Best buy on a motorcycle
Can you get into motorcycling if you don't have ten to twenty thousand dollars to spend?
The answer is a resounding Yes. If you are willing to ride a bike that's slightly out of style it is not hard to get on the road for under $1500.00 and I'm not talking about junkers but older bikes that for one reason or the other the owner has quit riding. There are thousands of motorcycles sitting in garages, sheds and barns waiting for the chance to hit the road again.
Some need as little as a battery charge, fresh oil and gas and your off. Many will need a little work some more than others. but the nice thing about older motorcycles is that they don't require a phd to work on them.
Ebay and Craig's list have made finding them easier than ever. Smart sellers link a short youtube video walk-around that allows you to see the bike in greater detail, hear it start and run. So even if the bike isn't just around the corner you have a better idea of it's condition before you take a drive to see it.
Replacement parts for older bikes can be an issue so I recommend once you find a bike that you are interested in, check to see if new parts are still being made, then check E bay to see if there are a lot of used parts listed.
I would also make sure that a Clymer's or Haynes repair guide is available.
Now go to google and search for an owners group for that model of motorcycle. Many of the most popular will have huge groups. These groups have a wealth of information and help. I think an internet owners group is a must. It's a good idea just to hang out on the forum and read the post. You may discover common problems with that model of bike to look out for. You may even find out that the problem that is causing an owner to sell a garage queen cheap is really an easy fix. In short do your research.
If this is your first bike, there is something to be said for learning to make low speed u turns on an 600.00 used bike instead of your brand new high dollar dream bike.
So there's a little food for thought.
Later
Motoman
Motorcycle Helmets
I'm not going to tell you if you should wear a helmet or not (you should) and it's up to you if you choose a 1/2 helmet or full face. The graphic below shows the results of a German study of helmets taken off of riders involved in accidents. The numbers show the percentage of times that the indicated area took the initial impact in a crash.
Hmmm ,I keep my best looking features under the highest impacted areas.
left side
Later
Motoman
CX500
I have been stalking E bay and Craig 's list lately in my quest to find a bike to turn into a cafe racer. I have looked at all of the usual suspects Honda CBs ,Yamaha xs even a few Kawasaki 's . Then I happened onto a 79 Honda CX500 custom. I know, I know, your saying the cx500 standard makes a great looking cafe but a Custom!
Your right, of all of the CX500 variants the Custom is the least suited to a cafe. But I Can't Help Myself ! I really like old bikes. Unlike a new plastic wrapped bike, I like the way people come up to you in parking lots and admire a nice old bike, They tell you about the one they used to own. Old bike are great conversation starters. Now I have nothing against new bikes I own a couple myself. But I like the idea of being able to buy a bike without a bank loan. So I guess the Cafe will have to wait a little while longer. I've got a CX500 Custom to go ride.
Later
Motoman
Winter is coming
Just a quick note today about putting your bike up for the winter.
The gas tank is the source of many spring time bike problems. Everybody has heard about gas going stale in the tank and carbs. So add a fuel stabilizer such as sta-bil or sea foam. Next you will want to drain your carburetor float bowls. If your bike has a manual petcock just start the engine and shut the gas off at the petcock and let it run dry. If you have a vacuum operated petcock disconnect and plug the vacuum line, this will keep the petcock from opening.
If your bike is fuel injected sitting over the winter will not be a problem. (By this I mean there is nothing to drain.)
Don't forget to fill your tank up before you store the bike for the winter, empty space in the gas tank allows condensation and promotes rust in the tank.
One other thing. I shoot a quick spurt of WD 40 into the exhaust pipe to help displace any condensation that occures in there and then plug the exhaust pipe with a rag or place a piece of tape to prevent mice from using the muffler as their winter home.
later
Motoman
Deciphering the Motorcycle Tire Code
A few days ago I was standing in the tire section of a large motorcycle retailer and over heard a couple of prospective tire buyers trying to make sense of the tire size code. They got some of it right, but didn't have a clue about some important parts. So I thought a quick recap may be in order.
This code is the series of numbers and letters molded into the side of every motorcycle tire made. The tire code tells you all you need to know about the tire size, tire type , load rating and max speed the tire is intended to be operated at.
The metric indication is the most common.
160/80 R 16 73 H
The first number is the tread width in millimeters. This tire is 160 milemeters wide
The second number is the aspect ratio. This tells you the height of the tire from the ground to the rim. It is a percent of the tire tread width. In this case 80% of 160 millimemters = 128.
The R indicates that this is a radial tire.
16 is the rim size
73 indicates the max load for the tire. This number doesn't do you much good unless you have a load chart that tells you that a 73 rated tire can support a load of 805 lbs. Many tires will omit the load rating in the code but put it in plain English at some other point on the sidewall.
The H is the speed rating.
S = 112 mph
T = 118 mph
U = 124 mph
H = 130 mph
V = 149 mph
Z or ZR = above 149
You should not put a tire on your bike with a speed rating lower than what the factory shipped it with.
Hope this helps next time your tire shopping .
Oh and for the two guys buying tires the other day S does not mean speedway.
Motoman
Removing Rust From A Motorcycle Gas Tank
One of the most common problems with buying used motorcycles and certainly ones that have been sitting for a while is rust in the gas tank.
If this rust is not removed or sealed it will continually clog your fuel filter and carbs. This will cause you to be unhappy and on foot.
Now, you can buy a sealer that coats the inside of the tank isolating the rust from the fuel. When done properly these work just dandy. The problem is that many times the coatings flake or peal and become as big a problem as the rust itself.
I prefer to remove the rust. It is a bit of a project but not that difficult to do. This is how I did it on my 1986 Kawasaki project.
First remove the tank from the bike. Then I removed the petcock and fuel sender. I sealed the resulting mounting holes by cutting out a gasket from an old inner tube and sandwiching it between the tank and a small piece plywood held in place by using the mounting bolts or sealing with duct tape. My seal was not perfect so I did the following steps involving liquid over a plastic muck bucket to contain any leakage.
Using acid is the most common method to clean a tank but I found a product called Vapo-rust that contains no acid or solvent so it is less hazardous and disposal is not an issue. This stuff is so effective that the Army uses it to remove rust from battle tanks.
Now with my fuel tank I had both rust and pealing sealer to deal with so I needed some way to clean off the loose sealer and rust. I did this by pouring 4000 BBs into the tank and shaking it for several minutes. This beat off all of the loose sealer and rust without damaging the tank. I have also heard of people using a few hundred small hex nuts to do the same thing but the BBs cost a lot less.
Most of the BBs will just pour out of the tank when you are finished however a magnet on a teliscoping handle is helpful for get the last stuborn few out.
At this point I rinsed the tank out with water, this removes the rust and sealer that you just knocked off with the BBs.
After draining the water pour in a 1/2 gallon of vapo-rust. Leave this in the tank for a couple of hours, turning the tank every 15 to 20 minutes so as to expose the entire interior of the tank to the chemical.
Next drain the tank and reassemble the parts that you removed and remount the tank. This would be a good time to put on a new fuel filter.
It is possable on a tank that was severly rusted that cleaning that out may open up small pin hole leaks. so put a small amount of fuel in and keep a sharp eye out for any signs of leaks. If all appears dry filler up.
I add a half of a can of Sea Foam to my first tank of gas (if you haven't heard of Sea Foam it's been around for about 60 years and is the best in my opinion for cleaning your fuel system including removing varnish and contaminates from carburetors ). That's really all there is to it.
Please be mindful you are working with a fuel tank here so don't do this around any open flames.
That's it.
Motoman
Restoring your motorcycle’s windshield
Replacing an old scratched and yellowed motorcycle windshield is a expensive proposition. I had heard of people saving their windshields by polishing them and since I had nothing to lose(the windshield on my project bike was headed for the trash) I decided to give it a try.
When I was finished I was really surprised.
This is what I had to start with.
After pealing off the stickers, I cleaned the surface with soap and water. Next I applied fine rubbing compound with a foam polishing ball on a power drill.
Once that was buffed down I switched to Meguiars PlastX (this stuff is intended to clean plastic headlights) I also applied this with the polishing ball and drill.
The last step was more plastX but applied by hand with a soft cloth.
I also repainted the black trim at the bottom.
Yes this is the same windshield.
Wow that plastX is pretty good stuff might have to try it on my cars headlights.
That's all for now
Motoman
Ohio Cafe Racer
It's starting to cool down here in Ohio. So I start looking around for a winter project. I kinda got the bug to build a cafe bike.
I guess that means I'll be spending alot of time on the BIG E and craig's list looking for a likely subject. I think something like a Honda CB360 would be nice, or maybe a Yamaha xs400 - 600. What ever it ends up being I will document the build here.
Later
Motoman
p.s.
I'm trying to move all of the post from the old blog over to this new one.