Sit Happens

I decided to move forward on the Suzuki last week. I need to get a seat installed before it will be safe enough for the guys at the dealer to ride it, and that's a pre-requisite for them to be able to tune it.

So I called Richs Custom Seats. Explained that I'd need a new pan and a new seat. I got the "bring the bike down and we can figure it out" response I expected. I made an appointment for Saturday.

I figured the process would look something like...

1. Bring the bike down Saturday morning.
2. Spend 15-30 minutes talking over what I wanted, what was possible, and deciding on a plan. Leave the bike behind.
3. Come back a week or two later (once the pan was done) to do the foam fitting. Take the bike.
4. Come back a week or two later to pick up the completed seat and sign over my first born son as payment.

Instead the process was...

1. Bring the bike in 10:45am Saturday.
2. Spend 15 minutes talking about what I wanted and what could be done with what I had.
3. Hang in the shop talking motorcycles with Rich, his employees, and a number of other customers (most of whom we're also a little surprised by Richs process).
4. About a dozen times get asked by Rich to verify that the shape / style / fit of the seat was what I expected.
5. Leave about 6:00pm with the bike and the finished seat.

Yeah, it cost me the day but now I have the seat done instead of waiting until the end of the month. Plus it only cost about 60% of what I expected. (Partly because they were able to modify my existing seatpan instead of having to create a new one from scratch.)

Next time I'll just have to remember to bring a book.




If you look close at the picture from the right side you'll also see the other little change I had to make. I had to move the rear brake reservoir to keep it from touching the exhaust. One of my finer successes: I spent 45 minutes and about $0.89 to make the bracket.

Ho Ho Ho

Happy Holidays.

Last weekend I was going to pick up the Suzuki from the dealer, finish up the seats for The Triumph, and straighten up the garage after unpacking all of the track-day stuff.

Unfortunately "Wind Storm 2006" had other plans. We were without power for about 5 days. It wasn't life-changing but it was a pain in the butt. Needless to say I didn't get much done.

However, I did this weekend.

I finished the seats for The Triumph. Ish, from Pimp My Ride, isn't afraid of losing his job to me. You can be sure of that. But the seats certainly look better than they did.




I haven't taken it out for a spin yet, but I did test fit them. It's amazing what new foam will do. I had to readjust the seat to account for it.

I also picked up the Suzuki from the dealer. There's still work to be done but they fixed the oil leak. It looks like it was a problem with the end-caps on cylinder head and valve covers. They're powder coated and the powdercoat wasn't allowing a good seal.

The next step is to get a seat and seat pan fabricated. Not sure how I'm going to approach that yet. (Part of me wants to play with fiberglass to make my own seat pan.) I'll let you know.

I'm off to eat some cookies....

Back On Track

I guess I should just admit that I suck at this whole blog thing. Oh well.

I spent the weekend before Thanksgiving at Jason Pridmore's STAR school. It's not cheap, it's not nearby, but it sure is fun. If you have a sportbike you owe it to yourself to get it out on a track. It's almost certainly safer than your daily commute to work.

They had a photographer at the event. Here are a couple pics: Pic1 Pic2

With some luck maybe I can convince Dave and/or Jason to thier butts out on the track. STAR has posted thier 2007 schedule (and they claim to have a few more dates in the works).

Here are a few things I learned at the track and on the trip as a whole:
1) Being fat and out of shape isn't conducive to spirited motorcycle riding. It takes alot out of you. Want a demo? Get down in a squat, lean forward and put your weight on your toes with your butt about 18 inches off the ground. Feel good? Now stay there for 20 minutes.
2) Tighten the pinch-bolt for your eliptical gear. It sucks when the chain suddenly develops 6 inches of slack when your coming out of a corner. No one got hurt and the bike was fine but it had to sit on the side of the track for 3 sessions before we took a break and I could retrieve it.
3) A 2.5-liter 4 cylinder is not sufficient if you're pulling a trailer from Seattle to Vegas to Tucson to Seattle. Sure, it will get the job done, but be prepared to downshift. Alot.
4) It's hard to find a parking spot in the mall. When you have a trailer. On the Friday after Thanksgiving. If there's a car dealer in the mall I suggest parking in thier lot. The spaces are big.
5) Getting boxed into a car dealership parking lot when it closes really sucks. When you have a trailer. On the Friday after Thanksgiving. If there's a curb I suggest driving over it. Carefully.
6) If you live in Tucson or Vegas and you ride a bike (or drive a convertible, or having any need of nice weather) DON'T MOVE TO SEATTLE. Vegas: 72 and sunny. Tucson: 82 and sunny. Seattle: 28 and snowing.



In other motorcycle news:

What do you think of this? I'm going to the Seattle motorcycle show this weekend to see it in person. I don't really need one. (Does anyone ever really *need* a motorcycle?) But I like the way it looks and it's lighter and more powerful than my Daytona. Which means I can get real fat and still go real fast.

I'll probably never own a new Ferrari. So this might be as close as I get to a new Italian speed machine.

I gave up on the Suzuki. I took it to a local dealer to have them deal with the oil leak and do the tune-up work. Pulling the motor (again) was just more than I was up for on this project. At this I'd just like to see it done.

Where Oh Where Has My Little Blog Gone…

Wow, it’s been awhile. You might be wondering: What happened? Where have I been? Did I fall, bump my head, and forget my blogger.com password? Well, the truth is I have the attention span of a gnat. Plus I’ve been busy and when I had to choose between working in the garage and writing about working in the garage I chose the former.

Anyway…

I’ll hit the highlights…

The Daytona:
I signed up for another weekend of Jason Pridmore’s STAR school. Pahrump NV in November. The plan was to drive down there with my cousin Jason and meet Dave, a college buddy, who would come out from Austin. Despite Dave’s long-time relationship with his sportbike he’s never been on a track. Since he’s to blame for me buying the Daytona in the first place I figure it’s my duty to get him out there so he can see his bike can do.

Unfortunately both Jason and Dave backed out this week. So it looks like I’m going to go it alone. No problem, just means there won’t be anyone who can contradict my “And then, this one time, I was dragging a knee in a corner passing everyone while eating a cheeseburger” story.

The Green Machine:
Not a lot of activity here. I’ve take in out once or twice for no real reason. (What? You think I’m going to take a 33 year old British car to get groceries? Are you kidding? I could starve.) The brakes shriek like a banshee but that shouldn’t be hard to correct.

The Suzuki:
Unfortunately it’s leaking oil from under the valve cover. Not a lot but enough to make a mess and a nice blue cloud. To get to the problem the motor needs to be pulled (again) and I’m just not sure I have it in me anymore. I had some discussions with a local shop and I’m leaning towards letting them deal with it.

Call me a wimp, call me lazy, whatever. But I’ve pulled that motor at least three times and it’s just a pain. … Remember the opening scene of ‘Kung Fu’ with David Carradine where he picks up the pot of coals with his forearms and it brands him? That was probably created by a guy who had just pulled a Suzuki motor. It’s about 175 lbs and when you’re done you have cooling fins cut into your forearms. … I’m sure a shop has a faster better way.

The Triumph:
The new seat upholstery that I ordered in July just showed up yesterday. Wow it looks nice. It’s not as uniform in color as the original seats but it has a very rich brown and red mottling. And they look like prefect recreations of the originals. (The original is on the left, the replacement on the right.) Hopefully I won’t screw up the installation too much. This is almost certainly the next garage action.



I’ll try to be better about updating my blog.

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. ...