Motorcyle Blog

Speedometer fixed, mirrors swapped out, and left front turn signal fixed. 6-16-08

Mikey — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:15:17 +0000

Today I went over to my dad's house and used his floor jack to get the Vulcan's front end off the ground. We swapped out the speedometer housing, packed it with grease, and took a little grinder to some metal that was rather rough and sharp. The speedometer is now working great so now I don't have to depend on the RPM gauge to figure out my speed. Dad gave me his mirrors off one of his Honda Magna bikes (he has two). We also got the bulb to work and stay working with the turn signal.

So I am all set except for the seat and a windshield which is on the list. The exhaust pipes are coming via UPS so that will probably be the project for next week along with the iridium spark plugs.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Bled Brakes and Centerstand installed.

Mikey — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:35:21 +0000

I manage to bleed the brakes with Sarah's help. Afterall, it is a two person job. It went fairly smoothly. I also was able to install the centerstand that I ordered on eBay. The only trouble I had with that, was the spring. I had to shove 20 pennies in the spring to get it to expand, and even then it wasn't all the way. I managed to rig up some sort of leverage system using a hex key, my hammer, and the edge of the spring. I so lucked out with getting it to slide down the hex key and latch into position. Then I just had to hammer out (gently) the hex key and presto! Of course, I had to use my wrench to get all the pennies out but I have a centerstand installed on the bike now. I do need to get two bolts and some nuts as those weren't included with the centerstand but there is a spot to install them.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Three hours of work on just two rusty screws.

Mikey — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:46:59 +0000

If there is ever a test of patience in this world, I definitely found it. My friend Stevo was bored so he decided to come over and with his help, I'd be able to bleed my brake fluid (it takes two people). Well, needless to say, that night we never even got into the master cylinder because of two very stubborn/frozen screws.

After 2.5 hours one night and 30 minutes the next night. I finally did it. I had to drill through the head of the screw and then drill down into the screw itself and then get the new screw extractor set I bought down in there and I finally got the screw to come out. It was a victory worth shouting from the roof tops!

See pictures!

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

I am the proud owner of a '95 Kawasaki Vulcan 750

Mikey — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:30:13 +0000

On Friday, May 23rd I purchased a used Kawasaki Vulcan 750. Later that night I rode it home without any incident. I put in it my garage as there are several things that will need to be looked at before I can commute or even ride it around.

The speedometer doesn't work.
New Spark plugs (Switching to NGK Iridirium plugs).
Clean air filter.
There is a lot of backfiring on deceleration.
Left front turn signal is out.
There's blue sparking occuring in the right exhaust manifold.
Replace/Upgrade exhaust pipes
The seat needs to be reupholstered or replaced.

5-29-08.

I checked the brake pads tonight. There is still a good bit left on the brake pads before they will need replaced. I also checked the tire pressure and was astounded to find that there was barely any air pressure to move my gauge! I filled both tires up to max cold which is 40psi. They are dunlop 419 elite 2 tires. They are tubeless. They still have a good bit of tread on them. When they do get to the point of needing replaced, I will be putting metzler tires on the bike or pirelli. I do enjoy the pirelli tires on my Rebel a lot!

The speedometer issue has been a major pain in the rear. Mostly because of a stuck screw up near the speedometer assembly on the terminating end of the speedometer cord. I managed to get that undone after a few shots of WD-40 and about 20-30 minutes. The one down at the wheel was much easier to get off but then again, I had been using WD-40 religiously at this point. I hooked my drill up to the two prongs that feed into the speedometer housing and found out that with the RPMs my drill could deliver to the speedometer cable, it was registering on the speedometer! I got it up to 10mph. Tomorrow night's mission is to disassemble the speedometer housing down by the wheel to find out what parts I need to replace.

Once I have that figured out, I'll be making my first parts order for the Vulcan. NGK Iridium Spark Plugs and speedometer parts will be in the first order from bikebandit.com.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Slipping Clutch

Mikey — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:03:48 +0000

On Sunday, April 6th, I took my motorcycle to my mechanic to fix my slipping clutch that I have been struggling with for a few weeks now. The wife deemed it unsafe so I can't argue against that. It is the 24th now and I am still waiting for my bike to be fixed. He had to order a part and a special tool in order to swap out some of my clutch parts. I am having withdraw symptoms. I dislike driving around in my truck. Don't get me wrong, I have a nice truck. It's just motorcycles are cooler. I'm up to almost 19,000 miles on this update.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

15,455 mi

Mikey — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:19:18 +0000

Chain adjusted. There was just a little more slack than I would have liked in the chain. It's great not having to adjust my chain all the time. I also changed my oil. I've got two cheap parts that I need to order. My lens on the front of the rebel for the high beam indicator became unglued and is lost somewhere. A few weeks prior to that, my high beam indicator bulb decided to go out. Which, that in itself is not that big of a deal, you can just look at the switch to figure out if you are low/high beam. I didn't get to ride around much to heat my chain up, but it needs lubricated. My air compressor died on me as well so I need to buy another one. It's really annoying not being able to adjust your tire pressure in the comfort of one's own garage. Blah to gas stations and charging 75 cents for AIR! That's right up there with buying bottled water. What a scam.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

14,400mi

Mikey — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:14:23 +0000

My front tire was replaced with a Pirelli Rt 66 tire (3.0x18"). I got the tire online at tiresunlimited.com. I also replaced the chain and sprockets all together for putting the tire on, new chain, and the front and rear sprockets it cost me $105.00 in labor.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Big maintainence on the way!

Mikey — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:36:04 +0000

At 13,000 miles I had performed more maintainence on the bike. I replaced my worn out brake pads and bled my brake fluid. I've got nice clear brake fluid now and my bike stops a lot quicker now than when I had my worn out pads. They squeek now though, but hopefully they'll adjust and be noiseless soon.

I noticed while doing my chain adjustment that I am pretty much at the point where I won't be able to adjust my chain much more. When I acquired my bike, it didn't have the little labels on the swing-arm detailing when the replacement would be needed so I haven't kept my eye on it. So, I ordered 2 OEM sprockets (front/rear) (on bikebandit.com for about $70 total) as well as a DID 520V, 108 LINK O-Ring chain. For about $75 or so on eBay.

I received the chain earlier in the week. I am still awaiting sprockets. I don't have the necessary tools to break my chain off, so I'll probably take it to my favorite mechanic and have him snap it off and do my chain/sprockets.

I also have very little tread left on the front OEM tire, Dunlop if I'm not mistaken. 13,300 miles on the bike right now. So, I called up the Honda Stealer (Edit: who put it on backorder and didn't tell me. So I got my tire at tiresunlimited.com) and ordered a front tire, Pirelli, Route 66 tire for my rebel. It too, came out to be like 70 bucks. So, we're talking 210 bucks give or take in parts being done to my bike to make it all spiffy and road safe. I'm feeling good about it. So all that will be done at once by the mechanic as I don't feel adequate enough to mess with a tire. I'll pay money for peace of mind.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.