Saturday, December 29, 2012

4) The fixes and modifications begin!


The bike had revealed its' true nature as an unreliable POS, combined with something akin to a money pit on par with a really bad drug habit, often leaving me embarrassingly on the side of the road. I quickly learned to carry tools.

The boiling brakes were finally traced to an unfixable master cylinder. Even after I rebuilt it, it still didn't work! Finally after warping both discs, I gave up and bought a Suzuki Master Cylinder from a GSX-R750. 

The boiling battery was courtesy of a faulty regulator/rectifier, which I replaced with another Kawasaki one. Low voltage as a result of this (compounded by my high compression pistons) started a litany of Starter Solenoid failures. I eventually had to replace the starter motor as well. Then, of course, the Sprag (starter) Clutch gave up the ghost, so the motor had to come apart again.


Sprag Clutch replacment 2007  
Note Special Tool. Held together with Number 8 wire.

On another long trip, a plug in the electrical system worked itself loose, resulting in a few lurching backfires and then bike unconsciousness. On the same trip the hydraulic clutch died, though luckily I got to a petrol station (that had DOT4  fluid) before (gearboxless) I had to stop and bleed it.

Another battery problem on the way to a Rally left the bike stranded in the middle of nowhere, (I carried on on a friend's machine)  and was traced to faulty stator wiring. 

Luckily, I managed to get home under my own steam every time, but even for someone who regards "roadside maintenance" as part of the motorcycling experience, it was getting a bit tiresome. And I was turning into a raving alcoholic.

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