Lazy Saturday......

I got to go shake my brain out a bit today. While pulling the old Russian out of mothballs, I discovered that the starter relay is still kind of dodgy. I think I will replace it and clean all connections between the battery and the starter. That should give me a better feel for it. That being said, rainy days are the best days for bike-workin-on. Saturday was nice in the morning, so there was riding.

Since the weather was kind of nasty all directions from Austin, I decided to just run around the back roads. My initial plan was to make a lap around the lake. That was when muscle memory took over and I just let the bike go where it felt like going. I took our old loop down around dripping springs and wimbery. I ended up in San Marcos. Since I was there, I decided to get pizza at my old college hangout. Valentino's Pizza is still the worst pizza around, but it is nostalgia. What the hell. After some Pizza, I went over to the Humidor to hang out and have a cigar. Rob got in a couple boxes of the Auturo Fuente Reverves so I picked up a few. After that I went out to Mikey's shop and hung out for a while. I needed to drop some stuff off with him, and I happened to be in the area. While I was there, I picked up a set of anti-dive springs for Kel's bike too. The trip back was where things got interesting. I made it almost 5 miles back before the flying midget with a firehose found me. Little bastard followed me all the way home. This was the first time I have had the R90 out in heavy rain, so I am at least glad I know how it is going to handle now. I also learned that those new brakes are really good. In the wet, I get a lot better feel out of them so I don't have to guess where lockup is. After this little ride I think those brakes are the best money I have thrown at the bike.

One thing I do want to find out is who left the cage open.....all of the idiots got out and they were on the road. I had my rainsuit on, the one that is all reflective, and all of the reflective stickers on my bike. Reflective materials only work if the other vehicles have their lights turned on. I saw more cars running in driving rain with their wipers on high and their headlights turned off. No scares, no close calls....just a front row seat for the parade of stupidity. I know there are sobriety checkpoints, there are discussions of insurance checkpoints, I have even heard rumors that there might be insurance checkpoints in the future. When are there going to be roadside IQ tests. I am sorry sir, you are too stupid to be allowed to live....pop...pop...

Oh well, off to work on the russian. Have fun.

Dave

More upgrades on the R90

I did the final upgrade on the R90 before the summer road trip today. I got the brakes upgraded from a single sided disc to a dual disc. Basically, I gained 30% more stopping power and dropped about 60% of the hand pressure required for stopping. While we had the front end apart, we went ahead and put a set of anti-dive springs in the forks. These help control the way the forks compress during heavy braking. While we had everything torn apart, we also put in stainless steel braided brake lines and new fork seals.

I can tell a big difference with the new setup. Before, I had a whole lot of "go fast" but very little stop. Now, I can reel in the speed much more comfortably. I don't feel like I am breaking walnuts just squeezing the brake lever. Since there is a disc on each side of the wheel now, I don't get any lateral torque when I grab a handful of brake. It is very even and tends to run straight, instead of drifting left. The brakes also feel like they recover faster than they did before. The new suspension setup in front is also very nice. I can grab some front brake to start my weight transfer going into a corner, and it feels much smoother.

Now it is time to finish off the suspension update on Kel's bike. We got her heavy duty progressive shocks on the back, and the new progressive fork springs for her forks have come in. Now it is just a matter of installing them.

TTFN

Dave

Weekend Trip to Scarborough Faire

This was an interesting little trip. It was kind of a spur of the moment attempt, that turned into a pretty normal little road trip. When I say pretty normal, I mean there were a lot of little things that all went kind of funky, but we all made it back alive, and it was fun.

The idea for this trip came from the fact that Diz got herself a new bike, and wanted to try it out on the highway. Here is a pic of the new bike:



This was our first long ride as a full line. 6 bikes. It was definately a challenge keeping the whole thing together. The trip up to Waxahachie went fairly smooth. We formed up in temple and followed I35 all the way up. The only real excitement, other than getting split up by traffic fairly often, was when my right side carb float stuck open. It wasn't that bad on the highway, but when we hit the first stoplight in town, it started dumping gas on my right boot. I had to pull the bowl and clean it out to get it to stop leaking. After that, it was all gravy....and a boot that stunk of gasoline.

Here is a shot of the line in front of Logan's on the trip back:



This was the funniest looking line I have ever seen. We ended up with a Yamaha, a Honda, a Harley, a Kawasaki, and 2 vintage BMWs. It was actually kind of humorous.

Faire was fun, we each got to do pretty much what we set out to do. I got to ride, Slap got his turkey leg, Diz got to try out her new bike, Glenn got a Steak on a Stake, Kel got to see Queen Anne's Lace on opening weekend. Here is a shot of the girls:



Not a great shot, but you get the idea. If you happen to get out there, go see them. They are great.

The trip back was where the real excitement was. It was decided to come back the long way through Stephenville so we could get BBQ at Hard Eights. To do this we were headed out 287 to 67, then have BBQ. Then we would just follow 281 back south to Austin. The only hitch in this plan was that once we got onto 67 headed for Stephenville, we discovered the 40mph crosswind. All it took was a couple of the bridges to convince us that we should turn south and head for Waco. Once we got to Waco, we had lunch at logans road house and sat around for a while just happy to be alive.

As far as the shakedown run on the new setup for the R90 goes, it was pretty good. One stuck float, but that is actually fairly normal right now. I still need to do some work on that thing. I have a few rattles on the tins that I need to sort out, but other than that, it is looking good.

Here is the route we took for this little trip:


View Larger Map

TTFN

Dave

Shakedown weekend

We are doing a small shakedown trip on the R90 rebuild this weekend. Just a little run up to Scarborough Faire. Me, Kel, Vern, Glenn, Gary, and Laura. This should be fun. A 6 bike line. This will be Laura's first trip on her new bike. I think it will be much easier on her. This one is a bit heavier, has a bit more power, and is a lot more stable than the old one. I have a feeling she will see the difference quickly.

TTFN,

Dave

The restoration has begun......

I have finally started the restoration project on the R90. I got the new instrument cluster installed. Now it is just a matter of getting the new cables run. Today I got the new tins installed. I decided to go with the /7 tins. I like the shape of the tank better than the /6. The best thing about it is that it has a paint job already on it. It is called "Alaska Blue" It is very similar to the color of the blue Subaru WRX. The paint on the fenders is kind of scratched up, but the tank is in great shape. No dents in the tank is actually a miracle of sorts. The fairing is still white. I think I might keep it white, I kind of like it.

Here are the shots:







The checklist is getting smaller. I only have a few more things to do before I am done.

1. New side cases
2. New Mufflers
3. Make a decision on paint.


Now I just have to get it on the highway and ride the hell out of it.

TTFN

Dave

It's been a while......

I know it's been a while, especially for the one of you that actually follows my aimless rambling. Kel and I managed to score a short weekend getaway with a couple friends of ours. Kel, Gary, Laura, and I did a short shakedown last weekend. Just a little run around. Pulled about 500 miles over the weekend. I had been having some top end trouble with the R90 so I took the Ural. It was a fairly uneventful ride. It was nice to give Laura a chance to pull mileage in line. We did mostly highway miles, so it was pretty much point and go. Now it is time to shake out the starter problems on the Ural. It feels like either the starter relay or the starter switch is going bad. I will probably just replace both of them and get on with my life. The best thing to do with the Russian parts is to replace them with BMW parts at the first sign of problems, then do standard troubleshooting if it still doesn't work. I know it sounds backwards, but it is Russian after all. I mean, it has a Toyota starter motor......

As far as the R90 goes, I was getting some nasty valve noise, and slight loss of power at the top end after warming up. I ended up doing a valve job, retourqued the head-bolts, replaced the plugs, and changed the oil. It was like magic.....really. Now it goes like stink again. YAY!!!! Now it is just a matter of planning the next road trip.

I got the parts ordered for the restore also. I am getting a new tank, fenders, seat, and fairing. All painted standard flat black. I am going with the /7 tins. Now it will look like it was at least marginally new. I am guessing it will be around may or June before it is finished, but the restore will be complete, and that is all that matters. Then I can start looking at the performance upgrades that I want to do. I am thinking about putting about 5-10 more HP into the old girl. No good reason, I just want to.

I still have not come to a decision on weather I want to do the "Border to Border" or the Dixie Overland this summer. I guess it will come down to the weather and anyone that feels like going with me. If I am going alone, I will likely flip a coin, if I am taking someone with me, it will depend on how much time they can get off.

Oh well, time to wash the grease off the old elbows and nose.

TTFN

Dave

Short Trip Plan

Depending on how the weather looks, and whether I can get a bit of time off, I am going to try to make another run up to Pop's to get a burger and soda. Chances are good it will be march-ish before I can pull it off. I want to do a little bit of traveling before I bring the R90 offline for the start of the restoration this spring. If all goes to plan, I will have the fairing, tank, and fenders all the same color again. Then it will just be down to getting my speedometer back to just being horribly inaccurate instead of WILDLY inaccurate. Hopefully I will also have the hard saddlebags by then too. That will make traveling much easier. If I plan this right, I may even be able to take Kel along with me.

Dave