Maintenance Due

The weatherman said it was suppose to be overcast with a slight chance of showers on Saturday. Boy, he sure missed the mark on that one! It was an awesome day. I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and do some much needed maintenance on both my and my wife's bikes.

Mine had come due for an oil change on Tuesday, but there was just no way I was going to get it done before or after work. And my wife's bike... that's been overdue for quite some time. Almost embarrassing really.

So, with the sun shining in the sky, I pulled my bike out into the driveway, popped her up on the center stand, and gathered the tools I needed. All she really needed was an oil change, but while the oil was draining, I gave the whole bike a good once-over. I suspected that I was in need of a rear tire and, after giving it a roll-a-round on the center stand, I concluded that I'm ordering one on Tuesday from Cycle Barn. It's got some tread on the edges, but the center is looking pretty smooth. Not so good for wet weather riding.

Brake fluid checked out, slight oil leak coming from the right-front of the valve cover -- need to order two new valve cover gaskets -- front brake has plenty of meat on her. Rear needs a slight adjustment. All the lights work. Yep, she's still holding together pretty well for being a 26 year old bike.

Once I was satisfied everything looked good, I screwed the drain plug back in, replaced the cartridge oil filter, and filled her back up with some fresh go-juice. A quick start up and idle so I could check for oil leaks and she was put away in the shed, ready to ride come Monday morning.

Now, my wife's bike needed something a little special. In addition to having its oil changed, hers also needed to have its valves checked due to a noise emanating from the engine. I usually hear it when she's sitting next to me at stop sign. Idling is fine; it's when she pulls away that I hear what sounds like a rod knocking. It's not, but that's what it sounds like. I suspected that it may be a loose valve lash adjuster, but I needed to check the specs to be sure.

So, while the oil was draining, I grabbed my tools and started removing parts. The seat was the first to go followed by the fuel tank and then the horn. Once all of that was cleared out, I removed the bazillion Allen bolts holding on the valve cover and set it aside. The left-hand crankshaft cover also needed to come off so you can rotate the engine with a wrench. This allows you to position the camshaft lobes to check clearances with a feeler gage.

With a quick double-check of the clearance specs, I went to it. I'm happy to report that all were satisfactory. That's good news... but bad news, too, as it left me still wondering what was causing the pinging noise. I went ahead and reassembled the bike and finished the oil change. While putting it back together, I contemplated my options on how to go about figuring out where the noise was coming from. I decided that I was just going to have to ride it to find out. Oh darn, right?

Where to go, where to go? I hit on a quick cruise up Burn Road into Arlington and then back down Jordan. Now, anyone who knows the area knows that the best way to get to Arlington via Burn is to go by way of Engebretsen. But, did you also know about Tveit Road? There's a little tip for ya.

Sure enough, I heard the pinging sound when I'd either pull away from a stop or when I'd accelerate heavily. But, sitting atop the bike, I could now hear better where it was coming from. It sounded like an exhaust leak coming from the joints where I had put on some new mufflers back in the Spring. When I did, I had to get creative with the connections and it sounded like my creativity may have worn off. I think I know how to fix it, so no big deal.

I did happen to notice when I got back that I must have kinked the accelerator cable when I put the gas tank back on. If you turn the handlebar all the way to the right, the engine would rev up. Ya, that's not good. I'll have to fix that, too. This is usually caused by a misrouted cable. I probably shifted it when I was trying to install the valve cover, then got it wedged when I put the gas tank back on. Easy enough to fix, though.

Well, that was how I spent my sunny Saturday afternoon. As I said before in another thread, there's just something special about having the sun on your face and looking down to see your shadow riding along next to you. Gotta love it!