Who would have thought that it would be snowing in St. Louis today???!!! We have gotten 2-3" so far and it is still coming down...but that didn't stop me and a couple of friends (caged it) from working on my bike. Chip and John...thanks for your help and I hope you guys learned something today...I know I did.
We started with the progressive springs. All went very well with it...in fact, I was surprised at how simple the task was. (A special thanks to Lyn-Del for the use of the fork tool.) And I was dumbfounded by the color of the oil. Let me explain...a few years ago, I had my stealership rebuild my shocks because of leaking forks. I would have thought they would have had to replace the oil when they did the seals...but after looking at the oil, there is NO WAY it was changed. Filled the tubes with new oil after draining the old gunk out. Buttoned the forks up and set them aside.
Before putting the front end back together, we went ahead and changed the timing belts. Absolutely no problems there...that was an easy task. Had planned (and was told that the Standard/Tourer trigger wheel was different than the IS wheel) to put in a 4 degree wheel but when I checked the one I got from a friend, I found it to be exactly the same (so either I was told wrong or my friend had an IS wheel and didn't know it)...no offset at all...so I left the old one in. I may revisit this after ordering a 4 degree wheel later. Spun the motor prior to putting it the cover back on to make sure it all worked. Buttoned her up and started the motor...just to make sure.
We put the front end back together and after saying bye to Chip and John, I started working on the alternator. I didn't have a lot of trouble getting it out. I think I just got lucky.
Took it to the work bench and tore into it. Brushes were about 1/2 way work but the nose bearing had a growl in it. I went ahead and changed the brushes and bearings since I had it apart. Putting it back in wasn't as easy as getting it out but I got it back in there. Buttoned everything up and gave it a try. A steady 12.7 volts at idle and a little over 14volts at 2k. Sounds good to me.
Nothing like spending a snowy day in the garage with friends, a fat lady, and of course...a heater.
I am going to try to plan another wrench party in a month or so. It will depend on work though...so watch the forum for the date.
Joe
