Been a while

It has been a rough patch lately. We had a cold in the house and this was the first for Sydney. Everyone is getting over it now and we are trying to get our sleep back (infants with colds are not good sleepers).

The bike is working out good I have finished most of the plans I had and some extras. I decided to try out a new "iridium plug" from NGK. I am loading up my tool pack with the most needed items, and my mother is working on my pack to go between the speedo and number plate. Now I just need the weather to warm up and the snow to melt (wishful thinking).

Spare fuel

Today I got the spare fuel tanks mounted. I think it will work, I just need to test it with fuel in the cans during a bumpy ride. I'm still working on the lights in the speedo, I have to connect up the wires and either mount up a switch or wire them into the tail light so they stay on. I haven't decided just yet. Man am I ever wishing that it was favorable weather to ride! Unfortunately its going to be a couple more months minimum.

Well tomorrow is another day.......

The led idea worked

A couple of pics with this post. Here are the leds taken from an old voip router (I chose them because green should be easy on the eyes at night) and soldered together into a 12 volt configuration.



Then I took the speedo and drilled six holes into the top and inserted the leds, then I sealed them in with some marine sealant. Next I will wire them through a small switch and then reinstall the assembly.

Until next time.....

Quick post

Just a small post tonight, the bike is getting close to being done now. I've decided to do a few more small things though. I'm going to put some led's into the speedo display for those late rides, and I'm also going to use some dynamat on the inside of the skidplate to quiet things down a bit. I think I will also get someone to make a small bag to fit between the speedo and the number plate for my cellphone and wallet.

Enough for tonight..................

Its all coming together

Things are moving right along, as the picture shows, the bike is mostly reassembled. I finished the valves, 2 of them were loose the other 2 were tight. I also fixed the speedo by rebuilding the ears with 5 min epoxy. The tank strap was all weather checked so I used some electrical tape to keep it together for a while longer. Next on the list is some screen to cover the airbox intake and then on to fabbing a mount for the spare fuel cans.

In the next few days I'm going to make a slideshow of my last trip to Montana and I will have it running on this page. But for tonight, goodnight..........

Valve adjustment

Today I started the valve adjustment, boy are those caps a pain to take off. On first observation they don't seem to be too bad but its due to be adjusted so I'll get them within specs. Better to be safe than sorry, especially when your relying on the bike to get you back out of the woods at the end of the day! I also took off the front wheel, my speedo has been acting up lately. A while back my axle loosened up and the drive legs on the speedo gear got a little chewed up. I'm not too sure how I will fix it but something will come to me.

Enough for tonight, till next time.......

New stuff

Yesterday I fixed my handguards, they were moving around because of the oversized bar mounts. I used some epoxy and a couple of shims, and the results were good, no more movement.

Today I will spend the day clearing out the extra room and putting together Sydneys new crib. Good thing That I have both boys here today to help out ;)

Until next time......

3 month pictures

We took Sydney out for her pictures the other day and they turned out awesome! She is very photogenic. I can't wait for the pictures to come in!

The bike is coming right along, today I put the back wheel on and adjusted the chain and the rear shock. Then I decided to check the airbox drain and sure enough it was plugged solid, so I took the big wad of crud out of it. I didn't have much time today because we are painting some stripes on a boat.

Super Tuesday

Well as you may already know today is a very important day. Primaries and caucuses galore. We participated in our local caucus and it was interesting, it was my first one. I'm looking forward to this election year its going to be a good presidential race.

Today I was able to finish the pivot bolt on the bike greased and retorqued. No pictures today nothing interesting enough. I will be adjusting the valves soon too and that should be the last of the major maintenance.

Until the next post........

Routine maintanence

Well today I started to remove the swingarm pivot bolt. Wow what a chore. Honda cuts cost in the wrong places! They neglect to use enough grease on anything and this bolt was no exception! I'm getting it out but its taking a lot of hammering and penetrating oil. When it goes back in it will have plenty of synthetic grease.

Last part I worked on that was grease challenged was the headset and that ended up needing a new set of bearings :(

The bike is slowly getting better, I'm trying to do this stuff during breaks and lunch at work so not a lot of time but at least its warm in the shop.

For those of you that know the bike you'll notice that it now has black fenders (just one of the changes planned for the off season). The other major change will be the addition of the spare fuel containers I purchased last year for longer "adventures in the dirt" ;) I fabbed a mount with fiberglass and plan to install this under the left side plastic (pictures to come during the install).

Enough for now, tomorrow is another day.........

First of many

Well this is the first of many posts to my blog. I will be keeping track of my dirtbiking adventures and a few other things of importance on here. With winter being my riding downtime I have begun some routine maintenance as well as some repairs and mods. I will be posting pictures with descriptions on my progress. As soon as the season begins I will update with ride pictures of myself and my riding friends.

The goal this year is to make it to Montana to ride for my vacation. I haven't been there for a few years now due to money issues and the arrival of my first baby girl. If all goes well this summer then the trip will follow :)

Until my next post.........