Thursday, July 06, 2006

Clutch Performer

An old fashioned good-news-bad-news story:

1. Good news: the new master clutch cylinder for the Suzuki arrived.
2. Bad news: it wasn't the part I ordered.
3. Good news: it came with the 11/16" bore I wanted.
4. Bad news: it didn't come with the electrical switches I need.
5. Good news: the hydraulic portion and the electrical portion are universal so the old electricals bolt directly to the new hydraulics.
6. Bad news: the 11/16" bore didn't make a damn bit of difference. There was still way too much drag.

I took the whole bike down to the Suzuki dealership and asked them to look at the clutch-pack side of the engine. The hope was that there was something mis-installed by a previous dealer that would explain the problem. As it turned out there was. There's still alot of drag on the clutch but it does disengage enough to allow the motor to shift while running.

Last Saturday I put about 5 miles on the bike. Doesn't seem like much, but after 10 years I'll take even the small victories.

I think at this point I'm going to give up on the DIY aspects of this bike and take it to the dealer again and have them give it a professional tune-up and check things over.

I have a nasty feeling that the rear cylinder is leaking oil. Unless it's just oil left over from assembly that's going to be a real bummer. ... How do you think a Suzuki Intruder would look as a living room recliner? Maybe put an IR transmitter in the headlight and use the electrical switches to operate it as a giant TV-remote. ...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. I think I'd go nuts if I ordered a part that took that long to arrive that ended up being imperfect. But, I admit that I'm someone who expends way too much energy getting frustrated over minor problems in life.

2. I've been meaning to ask you....We watch Orange County Choppers and Biker Buildoff sometimes, and from what I can tell, those guys are just eyeballing curves and placements, or at best, measuring with a Stanley measuring tape. Or maybe it's just duplicitous editing. Still, I'd never have the guts to actually ride a vehicle I built myself. I can just picture welding popping apart, or bolts falling off, and the whole thing falling to pieces on a road while I'm still in motion. So here's my very sophisticated question: do you ever worry you're doing something wrong that might be dangerous? Just curious.

TJ said...

Ah, a couple of good points:

1. I don’t consider these things cars or motorcycles. I learned a long time ago that the only thing down that road is madness. (And fiscal responsibility but that’s not any fun.) They are hobbies that just happen to look like cars or bikes. You have to enjoy the process even when it’s slow. If you only want to drive them you should buy a new car or bike and enjoy it.

2. I’m different from the OCC guys (and the dozen or so other car and bike builders on TV) in one way: they have talent. [Pause to allow that to sink in.] I don’t fabricate anything more complex than the occasional brake line or electrical wire splice. Those guys have a great deal of skill, years of experience, and good editing. 99% of the stuff I do is bolt-on.

Do I worry about safety? Yes. Definitely. My general rule is to make sure it stops and turns well before worrying if it runs well. Even if my self-preservation instinct didn’t demand it, the cost of good paint and body work would.

Most of these projects are simple machines. Two cars designed in the 60s and a bike built for leisurely cruising. Sure, the sportbike deals with tight tolerances and spends some time on the far side of 130 mph, but it’s also the most unaltered of the bunch.

Anonymous said...

130+ mph....There was a time when I would have loved to have reached that. Nowadays I doubt I'll ever get to a Porsche-level sports car, even if I had the means and desire, because I think I've already lost my ability to react fast enough to enjoy such a vehicle at its full potential. Boo hoo to aging. Boo hoo to no autobahns.