Snaggletooth

I'd bet most the bikes out there have not been replugged. It's really not required. The plugs that Gary had look a bit it the plastic tips off a Bic pen. It's pretty much to keep that recess clean. A much as I tinker with my bike I didn't bother plugging them. When you pull those plugs and remove the needles take the time to check the small o-rings on them. I use a real fine strand of copper wire to fish them out. If they are brittle or damaged there is no other seal there to keep from sucking air in. Mike

And I didn't even get bit by a radioactive spider!!! Done all myself by falling down and trying to drive my elbow into the concrete floor. I'd rather dealt with the spider at this point. Last Thurday at work I took a flying backwards leap and did a 4" foot drop onto the concrete and I remember hitting my head but apparently the elbow got there fast and furious. (oop... different movie) When my head quit spinning I tried to get up but the left arm wouldn't bend. At all. Could not support myself but finally got right side up and back on my feet. Checked myself out and I seemed to be fine except for the left elbow bleeding a bit and the stiffness. So....being a guy I cleaned it up and threw a bandage on it an finshed my shift. I did stop and notify the Director before I left that I had taken a spill and just wanted to record it and NO I didn't need emergency treatment. Hey! Like I said...I'm a guy and how many times have I cracked an elbow, knee, heel, wrist, head or other body part in my life. Not enough paper for a score card on that one. Went home and cleaned it up and dropped the old joint in the ice bucket for a while. That helped. A bit. Then the swelling started up! I mean POOF. Man I got a big elbow! But being a guy....... I bandaged it up and went to bed. NOW..... this is where those of you with weak tummies might want to wander back to a nice safe posting. And for those of you with the macho blood lust.... NO I didn't attach any pics. But I woke up during the night and wandered in to scratch my name in the litter box. (cat hates that) But when I flipped on the light I glanced in the mirror and WOW! When was I in a fist fight? Blood all over my face and chest and the arm is drenched. Holy Smoke! Went back an turned on the lights in the bedroom and the bed looked like a scene from a slasher movie. I seemed to have been bleeding a bit. Being a guy..... I changed the bandage and the sheets and went back to bed. So... over the next few days of working I did my usual routine and kept cleaning the elbow and changing bandages. Seems like I'm gonna survive. Swelling is still there but the arm is loosening up a bit. Yeah, I'm fine. Second notice..... be a good time to check out the Disney channel kids. Wait! The kids would love this part. But come Monday.... things got odd. The arm hurt, the bleeding was slow but steady and there was a lot of clear fluid draining. When I got home I asked my daughter to give me a hand and help me take a look at the wound on my elbow and help clean it up. After all how many of you can see the back of your elbow? So she digs out the med kit and sets to work. She's always showed some interest in being a nurse. She cuts off the old bandage and pours Peroxide over the wound. Nice tingle. She mentioned it didn't look like a scrape but more like a puncture at the point of the elbow. Like a star shaped hole. So being a guy .... I want to take a look. Last warning! I raise my arm up, not easy to do, and hold it in front of me in front to the mirror but I can't bend my arm back. So I use my other hand to pull the left hand back towards my shoulder. Yikes! I felt a pulse in my arm and a blast, not a little either, of blood and clear fluid shot out of my elbow and covered the wall, mirror, sink top, and shelves. I heard her scream and I turned around and, well that was a bad idea as I sprayed her, the shower curtains and towels rack as I did. So rather than tend to the mess right away I had to hold her head out of the toilet for about five minutes. I think she has considered her future in nursing is at a low point right now. Ok, Like I said ..... I'm a guy. Now I'm concerned. So the visit to the Doc was informative and productive. When I told him about the bizzarre discharge he looked at me somewhat oddly. I asked him if he's ever seen that before. Nope. I told him to hold up a towel in front of elbow and did the same flex again. About a foot and a half out. Now I got three Doc's interested! So all in all they determined I had damaged the membrane that cushions the joint it the elbow. When it started to swell up and the pressure from moving my arm to that postion it just ruptured and the fluid and blood make a hasty exit though the first available hole. The one in my elbow. And I got a bucket full of pills from the Doc's and I get to visit with them every other day for a while. Yea! My favorite pastime! My bosses only question was how long would it take to heal. I swear, I want to show him my lil trick. Ok, Ok .... so I'm not shooting web stuff but I got to admit I'd never seen nuttin like this in all my years of getting banged up and damaged. Too bad it didn't happen before Halloween! I would have been the coolest guy on the block. Yeah, kids love this stuff. Myself, I think next time I'm going to go the "HULK" kind of thing. I'm not so fond of cleaning up after "Spidey". And I get a lkick out of the "Puny Human" line! So there, it's a nasty, gorey story but has anybody experienced anything like this? And you were warned..... several times. Spidey err.... Mike

I guess I'm nuts but all the times I had pulled my carb rack off I just loosen up the adjustors and then disconnect the cables at the junction box. Seems to be the easiest and fastest way to me. I leave the carb side cables attached until it's on the bench. Guess I'm odd. (no surprise there really) Mike

Ok, looking at the outside of the carb, at the diaphragm side, you see two arrows in the pic. The arrow on the left is pointing at the recess where the idle air adjustment screw is. This screw SHOULD NOT BE TIGHT. EVER! Standard setting is turn in lightly until it just seats gently then back it out 2 1/2 turns for a good start on being correct. If you crank this screw in hard you can damage the housing body. There is no seat on the screw other than the body itself. Now if your carbs have never been touched there might well be a pug in that holes. You can drill a same hole PARTLY into it and pull it out with a small screw. If you desire, PM Dinghy (Gary) and he did have new plug available a while back. If these needles have not been removed ever you might have some build up in there causing idle issues when you put them back on. The needles you pull out will have a spring, washer, and an o-ring in there also. The arrow on the right side is the drain screw to the fuel bowl. When you open that the black rubber lines coming through the rack brackets will begin to flow if the carb is getting fuel properly. Hope some of that helps. Mike

Yep, those are my tools for seals. The PVC is my seal driver I use on the MKI and probably on the MKII forks I'm going to be doing. The end with the hex is the end for driving the seal in. This was a new driver I was putting together so the hex was still on it. I grind that off to fit the ID of the lower tube. That keeps it centered in the tube. The inside of that fitting is beveled to clear the upper lip of the seal so no damage to it. Works fine and cheap to put together. The second pic is the damper assembly. The right side (top of the damper) is where the nuts on the All Thread fit in. You can see the three washers on the bottom of the damper. There are two wave washers and one flat between them. Inspect and replace if you find any damage at all. These lil critters are important.

A section of 5/8" All Thread rod long enough to reach down inside the damper. Nuts jammed or LocTited on the ends. The nuts fit the damper to hold it in place. Wrench on the other end. Mike

Yea Gary!! Ya hear that. ONE AT A TIME!!! :rotf: But ya do take nice pictures.

I was figuring you still had a fistful of B-Day cake.

Remove left side fairing pieces as needed to make room. Remove the air box and disconnect the breather hose from the bottom and remove the hose from the twinkie. Disconnect the throttle cables at the black junction box. Disconnect the choke cable at the carb. Disconnect the fuel line and the over flow hoses from the tops of each carb. Loosen .... no need to remove the four strap clamps on at the bottoms of the carbs where they seat into the intake boots. Straddle the bike and lift the carb rack straight up from the boots. You may need to wiggle or pry them (gently) to loosen them up until they slide free. Slide the carb rack assembly out through the left side of the frame. I think that covers it. Mike

Two things I'd be concerned with checking, and one was mentioned. The front forks for sure. Possible that one side is very low on oil. With the stock springs along with low oil and the OEM fork brace it could cause an unstable feel. Went through that on mine. I didn't see you mention the fork neck bearings. You might want to check for looseness in them. Low tire pressure with my Venoms does cause a different feel in the steering and very noticable at higher speeds. I like to run tire pressure at the max for the tire. Mike

Oh yeah....... what ever ya do for preload, make sure ya get the top caps back on straight when starting them back into the forks. A few have had problems and cross threaded them reinstalling them. Something you need to pay attention to during reassembly. Pretty much the tops of the spacers on top of the springs should come right even to the top of the upper fork leg with the forks fully extended. That should be about 3/4 inch of compression preload as you screw the caps in. Any height above the top of the fork legs will make installing the caps more ...... challenging. Mike

As far as the anti-dives....... don't worry about them at all. They will make no difference once the Progressives are in. No reason to worry about resetting the adjustments. A cheap way out is to simply remove the short brake line jumper from the caliper to the anti-dives and eliminate them altogether. Just swap out the short union bolts from anti-dives for the long double unions on the calipers to reattach the brake lines and cap off the anti-dives. Now if ya want to get fancy skydoc_17 (Earl) has the block off plates so you can remove the anti-dives completly. Few extra $$'s but it's an option. I gave up worrying about the sudden abrupt stop. I do give lot of thought to how far I'm gonna slide BEFORE THE SUDDEN AND ABRUPT STOP. Mike

1. As far as weight of oil..... kind of what works for you. The way you ride and your own weight. The heavier the oil the stiffer the forks will feel. I'm 285 lbs and I like to press my luck on the twisties so the heavier the oil the more I like it. You can push it up with a little CLASS pressure if needed. To note: When I first installed the Progressives I thought they were pretty harsh even with the 10 wt. After a year of riding I felt they relaxed a bit and I added more preload with washers. I do "0" Class on the front unless I'm chasing squibs on the back roads. 2. Good luck trying to install the 1 1/4" spacer. Be fun trying to install the top caps. I thing most cut the PVC spacer in half. I did mine at 3/4" and then added SS washers later on. 3. Again.... start at "0" pressure on the front. Don't think you will need much more than that for everyday riding. 4. REALLY STIFF! As far as using the CLASS compressor as a tire filler...... not worth the effort. Too low of an output and would probably burn out the pump or wiring trying to fill a tire to road pressure. It's designed to add very small amounts of air to very small (1/8" ID) lines. Just add a 12v mini compressor (HF) for a few bucks to your tool kit with a plug kit to get back to the barn with. Mike

Not familiar with your bike at all but everytime I hear "Just Washed It" I think electrical. How wet did ya get it? So ya know the battery is charged as you have power, except some display so maybe moisture in the switch, the fuse panel? Starter connections? Mike

When people have days like that I just want to change my handle. It could affect my self image. But welcome to the "I Got Lubed" club. You aren't the first to get a Trophy Shirt on a fork job. I thought I had all the pressure off the forks and had done what I thought I needed to do EXCEPT loosen the top caps. I work on a learning curve. Sometimes it actually bends. Those are the good days. Mike

Info here or check with Skydoc_17. http://www.bohannonbattery.com/html/deka/etx20l.html This page of an old post here is Joshs testing between the two brands. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33375&highlight=deka&page=4 Somebody had post here about an auto supply store that has the DEKA under a different label for a really low price a while back. Mike

Just my opinion...... I think it is mainly because the Odessy was around and catching on for a whle before the other options like the DEKA AGM were getting much attention. People started using them, and liking them before other brands were being offered on a broad scale. Wasn't Odessy one of the front runners in the early days of the AGM market? I'm not going to knock the Odessy. It is a good battery. Smaller and stronger than the stock L/A OEM offerings if not somewhat more expensive. I was looking into them when I ran across the DEKA line. The CCA load tests that Joshua at Bohannon Battery did and posted the results here is what sold me on the DEKA line. If not for that I would have probably ended up with an Odessy in my '84. But put the CCA's and the prices on the table together and the choice was a no brainer. Still loving my DEKA going into my four year and still cranking like new. Mike

Yep, that cracked me up. I spent a few years doing tool auctions on the road and a lot of stops in Amish country. Our crews usually had a semi, a motor home and the pitch men usually were driving a sports car of some sort. The younger Amish guys (and young ladies) were always drooling on the Vettes and over powered road racers. Mom and Dad didn't always approve of the attention to the cars.

I know ya'll been busy on the International Purchasing project and all the other projects you got your fingers in but hey! .............Take a little time and have a Happy Birthday!!! Mike

Sure, no problem. IF everyone agrees with your choice of oil I'll buy ice cream. Good God I love a sure bet I won't have to cash out on! :rotf:

Huhoh! He asked the oil question. Where's the popcorn? But whatever you chose it's a bit over 3.5 qts with a new filter on. Have it on the center stand and watch the sight glass. When it hit the midpoint the first time run it for a few minutes and check again. When it settles at the midpoint in the glass it's where it should be, not above or your air box gets wet. I like 20-50 in the summer and 10-40 during the below 40 degree months. As long as its has no slick oil modifiers you should be fine. Wet clutch.... old fashion oil. Simple as that. The oil opinions should start rolling in shorly. Make yourself a samich and grab a beverage. These can go on for days. Mike

On my '84 it was a tough start with the choke and had to hold it in place like yours. I was cleaning cables an stripped down the choke control and cleaned it also. Once I got everything cleaned up and lubed it was a different animal. In the coldest weather I would push it to full choke on the first couple cranks and then let it spring back. It would hit the midway detent and stay there. That would set the idle for about 2,000 rpm. Once it was running smooth I'd flip it back off. Once you get cleaned up it should be smooth and you should feel the detent hit nicely at the midpoint. Never knew it had a detent until I cleaned it. Mike

Here is a copy of the Progressive directions. Give ya an idea of what ya need to do ahead of time. The kit comes with a piece of PVC pipe for making spacers. You'll have to cu it. Along with that I use SS washers on top of the PVC to adjust the preload on the springs to dial it in. Those lil adjustments can make a big difference on the feel of the front end. It's all a matter of how you want it to feel and of course, how much you weigh. Me, I used a few extra washers. Mike

I used the All Balls on my '84. About $31.00 bucks I think it was. No issues at all. As far as the Progressives I can't say who is cheapest. Haven't looked in a while but the different sellers were not all that far apart on price at the time I did mine. About $10 bucks give or take. Mike

This is the directions for the Progressive springs. Same info can be used on stock as I don't think you have converted them yet. So 5.5" is the going idea. I have played with different levels between 5.5 and 6 and see no real difference. I like the 10wt oil but want to try 20 this next summer. Just remember to pump the forks repeatedly to make sure the oil fills in with no air pockets. Cleaning internally? ..... I have always stripped them down on the bench but some tranny fluid would help break down any sludge in the bottoms I'm sure. I think some guys have used tranny fluid as the oil itself with no issues. Mike