Yep, this is going to have a few pictures - including my bike...
Ordered some stuff before I left for Africa and while (or whilst as the Brits would say) there. After all the carb work and all to get Traveller cranking again after sitting for 4 years, I wanted to get her "pretty" again and also want to start taking my grandsons with me in the future. One is 10 and one is 14 - so I dont have much longer to get them into the wind. So, after 10 years of Traveller being a solo bike....I decided to Interstate her again.
(The before shot - right after I got home)
The boxes arrived while I was across the big pond and my wife asked me if I had ordered a new bike - in pieces? She also said if one more box arrived, she was going to have to park the car in the street.
So, I went up into the attic and pulled the truck down after all these years and was surprised it was still in good shape (a few scratches getting it into the attic I guess or something hitting it getting Xmas decorations down each year or something - who knows. Other than that, it was in good shape. I had ordered an Ultimate passenger seat and got it put on.
Got the trunk put back on the lights rewired under the seat.........
Then it was time to pull the drill out...man, it always make my butt pucker to drill holes into the old girl.......
Mounted a rack for the trunk after using an orbital buffer and putting a good coat of wax on the trunk and used some touch up paint on the scratches.
Then it was time for me to jump into the timing belts. Man, I was leery of this - and shouldn't have been - it was not as bad as I thought. First off, I am not only mechanically challenged, I am almost a mechanical "special child". So, the cover came off. First off, I just had a brother break a belt and is now looking at a motor rebuild, so change them at 100k. I have 103k on Traveller but the main thing is that the belts are 16 years old now. Didn't look toooooooo bad, but there was a BIG difference in the way the old one felt compared to the new belts.
Just followed what I found here on the tech board and on the web - main thing is to mark your pulleys and then check, double check and triple check them when you are putting them back on - note, the tensioners will move the mark every now and then when you are putting the tensioners back on.
So, got the old ones off after marking everything.
Got out the new Honda belts.
Got 'em put on.....
Polished the cover while I had it off - since I had a lot of front fork oil blow on it before...
Checked the slack and used a socket on the cam pulley and rotated it 360 to listen for valves and to make sure marks lined back up.....and then cranked her up........VROOM!
Went ahead and changed plugs since I had the valances off - shoot, I bet the plugs had 70k on them.
I had ordered some of the chrome radiator pod louvers and threw them on.... (before).
And the AFTER:
Then it was time for the FUN STUFF - since it was raining on and off and was like 90 degrees with 100% humidity for the last few days.
Went down to Harbor Freight and got a new lift.
And made a Po'Boy lift adapter. Thanks to Beastrider over on Shop Talk - worked like a charm.
Up went Traveller and off came the pipes.
Ordered a set of Dynaflex Truck stacks from Airflow - GREAT PRODUCT! Got the old covers off, mounts chipped and filed off, pipes cut to go over pipe hangers, lubed up with soap and pile driven on after spraying the inside with black BBQ paint. Thanks to Tim Skelton for the instructions over on Shop Talk. Worked like a charm - looks great and sounds great as well.
Off came the tires..........
Serviced the rear end, changed o-rings and greased everything up. Note, on the star flange, one o ring was super brittle and came apart just prying on it and the other was chipped - 3rd was OK.
Put on a new set of 13" Progressive 412's. I went DARKSIDE (Where is my cookie????) with the Austone, and the old set I had gotten from Warlock like 8 years ago and were either 12 or 12 1/2", so I went with 13's since the Austone sits an inch higher than most OEM tires.
I got an Avon for the front and the Austone for the rear. (So, never heard, where is my cookie?)
Got the Avon on sale at CycleGear and they installed it for next to nothing but getting the Austone on was a pain. They would not install it - said they cant even install a used tire with 100 miles on it on a rim. Tried a few car shops and they said the way the rim was, they couldnt put it on the machine and the guy at Cyclegear said let me make a call.....well, there was a place here in town that had NO PROBLEM throwing it on with dynabeads and all - and it only took 10 mins. So, I can only say good things about Ted Richard and the guys over at ACADIANA CUSTOM CYCLES. He dropped the work he was doing on a bike and went after my tire. GREAT FOLKS! (plus I sure got to check out some sweet, sweet Harley customs while I waited). Small shop but good folks. Anyway, while they were off, got the rims polished up.....
Tires back on and off the lift.
Since the exhaust was still off, I rolled her down to the end of the driveway and cleaned places you usually miss with the pipes on - like the engine case.
(Before)
And after...........
Threw some polish on the headers (still had some tarnish and discoloration that wouldnt come off) but still looked better - so threw the pipes back on......
Took her for a few mile shakedown run to see how everything felt and that nothing fell off...Everything was good. My youngest grandson had NEVER been on the bike with me and said he was now ready. So, he jumped on the back and we did a few miles around some 2 lane, empty roads around here - HE HAD A BALL! When we got back, he said he wanted to go some more (said he wasnt scared), so the helmet went back on and we did a few more miles....HE HAD A BALL!
Still have the bags to go back on - I have some rails to install on them - so there will be another update when I can get those on - but Traveller sure feels and looks good. So far, I love the Austone....only have a few miles - but so far, feels just like a bike tire.
Still have to paint the right pipe, but you can see the Austone - and how it looks.
Been a long week of taking my lovely bride to doctors, playing with grandchildren and working on Traveller - but she is getting ready to head up to Spearfish now - getting closer....
Oh, and Brother TP - hope you dont mind me saying this.....but when I was going through all the boxes, I was going, "Ok, these are the pipes, these must be the belts and O-Rings, these are heavy enough they must be shocks.....this box, I have no IDEA what in the heck this is...." So, popped her open and lo and behold.......I have a brother and sister up in Minnesota (ya, sure, you betcha) that sent me a care package...........I HAVE A TON OF BIG PAPA'S TO DRAIN NOW!
You gotta love those two!
Well, anyway, that's it....That has been most of my afternoons for the last week since I got home from Africa. Traveller is getting road worthy and it was Xmas in May for her.
Well.....THAT's ALL FOLKS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9434BoGkNQ
