Flyinfool

Put HH pads on the rear and you will be able to easily lock the rear wheel if you wish. The OEM organic pads do leave something to be desired.

Its to late now the second layer is down and it is just a nice smooth new road.

For as long as I have had bikes I always used Valvoline MC oil in them. Never had an oil related failure. I also used Valvoline oil in my cages, my last truck went 300K miles and still used no oil between changes and still ran great when I sold it. So of course I figured that what I was using was good stuff that was getting the job done. When I had my stock car pumping out 650+ HP with a well abused rev limiter set for 8400 I ran Castrol since they were a sponsor on the car. Never had an oil related issue there either. Fast forward to this last spring, I was doing a valve lash check on the bike. I took off the valve covers and did the first round of measurements, yup I needed some new shims. So I got one of the shim kits floating around, it took about 2 weeks to get it here. When I went back out to finish the job I immediately noticed that the cam lobes were all rusty. Well I figured that it did just sit all winter so the oil could have drained off of them. I wiped them clean finished the job and put everything back together and gave the bike a fresh oil change. Due to heath crap I did not really ride this summer. Now that the health stuff is getting less bad I got the bike out for some short rides. after the first ride I noticed oil dripping down the side of the engine. A little investigation showed that I had pinched the valve cover gasket putting it in. So while the engine was still warm from just riding it, I pulled the cover off, at this point I found that at the pinch point the gasket was cut. so I called the local stealer and they had one in stock. the next had to wait an extra day to pick it up for the night they were open late. Went to put it back in and noticed again, the cam lobes are rusty, the valve cover had been off for less than 48 hours and the lobes were showing rust on about 50% of their surface area. This got me to thinking, When I had the race car the engine spent a lot of time with the valve covers off and I never saw rust on anything. So I got some Castrol MC oil to put into the bike, changed out the almost new oil that was in the bike. Fast forward another month, The other valve cover gasket starts leaking. So I just parked it for a couple weeks till I would have time to mess with it. When I got to it and pulled the valve cover off I found that there was an air bubble molded into the gasket. Guess where it leaked..... SO back to the stealer for another gasket, this time they did not have it in stock and it took 4 days to get it. When I went to put it in I did make a point to notice that I could find NO rust anywhere on anything, and the week that it was open it was near 100% humidity with heavy fog every day. My conclusion after my not so scientific test, is that Castrol MC oil has a lot better rust protection than Valvoline MC oil. Or in other words, in my book, this means it is sticking to surfaces better to give lubrication at startup. As to which has better lubricating ability, I have no clue. YET. But I'll bet they are both up to the job of lubricating while running down the road. I only just finished off the gas that was put in the bike in October of 2014 when I had to stop riding due to my health issues. Once I get another tank thru it to flush out the old, I'll watch to see if there is any detectable difference in gas mileage to see if the new oil is more slippery than the old. Thats my oil story. I know that everyone has their favorite oil and nothing will change your mind. I am just pointing our some observations about these 2 oils. OK flame suit on....... I know oil is not far behind religion and politics and tires for volatility........ WOW did I type all that? Nap time.........

The oil level should be at or slightly below half on the glass. IF you fill it to the max line you will get oil sucked up into the air cleaner box that will then make a mess. When doing a change, start the engine and let it warm up a bit to be sure all of the air in the oil lines are purged of air, shut it off and wait a good 15 minutes for the oil to drain back down from the top of the engine, now check your oil level with the bike level. I check mine on the center stand. When running, on the center stand, I have no visible oil in the sight glass. On the side stand there is never any visible oil in the sight glass.

COOL!!!!

Sounds like a great time. End the year? I finally got my bike out of hibernation and burned out the last of last years gas in the last week. I'm just starting my riding season..... But then to break out the guns........ I'm all for that. I'll be flying thru Fond Du Lac on the 11th headed north with a truck load of Pheasants to be released into the wild.

Dan You say you were just coming off of a bridge. Many bridge transitions have a steel interface that can be very slick. Also if there is a bit of a bump, don't take much, it can shake off that drop of oil that was about to drip and cages with oil leaks. Either or both of these could have made that short slick spot that got the wheels locked up and then it was to late to recover once you were past and traction suddenly came back, but the wheels were already locked. Just another WAG here.

I never even thought of that, and I do have a really good game cam too. Drat......

Yours is the same reason that I delinked mine. On the rear master, ideally you want to remove the proportioning valve, plug the hole that the rear line is currently connected to, and then run the rear line to the port that used to go to the front. This will allow the rear brake to respond to your foot without anything else altering the brake pressure for you. Even though you took 250 lbs off of the bike, I would still connect both fronts. with just the one front brake, you have reduced the weight of the bike by 25% and reduced the braking by nearly 50%.

Its only 6 carbs, shouldn't be to bad.

Somehow I think I would have noticed that happening and turned off the heat.

I had my cap get stuck once. It took a bunch of wiggling and jiggling but it did finally come off. After a good lube job it never stuck again, Lubing the gas cap is now a part of my winter maintenance. Gas is pretty good at washing away most lubes. Do not worry about getting that last couple of ounces of gas into the tank by filling right to the top of the filler neck, that will wash out your lube.

Have you two guys met professionally??????

Some times the only reason necessary to do something is cuz I can, It don't have to be a good idea. The achievement is the only goal. It is not the final outcome, but the journey. Somehow I wonder if even an orangutan could reach the bars.

WAAAYYYY back in April the city tore out the street in front of my house. Tore it out down to dirt. It has made for an interesting summer to say the least. I could wash my truck and within an hour I would be hearing the comments "Don't you EVER wash that thing?". Everything around here is covered in dirt. Drivers have been some of the most entertaining. It is just amazing how many people will get out of their car, MOVE the road closed barricade, then drive off of a foot high edge of pavement and be confused as to why their car is now high centered and wont move. But even more fun are those that had enough speed to actually make it past the high center part and now are trying to get out of the hole. They usually get up to ramming speed and hit that 12 inch high concrete road edge to try to bounce their way out. Lots of assorted mangled car parts laying around. The very best one was a biker, shot between the barricades, off the edge and into a deep mud pool. The bike stopped instantly and the rider kept going right over the bars and did a perfect face plant into the mud with a good 30 foot slide. I assume he was not hurt bad cuz he jumped up and the whole neighborhood learned a new vocabulary. It took him and his buddies a good hour the the bike out of the mud, it ended up being a 4x4 truck and a chain that got it unstuck and up the pavement edge. But today they finally laid the first layer of the new asphalt, so now there is just a 2 inch bump, any car can get over that.

As for handling the engine, pizza and a few buddies should handle it no problem. IF the cylinder has no damage. As far as cheapest? I wonder if there is enough room to pull the head while in frame and get the new piston and rod in there without pulling the engine???

How far is it torn down now to have determined that it is a bent rod and damaged skirt?

Starting to work like yours? I have been giving the Police address as mine ever since I got my first device with a GPS in it. Soon with the machine, soon..........

I have yet to have to replace it...... About 60K so far.

I don't care for the hard lines of the black and white colors or the trying to make it look like a stealth F117 fighter with all of the faceted edges. IF I was old enough to be looking at a trike, I do not think this would be it. So ya need sumpin fer your sled huh......... And since it feels like @saddlebum has already left the back door open....... Might be time to head out to the shed........

I guess I just use powdered ferric oxide, acts like a cable full of tiny ball bearings.........

You could spend some time looking thru Digi-Key or Mouser for switch boots. there are a lot of different sizes and styles.

Be careful, around here crooks are stealing GPSs and garage door remotes, just to be able to hit the home button go to your house and open the garage for them to do more "crooked shopping". On all of my GPSs (and on line accounts) I have "home" listed with the address of the local Police Station, JUST in case some bozo thinks he needs it more than I do. When I hit home it will get me close enough for me to find my way the rest of the way home, and the ETA is only off by about 2 minutes.

Sure is purdy, shame to cover it up.

Unfortunately with the lax laws in WI we keep hearing about arrests for 10+ DWIs. they are all driving with no license. BUT it is unconstitutional to require them to have a drivers license to buy a car. Some buy a beater for cash and just never register it. Here it is not even a felony till #5. 1st is just a traffic ticket, no worse than a speeding ticket. Don't get me started............ I rewrote this 3 times trying to not get political...........