Rowdy's Motorcycle Blog
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Shadow 500 - Weld repair complete!
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Twisted Road Free Day
Back in September, the Re-cycle Garage in Santa Cruz, California announced a contest on their facebook page (See here.) To participate you had to go to twistedroad.com, find a listing for an electric motorcycle, email them with the city the bike was located in, and they would add your name to a drawing held while doing their Motorcycles and Misfits podcast. The prize for this contest was a free motorcycle rental day with Twisted Road. So I found a listing for an electric motorcycle, emailed the Misfits with the city, and the morning after their podcast, I got an email saying I won! WOOHOOO!
Well, there was a complication with owner confirmation. I'm not sure if he simply rejected my rental. Owners get to do that if they aren't confident in a rider for whatever reason. This protects the owner. It's also possible the owner just simply didn't respond. I'm not sure why I would be rejected, but who knows.
But that's ok. Austin from Twisted Road contacted me to help me find a bike. He told me to give him my top three choices, and he'd talk to the owners to get me confirmation on a rental. I emailed him my three choices, and I was confirmed for a 2008 SV650.
I called him back and told him that I couldn't start the bike. He walked back to check out the situation. He told me I needed to pull in the clutch lever, and..... I felt like a huge idiot. Of course it has a clutch sensor - it's a modern motorcycle. But when you're used to riding old bikes with Harley technology, you forget that modern bikes actually have such things.
So I started the bike, and off I went. I originally planned to take a minor highway home to give me a little time to get used to the bike, but I was instantly comfortable riding it. SV650's really are easy to ride. I jumped on the interstate, and it felt like this was a bike I had been riding for years.
This bike did not feel as powerful as my Buell. It shouldn't - my Buell has a 1.2 liter engine which has almost twice the displacement of the SV650. But I can tell you this - the Buell definitely has less than twice the power of this bike. Also, I didn't come anywhere close to pushing the SV650 to it's limits. I was very mindful that this wasn't my bike and that it wasn't my place to flog it. The power delivery is very different between the two bikes, and had I pushed the SV close to it's max, I might have a different impression.
I can say the SV650 had all the power it needed. It didn't struggle to get to or maintain highway speed, and it felt like I could easily pass someone if needed. The throttle response was better than with the carbureted bikes I'm used to riding. The engine was smooth. I'm not sure it's the smoothest bike I've ridden, but it's much smoother than the paint can shakers I'm used to riding.
It definitely had better brakes than either of my bikes. To be fair to my Buell, it is an old bike, but I think the breaks on the Buell are in good shape. I think the comparison is valid. But the SV has dual front disk brakes while my Buell has only a single rotor up front. My old Sportster also has dual front disk brakes, but .... well... should I bother describe it's braking? It's not bad, but of course it doesn't stop as well as the SV
The route named for the mountain doesn't actually get to the tallest point, but it's still quite scenic. On the west side of Lake Apopka, it's a rural area with little traffic just outside the Metro Orlando area. While there's better twisties in other states, this route provides a nice break from the usual flat-n-straight roads typical in Florida. If you don't mind being slowed down by an occasional group of bicyclists, it's a fun ride.
Still, there were good things to see. I enjoyed riding through the small towns. I saw a dude on a tricycle dressed like a homeless version of Santa Claus. I'm not judging the dude - he seemed happy enough.
As I got to Crescent City, it was time for another break. I found a not-so-nice park, but it did have a cool pier going out over Crescent Lake. I walked out to the end of the pier and looked around. It was a nice relaxing place to rest.
So now for the not so great part of the day. At about 5:00 I decided I should ride round a bit before turning the bike in. My wife went to the store, and was going to meet me there to pick me up at 7:00. I started the bike, got to the intersection at the corner of my property, and waited for traffic to pass before turning right. When I got my chance, I started to leave when it felt like the bike was being yanked out from underneath me. At the same time, I was hearing what sounded like either gravel or dirt. I landed in a way that made a few of my ribs really hurt, but was otherwise ok.
Some guy in a van stopped to ask if I was ok as I picked myself up off the ground. I was dazed just a bit as I picked up the bike. The guy in the van kept asking me if I needed help, and I told him I was ok. If I wasn't still dazed a bit, I might have appreciated his offer to help more, but at the moment, I was just wanted him to move on. Then the "oh fucking hell, I dropped this dude's bike" feeling set in. I've made this same turn every work day with rare exception for the past three and a half years on either my Sportster or my Buell, but the one day I'm riding someone else's bike is the day the back tire slides out from under me thanks to some loose dirt and gravel at the corner of the turn.
So I decided to go directly to the drop off area near the owner's house in time for him to have daylight to see the damage. At that point, I really didn't feel like doing a whole lot more riding than that anyway. When I got there, the sun had just set, but there was still enough light to look the bike over. I called to see if he was home, and he walked over to survey the damage.
Luckily he had installed frame savers on the bike, and the right side frame saver took the brunt of the fall. It was easily scuffed up enough to justify replacing. There was also some scuffing on the muffler, the break lever was bent a bit, and there was some scuffing on the front. The function of the bike was definitely not impaired, but I clearly had some damages to pay for. We both talked to Austin at Twisted Road about how to deal with the damage. Austin asked if I was ok, and I told him I just had a couple ribs that could feel better, but was ok. The owner and I negotiated an amount, and arranged to have that paid out of the required credit card hold for the rental. During the negotiations, the owner was fair. And while I'm sure he wasn't thrilled to see that his bike was damaged, he didn't freak out about it. I think I was fair in the negotiations, too. At least I hope I was.
After I filled the bike up with gas and returned, we talked for a bit about motorcycles while I waited for my wife. Considering I scuffed up his bike, it was a friendly conversation. He seems to be a really good guy, and I feel so bad about dropping his bike. I know this was not a good rental experience for him, and I hope this doesn't deter him from continuing to rent out his bike through Twisted Road. I literally lost sleep that night thinking about it. Of course, the pain in my ribs didn't help with sleep either.
After my wife picked me up, I told her what happened and I told her how much the damage was going to cost us. She wasn't happy but she didn't freak out. I thought she was going to give me a hard time over this, but she didn't. She was mostly just glad I was ok.
She did ask if I thought it was worth how much it cost me. This was supposed to be a free rental day, but through no fault the owner or Twisted Road, it ended up costing me more than it would to rent this bike for a few days. Obviously, if I could somehow know for a fact that this mishap would happen ahead of time, I wouldn't have gone through with the rental. If I could have known ahead of time that there would be no mishap, but it still would have cost me as much as it did, I probably wouldn't have rented the bike simply due to my tight budget. That's money that can go towards tools and parts for my own bikes. However, if I could know ahead of time that there would be no mishaps, no monetary cost, but I'd have to let someone punch me in the ribs really hard at the end of the ride, I'd go for it! 😝
I don't know if I'll rent again with Twisted Road simply because it's not often that I need to rent a bike. But then again, I might! If I decide there's a bike I want to buy, Twisted Road offers an excellent opportunity to find a similar bike that I can test ride for a whole day. Had I done a test ride on an SV650 at a dealership, there's no way I would have gotten to know the bike like I did with the SV I rode yesterday. Also, I might see a bike that I'm simply curious about.
I might also rent out a bike through Twisted Road in the future. There's no way I'm renting out my old Sportster or Buell. They're a little too quirky, and need a little more maintenance than would be appropriate for something you let someone else pay you to ride. But if I buy a newer bike in the future, I could use Twisted Road as a way to help cover the costs of owning the bike. In fact, I could see myself buying a bike for the purpose of renting out through Twisted Road. An SV650 would be a great choice for this due to its flexibility, but the same could be said for many bikes.
In any case, whether you have a bike to rent or feel like renting a bike, I highly recommend using Twisted Road.
By the way, the owner said it was ok for me to put a link to his Twisted Road page here. So if you're going to be in the Orlando area and need a bike to ride, I recommend talking to this guy here: https://www.twistedroad.com/public-profile.php?user=21044
Monday, August 13, 2018
Buell Exhaust Repair
I think what happened was a stress fracture formed along the outer edge of one of the welds holding the bracket to the exhaust pipe. After that, the vibration of the engine simply caused the crack to spread. Then, at some point, the other weld was supporting more weight than it was originally and formed it's own stress fracture which grew in a similar manner. The edges of the weld are a natural place for this to happen, as the wall of the exhaust pipe is much thinner than the weld itself.
The weekend after discovering this, I pulled off the muffler to weld up the cracks. When I unbolted the front mounting bracket, it simply fell loose to the ground. The cracks had spread all the way around the original welds. Two holes were left on the pipe where the mount once was.
Fitting the bracket back in place was quite simple. When I put the bracket back in place, there were no large gaps, and gravity simply held it in place while I added a couple tack welds. I almost used no filler rod at all - I simply melted some of the excess metal from the weld beads and flowed it into the puddle I had formed along the crack.
Here, you can see where I stopped part way to show how I was using the existing weld material to fill in the crack. |
Here's a pic from pretty much the same perspective after completing the welding on this side. |
I also noticed a few stray cracks in the pipe leading away from the welds. I wonder if those were originally there, or if the thermal stress from welding caused them. I simply went over those with my torch to weld the cracks closed. After letting everything cool, I grabbed the bracket and tried to move it back and forth to see if there were any obvious weak points in my welds. Nothing broke apart, but I did see a very large crack in the bracket itself where it mounts to the frame. I simply went over that crack as well, welding on both sides of the crack.
Here's an example of where I welded up a stray crack. |
The weld repair from another perspective. |
Weld repair of the crack in the bracket. Almost missed this crack. |
The other side of the repaired bracket.. |
Here's the exhaust after reinstalling on the bike. |
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Shadow 500 Project
The badly rusted part of the frame was fairly visible before disassembly. Where the rust holes are at, I think the frame is plenty strong enough to support the swing arm, but might be questionable for supporting the center stand.
So far, I've disassembled the bike to where essentially everything is stripped off the frame. I've also begun to repair the badly rusted portion of the frame. I've got some 1/8" (or close to that) steel from which I'm cutting small pieces and welding in place of sections of the rusted area.
The rust repair has been a lot of fun! At first, I thought I'd be using my stick welder, but aside from a few initial welds, I'm doing a lot of work with my oxy-acetylene torch. I'm also getting some experience shaping the steel strips by heating with the torch and hammering into the shape I want. When the steel is hot, it almost seems like working with clay.
If I am able to successfully complete the frame repair (at this point, I'm pretty sure I will), the next step for the frame will be to remove any remaining fasteners, strip off the old paint, and then repaint with a good urethane paint. After that, I'll proceed with getting the engine going, and then decide what's next from there.
Here's some pics at various stages of the disassembly process:
The disassembly process has been started. You can see the green trunk I'm storing parts in at the top of the pic. |
The engine had just been removed. The bike is almost stripped to the frame. |
Here's pics of the rust damage:
Looks pretty bad doesn't it. |
I'm holding a piece of flat steel that I've shaped to fit right about where I'm holding it. |
As thick as this steel is, the repair should be plenty strong. |
This is that same piece welded in place. You can see where I accidentally blew threw the edge. |
Another patch in place!! I love welding! |
I've welded over a couple bad places and filled in some rust holes using just a bit of welding rod. |
Here, you can see where I've hammered the patch around the back. |
I just didn't feel like cutting that tab off the patch before welding it on. This is on the other side. |
I heated that tab and the edge of the patch on the other side and hammered them around. |
Here's the other side again. Basically, this is looking from inside the frame. You can see the tab hammered around. |
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Why a Buell M2 Cyclone
Recently, I decided it was time for another bike. I quite regularly check out the ads on Craigslist, and I weighed many different options. For a while, I almost had my mind made up that I would finance a new DR650. I thought about riding the fire roads around Ocala National Forest, and maybe one day even going on a long adventure up to the Rockies. I though about getting an old ran-when-parked bike that maybe only needed the carbs cleaned or had other minor issues I could easily fix. I came across several candidates, including an '85 Goldwing, a couple of CB900c's, and a GS800. I definitely kept my eye on 5-speed Sportsters and even well-priced Ironhead Sportsters in good shape. But I've wanted a Buell for a very long time. When I saw a '98 M2 Cyclone with 16k miles priced for what Buell Blasts are often priced at, I had to get it!
One might ask why I even need another bike. My old '88 Sportster has held up pretty well over the last three years. But there have been mechanical problems I've had to deal with - transmission issues, shifter lever issues, electrical issues, etc. I've been able to handle them just fine, but when my bike is down for repairs for several days or even several weeks, sharing the van with my wife is challenging. It's not just that I would rather be riding, but my wife has to take kids places, has medical appointments, grocery shopping, general errands, etc. Having a second bike not only gives me a spare bike to commute on, but also allows me to split the wear and tear of commuting between both bikes, which increases the time between break downs and required maintenance. My Sportster isn't getting any younger, and who knows when a catastrophic failure might occur.
One might wonder how a Buell could be a practical choice of motorcycle. They're no longer produced, and when they were, they were manufactured in limited quantities. But consider the engine is essentially just a hot-rodded Sportster 1200 engine. Almost every part in the engine or transmission can be replaced with a newly manufactured part, and there's quite a few used parts available. Other parts, like the brakes, wheels, etc. are not as easily replaceable, but I think I can manage. Also, both the engine and transmission should be easy to work on. No valve adjustments or coolant changes are needed. Any major mechanical repairs shouldn't be complicated.
This bike is a lot of fun! It has roughly double the horsepower of my old Sportster, and is about 60 lbs. lighter. At 70 mph, you can tell my old Sportster isn't too far from its limit, but the Cyclone can effortlessly handle highway speeds. So far, I haven't felt the need to push the bike to its limits, but it does accelerate quite nicely. I think it might be the most nimble bike I've ridden so far, which honestly isn't saying a lot - I haven't ridden that many different bikes. But it is quite nimble. I wish Central Florida had some canyons to carve!
The bike feels very reliable - like maybe I could ride it to California and back so long as I took enough pain medication to deal with the discomfort of the seat. It is actually more shakey at idle than my Sportster. This is probably do to the lighter fly wheels and because the frame has less mass to dampen the vibrations. But once the engine is at 3000 RPM, it runs quite smoothly. I love being able to put my bike in neutral from 1st gear at a stop every time, which is something I can't reliably do with my Sportster.
Time will tell whether I still like this bike in a year, but I'd bet money I will. In fact, I think I'll likely still be riding this bike many years from now.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Another Throttle Cable Replacement
Last week, I had yet another throttle cable breakage. Luckily, I've got two cables going to my carburetor, so I was able to get home. But I don't like riding with just one good throttle cable. I wasn't sure how long I could ride like that, and the good cable seemed to get a little too loose. That left me taking the van to work for a couple of days.
With my first breakage a while back, I replaced the inner cable with 1/16 wire rope from Home Depot keeping the same cable housing. For this, I created a mold from pieces of aluminum flat stock for the carburetor end barrel fitting, and did what this guy did, more or less: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV3XLAG3jx8. Additionally, I soldered a small bead on the control end to act as a cable stop to fit inside the ferrule.
Later on, the control end of the cable broke. I had trouble soldering on another bead, since my silver-soldering skills kinda suck, so I just welded a bead of RG45 on the end. This seemed to work quite well, but I didn't think about the lack of corrosion resistance. I think this may have lead to last week's cable break, which happened right below where I welded on the end of the cable. I bet I burned off the zinc coating from the wire rope right below the weld, allowing it to corrode.
Without enough length left for a repair, I replaced the inner cable with some more wire rope from Home Depot, but I did things a bit differently this time.
To start with, I decided that instead of trying to fool with another molded solder barrel fitting for the carburetor end, I decided to just use a piece of 1/4" rod. I was initially going to use steel, but I worried about rust and wear. Luckily, I found some 1/4" zinc rod at the local Tractor Supply store. Using Zinc should take care of corrosion, and I can use grease to deal with wear.
After grinding a small flat spot on the side of the rod, I used my drill press to drill a 1/16" hole through the rod. Then, I used a larger bit (can't remember the size, sorry), to drill roughly half way through to provide space for a cable stop. I then cut the rod to approximately the length I needed.
Next, I brazed a bead of bronze on the end of the cable. After feeding the cable through barrel fitting, I compared the size of the bronze bead to the opening. I ground it down until it was about the right diameter, and lightly tapped it into the opening with a hammer. Next, with the bead tightly in place, I ground it down until more-or-less flush with the surface of the barrel fitting.
The assembled carburetor end of the cable already looked nicer than the old cable with the molded solder barrel fitting, but the new barrel fitting needed to be trimmed down a bit. Grinding with the grinding wheel on my drill press seemed too slow, so I used my angle grinder to speed things along. I did, however, use the grinding wheel to clean up the edge a bit.
After confirming that I could hook up the cable to the carburetor, I moved on to the control end of the cable.
I knew from past experience that feeding the cable through the metal portion of the cable housing with it's 90 degree turn was difficult and often lead to the cable end fraying. To prevent that, I brazed the end of the cable a bit. I still had quite a bit of difficulty getting it through. I tried a few different tricks without success, but finally had luck by welding a copper wire to the bronze coating on the cable end. (I say welding here, since I joined copper to copper-based alloy). Feeding the copper wire through the metal part of the housing was easy, though I did have to grind down the sides of the brazed end a bit to pull the cable through.
Once I did that, I cut away the copper wire. For whatever reason, I was having trouble getting a nice bronze bead on the control end, so I trimmed the bronze section off, and welded a bead of RG45 to the end. I then brazed over that for corrosion resistance.
With minimal cleanup, this fit into the ferrule quite easily. I did do just a tad bit of grinding to shape the brazed-over bead flush with the surface of the ferrule. Then, it was a simple matter to install on the throttle control. After making a few adjustments, I took the bike for a test ride and could not find any problems.
Hopefully, this holds up better than the last cable. After looking back at the pictures, I am concerned by what looks to be some unprotected cable below the bronzed bead cable stop on the carburetor end. Hopefully, just keeping both ends of the cable properly greased will prevent any corrosion. Time will tell.