990 Refresh... And Now For Something Completely Different....

Well, who would have guessed that I would be caught up on this blog for a change? Of course, now along with Stephan Pastis and my wife, John Cleese will be suing me for patent infringement. Anyhow, I have been working hardly and getting some places on this rebuild. Not as quickly as I would like, but there are times I feel as if I am making progress and doing a good job. Of course, I won't actually know I am doing a good job until I flip that starter switch sometime in the future.

At the moment, I don't have time to worry over those fears. I am busy doing more stuff, mechanical stuff, to this machine. At times I wonder if Clay, the former owner, is thinking what a mess I've made of things. By the way, Clay, if you are reading this, I still have your rock. It reminds me of how far I've come and how much money I have spent along the way, taking a perfectly good motorcycle and turning it into whatever this is these days... So, where am I? Yes...grips and throttle bodies.... So, today (yes, actually today for a change), I decided to install my new grips. I chose Rally grips for the bike. I love how comfortable they are. The fact that you can get them for ten bucks a pair is just a bonus!

First, I cut them down so that they would fit on the bike properly, or at least pretty close. I am not a surgeon. The cut lines look like someone with really bad teeth gnawed them to size. Oh well, once the hand guards are on, it will be hard to tell what a bad job I did. Here are all my supplies: grips, grip glue, safety wire and safety pliers (along with isopropyl which I use on everything these days). I wouldn't need the glue, I was fine without it.

So, after spraying isopropyl liberally on the bars and grips, I slid both sides onto the bars. The throttle side looked like this when I was done.

Then I double wrapped the grip with safety wire in the the channel provided and hooked up the pliers. These things are cool. They lock in place and then you spin them with the lever. They rotate and make a perfect tie...

Step one

Step two

Step three

Then you clip and bend the end out of the way

Looking pro-ish

Then I did the same to the other side.

That job done, it was time for one of the big jobs. The throttle body assembly. I am great, I mean good, ok...pretty average with carburetors. Throttle bodies though, I am a newbie on. In theory, they should be a lot easier. Just clean them and replace injectors whenever they fail. I knew going into this project that the former owner suspected that the injectors were going bad. Although the bike was making good power, there was an imbalance in the engine. It shook a bit more than it should. I respect the work Clay had done and had decided that it was worth replacing the two injectors as part of the bigger job. Luckily, I found a pair for the bike on sale which made the job much more easy to do. In case the average reader is wondering, the injectors normally sell for 160-180 US each. Not cheap, but they last an awful long time. Also, I had seen how dirty the entire TB assembly was and knew it needed a thorough cleaning at the very least. So, after a semi clean early on, the TB's looked like this today...

With the trumpets off, the dirt was evident...

I got a few cans to help the job out.

The insides of the bodies were covered in grime build up and took lots of cleaner and elbow grease to make shiny again

I took a million and a half pictures before disassembly to make sure I could get it back together correctly. Then I used the TB cleaner and Electronics cleaner to blast out all the old dirt and corrosion. There was a lot of both. Every connector was undone, cleaned and then hit with a shot of Corrosion X to prevent future corrosion. Then it was onto the injectors. The two bodies are held together by 2 bolts as well as the fuel rail which is held on by two screws.

You can see the two bolts between the bodies here.

Once removed, the whole thing splits in two.

The bronze tube is part of the fuel rail.

The old injector is on the top. Each new injector comes with new o rings.

Not a lot of pictures of the next step, installing the new injectors, I was using all my tiny brain trying not to screw the install up.

This bronze clips holds the injector in place.

Back together with new zip ties and all cleaned up

Assuming I did everything right, this is another of the big jobs I can check off the master list. I'm getting close now. Just installation of the intakes, chain and fluids and the graphics kit to do. Wow...it's hard to believe I am this far through.

I am looking at a small circle of light at the end of a very long tunnel...I think. Not completely sure, but I believe I am getting closer. Clay, if you are reading this. I am hoping to pay you a visit in a few short weeks. Of course, with my track record, I might be calling you before I get there to ask for a tow.