It's been a while, but in my defense a lot got done and I promise in the coming weeks, I plan to do quite a bit of catching up on the blog as the Suzuki is getting close to the finish line. So here's a bit of an overview, what's planned for the Winter season/the coming weeks.
Everyday TR1:
Only a bit of maintenance is due really.
- Oil- and filter change at (1)35,000km
- clean and grease the starter motor
- a good cleaning and greasing
- throttle cable incl. splitter needs to be changed, because this will create problems rather sooner than later
- the sub-frame mount of the rear mudguard needs to be addressed as the bolt touches the tire ever so slightly when the rear shock bottoms out (and I already have a solution with a P-clamp that basically only needs to be installed and then that'll solve the issue)
XT600 - Dre-XT-Stück:
I got a lot more use out of the old girl this year than several of the last few years combined, still to call the old girl "trouble free" is a bit of a stretch.
- Headbolt threads in the cylinder need to be upgraded with M12-to-M8 adapters like I did it on the pretty one as the left front one is starting to fail and thus leaking oil
- a road-legal pannier rack is due
- I still have this KTM Adventure 790 rearshock, which needs an adapter to get it to the right length
- other than that, a good clean and a bit of TLC should do the trick
SR500 sidecar:
As this one will be used the most, the main thing will be to get it ready for Winter-use.
- Spray it down with wax to protect the metal parts from the omni-present salt
- install hand muffs
- Check which bolts have come loose lately
- modify the summer wheel to work with the modified sprocket carrier and get a bigger rear sprocket
Suzuki SJ410 - the Pickle:
Not sure, if I'll have this ready at the start of Winter, but we're getting there as the little cube is already painted and mostly there to get inspected. The big things still missing to get it on the road are:
- fix up the front and rear bumpers
- repair the wiring and remove most of the rather dodgy fixes
- make the heater work
- replace the rear brake drums for the later model ones I have already overhauled (they are self-adjusting and more common, so e.g. the drums are still available as aftermarket parts)
- get the handbrake working
- change the various oils and check for leaks and fix those
- fit the winter tyres (which can mean either fit the tyres with the Winter tyres on them or fit the second set of NEW Winter tyres to the wheels which are currently on there - might in the end by a matter of the available time)
Other vehicles that need fixing:
VX800:
This was probably the let down of the season, because it got new tyres and the started to not run right, which resulted in pulling the fuel petcock (because we assumed it was blocked by rust and also leaking slightly) and that was perfectly alright...
- convert to electric fuel pump out of a VS750 (chopper version of the same bike) as the diaphragm pump is as dead as nails
- Repair the petcock threads in the tank because one of the metal-look-a-like bolts stripped part of its threads
Goldwing GL1200 - Volkskrad:
This really "just" needs finishing. We got stuck at the point, when I had to get a repair-kit for the rear brakepump. This has to be installed and then the rest needs to be assembled etc. The future on this one might be rather open really.
Aprilia Moto 6.5:
Somewhat as predicted the broken regulator/rectifier fried another battery, so this has to be addressed and in an ideal world, I am not going to do that with a stock Ducati-elettronica unit, but something out of Japan. I just have to dig out the necessary specs to find a suitable replacement.
Bandit 1200:
Unless I am mistaken, this one might want (again) a replacement of the clutch slave seal and a good cleanup of the rear brake caliper.
As the avid reader might have noticed, there's quite a few vehicles missing from this list - that's intentional, because this is the stuff that HAS to be done. Everything beyond that is probably a case of how cold (or not) it will be during the Winter and the amount of extra time available for tinkering.
