What did you do with your XS today?

This is what I wrote:

16VGTIDave said:

I've been told that you aren't truly a rider until you have laid a bike down and then gotten back on to ride again.

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markjs said:

... but someone said something about not being a real biker till you've been down on a bike. I think a minor going down is an inevitability, but as far as not being a "real biker" because you've never had a bad scare at high speed I say BS!

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Let's not get too excited and miss-interpret what I was told. It came from someone who has had his knees in the wind a decade before I was born (and that was a few decades ago). The point he was making is that there are lots of people who fancy themselves motorcyclists (on a nice afternoon), until the first time they put a bike down. And many of those people will sell their bike and gear, and never ride again out of fear. In his opinion, a motorcyclist is the person who get's back on and rides after having put their bike down. He made no qualifications about speed or anything else.

As far as I can tell, his point is that a "real biker" is the same as an equestrian who gets back on a horse after being thrown. Their ability to conquer the fear and keep riding. It's about riding for the enjoyment it brings, and accepting the associated challenges and dangers in stride, rain or shine. It isn't the jacket that one wears, or how the chrome and paint shines on a sunny Sunday afternoon...

My conversation with him came about because I was riding in crappy weather, when most people would have left their bike at home and taken the car. He was impressed that I was riding when most wouldn't have been. As was he.

Went to O'Reilys in town and ordered a pair of Shock Boots to turn into fork gaitors. They were WAY too expensive (not) at $4.99 each. Was on Mikes XS and a few other Motorcycle Specific sites and the best I found there was $30.00 per pair. Also bought plugs & wires for my old Buick. I'll pick them up tomorrow and try to post a pic of the fork tubes when I get em done.

got the new steed jigged up...

Did some research and musing on my upcoming project. Trying to find a set of spoked wheels for my Maxim, and some figuring for a springer front end.

http://watertown.craigslist.org/mcy/3818303363.html

may sell it. It runs but is a project . it's a neat bike I just have too many projects and not enough cash to finish any.

Its alive! I did it its running. I even got to take it for a short ride. Whoo hoo!! Almost all my frustrations are gone LOL almost. I re-assembled and cleaned the carbs again. Set the mix screws to 3 out from seated. Which may need some adjustment. I set the floats to 28mm from the where the gasket sits. Bench synced. Installed them. Rebuilt the petcock. Installed it. Put tank back on. Started real hard but it started them wanted to die. With the fuel filter installed the line was pinched. I removed it and straightened line out. Ran great!! WOw. With the help of couple buddies hooked up manometer and right side was pulling harder. Some fanagling of the tank and some adjustment to sync screw and it ran better!! Took her for a short ride and tomorrow some final checks and adjustments and I hope I'm good to

Changed the oil and filter and switched to Rotella T6 5W-40 full synthetic oil with a K&N oil filter.
The magnet on the drain plug had very little debris on it, and the filter didn't have any visible debris in it, so the previous Rotella 15W-40 dino oil was doing it's job. It will be interesting to see if the clutch and shifting feel changes any, and what the fuel mileage will be.

discovered a POS petcock. now i need an oil change and a rebuild kit? a new petcock? i've got work to do

Now that I'm confident it will run I ordered brake pads for front and back and a rebuild kit with a piston. The old one has some gouges in it. Also waiting on set of used mufflers. Whoo hoo. Now I'm off to look at some gear. The excitement is back

Got the front brakes working better after another round of bleeding. They seem to work fine, with no apparent leaks. Got the throttle cable to slide much smoother and not hang. Of course this lead to a busted screw to begin with but one held it on ok. This also leads to somehow the start button sticking and the bike trying to keep starting after it was running. Took it back apart (was faster one less screw. LOL) should have checked button out while I was in there but it wasn't broken and I've messed with so much of this bike and still some to do with brake light issues, and turn signals that if its operating I'm not messing with it. LOL. I want to ride and not just up and down the road by the house lol. Seemed like the left side wasn't getting gas as good as the right so we let her warm up a bit and man it did not sound as good as the other day when I got it running. I pulled the tank off and set it up on some crates ran long fuel line and vacuum to get it running. Made a slight adjustment to left mix screw and it smoothed it out a lot. Got out the homemade manometer and had to adjust sync again as the right side was pulling way harder. It ran great. Took it for a ride and it seemed to have a bit more pep then the other day. Going to see if I can get the right control from junkyard tomorrow and couple odds and ends. If not ebay here we come. Hopefully I'm taking some decent rides this weekend. Was even going to leave it in the driveway tonight but its supposed to frost so I put her back in the shed. My buddy who owns a HD helped me out a lot today. Couldn't have done it without him but he left his bike outside in this cold LOL

I bought a used stator assembly to try to fix a charging issue.

put my gaiters on and flipped the horn . new headlight ears. baby steps right now with the nice weather no time to work on it.

Finally found a front caliper woop woop. was expensive on ebay so maade a cheeky best offer and it was accepted more woop woop.
Battery arrived today a Lucas for £0.05 more than a cheap chinese one. Result!!!

Removed 45 pilot jets, installed 42.5's and re-tuned idle. A quick run to get beer and whiskey has the plugs looking much better. Now to celebrate!

Got the tank removed so I can clean it, pop a dent out, and repaint it, ditched the rear fender, got the front and rear turn signals removed so I can blast the chrome off and paint them black, headlight bezel removed, so it can have a dent fixed, and removed the seat so I can have it reupholstered.

rode the red one, as it goes to a new owner next week.

ran faultlessly too!

Heard back from Gentlemen Jim that my carbs arrived safely in Florida. Maybe they will be back by the time I'm home from vacation. Clip ons, UNI pods, and shorty signals all arrived.

Figured out a better mounting system for my tail section then went for a ride and realized i plugged the turn signals in back words at least the tail section gos on and of easyer now

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I put my front brake caliper and brakes back on.I tryed removing the turn signals so I can change the rubber groments that hold them in place.The dang bolts were froze up and rusted so I gave up.