I bought the above bike in Feb this year and found it in shit state below the plastics. The cylinder heads were in such a state after I tried to remove the exhaust studs, they had to be replaced (many thanks to Baboon motorcycle parts of Heerenveen). The exhaust was replaced as it was also scrap after trying to get it out of the heads. I replaced the tank as all the fasteners were corroded beyond repair, the throttle bodies were so corroded, I couldn’t budge the fuel/air mixture screws so they got replaced. I took the whole throttle assembly apart and oiled the cables for good measure. The steering ball joint was scary so that had to be replaced. The clutch and slave cylinder were clearly past their best so they got skipped and replaced. I then did a full service changing all the filters (fuel filter was vile) all oils and then set about tuning it. I had a few issues with the TPS but a few searches and I got a fix so, I decided it was time for a good run to shake it down.
I headed over to Wunderlich in Germany and then on to Normandy before jumping a ferry home. What did I learn:
I missed the old oil heads and still prefer them over any of the previous engines and the more recent ones. (I have a 1980 airhead and a 2021 1250 LC)
I remembered how very slow they are to warm up and if the choke cable isn’t correctly adjusted, it will take even longer.
The panniers are a pisstake. Whoever designed them must have been drunk, high or both. They are full of dead/wasted spaces that can’t be filled as they’re such an odd shape
Cheap stainless steel exhaust clamps are useless. They can’t be tightened enough to create a good seal between the collector and down pipe, they snap before they reach the required torque.
The insulation around the wiring is cheap shit, I will need to remove the whole loom in the future and tidy the whole thing up.
The seat isn’t as comfy as it looks. I’ll be getting the sewing machine out over the winter and fitting a sheep skin.
The whole exercise was well worth the hours spent and the spanner rash sustained.
The next on the list is, the braking, new discs and pads all round and I’ll probably replace the stick coils as they’re looking a bit rough with significant corrosion.
Thanks to all those who chipped in with tips and advice during the work scope.
I headed over to Wunderlich in Germany and then on to Normandy before jumping a ferry home. What did I learn:
I missed the old oil heads and still prefer them over any of the previous engines and the more recent ones. (I have a 1980 airhead and a 2021 1250 LC)
I remembered how very slow they are to warm up and if the choke cable isn’t correctly adjusted, it will take even longer.
The panniers are a pisstake. Whoever designed them must have been drunk, high or both. They are full of dead/wasted spaces that can’t be filled as they’re such an odd shape
Cheap stainless steel exhaust clamps are useless. They can’t be tightened enough to create a good seal between the collector and down pipe, they snap before they reach the required torque.
The insulation around the wiring is cheap shit, I will need to remove the whole loom in the future and tidy the whole thing up.
The seat isn’t as comfy as it looks. I’ll be getting the sewing machine out over the winter and fitting a sheep skin.
The whole exercise was well worth the hours spent and the spanner rash sustained.
The next on the list is, the braking, new discs and pads all round and I’ll probably replace the stick coils as they’re looking a bit rough with significant corrosion.
Thanks to all those who chipped in with tips and advice during the work scope.
