A Day of Diddling

More Headaches.

Tuesday I drove over to Rick's house to help with the Kawasaki.

We took off the gas tank and the carburetors to check the intake connections to the cylinders.

Now this is one of those arrangements designed by a sadist.

If you could remove the air filter canister it would be easy; I think it must be the first part installed in the frame at the factory. The only way I can see to get it out is to take the gas ax to the frame.

You have to remove all of the hoses and cables, then you can tug, pull, and push the four-carburetor assembly out from in between the rubber boots it sits between.

Here you can see the carbs.

One of the problems with them being so close is that the clamp screws on the rubber boots get worn over time due to the screwdriver slipping or the wrong screwdriver being used.
We decided to install socket head screws, of course each side of the boot uses a different screw.
Off we went to Ace hardware to grab new screws. We started re-assembly only to find that one of the new screws was wrong. Not enough so that you would notice, it was probably a stock SAE screw dropped into the metric bin.
GRRRRR! back to the store for a new screw. (As the actress said to the bishop)
Now you have the reverse problem, pushing the carbs back through the gap between the boots and hooking up the cables and hoses.

Once it was all connected we tried running the bike, it starts up real nice and idles OK but when you run up the revs it takes a long time to come back down to idle.

After disconnecting the CARB (California Air Resources Board) required bits, multiple valves, hoses etc we found that by inserting a small orifice in the vacuum line from the manifold the engine speed came down much better. Hmm, maybe we are onto something.

We reconnected all the CARB stuff and it worked well for a short while then started acting up again.
It's my opinion that the problem lies in one or more of the emission control components.
More research and diddling required.

One of the benefits of living in So-Cal is of course the weather, here we are working under the shade of a palm tree with Hibiscus flowers in bloom.

As we now have clear skies most of the time I guess that I shouldn't bad mouth the CARB restrictions too much.
I still think that they should not apply to motorcycles.
Just my opinion...

Ciao 
Norm

Sheddington Transport Division Comes Through Again

Another Rescue

My brother Jimmie called to ask if I was available last Saturday. That is the real Saturday, not my Saturday which is any day now that I'm retired.

At first he told me that we were going to Venice Beach (the one in California) now that's a strange neighborhood.

However, when we checked further it was actually Marina Del Rey where we were going.

We were going to pick up , if the deal was OK, a 2001 Kawasaki Concours 1000.

We arrived to find that the address was a dealership.

PCH Power Sports

The guy selling the bike was keeping it there.

I have to say these were some of the nicest guys I've ever met at a dealership of any kind.

The owner showed up and tried to start the bike, but it was not co-operating.

Rick decided to buy it anyway.

As both the buyer and the seller are from Texas, there was a lot of BS going around.

Then of course there was Arthur who is a big football fan of a Texas team who shall remain nameless adding to the BS.

I needed rubber boots!

Now the problem comes, how to push a big ass heavy old motorcycle up the ramps on to the truck.

Whilst we were discussing this and bearing in mind the narrow escape from disaster on our last mission; the two service guys led by Oscar told us to get out of the way.

They pulled the bike into the workshop and then took a good run at it, the bike was on the truck in a heartbeat.

Well done guys, and thank you.
On a different note, Oscar allowed me into the workshop, something most places frown upon, to look at the jacks that they use on their lifts, I now have the same jack on my lift.
As I said really friendly and professional guys who know their stuff.

We tied it down and off we went, headed for Long Beach.

Once back at Rick's house the prize was unloaded and placed in the yard.

Of course here we have to push it uphill to get it on the ramps.

Here it is in all its glory.

After about four hours Rick had it running, kinda sorta.

Now it runs but has some carburetor problems.

Tomorrow (Two Wheel Tuesday) we will start on that issue.

More soon.

Keep the shiny side up and your knees in the breeze.

Ciao

Norm