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So here is my first attempt at describing my my recent rides in the Colorado.
I purchased the 80G tupperware tourer (Vetter) last year during a several month-long custody fight over my son, Nick. Then, Nick and I spent some time riding to Pagosa Springs and Mesa Verde, as well at Rocky Mtn National Park. We had planned a trip to Mt. Rushmore last summer, timed with the XS Rally in Spearfish, but the ex-wife found a way to get back at me again and she wouldn't give me permission to take Nick out of the state. (He lives with me slightly more than half the time, and I still need her permission, as she needs mine, to travel out of state with him.)
The 79SF has been sadly parked, exept for occassional starts and short rides, since I bought the tupperware tourer, though lately it has been calling my attention again.
My first ride this year was across the super-slab (I70) from Denver to Grand Junction. I had mistakenly scheduled work on father's day weekend, then could not get everyone to reschedule. So, I had to keep my appointments on 6/14, and get back to Denver in time for father's day. What better excuse, I thought, to load my gear onto the tupperware bike and take a ride in the late spring weather. So I left at approximately 4:00 am on Saturday, for what I thought would a 4 hour ride across the state. First issue: fuel leak on I70, bike and I both smell like gas. This is not good, as I have to work all day. I could look down at my right side petcock and see gas building up and blowing off in the wind, mostly onto my pant-leg, !#$#!%. So, after several miles of hoping it would fix itself, and riding with my leg at very awkward angle, traying to avoid the gas that now appeared to be spraying off my petcock into the wind underneath my lower fairing. After leaving Vail, I decided to stop and check the situation out. What I found was a lot of gass dripping out of the petcock, down the engine, and steaming off the exhaust. Hmm, off comes the saddle bags, seat and tank, to discover a bunch of stiff brittle fuel lines that don't seal for !#$!$%. So I hijacked the tank vent hose - thanks to whomever put a nice long piece of hose on that. After replumbing the bike I zoomed off.... only to find even more leaking gas. I must have been quite a sight on I70. So on the side of the superslab, off comes that saddlebags, seat and tank once more to discover that the left side plumbing had slipped off and my petcock was dumping huge quantities of gas on the engine, and my hot exhaust system. So, I used the remaining vent hose to re-plumb the left side petcock, then primed the carbs and zoomed off again... only to run my carbs dry again. By this time I had left he Vail/Avon area and was heading west towards Grand Junction. Easy this time, I forgot to reconnect the petcock vacuum lines and ran the carbs dry after I switched the petcocks off the PRI setting. These petcocks really suck, mine have never sealed well, so I modified them to include a genuine off setting with the valve pointed straight up. This setting does not depend upon spring or o-ring pressure to seal the valve - it uses an unused petcock position in which the rubber disk does not allow fuel to pass from one port to another - good idea.
Not much after that, until cruising down the gentle hill through the mesa/bookcliff area, near the exit for Colbran, I felt the bike begin to sack and wander badly. Looking at the road I could see no reason, but the condition becam worse as I got into town. By now I was switching to reserve, having lost all that gas to my exhaust. Gassed up, looked at that bike, and discovered that my front tire was flat - !#!@%%#. Could see no reason for the injury, so I aired it up and it held - still holding two weeks later - anyone ever heard of that. I had checked the air pressure before leaving, so I'm guessing that something had prevented the valve from compeletely sealing.
Don't call yet, I left my running lights on all day. So upon leaving the office at 5:00 pm I found a dead-bike. In the neigborhood nearby was a man polishing a Vulcan 1100 - nice bike. He gave me a ride to a hardware store to buy a set of jumper cables, then carefully jump started the bike with his car turned off.
On more stop for gas, and one more jumpstart, and I was on the road home again for an uneventful ride...
Until pulling into the Denver/Arvada area, my bike began to bog again. This time I could see the culprit. My front brake was smoking, and the bike bogged further. I pulled off the highway at I70 and Wadsworth and got out the tools to relieve the pressure in the front slave cylinders - dreaded spooge hole problem I'm sure. After relieving the pressure, I figured it would cool the disks more evenly to keep riding. Not sure why, but I feared they would warp or stick to the hot pads if I just let it sit. So I rode the remaining 1 1/2 mile home, nice and slow on the surface streets.
So this bike is on the !!#@$% list. If it betrays me again, I have to sell it for parts. Overall, its a good bike, and largely intact - stock exhaust, good tupperware, and all.
How in the world am I going to trust this bike to Reno and Mt. Rushmore as planned?
R.
I purchased the 80G tupperware tourer (Vetter) last year during a several month-long custody fight over my son, Nick. Then, Nick and I spent some time riding to Pagosa Springs and Mesa Verde, as well at Rocky Mtn National Park. We had planned a trip to Mt. Rushmore last summer, timed with the XS Rally in Spearfish, but the ex-wife found a way to get back at me again and she wouldn't give me permission to take Nick out of the state. (He lives with me slightly more than half the time, and I still need her permission, as she needs mine, to travel out of state with him.)
The 79SF has been sadly parked, exept for occassional starts and short rides, since I bought the tupperware tourer, though lately it has been calling my attention again.
My first ride this year was across the super-slab (I70) from Denver to Grand Junction. I had mistakenly scheduled work on father's day weekend, then could not get everyone to reschedule. So, I had to keep my appointments on 6/14, and get back to Denver in time for father's day. What better excuse, I thought, to load my gear onto the tupperware bike and take a ride in the late spring weather. So I left at approximately 4:00 am on Saturday, for what I thought would a 4 hour ride across the state. First issue: fuel leak on I70, bike and I both smell like gas. This is not good, as I have to work all day. I could look down at my right side petcock and see gas building up and blowing off in the wind, mostly onto my pant-leg, !#$#!%. So, after several miles of hoping it would fix itself, and riding with my leg at very awkward angle, traying to avoid the gas that now appeared to be spraying off my petcock into the wind underneath my lower fairing. After leaving Vail, I decided to stop and check the situation out. What I found was a lot of gass dripping out of the petcock, down the engine, and steaming off the exhaust. Hmm, off comes the saddle bags, seat and tank, to discover a bunch of stiff brittle fuel lines that don't seal for !#$!$%. So I hijacked the tank vent hose - thanks to whomever put a nice long piece of hose on that. After replumbing the bike I zoomed off.... only to find even more leaking gas. I must have been quite a sight on I70. So on the side of the superslab, off comes that saddlebags, seat and tank once more to discover that the left side plumbing had slipped off and my petcock was dumping huge quantities of gas on the engine, and my hot exhaust system. So, I used the remaining vent hose to re-plumb the left side petcock, then primed the carbs and zoomed off again... only to run my carbs dry again. By this time I had left he Vail/Avon area and was heading west towards Grand Junction. Easy this time, I forgot to reconnect the petcock vacuum lines and ran the carbs dry after I switched the petcocks off the PRI setting. These petcocks really suck, mine have never sealed well, so I modified them to include a genuine off setting with the valve pointed straight up. This setting does not depend upon spring or o-ring pressure to seal the valve - it uses an unused petcock position in which the rubber disk does not allow fuel to pass from one port to another - good idea.
Not much after that, until cruising down the gentle hill through the mesa/bookcliff area, near the exit for Colbran, I felt the bike begin to sack and wander badly. Looking at the road I could see no reason, but the condition becam worse as I got into town. By now I was switching to reserve, having lost all that gas to my exhaust. Gassed up, looked at that bike, and discovered that my front tire was flat - !#!@%%#. Could see no reason for the injury, so I aired it up and it held - still holding two weeks later - anyone ever heard of that. I had checked the air pressure before leaving, so I'm guessing that something had prevented the valve from compeletely sealing.
Don't call yet, I left my running lights on all day. So upon leaving the office at 5:00 pm I found a dead-bike. In the neigborhood nearby was a man polishing a Vulcan 1100 - nice bike. He gave me a ride to a hardware store to buy a set of jumper cables, then carefully jump started the bike with his car turned off.
On more stop for gas, and one more jumpstart, and I was on the road home again for an uneventful ride...
Until pulling into the Denver/Arvada area, my bike began to bog again. This time I could see the culprit. My front brake was smoking, and the bike bogged further. I pulled off the highway at I70 and Wadsworth and got out the tools to relieve the pressure in the front slave cylinders - dreaded spooge hole problem I'm sure. After relieving the pressure, I figured it would cool the disks more evenly to keep riding. Not sure why, but I feared they would warp or stick to the hot pads if I just let it sit. So I rode the remaining 1 1/2 mile home, nice and slow on the surface streets.
So this bike is on the !!#@$% list. If it betrays me again, I have to sell it for parts. Overall, its a good bike, and largely intact - stock exhaust, good tupperware, and all.
How in the world am I going to trust this bike to Reno and Mt. Rushmore as planned?
R.
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