The ongoing saga of my motorcycle builds....

[aknifemaker]

Why it’s called a touring bike not a sport bike

[Darrell]

I rode my BMW S1000XR to the Dragon yesterday and made a couple of runs. It was pretty hot on the way home, but what a lot of fun! Comfy AND quick.

[gregintenn]

11 hours ago, aknifemaker said:

Why it’s called a touring bike not a sport bike

The same reason a tour bus isn’t called a sports car?

[RED333]

Same reason, chicken coops only have two doors because if they had four doors, they'd be chicken sedans

I always called a crotch rocket a sports bike

[gregintenn]

I think I misread his post. It appears to be a statement and not a question.

[Handsome Rob]

22 hours ago, gregintenn said:

Thanks. I’’m a touched embarrassed to admit the more I ride it, the better I like it. It runs and shifts smooth. Rides great. I think I could ride it cross country.

Well, I'll be taking my boingtail on a roundtrip to San Diego this August/September, via Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Nevada & New Mexico if you wanna join in for a desert sight seeing trip!

Edited June 25 by Handsome Rob

[Handsome Rob]

Whoopsy...

Double tapped it!

 

Edited June 25 by Handsome Rob

[Darrell]

I've always wanted to do a cross-country bike trip, but the years passed by without ever doing it. I did a couple of west-coast trips, north to south, and those were fun.

I hope you have a great time!

[gregintenn]

12 hours ago, Handsome Rob said:

Well, I'll be taking my boingtail on a roundtrip to San Diego this August/September, via Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Nevada & New Mexico if you wanna join in for a desert sight seeing trip!

Sounds like fun. How long are you planning on being gone?

The wife and I made a similar trip last year in a car. We were gone 9 days. I’d advise you to not pass a gas station without topping off.

[Handsome Rob]

25 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

Sounds like fun. How long are you planning on being gone?

The wife and I made a similar trip last year in a car. We were gone 9 days. I’d advise you to not pass a gas station without topping off.

14 or 15 total, I think. I'm going to cheat a bit & trailer the bike to a mate's place in Gunnison CO though. That should give me a full 10 days to tour around out there. I'm planning on averaging 300 miles a day & I've got a laundry list of sites I'd like to visit. 

[gregintenn]

Be careful out there, Rob. Me and the old lady missed a deer today by just a hair. I had the back brake locked, and was pulsing on the front brake hard as I could and still not lose control. I’m sure glad I’ve ridden for a long time and wasn’t a newbie. We’d have crashed, and nearly did so anyway. She handled it well.

[Handsome Rob]

Daaaaaamn! That's one of my biggest worries, riding here. 

[BigK]

My grandson and I hit a deer on my motorcycle. We had slowed to avoid spooking her, but she ran ahead and darted across our path like she did it on purpose, LOL. Luckily, I was prepared and the only damage was a broken light bracket.

[Handsome Rob]

 

Ahhhhh....... the old "one-last-minor-adjustment-before-the-long-journey-what-could-possibly-go-wrong?" scenario. 

So, now I have to rebuild the transmission. More of an inconvenience than anything, but I made a further rod for my own back by making one of those 'while you're in there, why not?' decisions.

I'm upgrading the shifter drum & pawl, plus the centering pin & selector forks to the much improved versions from a 2005 Twin Cam. The original 5 speed is bulletproof, but it is known for having a couple of issues: the pawl can go out of adjustment very easily making neutral a pain to find, you also get false neutrals, especially between 2nd & 3rd & 1st & 5th also have bad overshift. The Twinkie parts literally cure all of that & make shifting much, much slicker & more positive with less pedal travel & no chance of going out of adjustment. I picked up everything I need for just over $200 on ebay. 

Now I must need everything to get here & I can buckle it all back up again. 

[gregintenn]

You like turning wrenches better than I do.

[Darrell]

Rob, this looks like something up your alley. I'd be interested but I touch nothing that has no title.  I know nothing about the bike or the seller,

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/724615766870344/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

[Handsome Rob]

2 hours ago, Darrell said:

Rob, this looks like something up your alley. I'd be interested but I touch nothing that has no title.  I know nothing about the bike or the seller,

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/724615766870344/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

I'll buy it if you pay for the divorce lawyer! I'm already pushing it, having 3 plus the TW under the carport! 

[gregintenn]

37 minutes ago, Handsome Rob said:

I'll buy it if you pay for the divorce lawyer! I'm already pushing it, having 3 plus the TW under the carport! 

We were building a bridge over Defeated Creek. I showed up one Monday morning to find the crew dredging a lay model Harley out of the water. 
 

They said “Hey, Greg. Come here. You’re a Harley man. Whadda you think of this.?”

 

I I told they I wouldn’t be getting my fingerprints on it, and if they were smart, they’d do the same…they weren’t smart.

[Handsome Rob]

Well...... good news bad news.

 

The Softail is back together & runs absolutely perfectly. The upgrade to the transmission is something that, now I've done it, I would 100% recommend to anyone with an Evo. It's like shifting gears on a jap bike! (I mean that as a compliment, from someone who grew up with Japanese bikes) No slop, no play, clicks in & out of gear like a mouse button. Shifting is absolutely silent too Hands down, no question a different bike in such a great way! It was a chore getting to it, but the actual trans work itself was about a 30 minute job. I ended up trimming back the 'wings' on the sides of my oil tank to aid reinstallment & with that done, it's a piece of cake to get in & out, so that's a bonus.

The other MAJOR bonus, is that it's stopped leaking oil! I could never quite figure out exactly where it was coming from, but wherever it was was obviously either a gasket or seal I just replaced. The Wife is going to be happy!

 

The bad news is that I went to jump on my sporty chop for a quick lunchtime cool off & I noticed that there's a crack in one of my welds, right at the neck, which unfortunately means that I have to completely strip out all the front end, wiring, brake lines & cables, sand off all the powder coat & re-weld it with some extra bracing

I'm just going to do that for now & throw some crap paint on it so I can keep riding, but once winter kicks in I'll have to tear it down to the bare frame & have it re-powdercoated. It gives me a chance to clean up a couple of bits I wasn't 100% happy with, but still......

[Darrell]

21 minutes ago, Handsome Rob said:

right at the neck, which unfortunately means that I have to completely strip out all the front end, wiring, brake lines & cables, sand off all the powder coat & re-weld it with some extra bracing

Ever watch the movie, "World's Fastest Indian"?  Burt Monroe, were he still with us, would recommend some shoe polish rubbed thoroughly into the crack to make it look like it's been repaired.  Much less labor intensive than stripping everything out and rewelding then refinishing.  You're welcome.