Rain Delay

So the plan for last weekend was two nights of camping at Noccalula Falls with another family that also has two girls. The first night was great, the facility was awesome and super kid friendly. We pitched the tents, made a fire, cooked burgers and made smores. All in all, it was a pretty great first camping experience for our kids.

Unfortunately two approaching storm systems would have made for a full day of rain and in the interest of not keeping four kids inside a tent all day we broke camp and headed home. We did decide to keep the weekend with our friends going and instead spent Saturday at their house.

Some time ago my buddy Jason bought the KZ650 that had been sitting in my garage. Since we had a cooler full of cold beer and a non-running bike that needed attention, our plans were pretty clear. He had already taken the carbs apart and started cleaning them. We used our time reassembling and adjusting them. Once we got everything together again the bike fired up first kick. They needed more adjustment but I was able to take the bike down the road before the day was out. There is still work needed to get the beast road worthy. I'm sure I'll see another day in his garage before all is said and done.

Coil Bracket

The old one broke...

so I made a new one. Lost a little bit of riding time on Sunday but saved a little coin by using some scrap on the work bench. All in a day's work.

Blur

Photo courtesy of Kustom Jeff

So the last couple weeks have been a blur. I am going to take a page from my other blog and let a few pictures do the talking. An in depth report is coming once I have a chance to get my thoughts together.

 

In other news, I am now on Instagram here. 

Mark Your Calendar

Paint

After dis-assembly, the first step was a good bath. See that giant hole in the rear fender? That is the stock location of the ECM. More on that later. After the bath I gave each piece a good sanding to promote adhesion. Then I took my rattle cans and started spraying. 

I always go a little overboard with coats. I put a lot on this time too. Chalkboard paint is excellent stuff and results in a very durable exterior. I've put it on the last two bikes I repainted. 

 

Notice anything missing...the rear fender maybe? More on that later too...

I know you can't tell from this flawless execution but I have no stencil experience. Used flat white, it was still wet in this photo. I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Speedo Relocation

The original plan was to cut the factory housing down or even ditch it completely and relocate the idiot lights and just get a generic top clamp. Trouble is, modern bikes use modern electronics like LED lights and printed circuit boards. Separating them would have been a major undertaking. The stock housing idea just was not going to achieve a clean, finished look so I grabbed the above top clamp with integrated light housing from Joker Machine.

The speedo was moved down to the frame with an Auto Meter tach bracket. The loom around the wiring harness had to be split open a bit to stretch to the new location. Again, this is very simple stuff.

Handlebars

When I first bought my Sportster, the previous owner was running wide glide apes and the control wiring was run inside the bars. The base width created an overhang over the front end which always bothered me. I ordered some black narrow apes that were pre-drilled and dimpled so I could run the wires inside with them as well. 

Like always, I get a bit nervous about cutting the wiring harness at the quick disconnects and try and get the wires out of the connect blocks unsuccessfully. As has become my standard procedure when doing this operation, I cut the wires at the blocks and solder and crimp new pins into new blocks from an electronics store to maintain some semblance of factory operation.  

Soldering the pins on and the new blocks in white.

In addition to the new bars, I switched to a bar-end mirror on the left side and some Anderson grips. Much to the chagrin of a couple riding buddies, the hand tooled leather grips that have followed me over a couple bikes are not going back on this one. I just didn't feel like they fit the vibe I had in my head for these changes. I'm sure they will see use in the future but not on this bike.

Torn Down

Taking things apart is usually the easy step. Keeping everything together and remembering how it all goes back together is the hard part. After doing a few bike projects, you'll get pretty good at the ins and outs of it. Everyone has their tips and tricks. From painter's tape labeling to zip-lock bags, I have seen many different approaches and use a lot of them. At this point, I was just glad to have it all apart. Once I stepped back and looked at it, deciding where to start was kind of stressing me out. I was working on a self-imposed deadline trying to make a ride. I made my list and tried to attack it logically. This served me well. Again, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

After

Simple cosmetic changes, small on their own but together they make a pretty big difference. In the next few weeks I'll detail what all was done, from the easy to the fairly complex. I've gotta say, I am pretty stoked on the end result.

07/31/13

     We slept in a bit but were still away from the cabin and gassing up before 8am. Everyone was well rested and in good spirits. Its kind of crazy, as hard as we have been pushing ourselves morning to night everyone is still eager to get the miles in.

     Our destination was Bridgeport and Old Bridgeport, a couple ghost towns just a few miles away from our site. Apparently some citizens got in a dispute over the town's water tower and a group splintered off in to a new town. We thought we had our bearings but as ghost towns usually don't have signage, we had to ask for directions here and there. We finally found the water tower and a few old structures, namely the post office. There were empty foundations on either side. These old towns are pretty cool to find when you can. I always wonder what happened and why they didn't make it.    

      We headed into Hilton for a bite to eat. As we discovered, outside of fried food at either of the town's two gas stations, Hilton doesn't have much to offer. We chose the station with the better options and we ate. I had a meal I deemed "the border jumper:" a bean burrito with marinara sauce and an egg roll with strawberry and grape jelly. It helped curb my Chinese craving so I was good with it.
     Our next stop was the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. This was a real mind blower. There were all kinds on local animals roaming free and minimal infrastructure. It was just about as close to the wild as you can get. An added bonus, these were easily the best roads we had ridden yet. A start contrast to the flat, straight roads Oklahoma is known for, these roads were curvy and rose and fell. The pairing made for outstanding riding.

     We stopped at the visitors center and got some laughs and good info and decided to trek up Mount Scott. This was the highest elevation in the reserve and easily the high point of my trip so far. I was already feeling closer to the land and the views made me feel just how big and beautiful our country is. I did a little boulder hopping despite my fear of heights and could have spent hours up there. There was no shade and I was getting hot as were my companions so we made the ride back down.

    




A couple in our party needed some parts, oil, etc so we headed to the HD dealer in Lawton. This is a quality dealer with a friendly, helpful staff. They got us hooked up with what we needed, despite some stocking issues. The parts guy, Hammer, sat with us for a while and made a great recommendations for dinner. Sam's Soul Food and BBQ, housed in an old Pizza Hut, had excellent, ribs, hot links and brisket. Nobody left hungry.





     It was getting late and had been a full day. We were still a good stretch from the KOA. We still opted for the killer back roads vs the interstate. There was something about these small towns and Indian reservations we ran through that was too good to pass up. Outside the towns were we able to run at a good speed. The sun retreated to the west and us to our cabin. We made it in with just enough light left to see. After settling in we sat on our porch and talked for a few hours, enjoying group reflection and planning the rides and routes for the next day.

Saturday continued...

So Brandon is back in town and came to claim one of his trio of bikes from the garage. He isn't wasting any time getting back on the road and the CB he is taking needed a little carb work. It was leaking before he left and stopping that was the goal. It didn't quite happen before leaving here but before the end of the night, it was drip free.

Nick and Nick discussing something Shovel related.

The CB also got a new battery, some electrical work, a new clutch lever and clean gas. My Sportster got a new rear tire but as all four of us had a hand (or foot) on the tire at some point, there are no pictures. All in all is was a good, full day in the garage and Brandon's bike left under its own power before sundown. Safe travels, little CB. Hope you enjoyed your stay. 

That's Better

New kicker gear, slinger and hardware installed with a new gasket. Ah, progress...

Funny...

how that happens. Talk about your Shovel trouble in front of some folks at a party and they will give you the stuff to fix it. One trip to the Dojo and I am two parts closer to having the bike back on the road.

Thanks Nick, truly apprecitated.

Bath Time

     Gave the bike a little wash the other day. I didn't polish or anything like that but the words "wash me" that were written in the dirt on the swing arm was getting to me. That and the fact that I need to see if I have an oil leak or just some leftover goop from sloppy oil changing.
     I am about ready to start with the cosmetic overhaul but still have a few remaining parts that I need to grab. I'm also reasonably certain (read that as certain but kidding myself) that I am going to need a new rear tire before I get out on the road this summer. That will probably delay the cosmetics as the big remaining piece is, go figure, about the price of a new tire.
     Speaking of parts, I still need to get the pieces to get the Shovel back together. I sold some stock parts off this bike to get them but I am waiting to see what happens regarding the tire and possible oil leak. Serving two masters is difficult and I have to keep one or the other on the road.    

The Right Tools

It's pretty amazing, the things you can do with them. Clutch hub needed a little persuasion but came off in the end.

Got further and further down and finally to the mainshaft nut...and could twist it left and right with my fingers.
I'm not an expert but I know that's not right.

Another useful tool. Duo Seal Super Nut is on...and the saga continues.

Hitting the Wall

     The weekend started out pretty good. Nick made it to the house, the wife and kids were gone and we proceeded to down the beer and rum and put in some work on the bikes. Both the Shovels were in the house and it was time to get serious.
     We started by bleeding the rear brake on my Shovel. It felt great...for about 5 minutes. Basically, there is a little leak somewhere, probably in the line as you can see a couple sports that are clearly worn, and it will need to be replaced. It still works if you pump it and the front break works fine so...it can wait for a bit.

      The transmission leak and temperamental clutch were next on the list. I suspect the former is aggravating the later but just in case, while installing the Super Nut, I planned on installing a Clutch Tamer as well. We had a couple hiccups, mostly due to a lack of the right tools. The clutch hub was the real spoil sport.
      I inquired with a couple Shovel owners and previous owners that I knew and both said the same thing: run the nut back on, whack it a couple times and it should drop right off. Yeah...not so much. I tried damn near everything and came up with nothing.

     We all three (Nick, the bike and I) lived to fight another day and a clutch puller was on it's way before the next round of beers were consumed. I guess it is one of those things that it won't hurt to have. Begs the questions though...it doesn't have to be easy but does it always have to be hard?

Results from Saturday

Spent some time on a few little things on the Shovel Saturday. All of it was simple but the little things add up.
At some point I'll have to move the tail light wiring so it isn't just snaking down the sissy bar and up the frame but again, small job. The thing I really need more of is time. Too bad they don't sell that in the parts houses...

I'm supposed to be getting my hands on a shop manual this week which should help with some of the bigger things. In any case, I'm getting closer and closer to where I want it to be. I've been looking at doing a couple things that are outside my ability and skill set but if you never move out of your comfort zone, you'll never learn anything.

Hopefully I'll have a good chunk of time to get the final loose ends tied off later this month. Unfortunately, everything comes with a price. If I were smarter, I'd use the good weather Saturdays to ride and the ugly ones to get work done. Having a family doesn't help either...trying to do everything you want can be a pain but the payoffs are well worth it.