Its been wayyy toooo long....

[1BigDog]

So, after many set backs, frustrations and a knee replacement the bike is finally finished for now. I have not ridden with the exception of 1 day last month since April 2011. One day that month my knee decided to lock up on me while I was riding to work and it was a pretty bad ride.I parked the bike until after I had my knee replaced the following Feb but never in my wildest imagination would I have thought the bike would have been down for so long. Somewhere, after all of the mods that I have done and all of the money I threw at her I lost interest. Didnt care if I ever rode again. I still worked on her when I felt up to it in the hopes that someday I would regain a spark of interest again. My Mustang took up some of my energy as I threw myself into the car for a while. Now that its where I want it to be I found some twinge of feelings toward the bike again. I never cut corners on the bike so if there was a short cut I would rather have let it sit as long as it needed to then short cut it along. If I did something to it, it had to be right, not half-assed. Well, today, after some help from Muffinman the bike is finally running like a new bike. All that was missing was a final tweak here and there and shes done (for now).

By for now I mean that once I am satisfied that she stays running good then there are some cosmetic finishing that I need to do over the 1 month of winter. Polishing the engine fins, removing the chrome that is fading from some of the engine/carb billet covers and polishing them and also polishing the floor boards. ToyOdie also spent several hours with me adjusting the valves a few months ago with thanks to RandyR for the loan of his shim kit.

Ill start front to back:

Chrome front and back wheels, Polished R1 calipers, polished rotors, Polished beer cans, shaved and polished lower legs, polished lower tree, chrome upper tree and risers. Complete fork rebuild with all new innards as well as Progressive springs. Couldnt have done it without Rick Butlers advice and guidance. New neck bearings and races as well as new wheel bearings and seals. Flanders bars, extended Barnett throttle cables, SS brake/clutch lines all around. VMax rear, new EBC HH pads all around as well as fresh DOT 5.1 fluid. LED and HID lighting. Polished master cylinders and brake/clutch levers. Removed the cassette player and made a storage compartment. Polk 401 speakers all around. Dyna beads in both wheels...yes, they work great. Im sure im leaving something out but thats all I can think of for now.

 

So, me and Jeffy took a nice ride out for some dinner. I needed to see how I felt on the bike after being off her for so long. I was a bit tentative at first but as I got reacquainted with her I realized just how much I have missed riding a bike. I still need a little more work on my rusty skills but that will come as I ride more and more.

Sorry this was so long winded but I needed to get this off my chest.

[Trader]

Welcome back!

 

Watch out for the other guys....I'm sure the crazy's have only gotten worse since you were in the saddle last.

[Evan]

So good to hear that your enthusiasm has returned Jeff and your bike is also ready to go. Wish you many good miles.

[Aussie Annie]

Glad ya gonna enjoy the wind in ya face

[mini-muffin]

Glad you're back on two wheels. Jeff enjoyed the day as well. I'm thinking if he could he'd take Zeus for a ride. He's big enough to sit on the back seat.

Oh he sent me pics of Xena now she's looking great. She's filled out well. She doesn't look too skinny.

 

Margaret

[Hawkdragon]

Glad you got the feeling back have fun

[RandyR]

Good stuff. That bike is now an offcial 'work of art'.

[Brake Pad]

Glad to here your both up and running:thumbsup2:

[Guest]

Rode 2 up today, about 100 miles. Slightly shaky with the u-turns but everything felt good. I kept expecting the stabbing pains in my knees that I used to get but they were non existent so I wasnt so cautious about putting my feet down after a while. Sure made riding easier. Thanks for the comments.......

 

 

Oh yea, I left out a few other mods done to the bike over the years on top of what was listed. New Clearview shield, HO stator upgrade, most of my electrical system upgraded or replaced and all connections cleaned and dialectricly lubed. (was that a word?) About 80 LED taillights too.

Edited August 29, 2013 by Ruffy