thenewwazoo
esculenta delicta
Well, I haven't had time to dig into the fuelling. Unfortunately. But the bike runs well enough, so this post isn't about that. This post is about pissing coolant and dead batteries!
Yay project bikes!
I'd noticed that the bike had seemed to slowly be losing coolant for a while. I've owned a turbo RX-7, and anyone who's owned a turbo RX-7 can tell you just how good turbo RX-7 owners get at watching coolant. Paranoia is one word that might apply. It wouldn't be too far off the mark. So I start getting paranoid. Bike's losing coolant, there's no smoke out of the tailpipe. Gotta be a head gasket. Open the rad cap, start it up, no bubbles. Rev it. No bubbles. Maybe not head gasket? Oh, I know, it's a loose radiator cap! Tighten the cap, start it up, ride it around, coolant level goes down. Still no leaks. Fuck. Gotta be the head gasket. Start practicing the speech to the wife about "while I'm in there..."
But I'm also a huge proponent of affirmative diagnosis, and the first step to diagnosis of a head gasket failure is pressure testing the cooling system. I don't have a pressure tester, and neither did Moto Shop, but Wilder happily ordered one for me. So now they do!
I have never been so happy to see my bike pissing coolant.
So I dug around, discovered where some leaks were. While I was fiddling, I also installed my new lower radiator from Graeme France Racing over in the UK. It's not all shiny aluminum like the piece of shit I bought from China, but it's a work of art. The fan mount is in the right place, it's the right shape, and the thermo-switch boss is the correct size and thread pitch. I tightened the bejesus out of the hose clamps after slightly repositioning them...
...and the bike left me stranded at a gas station.
Battery was totally flat. Now in my defense, I'd just idled the bike for about 20 minutes, waiting for it to heat up, so I could test the fan switch (it works!), and most bikes don't charge at idle. And I'd started it a few times, too, but goddamn the battery was completely, utterly flat. I'm still not entirely sure the charging system is working correctly. It acts like only two of the alternator leads is sending current, but proper diagnosis is kind of a pain, and I figure I can run no-charge on the track if I must, with a spare battery...
Oh yeah. Also it was time for the track.
Yay project bikes!
I'd noticed that the bike had seemed to slowly be losing coolant for a while. I've owned a turbo RX-7, and anyone who's owned a turbo RX-7 can tell you just how good turbo RX-7 owners get at watching coolant. Paranoia is one word that might apply. It wouldn't be too far off the mark. So I start getting paranoid. Bike's losing coolant, there's no smoke out of the tailpipe. Gotta be a head gasket. Open the rad cap, start it up, no bubbles. Rev it. No bubbles. Maybe not head gasket? Oh, I know, it's a loose radiator cap! Tighten the cap, start it up, ride it around, coolant level goes down. Still no leaks. Fuck. Gotta be the head gasket. Start practicing the speech to the wife about "while I'm in there..."
But I'm also a huge proponent of affirmative diagnosis, and the first step to diagnosis of a head gasket failure is pressure testing the cooling system. I don't have a pressure tester, and neither did Moto Shop, but Wilder happily ordered one for me. So now they do!
I have never been so happy to see my bike pissing coolant.
So I dug around, discovered where some leaks were. While I was fiddling, I also installed my new lower radiator from Graeme France Racing over in the UK. It's not all shiny aluminum like the piece of shit I bought from China, but it's a work of art. The fan mount is in the right place, it's the right shape, and the thermo-switch boss is the correct size and thread pitch. I tightened the bejesus out of the hose clamps after slightly repositioning them...
...and the bike left me stranded at a gas station.
Battery was totally flat. Now in my defense, I'd just idled the bike for about 20 minutes, waiting for it to heat up, so I could test the fan switch (it works!), and most bikes don't charge at idle. And I'd started it a few times, too, but goddamn the battery was completely, utterly flat. I'm still not entirely sure the charging system is working correctly. It acts like only two of the alternator leads is sending current, but proper diagnosis is kind of a pain, and I figure I can run no-charge on the track if I must, with a spare battery...
Oh yeah. Also it was time for the track.
