Waves of summer heat

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That’s what the summer of 2016 was made of.  Heat wave after heat wave.  According to our local meteorologists, there have been seven of them, so far. Another is predicted for this week. According to Wikipedia, a heat wave is … Continued

A short update

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This post is going to be short and, hopefully, sweet. It will be short because time has been at a premium. My schedule—and I use the term loosely—basically depends on two things: other peoples’ schedules and my ability/energy level.  Lately, … Continued

The dark art of bobber electrics

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Things were going along very well…with the operative word being “were.” The carbs were finally sorted out and ceased pouring gasoline onto the garage floor through the floats. The bike started several times. The idle was rough. That was expected … Continued

Removing a broken screw or bolt from a cylinder head

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While waiting for a ZN part (more on that later), it seemed like a real good time to put the cylinder head back together. To get started, all that needs to be done is remove the four camshaft caps. However, … Continued

Finishing the ZN (1 of …)

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It’s been on my radar lately…in between the ever-present kidney stone, additional and unexpected issues with the 850, so on and so forth. The first thing is hook up the temporary fuel tank to the carburetors. Prime it for starting. … Continued

Next, the crankcase

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It’s been little while since posting because the 850 has been receiving extra attention. By that, I mean it had its cases split. First, the crankcase was wheeled to my extra large sandblasting cabinet (also known as the great outdoors … Continued

Degreasing the motor, and more on cleaners

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Getting the motor back into the frame consists of several steps. First, there’s degreasing the upper half of the motor—valve cover, cylinder head, block and crankcase. After scraping, brushing and blasting with Non-Chlorinated Brake Parts Cleaner to remove the heavy … Continued

Removing old gasket material

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This job can be one of the most tedious and maybe the most aggravating. Plain and simple, old gaskets are stubborn. Even when they easily lift off the mating surface, they seem to leave a trail or layer of stuck-on … Continued

Painting the frame

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One good thing about working with an old bike is that, unless it’s a concourse restoration or something along those lines, certain blemishes are okay. Today, there are more bike builders walking this planet than ever before. The market is … Continued

Cleaning the frame

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The bike (Suzuki GS850L) is apart and organized into boxes for inspection and repair/replacement. The motor is out of the frame in the process of being repaired. After the motor is repaired, it will go back into a re-painted frame. … Continued

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