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Ugggh, it gets worse. Now that I’ve got the old dust seal on the bench, I see that the All Balls customer support people sold me the wrong kit. The top dust seal on my bike sits below the circlip, where the dust seal in the AllBalls kit sits above the retaining clip. Shit. Back to google.
I did manage to clean out the petcock for the fuel tank, install lock-on grips and set the slack on the throttle cables before ruining the fork seals haha. So not a complete loss today haha.
Evan, it’s been more than 10-years since I’ve been to Ardbeg that early in the year. I just remember it was very cold overnight lows, like 1 degree. I’ll prolly sleep in Redee if I can get sorted out a good arrangement.
Steve, totally eff’d up the fork seal today. Couldn’t get the lower seal to sit deep enough, and destroyed it trying to remove it again. Not pleased, but I figured it’d be a real possibility. I blame my fork seal driver for having not long enough fingers to drive the bushing or the seal all the way into the bore. I gotta re-order the kit, and get the local shop to do the install next time. Maybe I’ll save some $$ by supplying all the parts, only needing to pay for labour. Lame…
Sweet part time, funding for the bikes and hot rod mods eh?!
The Shop has been pretty slow lately, and I blame my new job. I’m working as a mechanic of small engines for a roofing company, they have about 50 Honda powered compressors/hoists/blowers/cutters. The work is good, a little bit of everything to keep it interesting, but the commute is killing me. 90km each way Shelburne to North York puts me in no mood to go adventure driving with the girls, and 2-full tanks of gas a week are hurting my pockets. Plan is to find a different new place of work in the Orangeville area, cutting out roughly 140km / day. I know there’s plenty of commuters in the world, but I am not one of them. Lesson learned!
Since I am seeking motivation to work in The Shop, I did what I thought was best and ordered the remaining parts for my DR600. I ordered tires, tubes, a chain, battery, exhaust seals and seat support doo-dads. Now all I have to do is carve out a few hours to rebuild the forks (don’t get me started), and the rest should be childs play. Fingers crossed I drag my butt out there this weekend.
I also pulled the battery out of Redee to put on the charger a few days. She was right flat, hardly a click on the starter.
James has two upcoming purchases, skid plates and tires. I’ve suggested *nudge nudge* that he increase his tire size slightly, currently running 265/70-17s. I suggested going up to 285/70-17, to help restore some ground clearance after he up-weights with skids and semi-permanent camping gear install. Pretty sure he’s satisfied staying with Duratracs as opposed to a full M/T tire of sorts. Time will tell. He’s keen try out some tough tracks and test drive his whinch.
Spring thaw, No Exit touring around Dufferin, Nottawasaga, Grey & Bruce counties.
May 28th – 30th, Ardbeg.
July 23rd – 25th, Ardbeg.Today in The Shop, Truckee got an oil change. Nothing exciting, but a little overdue…oops.
Saturday and Sunday in The Shop, James installed a US Offroad whinch bumper in his FJ! I had to leave before the install was done, but all the heavy lifting was done. The bumper fit like a dream, and the welding quality looks really good. His FJ is looking real sharp.
James also replaced his serp belt and idler bearings.Thanks Steve!
My plan for the tank is to buff the paint which is still present (I was wiping it down with a shop rag and the colour started to POP), then clear coat the whole thing. Figure I wanna preserve the character it has gained over 32-years. I like how beat up it looks, but don’t want it to rust through.
Pretty sure I can Armor All the seat cover back into a semi-clean state too. Might try a little today.Took a couple less blurry pictures last night instead of doing actual work
I tried Royal and came up empty, but I really hate their website. Sad to say the paper catalogue is way easier to navigate.
I found a comparable set on F9, just putting an order together now. Fork boots, air filter & oil, turn signals and grips.
Still have to order tires, but I dunno if the rims have tubes in them or not. Gotta spoon off the old tires first, but gotta buy a set of spoons first first. Gonna try to convince Matt these are worthy of “expense-ing” to our kijiji fund. Spoons, bead buddy & filter oil.
Yesterday in The Shop, I made huge progress on reassembling my DR600! Long overdue, felt good to marry some major parts back together.
Installed the motor, mounts, pegs and foot controls. Only chipped a little paint.
I disassembled, straightened,
Scuffed and painted passenger foot pegs, oil cooler mounting brackets and horn bracket.
Cleaned and assembled all the boots and guts to the airbox. Followed by Installing the carb, throttle linkages, and airbox.
After drilling an anti-rotation hole in the Renthall bars, I Installed all hand controls including the missing decompression perch and lever, as well as the cable, mechanism and spring onto tbe motor.
Installed the rear swingarm finally!! And topped it with the gas tank and seat temporarily.
EVERYTHING needs to be torqued still, most bolts are only finger tight. I didn’t bother torquing until I’m sure I don’t have to take it apart again.
Either way, she’s starting to look like a bike again!!Must find Fork Boots in stock somewhere, the next major task is rebuilding the forks and those pesky boots have been outta stock at F9 for weeks.
Today in Wasaga, I swapped out a badly bent rim for one of the spares I got from Matt. The finish is kinda shitty and pealing, but free is free, and I ain’t complaining.
Brian then hooked me up with an alignment, and Truckee drives way better now. I was confident to drive hands-free coming down Hey 124, until the crosswind blew me outta my lane haha. Brian thinks I’ve tweaked the right side suspension somehow (my guess is Ardbeg, or the +70,000km of dirt road I’ve hammered down) because that side just refuses to keep Caster and Camber in spec. One or the other sorta deal. I guess I’ll have to investigate replacement UCA when it’s time to replace my struts. The LCA have about 20k on them since replaced by Hallmark Toyota about a year ago.
