What did you do to your motorcyle today?

[754]

 What size hole was in the fins ? My rule of thumb is measure a Craftsman socket and make sure iit fits the hole..
Did dozens of them at 1 3/16 diameter... Now you get to install a lot of compression releases.

[Twisted_Twin]

Never measured the hole in the fins. You can see in the first picture that if it were much bigger, you would run into the oil gallery at the top of the cylinder.

An 18mm thin snap-on socket wouldn't fit but a conventional 5/8" does.

Someone just used the wrong plugs at some point. One was not much more than finger tight and the other one was a bit tighter but not much. I suspect pliers were used to install them.

No need for a compression release, 'Guzzi uses car-sized starter motors.

[hardrockminer]

I ran the B4 on Friday but only for a few miles.  It had symptoms like a bike with a worn set of points.  No power and could not develop any speed on hills.  The engine sounded very rough as well.

So I figured the timing chain was off.  Strange though...I checked it several times during repairs to make sure it was right.  Anyway, back into the shop and off with the valve cover.  Check the valve clearance first....sure enough things are different from when they went together.  Now I need some more shims that I haven't got.  But they were ordered a week ago so should be here in a couple of days. 

And Yes...the timing chain was out by one link. 

One more problem...when I put the valve cover gasket on I sprayed it with Permatex gasket stuff.  The gasket was baked onto the head and valve cover, so I have some cleaning work to make it right.  Luckily I have a couple of new gaskets.  Now I am wondering...do I spray the next one to prevent oil leaks or do I take a chance?  I'm leaning towards chance.

[azr]

You're not supposed to use a gasket maker on the valve cover, at least not on the Suzuki's. I do coat it with a thin layer of grease though, both sides, that way I can usually get 3-4 uses out of it before the paper gasket bites the bullet.

[kilowop]

Greasing the "Paper" type gaskets seems to work for me as well.  I usually get at least 2-3 uses out of the valve cover gasket if I'm careful.
Good Luck!

[hardrockminer]

You're not supposed to use a gasket maker on the valve cover, at least not on the Suzuki's. I do coat it with a thin layer of grease though, both sides, that way I can usually get 3-4 uses out of it before the paper gasket bites the bullet.

HAHAHAHA!!!  I know that......now!  I learn the hard way!

Bringing this B4 back has been a learning process in many ways.

[jetta90]

As the folks already have mentioned, a little grease will help considerably.

[Twisted_Twin]

Finished my winch project for the Stelvio tonight.

I liked the idea of carrying a small winch because I occasionally ride alone, in the middle of nowhere, down forest service roads that might only be travelled once a week. I discovered that picking this big bike up, by myself, in loose gravel is something that I want to do less than once.

This little rig could make the difference between riding home and camping out overnight. I'd rather not be in the newspaper.

I had a situation about 10 years ago when I was four-wheeling by myself, in deep snow, on the back side of eagle mountain (stupid) and I hadn't told anyone where I was going (really stupid) and I didn't carry much recovery gear. I got good and stuck and nearly had to spend a very cold night on the mountain.

So, I built this:



The winch and rotopax can both mount to an aluminum plate which can be unbolted from my luggage plate when not needed. This way I don't have to switch mounts every time I want to change things around. One plate for luggage, one plate for offroad gear.

The two thumb nuts unscrew and allow the winch to be unclipped from the plate and used remotely. The winch can't be used where it sits.

Here is the battery connection which stores up inside the fairing:



Here is the extension cable to connect the winch to the bike:



Here is the winch remote:



Here is how you would rig the winch for a front pull. The pull straps go around whatever you want to attach them to on the bike (crash bar, grab rail, forks, etc) and then attach to the winch base with a clevis on each side. The fender cover is just there so I don't scratch my fender:



WARN makes a rig like this called the XT17: http://www.warn.com/adventuretouring/XT17_winch.shtml

I had an unused ATV winch kicking around and decided to just build something.

I'm not planning on using this to drag myself up and over things but more for if I'm by myself and manage to drop the bike in a ditch or somewhere else that I can't right it by myself easily. I can pick it up on solid, level ground without a problem but there usually isn't much of that out in the bush.

[kilowop]

Clever bugger aren't you!   There were a few times I could have used something like that, like when I dropped my '81 CBX on wet grass up in Boyle Alberta on my way back to Fort Mac.   GRUNT !

[trevor]

You ARE a handy little fu*ker aren't you?! Lol....looks great Shawn!

[Wheels]

Shawn now you just need two outrigger wheels and a cage above your head and your all set!

How long is the line?  Hopefully the cliff you ride off wont be taller than the line.

[hardrockminer]

I hear that his next project is to figure out how to make the bike into an all wheel drive!

[magpie]

Just experimenting with matching Honda Red from the 1960's. Tremclad Fire Red looks pretty close. The round piece has about the bottom third sprayed with Tremclad. No prep and in the rain. Cliff.

[Twisted_Twin]

Cleaned, fresh paint, new seals, new wipers, new fork tubes, and new Bitubo cartridges!

It's like Christmas..





New wiring harness is being traced, labelled and installed as well.

New ignition wires and plugs are in.

Lots more to go.

[magpie]

Red! Richer than the original paint and may disturb the purists but it looks nice and will really pop in the sunshine especially with the polished aluminium.