The Bagger Project

[Radioguylogs]

Some success

After resting, reading, and thinking, I went back at the rear wheel bearings. I started with the heat gun (instead of the propane torch). I patiently heated the bearings and tried hitting them. No immediate success. Then I heated them and hit them with chill spray, to shrink the bearing but not the housing. I had success right away.

Hey Kurt- Yeah, I saw how your PO mangled the sides of the carbs. I just can't relate to someone that that would knowingly disfigure and abuse their bike like that. Hideous.

Now what to about that Final Drive vent. First I'm gonna search some posts. I know I can't be the first.

[Radioguylogs]

Final Dive Vent and Rear Wheel Bearing

FD Vent

I studied the old posts and then went out and looked at the FD Vent again. I was worried that it might have a loose plunger and some spring/ball check valve parts dropped down that hole at the top of the vent tower.

It's not that complicated, The cap is manufactured with a nub on it. It is swaged or staked or peened onto the conical vent tower. That's why it can sort of rotate a little if you force it, but it doesn't come off. The hole on the top is plugged after the cap is swaged in place. The vent itself is simply a small hole about 1/8" below the top of the tower:

This hole has a passage way rather far down into the FD case, nearly down to the axle, according to older posts by "Tom". There no other parts.

So, all I need to do is cover it back up and make sure the little hole has a safe path to breathe. I think I will glue a plate over the top, and the make a semicircular collar to glue the cup on and keep it centered on the post so it looks right.

RR Wheel Bearing

I purchased new wheel bearings form Partzilla. I had the LR on the shelf already. The other three bearings I received are a different P/N than I ordered. They seem to be the same sizes, but they are sealed instead of the original open style I was expecting:


Guess that's a good thing, just surprised me. Now I don't have to choose the best grease or worry about any maintenance for 50k miles. (except RR).

[Radioguylogs]

Meanwhile....

FD Vent Cap

Decided I needed a collar to glue the FD Vent cap back on, so it would keep it centered and allow more surface area for gluing:



Took me 3 tries to get the spacer just the right length so it touched the perimeter at the same position that the top of the cap touched to the top of the vent tower.

I sanded the plier marks and repainted the cap, and then bonded it on with JB Weld. I put a temporary wire through the vent hole and down the channel to make sure the passage was open after the gluing operation.

Rear End Re-Assembly:

The rear went back together OK.

I reused the swing arm bearings with new seals.

Lots of molybdenum grease on the drive shaft splines.

New Shinko 712 on the rear, balanced.

New rear wheel bearings

New rear shocks from a place in the UK for $100. I wasn't looking for progressive springs, but's that's what I could find (that I liked), and they were a good value.

As I mentioned in Kurt's Mayberry thread, I have a problem getting the acorn nut on the top shock mounts because they carry the shock, the grab bar, and two bag brackets. I haven't decided yet what combination of measures I will use to solve that problem. It would be cool if I could change to longer stud, but I didn't know if it is welded.

Brakes

Brakes calipers and the front master cylinder are disassembled awaiting loving. Tore the plunger boot on the front MC, so I had to buy a kit just for the boot. Looks like someone put a rebuild kit in it not too long ago, but didn't clean it thoroughly.

Front Tire Saga

Sent the front Shinko 712 back to Bike Bandit due to the wobble. Bought a Bridgestone Spitfire to replace it. I have it mounted, but I changed the wheel bearings after I put the Shinko on. I put the Shinko on first so I would have loose bearings to balance it. Now that I put the Spitfire on after the bearings, I can't get it to balance because the bearing are a bit stiff.

Steering

I have the steering bearings and races out for replacement:



I was going to side with TC's previously posted advice, and save the old steering bearings, but I could not figure how I was going to clean the bottom bearing with the seal under it. I knew I was probably going to need a new kit if I tried to remove the bottom bearing, but I did it anyway. The seal was ruined; and by then I might as well do whole job. I did find those witness marks on my steering races.

Front Forks

Whoa, think the PO did this job buy his self?:





The PO used seals with a smaller height that didn't fit. One of the seals was installed very crooked. Not good workmanship at all.

I am thinking I may use Bondo to fill in the garfs on the fork tube surface around the perimeter of the seal. It would be easy to use oil resistant Silicone, but there is a chance I may have to take them out again in my lifetime.

Bored yet? Like Arlo Guthrie said, "I can keep on going for another 20 minutes...."

[DiverRay]

The chamfer at the top of the forks are so the seals will slip in properly. I would clean that up, and not worry about the pits at the top as the seals will hide that. Fine sand paper wrapped around a 1" tube should so the job.
The rear shock studs ARE welded in to the frame. See if you can change any mount points to get more thread available on the stud. You NEED at least 10mm once tight, any less and you may have problems.

[kboehringer]

FD Vent Cap
I am thinking I may use Bondo to fill in the garfs on the fork tube surface around the perimeter of the seal. .....SNIP...
Bored yet?

Mike,
I have a pair of '80 Special Outers in BEAUTIFUL OEM condition. They even have the OEM SHOWA sticker on them (although it is faded). They are yours for the asking.... I bought them for their beautiful TUBES which are now planted on DUCK.

KURT

[Radioguylogs]

Ray: I'm not worried about the appearance...like you said, the damage will be hidden under the dust cover (but I'll know-> ouch). I'm not worried much about the chamfer. I am mainly worried about the perimeter of the oil seal.

Thanks for confirming the shock studs are welded before I buger them with vice grips.

Kurt: I would been grateful to have those outer tubes before I got so far into polishing the tubes I have.....let's see if I can get mine to work. If they don't, I know where to find you! Thanks for the kind offer.

[Radioguylogs]

It didn't start!

....but first a little catching up.

Progress on my Bagger project slowed down once summer hit. Have to cut the grass, maintain the gardens, etc.

Louann and I spent a week camping on our property on Lake Huron....we took another trip out west; flew to Seattle and drove to Los Angeles.

Everyone should have the drive on Route 1 from Leggit to San Francisco on their bucket list; by car or by motorcycle. South of Leggit , the drive is exactly like the Tail of the Dragon for 22 miles, then it opens up to incredibly twisty roads on cliffs along the ocean. There is a famous tourist spot in Leggit:


So, I made progress on the Bagger. I have to admit I buggered the triple tree trying to get the bearing off:

I bought another triple tree on e-Bay, de-rusted and painted it. My conscience is clear now.

I had a problem fitting everything on the top shock studs. My solution was to carefully sand 1/16" off of each side of the rubber shock grommets, and also to reduce the thickness of the Grab Bar mounting flange:


I actually got more than the 1/4" of engagement I was seeking.

I rebuilt the fuse panel. This is where folks are going to laugh at me. I like keeping my bike stock (for now). I used two Bussfuse fuse holders to reconstruct the fuse panel. I had to remove a lot of material from the backside of the holders and cut down the terminals to get them to fit. I am satisfied with the result:



It's a challenge to find storage for all the parts while I'm working on the bike. My brother and my wife thought this looked funny, as though it belonged on the boat:


I removed and painted the centerstand and the kickstand. I always struggle getting the springs back on. I had to replace the springs on the motorhome leveling jacks and learned a new trick. Before you install the spring, place it in a vice, flex it, and put spacers between the coils - making it longer. After it is installed, just actuate the device, and you can pull the spacers out or they fall out. Here are the centerstand spring and the kickstand springs before I installed them:


Piece of cake with the spacers.

Decided to put my best stock exhaust on the bike. I have a virgin Jardine spaghetti, and I will keep it for something in the future.

Tried to check the carb float bowl levels before I installed them:

The levels were close, but the measurements were so erratic due the leveling and other variables. I wouldn't waste my time doing this again. I would just put them on the bike and check them on the bike.

THEN IT WAS FINALLY TIME TO SEE IF IT WOULD START.

It didn't start when I tried it last Sunday. Just popped a bit here and there. I was quite puzzled, since I has been over everything so thoroughly. I tortured the starter against my better judgment. I putzed for a couple hours, and then walked away, and took the family out to dinner.

Coming back that night, I decided I had to start checking everything from the beginning.

All four cylinders have a spark.

TDC aligns with the spark timing plate

Then I checked the spark timing, even though it not adjustable on an SG. WHOA!! Timing is 180 degrees out of phase. What can cause that? You guessed it. The orange and grey coil wires were connected backwards. I remember checking all the connectors for corrosion, and I remember thinking I should disconnect those two wires one-at-a-time so I didn't cross them... but I can't swear I didn't do it myself or if it was like that from the PO.

It was too late to start it Sunday night at midnight, so I was dying to get home from work Monday.

It started immediately and ran quite nicely.

While running, float bowls are right on the washer on all 4 bowls, despite K&L parts set by measurement.

Synchronized the carbs easily.

However, despite by best efforts, I can't find any change in vacuum when I adjust the idle mixture, and I don't get a drop in RPM until they are closed. I can't seem to learn how to set the idle mix , so for now I am relegated to counting turns. Two turns was too rich. It would not go back down to idle properly. One and 1/2 turns works well.

So, I'm ready to clean the tank and take it for a ride soon.

The only thing I have reservations about is that I hear a tapping sound from the top right-hand part of the engine, only at idle. Of course the valves make noise, but this seems different. My SF makes some noises at idle but they sound different. I think I should take an audible survey at XSSE. Anybody have a comment about this?

Hopefully I report on the ride within a couple of weeks. I am at my family reunion on Lake Huron this week.

Sorry for not maintaining my thread and leaving you with a long story all at once.

[Radioguylogs]

Forgot something

Oops, need to have this picture, the magic moment when it starts and runs:

[jetmechmarty]

Mike,

Your fuse box install looks very good to me. One new solder joint at each and it's done. I like it. Just be sure to pack spare fuses. If they're original, the length isn't common. Overall, it's coming along nicely.

[jwhughes3]

I like that boat and your wife is right - looks like it belongs on the boat!

John

[Radioguylogs]

Mike,
Just be sure to pack spare fuses. If they're original, the length isn't common.

I made a conscientious decision to change to American-sized fuses so it would be easy to get replacements. This issue (along with a couple of others) ruled out the replica fusebox that we all see on eBay.

[Radioguylogs]

First Rides

Got to go on my first ride on the Bagger Sunday.

Rode about 100 miles.

Don't have the cracks in the bags fixed yet, so here is how she currently looks:


This bike idles much better and shifts much better than my SF, but it is not quite as fast. I already knew I had more work to improve the SF, but this SG is really a joy to ride.

The chassis feels great. It should, with all new bearings. The $100/pr progressive rear shocks are more stiff than the standard OE shocks, but I'm quite happy with them at first blush.

I got used to the heavy, stationary fairing more quikly than I expected, although it funnels a lot of engine heat back on my legs, and the it makes the engine sound more loud since it reflects more sound.

Only problems I found are:

(1) Previous tapping sound seems to be a combination of pre-ignition ping and valve noise. I changed from 93 octane to 87 octane, and then the pinging seemed improved, and I could nearly confirm the remaining noise to be normal valve noise accentuated by the fairing. I hope that is what it is. P.S. I did tighten all the exhaust connections, which is a good thing anyway after a brief break-in period- no change in the noise.

(2) Tach twitches wildly when I drive over a bump, especially over 4k RPM. I have been reading the current Tach threads, and they provide some guidance. Mostly likely the problem is inside the Tach itself, especially since I cleaned all the wire harness connectors already.

Rode another 50 miles this evening. I think I will be able to bring this bike to XSSE so I can thank the folks who have helped along the way.

Now....about the cracks in the bags and the LH cover. So far I'm favoring the approach suggested recently in another post- to use ABS cement and fiberglass cloth, then fill it with a paste of ABS/cement. I'll have do a trial first. Still looking for the ingredients.

[Dbshea]

Mike,

Random request as you have it all apart already. Could you take some pictures of the saddlebag bracketry without the bag installed? I've got a standard which uses a different mounting system, but I think the layout you have is more logical(supports the weight from the bottom, not just the sides)

Not a huge deal. Don't make a special trip for it.

[DiverRay]

So far looking good!
As far as California Highway 1, ask Bohn, Cody, or anyone else who was with me about 8-10 years ago when we went from South Lake Tahoe to Alice's in Woodside and then up 1 to Newport, OR. We were Northbound on 1, and I cut everyone loose to ride at their own pace through that 22 miles. We ALL had grins installed for a week!
Oh, and if you did 1 through Santa Cruz, you went past my place just South of there in Aptos!

[skids]

Sounds like a good ride. I once rode from Denver to Reno, took a tour around Lake Tahoe, and back to Denver via US Hwy 50 (loneliest highway). I must say that Hwy 50 was one of the best rides ever, until it merged with I-70.