Roxy: Stymied Left and Right

Getting stymied from every angle today.

Detaching the switches and getting the old handlebars off went smoothly.

Put on the new black bars and was looking for a comfortable position, though never quite felt 100% right.

Went to cut off the left side and after doing way more turns with the Ridgid than usual, realized that the metal was way too thick for the cutter!  Was already bottoming out against the tool before it had cut all the way through.

Left that to simmer and went to start the bike using the new throttle cable and setup and she would not hold idle!  Classic symptoms of being way too rich: had to dial out the idle and air screw way, way out just to barely keep her running.

So bizarre since really nothing on the carb should have changed as I'd only swapped in a different cable.  So tried swapping back to the old cable to test and still had the same issue.  The Sheng had been running fine just the day before!

Saw heavy white vapor coming out of the throttle cap and air intake side whenever the engine died, again confirming a rich mix.

 

 

Roxy: Venhill Throttle Cable #3

Did up a new Venhill cable for Roxy's bars.  This time just used the tiny ball nipple instead of taking the trouble to open up the hole on the lever.

Melted the solder directly over the bird's nest and just worked it in with the tip of the iron.

Venhill notes in Volume 3, page 73.

 

 

Dremel Stripping Wheels

 Got a pack of stripping wheels for the Dremel.  Came as a pack of 40 with 10 of each grit.  Using the coarsest 120 grit to start.  Tested on various fiddly bits that the grinder couldn't reach.

Does an ok job for the price ($13 Amazon) but just doesn't have the power I was hoping for.  Going to be tough to get these sections down to clean bare metal without media blasting.

 

 

Ivy Neutral Leak?

 Suspect that the oil spray is coming from the neutral gasket.  Put a cork cover over it to test the theory.  Does Ivy need a breather valve, too?

 

New Makita Angle Grinder

Picked up a new Makita 4-1/2" angle grinder, model #GA4542C.  $157 from Home Depot (and got the 2-year protection plan).

Felt familiar in actual use, basically like a gigantic Dremel.  A bit heavy, but that may just be me not being used to a big tool like that.

Used a Roloc stripping disc (5 pack for $33) which did the business.  Worked well on the flatter sections but will still need something for the fiddly bits.

 

 

Roxy: Fork Oil Replaced

 

Changed Roxy's fork oil.  Was worried at first that the plug was clogged, but used a single strand copper wire to clear the muddy gunk enough to let it flow.

 Drained 125 mL and added the same amount back.

 

Roxy: New Headlight Installed

Was worried that it would be tough to get Roxy's bridge off, but realized that when I'd had that issue in the past it was probably due to the axle nut being tight and the forks causing too much tension in the bridge.

With the axle nut loosened, the bridge popped right out, no problem.

Got the old wiring out and fitted the new light just as I'd tested it on Evie.

Cleaned up the old wiring, added labels, swapped out to Waco connectors as needed.

Tested and everything working as expected!