It's been a while since I've been able to get at the bike and do some work, I have been working on finding a cheap source for a set of replacement carbs, and brainstorming with my machinist buddy on the best way to remove the broken ez-out and in turn the broken off bolt. In the mean time there have been a number of other obligations that have kept me from the bike. Today I finally rolled the old girl out of the garage and decided that I had to get something done one look at the counter shaft area of the case and I had my target. Yes that is an acorn in there who knows how that got in there!
Really there is no secret to cleaning up a greasy messy area I used some Brakleen and a screwdriver and an old towel and spent a good hour on cleaning up the mess.
Honestly while it looks a lot better it could stand to be even cleaner but with the engine still on the bike and all the parts installed I would consider this an acceptable level of cleanliness that will allow me to assess if there are any leaks, from the counter shaft the shift shaft or the clutch rod.
After that I decided to make an attempt at cleaning up the chain it was in a pretty rusty grimy state.
I used a brass wire brush and some WD-40 to clean it up and there are no kinks in the chain and all the rollers seem to be functioning. and for the time being it will serve the purpose of keeping the bike from rolling around when in gear and (hopefully) in the near future some shakedown rides.
I set the slack in the chain and that was pretty much it for the day. I hope to be able to get more done in the next few weeks and have some more interesting updates for those who are following the project. I appreciate the input and the encouragement and as always, thanks for reading!
I stumbled across your blog and am enjoying your adventure. I had a 1980 GS450E that I bought back then when I was 15 years old. Seeing the work on your GS425L takes me back to a simpler time in my life. Thanks for sharing and I hope you get the old girl up and running again.
ReplyDeleteDwayne,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to be able to drop a couple of coins in the wayback machine for you. If you have any good GS stories/memories to share I'd love to hear them and share with the readers on here as well :-) Also if in you reading you can think of any tips/tricks I'd love to hear them too.
Thanks for reading the blog!
Juan
Juan, I recall when it came time to replace the front sprocket it being a PITA to get those phillips bolts out. After boogering the head of the first one I used an impact driver to get the rest to break free. Replaced them with allen keyed bolts.
ReplyDeleteAs for stories, the most memorable was riding the bike from Charleston, SC down to Corpus Christi, TX then on up to Oklahoma City behind my parents when we moved. Finances were tight back then as we couldn't afford to transport anything more than ourselves and clothes in their only car. I wasn't about to give up that bike so I rode it. Wind, rain, cold, heat. I endured it all on that bike and that trip.
Once we settled in OKC I decided to go visit my oldest sister in Toronto. I packed a duffle bag with clothes, bungied a sleeping back to the tailseat and headed off. Sixteen years old then. 1300 mile trip each way. Slept on picnic tables in rest areas along the way. Never occurred to me back then that the Canadian border agents might not let me in being that I was under the age that they had as requirements for getting a motorcycle license, lol.
Sadly a few months after getting back from that trip the bike was stolen. Never saw it again. Talk about a depressed 16 year old kid. I was it.