Three steps forward...four steps back...

Experienced a "dead short" in the electrical system after installing the R100S starter. Ended up removing the starter and disassembled it down to the bare bones. This was good as I thoroughly cleaned evrything and inspected all componants. Then cleaned and lubed all bushings and moving surfaces. Finally figured out that the top engine cover had contacted the main hot lead to the starter due to a bad section of wire insulation covering the lug. The tear was very tiny but it must have arched enough to short out. Luckily it doesn't appeard to have damaged anything.

 

Spent a couple hours installing the "Breil" oil cooler today. While I was filling the crankcase with oil, the cooling tubes started dripping oil. Looks like the initial fabrication of this thing was a FAIL.

 

Nearly every tube end is faulty. Looks like the ends were "overground" during clean up after the initial welding. Not all are leaking...yet... but as soon as the oil got hot, it would be pouring out.

 

 

I wanted to remove it today but the day ran late and darkness was coming on. I'll remove it tomorrow. Found a guy over the mountain pass to the east who does TIG welding. Wellton, AZ. is actually closer than Yuma, so I'll run over there tomorrow. Gives me an excuse for a bike ride.

 

The fellow who sold me this, offered a refund if I would send it back, but we'll see what a welding repair would cost first.

Breil Cooler install / R100S Starter Removal / Suzuki VX800

Late yesterday I decided to get a start on the R100S projects. The battery seemed low so I went ahead to recharge, might need to rreplace(?). I'll take on a number of small tasks while the bike is apart:

Clean fuel tap stainers.

Check ignition points.

Reset ignition timing.

Disassemble / lubricate starter bushings.

Clean electrical / ground connections.

Install the Breil Oil Cooler.

Re-synch Bing Carbs with Twin Max.

 

Upon removal the air filter element looked as new, so not a lot of crankcase blow-by getting into filter. I've retained the stock crankcase vent recycle into the airbox rather than an external vent. This blow by oil often fouls the filter elements over time.

 

 

This is the Breil Oil Cooler sitting on the stock R100S pan.

 

The starter has been acting a little sluggish so I decided to remove it, disassemble it and lube the bushings. The "sluggishness" might have been from the low battery but the starter has always seemed finicky. Since I'm tearing into the bike, might as well check everything on my "list".

 

I removed the Heinrich Tank to drain it, then will pull the fuel taps to clean the strainers. Haven't done this for a couple years. Seems like there is always some debris on the screens after a couple years. We'll see.....The tank had leaves / dust in it when I found it. I simply flushed it out before putting it to work years ago. No rust, but it has always seemed to generate some small debris onto the strainers.

 

 The starter comes out easily with 3 bolts. The front cover must be removed to access one of them. That's cool cause I need in there to set the timing / check the ignition points anyway.
The BMW Airhead design is so simple....took only minutes to take the engine down to this point. Of course I've done it numerous times and have had a lot of practice. 

 

While in here I'll be cleaning electrical connections and generally checking things over. Looked over the brake master cylinder and all looks good. I've "shrouded" the coils with old rubber inner tube pieces as the Heinrich Tank tunnel contacts a few spots when in place.

 

Had an interest in a 1993 Suzuki VX800 from a local Canadian seller. Rode into Yuma the other AM to check it out. Poor old bike has been pretty abused and laid down. Had sat for 6 years with fuel in the tank. Tank interior had a lot of varnish and minor rust. The carbs were not stuck and the owner had rolled the bike in gear and the engine is not "stuck".

Kind of a intriguing machine with the V- twin engine.

 

 

The odometer showed 28k odd miles. The bike had a lot of small issues, loose wires, dents, broken signal light, damage to instument housing, sun - rotted plastic, old tires, etc.

Could have probably hauled it off real cheap ($300.00 - $400.00)  but it looked like a one way money pit to me, the seller suggested $500.00 but was open to offers.

Quite a risk to buy a non running bike with all these small issues. Resale value would be low without a lot of $$$ investment. The brake hydraulics would have likely needed a complete rebuild also.

 

 

 

Breil oil cooler / R100S maintenance

 

I recently found a supposedly "NOS" Breil oil cooler for the sidecar rig. This static cooler is basically an oil pan spacer which fits between the engine block and the oil pan. These were 1970's accessories and not very easy to find anymore. I bid on a few via EBay but the prices went over $200.00 and most were very used and would require major clean up. I'm currantly running a large MAC extended oil pan but this cooler type spacer should aid more in oil cooling.

This spacer utilizes three large diameter tubes running through the length of it which will be cooled by air flowing through the assembly while underway. Good concept and it should aid in cooling.

The oil pickup spacer extends down to set the oil pickup assembly lower in the pan. Luckily I hung on to my old stock R100S oil pan which will be needed to add the Breil Cooler.

 

(crappy internet file photo)

 

I found the pan via the IBMWR web site. I "over paid" and gave a premium price but the seller claimed it was "New Old Stock".  After receiving it I'm not sure about that claim, I think I see a small amount of sealant in one of the bolt holes. It has a few scars in the edge but could have been from handling over the years. But it is completely clean and appears to be in near as new condition. I acquired the new gaskets needed for the installation so will fit the spacer in the next couple of days.

I was going to try to fit a conventional radiator type BMW oil cooler but the plumbing from the oil filter housing, plus the fact that the oil filter tube must be changed, took me this direction. The oil filter cover plate is very close to the sidecar subframe so working space is minimal at best on my layout.

Appears my high dollar Odyssey Battery is nearing its' life end. The battery has always checked at 100% when attempting to charge but now has lost capacity (down to 60%) twice in the past couple of weeks. It's been in place for over 3 years so I guess it has degraded. I typically get only 2 years from any conventional MC batteries.
I've toyed with the thought of installing a car battery / case in the sidecar tub for a few years. This would definately aid in running accessories. Wiring would be pretty easy. I kind of hate to give up some of the side car "behind seat" storage for a battery though, plus this will add significant weight to the sidecar, which is already quite heavy when loaded for travel. I'll have to decide pretty soon as I don't want to chance loosing battery function while on a trip. It will hold charge for a number of days it appears, but slowly runs down after a few weeks. If I decide to install another Odyssey Battery I think I'll rig up some remote charging lugs so I don't have to remove the seat / sidecovers to access the battery as I do now.

While I have the bike disabled I think I'll pull the front cover and give the ignition points a "look over".  I want to reset timing, check the points and re-synch the carbs.
The R100S engine has had an anomoly the past year or so and will have a very intermittant "miss" every now and then. Like the ignition on one cylinder decides not to "hit" every so often. This happens rarely and only one "miss' at a time. This has been occuring since last year when we rode the 2000 miles to Death Valley and around So. Cal. Since I'll be going into things, I'll pull the fuel tank and check all electrical connections and maybe remove the petcocks to check the petcock filter screens too. Haven't done that for quite some time.

Palo Verde Loop / Dezert Dog

Decided I was overdue for a solo ride so loaded up the OldWing this AM and headed out for a spin. Crossed over the AZ. Border, and the Colorado River into California, then on to Ogalby Road / CA. S-34. This road borders the Algodones Dunes as I headed north towards Ca. 78 North.

 

Gold Rock Ca. is a local attraction.(?) I've passed the place dozens of times but never have driven the few miles over to check it out....oh well, not too many towns list the times when their "open".

 

(Click on photos to enlarge) 

 

Some recent mining has gone on over to the east.

 

 

The day was warm and beautiful. The mountain views changed with each turn. I love the desert in the Winter.

 

 

 

 

Saw this old ruin off the road a ways so ran the OldWing in the rocks for a little ways. Not sure what this was going to be but someone never got very far with their project.

 

 

Picacho Peak in the distance

 

Hitting the end of S-34 I turned North on CA. 78 North. This road follows the Palo Verde Mountains. Lots of light curves and lots of deep dips. Also a Border Patrol Check Point on this route. The Border Agents looked pretty bored and just waved me through.

 

 

This monument is just North of the check point.

 

 

Approaching Palo Verde the Colorado River is within view of the road in a few spots. Lots of agriculture in this valley. Sheep, Cotton, Alfalfa and numerous crops grown here. The town of Palo Verde had a little activity.

 

 

Stopped there for a couple minutes to stretch my legs.

 

 

The town sported my type of campground!

 

 

I  rode to Blyth Ca. then over the Colorado to Ehrenburg AZ....Quartzsite when only 20 miles so headed there for fuel. Once in Q'site and headed North to one of the long term camping areas in search of a buddy. I had e-mailed him late last night but never got his reply, had to go searching for him. By chance I chose the right place and rode right to his camp.

The infamous "Dezert Dog".

 

 

He has a great little campsite and camper. The Q'site population is growing for the Winter so he'll likely be looking for less populated diggings soon. We sat down and talked for a couple hours. He has traveled many corners of the world and has a lot of great tales to tell. He also sent my wife a beautiful set of his hand made pure silver ear rings....and he didn't even know that her Birthday was yesterday.

 

 

It was nice to sit down and visit with another Montana Native. His Family has been in MT. about as long as mine.

 

 

The GS is ready for the desert.

 

The day was running short so I made a b-line for Yuma, which was only 80 miles down the road. Timed the ride perfectly as the sun was about gone when I pulled into my driveway.

 

 

 

 

 

All in all a great day for a ride. The temperatures were in the low 70's in the afternoon. The Oldwing ran flawlessly and acheived almost 40 mpg.

 Typically ran 65 - 75 mph all day. The bike is effortless to ride and handles great in the corners. My only complaint is the "Progressive" rear suspension which is quite harsh on the rough CA. roads. But "harshness" is a better trait than "mushiness" when cornering. I used to have a GL650 Silverwing which handled very poorly in comparison to the OldWing.

My ancient old leather riding coat finally blew the zipper out today. Time to retire it maybe.....or find someone to replace the zipper. It is like an old friend so repair might be the way to go.(?)

 I made an attempt to humor my left arm and rested it on the tank bag from time to time while riding down the road. My last long OldWing ride (550 miles) resulted in three days of shoulder issues. Today, everything felt fine, but I only ran about 220 miles.. Maybe the vile arthritis drugs they have me on are working.

I picked up a "Breil" oil  cooler for the BMW sidecar rig...plus my oil  sender is leaking. Hope to have all my parts together tomorrow so I can get the cooler installed and one of the oil leaks staunched. More on the "Breil" cooler later.

Adios Amigos!

 

 

Last Chance Rendezvous 2012

We "rang in" the New Years at the annual "Last Chance Rendezvous" with the So. Cal. Airheads Beemers Club. This year was a 3 night / 4 day event and included wonderful sunny, warm weather, wind and rain. Typically the weather is dry here in this part of the Anza Borrego Desert but some Winter squawls were seen this year. Snow was visible early Monday morning in the mountains across from us. Highs were in the low 60's (for a few minutes) and lows were probably in the high 30's.

 


 

 

 

A lesson in Brewing technique was witnessed on Sunday. This "batch" was brewed up and will be aged for sampling next New Years.

 

 

 

 

 

An "alternate' method of tent camping.....this one had a rigid frame and wind was no match for its' construction! 

One of our Hosts was using additional means of support. The additional two legs didn't seem to hinder his cooking skills. The food, three meals a day, was wonderful as usual.

A couple of these alternate three wheeled machines were in attandance this year. The more I look them over, the more I like them. A great alternative for us who may need additional wheels as we age. I think the "Spider" would be a lot easier to ride than a sidecar rig. This particular rig was very pretty....as was it's pilot. (pictured)

 

A nice view from the cliffs above the campsite.

 

One group of folks got it down.....tables, chairs, heaters, music, you name it, they brought it. These participants came in with big bikes / trailers, and all the comforts of home. I envied the propane space heaters as darkness  and the cold came in.

 

We had a pretty healthy shower blow in on Sunday night. We brought our large tent for the additional space but it is a fair weather tent and not suited for much rain. (We found that out the hard way a couple winters ago at a sidecar rally). The rain / wind hit Sunday afternoon and continued for a few hours. Luckily the rain was intermittant and about the time I began witnessing tent leaks the rain subsided. This years rain storm was the biggest rain we've ever seen here. Typically the rain will miss the valley, but not this year.

 Quite a few folks pulled out on day three, We "rode" it out to the end as we always do. The Rally is always a lot of fun, regardless of the weather. Pretty light turn out this year. Probably 50 -60 folks throughout the weekend. We always enjoy seeing our friends and catching up on everyone's adventures. Quite a few "old" friends and a number of new faces too. We began attending this get together in 1996 and have only missed one New Years Eve here. Of course we seldom make it til midnite "Pacific Time". But "Eastern Time" midnight is close enough for us! One would think that after all these years of drinking practice, that we would be accomplished alchoholics....but for some reason our alchohol consumption shrinks each year. Becoming "light weights" in our old age I guess...lol

Our next gathering is just around the corner , to be held at "Bashfords Hot Springs" in a few weeks. I'm hoping to talk my lovely wife into riding over on our Honda Goldwing. She's not keen on riding on two wheels anymore but I hope to sweet talk her into it.

Yuma AZ.- Gold Wings - Suzukis and Williams Wrenches

We are thankful to be in Arizona for the Winter months again. We miss Family in montana but we don't miss the cold weather. We'll be driving to Las Vegas to catch a plane to MT. for Christmas later in the week....then we have the annual Airhead Beemers Club "Last Chance Rendezvous" in the Anza Borrego Desert over New Years.

So far we've had a great wind down here in AZ. I brought down an old dead Suzuki GS850G with me from MT. Took me all of about an hour to get it into running order, then a couple days cleaning and fine tuning things before I listed it for sale. It sold within a week for $900.00.

 

This old 1980 honda GL 1100 Gold Wing belongs to an aquaintance here in the Foothills. Kind of a "Mad Max" looking thing in its' present state. All the brake system is toast so I'm rebuilding everything....master cylinders and all calipers. ....good practice in case I ever need to rebuild my own.

 

 

Installed a new rear tire on my Gold wing the other day. Planned on farming out the installation but the local shops want from $70.00 - $80.00 to change a tire. Can't bring myself to pay someone to do it when I can do it myself....but tire changing sucks!

My Wing has an issue with "popping" through the exhaust when idling and decellerating. Can't seem to pin point what the problen is. Performed a compression check today and all is well...140 psi - 145 psi on all cylinders. Changed plugs....checked the "Air Valve" which is a gold wing item I've never heard of before. Checked valve settings...checked for intake leaks...all that's left is timing and carb settings. hopefully I can figure it out before too long.

 

The 1979 Suzuki GS850G. Actually a pretty decent old bike. Only showed 18k miles. I picked it up in Billings real cheap last October as a non running derelict.

 

Went to a Flea Market a couple weeks ago.....saw this old set of "Williams" wrenches which were a fine looking set of vintage  tools. I knew they had to be something special so offered $5.50 for them as the sticker said $6.00. Got them home and after some research found that they were the same serial numbers / sizes specified for WW2 Jeep Tool kits. Pretty hard to find in this condition and as an original set. From a mechanics point of view, the wrenches are fat and cumbersome, I wouldn't care to use them. Put them on EBay and a new proud owner paid $80.00 for them to add to his WW2 collection. I need to find more old screaming deals like this!

 

We've had a couple of storms in the past week....in fact it's raining out as I post this. We usually get 3 - 4 rain storms each Winter....this is number 2 so we're half way there for the season.

The mountain view from my roof top "sun deck" this evening.

Suzuki GS850G

I picked up this 1979 Suzuki GS850G in montana a couple months ago for a project to turn over.

She's been dormant for a while so didn't get to hear it run. Therefore I bought it pretty cheap.

 

 

We arrived in Yuma, AZ. on Friday so today I got around to messing with it. The electric starter didn't work, but I found a bad fuse so after replacement the starter worked. added some gas, and gave it a small snort of starting fluid and she fired right up, but didn't want to keep running. This model Suzuki utilizes a vacuum operated petcock so I found that a vacuum leak was causing a loss of vacuum to the petcock, therefore no fuel was passing to the carbs.

 

I deceided to pull the carbs and found everything nice and clean. Fixed the obvious vacuum leaks and she fired up and ran / idled like it should.

Took it for a quick ride up the block and it ran very well. Still have some vacuum leak issues at the manifolds so will address them, then clean the bike up better. She'll need a little attention in some other areas but nothing major I can see at this point. Got lucky considering I didn't know if it would even run.

 

 

Monday 11/26/12
Installed clamps on the intake manifold boots and that took care of the vacuum loss....a previous owner failed to install clamps when the carbs were removed, it appears. I drove the bike a few miles today and it seems to run quite well. The mufflers appear to have been swapped from another donor. The hangers are home made and the mounting clips appear to be in the wrong place.(?) Probably had some bad mufflers and someone changed then at some point.

 

Also spent a little time working on the old Goldwing today....checked valve clearances, changed the oil & filter. Drove it a few miles over the course of the day.

Nice to be in Sunny AZ.....Winter is approaching up North.

Strength

We all are faced with trials and tribulations at some point in our lives. The magnitude , of course, varies from soul to soul and some folks' trials pale in comparison to others. It all depends on ones' point of view and attitude.
My Mother faced numerous cancer issues throughout her life, she lost her twin brother and also young children. But throughout all her life she took these trials head on and never lost faith. She forever was worried about everyone around her and never once was concerned about herself. She simply soldiered on without looking back. I've tried to learn from her example, though I will never live up to it.

We are currently facing some life changing health issues in our immediate household. We kind of have to laugh it off and tell ourselves that "Now it's time to pay for all the healthy years we've been blessed with".  As serious as these issues are, we look around us and see others with much more dire situations. So, there again, it depends on ones' point of view and attitude. Just have to take things on one day at a time and one step at a time. Don't ask "why us?" but be thankful for what we have and what is ahead. I don't mean this in the material aspect, but rather in the spiritual aspect. Life has been good to us. We just now have a few "bumps in the road" to contend with. No matter how tough ones' situation becomes, others can be envious.

Honda Goldwing: 550 miles in 14 hours

I decided to make a two day weekend run into Yellowstone Nat. Park and the Cooke City area on Sat. / Sunday. I packed minimal gear including camping gear. I was up before sunrise and hit the road around 6:00 AM. The forecast was perfect and this was a great choice for a weekend ride.

The photo below is near the East Summit on the Beartooth Highway.

The always stunning view of Pilot and Index Peaks. Cooke City is directly behind the twin peaks. The old Goldwing developed a slight "pop" under deceleration from one of the right cylinders....not much I could do while on the road as I didn't really want to perform a valve adjustment on the shoulder of the highway.
I ran right through Cooke City and only stopped for gas. The highways leading in / out have been rebuilt over the past few years. A lot of shoulder timber was cleared so no more of the surprise deer "jumpouts" into the road like I experienced years back. I had a number of very close calls with deer over the years in this area.

I entered the Park at the Northeast Entrance near Silver Gate MT. $20.00 entrance fee for a motorcycle. you'd think it would be cheaper due to lower impact on roadways, etc...but no such luck.

Photo below was near Tower Falls. Quite a lot of tourist traffic this weekend, as usual....

I didn't really have a planned route and started off towards Cody Wyoming along Yellowstone Lake. Decided to back track and head over towards West Yellowstone MT. instead.

Another shot up on the Beartooth highway. People were skiing there recently. The snow is vanishing quickly now.

Yellowstone Lake near West Thumb.

I stopped in West Yellowstone for a quick lunch and then decided to head over towards Bozeman. Next thing I know it is 5:00 PM and home is only 3 hours away.

Got over to Big Timber and decided to check out a campground but it didn't look very appealing. I decided to head on to Billings and home.

I have been suffering from some sort of arthritus lately and was having serious neck and shoulder pain on the right side for the last few hours. Made it home just before dark and racked up 550 miles during the day.

I awoke at 1:30 AM with a blinding pain in my left shoulder. No more sleep during the night and I struggled with the blinding pain all day. By 4:00 PM I was a serious basket case and had my wife run me to the emergency room. After two  injections of Demerol and some other major pain medication injection I finally was able to maintain my composure again. They hooked an I.V. up and ran EKG tests to make sure I wasn't having a heart attack.

Spent about 4 hours in the hospital and they let me go home. I guess I'll need to minimize my "Banzaii" road trips as I cannot physically handle those kind of hours on the road anymore. I've been experiencing serious joint / pain issues over the past year but have never gone to an MD before.  I've broken a few bones over the years, suffered 3rd. degree burns and have had too many wounds stitched up to count....but this joint pain issue is the most painful malady I've ever encountered.

I need to rethink my ways and work towards more moderation in my activities from now on.

This is the first time I've been faced with physical limitations in my life....sucks getting older but I just need to be smarter with my choices.....

 

After a few more similar episodes this Summer and a couple MD visits I finally was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis....at least I now know WTF is going on.

"Gered & Dodique" of the Gremlins

My Brother "Eli' has been musically inclined all his life and was involved in numerous bands over his years. Back in 1968 he and a college buddy put together a single 45 record on the "National" recording label. I no longer have any of my old records but found that their recording has resurfaced on a web site and has "come back from the dead" after all these years. The obscure recording is listed on the "Garage Hangover" web site:

http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=GeredDodique

I see an original copy on EBay for $50.00. I visited with my brother tonight and he has a couple dozen 45's stashed somewhere.....he said we'll list them on EBay when they hit $500.00 each...LOL

Gered & dodique also wrote a theme song for a Montana Childrens TV Program, which I remember well as a kid....
http://www.froggydoo.com/book.html

"Happy Herb" McCallister has been searching for the dynamic musical duo for a few years so I hooked him up with brother Eli.

Pretty cool to see their music resurface and find its' way to the internet.