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Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2014 2:51 pm
by LOUD MOUSE
Shows they are out for delivery now. ........lm
sarals wrote:LM, Monday then! Tuesday is when I switch to night shift, i should be able to put them on the Old Girl then.

What kind of condition were they in, Ed? Full of dirt? ;)

Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2014 8:12 pm
by sarals
LOUD MOUSE wrote:Shows they are out for delivery now. ........lm
sarals wrote:LM, Monday then! Tuesday is when I switch to night shift, i should be able to put them on the Old Girl then.

What kind of condition were they in, Ed? Full of dirt? ;)
They should be waiting when I get home tonight! Yay!!!

Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2014 8:15 pm
by LOUD MOUSE
I sent you a PM. :-(. .....lm
sarals wrote:
LOUD MOUSE wrote:Shows they are out for delivery now. ........lm
sarals wrote:LM, Monday then! Tuesday is when I switch to night shift, i should be able to put them on the Old Girl then.

What kind of condition were they in, Ed? Full of dirt? ;)
They should be waiting when I get home tonight! Yay!!!

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:13 pm
by sarals
They're here! It's been busy, busy, but I was able to get to the post office today to pick them up. I'm headed to the garage to install them. The run will have to wait until tomorrow.

Image

Doesn't Ed do beautiful work?

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 11:37 pm
by sarals
They're on the bike. Tomorrow I'll start her up and start tuning.

I did do some minor trouble shooting on the tail light. There is no power on either of the tail light leads. I'm going to have to pop the headlight off of the shell and trace some connections. That will happen tomorrow, too.

Gas question? I'm ashamed I didn't think of this much earlier. What grade of gas do most of you run in your 250/305's? Back in the day, when I had not a clue (except that my boyfriend said to do it) I would run Sunoco 260 in her. I have no idea if she liked it or not!

Image

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 11:17 pm
by sarals
Fired her up this afternoon. I put 89 octane in the gas tank, just to do it. She lit right off. The left cylinder was intermittent at first, but soon it settled down. I needed to adjust the air screw slightly on the left carb to get the cylinder to fire continuously. Once she warmed up, she responded to throttle better than she has yet, but she's slow to return to idle - and yes, the slides do close all the way. The tach refused to do anything, that's new. After she ran for a little bit, I decided I was going to go for it and ride her around the block again. She ran so well on that ride that I decided to go the long way, and I did it twice! I opened the throttle in second gear (whoops, the speed limit is 25 MPH) and she accelerated smartly! That engine ran smoothly, with not much vibration, and it responded to throttle with no hesitation or flat spots. The transmission shifted perfectly, the clutch was nice and smooth, and so were the brakes. I did notice that the steering was much slower than the bikes I've been riding recently, and the suspension is pretty soft, but it does dampen pretty well. My, is she loud mechanically! Oh, and the way I sit on her...it's more like "in" her, than "on" her! I can flat foot both sides...wow, not many modern bikes I can do that with.

All of that was observed in two short circuits around my neighborhood, at a top speed of maybe 35 MPH.

She still is slow to return to idle. I have to chase that. I'll check the timing, and I should probably have a look at the valve clearance, as well.

After I parked her, I noticed a drop of oil right in the middle of the starter motor. Hmm. I also saw a little bit of oil, dark, around the left sparkplug. I'll pull the plug and see how it looks.

I still need to chase the tail light issue, and I have to figure what's going on with the tach. I have a feeling that speedo cluster is going to have to go to San Diego for repair.

I should be more thrilled than I am. I'm more in a sort of afterglow than anything else! The way the engine felt and sounded was so familiar I think I always had it as a benchmark of sorts. The way the bike behaved was vaguely familiar, but I thought I remembered it handling a little better than it seemed to. Gosh, I've ridden so many bikes since I last rode the Old Girl that I just forgot that part, I think. That engine, though. I'll NEVER forget that distinctive sound and feel!

More to follow...

Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:56 am
by LOUD MOUSE
Give me a time I can call you after 3:00PM your time. ........lm
sarals wrote:Fired her up this afternoon. I put 89 octane in the gas tank, just to do it. She lit right off. The left cylinder was intermittent at first, but soon it settled down. I needed to adjust the air screw slightly on the left carb to get the cylinder to fire continuously. Once she warmed up, she responded to throttle better than she has yet, but she's slow to return to idle - and yes, the slides do close all the way. The tach refused to do anything, that's new. After she ran for a little bit, I decided I was going to go for it and ride her around the block again. She ran so well on that ride that I decided to go the long way, and I did it twice! I opened the throttle in second gear (whoops, the speed limit is 25 MPH) and she accelerated smartly! That engine ran smoothly, with not much vibration, and it responded to throttle with no hesitation or flat spots. The transmission shifted perfectly, the clutch was nice and smooth, and so were the brakes. I did notice that the steering was much slower than the bikes I've been riding recently, and the suspension is pretty soft, but it does dampen pretty well. My, is she loud mechanically! Oh, and the way I sit on her...it's more like "in" her, than "on" her! I can flat foot both sides...wow, not many modern bikes I can do that with.

All of that was observed in two short circuits around my neighborhood, at a top speed of maybe 35 MPH.

She still is slow to return to idle. I have to chase that. I'll check the timing, and I should probably have a look at the valve clearance, as well.

After I parked her, I noticed a drop of oil right in the middle of the starter motor. Hmm. I also saw a little bit of oil, dark, around the left sparkplug. I'll pull the plug and see how it looks.

I still need to chase the tail light issue, and I have to figure what's going on with the tach. I have a feeling that speedo cluster is going to have to go to San Diego for repair.

I should be more thrilled than I am. I'm more in a sort of afterglow than anything else! The way the engine felt and sounded was so familiar I think I always had it as a benchmark of sorts. The way the bike behaved was vaguely familiar, but I thought I remembered it handling a little better than it seemed to. Gosh, I've ridden so many bikes since I last rode the Old Girl that I just forgot that part, I think. That engine, though. I'll NEVER forget that distinctive sound and feel!

More to follow...