Category: cooling

Flushed/filled coolant; rehabbed slave cylinder, bled clutch

Progress today

Flushed 4 cycles of fresh water through the radiator/hoses/pump loop. On first two runs the water was still quite green from the engine side.  All clear, no obvious grit or residue in the water by the fourth.  Filled radiator and half of reservoir bottle with fresh 50/50 antifreeze.

Filled clutch master cylinder reservoir and bled clutch line with the Mityvac.  Got good strong lever feel, but would not go full travel.  Felt like the push rod was not going anywhere.

Pulled slave cylinder from engine, noting the cylinder was out to the edge of the cylinder. Reconnected hydraulic line at the slave and bled again.  Used hydraulic pressure with the clutch lever to gently push piston out of the cylinder. It would not move by hand.

Pulled rubber piston seal, found in excellent condition after crusted gunk cleaned out. Polished both the piston and cylinder.

Lubed piston assembly with a little brake fluid, and reassembled.  Piston readily moved in cylinder when pushed against the spring.

Reinstalled the slave cylinder and bled the line.  Could feel apparent motion against the push rod, smooth lever action, but the clutch does not disengage. Tested statically – tried turning rear wheel while bike in first gear.

Next

Will need more thought, research, testing.  May be a good idea to disassemble the clutch and inspect/clean/lube.

PS. Further research shows this seems to be a common problem.  Plates may just be stuck together – by time or old oil/sludge.  Methods found online to “break” them loose by running engine, shifting into gear.  May try that after other systems’ overhauled and the engine is running.

Right engine cover & subframe painted, reservoir in

Progress Sunday

Wirebrushed, sanded, primed, and painted the right engine cover. Used DupliColor black gloss engine paint. Hung in the cooler, lower humidity sunroom to ensure good drying and hardening.  It was 90deg F, 80% humidity outside.

Progress today

Cleaned old gasket off of engine crankcase with a small, sharp wood chisel, having covered the internal components with shop towels to keep dirt/debris out of the clutch and gears. Installed new gasket on the locating dowel pins.

Nudged cover over the pins and starter drive pin/bush (which had fallen out when I took the cover off).

Bolted up the cover with new stainless bolts and washers (M6x25, M6x30 hex head) from Lowe’s, except for one original bolt at top holding pulser wiring clip. Looks very nice now.  More of a semigloss finish, which goes well with other black bike parts.

Sanded, degreased and masked off the upper part of the rear subframe.  It had some rusty patches and scrapes in the steel. Painted the subframe, using the same Rustoleum metallic matte nickel color.

Ran a 6mm bolt through the right upper fairing mounting bracket a few times and freed the formerly jammed threads. I was lucky it worked. Installed my hand-made “frankenstein bolts” on each side.

Reinstalled the new coolant reservoir bottle with existing cap and hoses.

Left fork apart, spark plugs changed

Posted updated checklist [V6]

Progress today

Pulled stripped fork bottom bolt from right fork leg with fluted screw extractor (EX3 size). Very tight, apparently seized. Started to bend the tap handle, so switched to crescent wrench. Scary and slow, and the extractor twisted a little sideways, but finally pulled it.

Attempted to fit new seal and upper bush in left leg.  Green seal driver did not work, at least not well.  Need better clamp and maybe thicker plastic tube/pipe. Also I caused inner (threaded) part of damper assembly to ride up so lower bolt wouldn’t reach. So …

Completed disassembly of left fork leg.

Then able to push inner damper down to end.

Cleaned parts. Left leg ready for reassembly. Also enables more thorough oil fill/measure routine.

Drained coolant at water pump. It was surprisingly green as opposed to brown and rusty. Hope that means it did a good job preserving internals.

Disconnected both radiator hoses and pivoted radiator up to access front spark plug holes.  Replaced spark plugs in all 4 cylinders.

Reassembled radiator hoses and installed radiator bracket (apparently off for years – bolt partway in hole).