 
Fish-boy...... Shaddup and friggin' ride the damn thing.

Go get your endorsement. Put on those silly aviator goggles I'm sure you got for this very purpose and put your bald head into the wind.

Sheesh.

:D
 
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