almost done with the little over 100 hour, 1.5 year service/refurb. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017121&id=1430607431&l=24ba441a36
suspension service, wheel seals (bearings good), EE wheel spacers, GPR system refurb, BNG (old set of Ferracci Tri-Colori), Tires/tubes pirelli scorp F and Mich FIM comp rear, mich HD tubes, balanced wheels, lubed chassis, new steering bearings, finally installed 7602 hoses onto the carb filter, valve adjust, oil change, new chain and sprockets and little bunch of other stuff. R
NOTE: , I pull the suspension linkage and lube it from time to time, no set schedule, usually after some wet/water rides. It has not been more than six months, well maybe at that start of 09 at longest. The lower shock bearing was dry and powdery with iron oxide/rust a very bad scene, the others were not dry but had considerable corrosion as well. I need the machine for a ride this weekend so I just cleaned them all up as best as possible and greased (Bel Ray)the heck out of them after freeing them with spray oil (Maxima) and drying them with contact cleaner (Maxima). Next round of activity I will do all the linkage bearings (in a few weeks) FYI, for wet zone riders and other water crossing folks. The seals did not look bad but they will be replaced with all the bearings. R
note again, user FYI, replaced steering head bearings @105 hrs 1.5 years of hard use. bearings were still usable but had wear marking on both and some corrosion on the lower bearing. I would not have gone too much longer before changing them.
strange one, as final assy is being done, I removed the IMS tank a couple of weeks ago with a 1/2 bag of fuel. The tank will not go back onto the bike, yes thats right the rear frame pins are now 1 hole off ! the front is unchanged and I can even see where the mount screw washer left its mark and it all lines up,up front. I can only think that with the gas in it it expanded???? It was never a drop onto the alignment pin deal, I had to push and tap it down onto them, but now at a whole hole (sounds funny) off, it just cant be forced. My best thought was to drain gas and leave the tank out in the sun all day tommorrow. I have my OEM peanut tank for back up,,,but heading to a longer distance ride over the weekend it will be a pain.
Funny you should mention the possibility of a distorted tank - a few weeks ago my bike was parked outside my work on the first hot sunny day for months. When I went to start it I saw that the fuel tap had weeped a few drops from where it fits to the tank. That night I drained the (stock) tank and replaced the o-ring on the tap, but when I refitted the tank the next morning I couldn't get the seat on - the front of the seat wouldn't engage on the tank bolt. I must have taken off the tank three or four times to see if it was fouling on anything but it was clear. I managed to wriggle the seat on eventually but it freaked me out. I'm thinking that the heat pressurised the tank - there's a one way valve in the vent and the tank was pretty full - and the tank distorted somehow. The pressure thing possibly explains the tap leak too. The tank distorting may explain why the plastics have never fitted perfectly as well. As for a remedy I'm at a loss. Maybe filling the tank with very hot water (but allowing the pressure to vent) and "body languaging" it into position. But it wouldn't be a pleasant job, it may make it worse and there's also the problem of drying it out afterwards. Dunno mate. A question for you robertaccio: When you refurbed your suspension did you use Husky parts or an aftermarket kit? I greased my sussie when I got the bike but it'll need new bearings throughout soon and kits for pre 05's are thin on the ground in the UK.
Oooerr! So robertaccio it would be interesting to know if your tank was ever sitting somewhere hot while it was off the bike? And would it have been able to vent any pressure which built up (if so then maybe the expansion was the tank material itself rather it being forced by pressure build-up of the contents). Not sure where your vent valve is attached 7point62 but if it's like mine in the rubber tube on the tank cap I'd have half expected the tube to blow off before the pressure was enough to distort to tank, but then again I know how much trouble I had getting the tube off when I changed tank caps so who knows...? If it is the heat which is causing it I'm surprised we haven't heard of more people having problems like your weeping o-ring, especially in the hotter parts of the US (though maybe there have been problems without knowing the cause?). Not so much an issue here in the UK; you were so unlucky getting a sunny day while the bike was parked outside - what are the chances! :shocked:
"A question for you robertaccio: When you refurbed your suspension did you use Husky parts or an aftermarket kit?" We got all the seals OEM form my dealer (Marzocchi) all else was just an inside cleaning and leaving the LTR valve stacks alone, fork oil was fairly clean still, but the shock oil was fouled a little more, all bushings and hard parts were well within service limits and reassembled as is(was). "I greased my sussie when I got the bike but it'll need new bearings throughout soon and kits for pre 05's are thin on the ground in the UK." After this latest clean up I would recommend more often checks of the linkage, especially in the more wet zones of the world, its simple insurance. We have aftermarket kits here "all balls" and "moose"for example but they seem to use Chinese bearings, I would rather see the SKF or other high quality brand on them and pay the xtra cash for real quality not fake (the Chinese put fake bearing quality IDs on their stuff) The tank thing is nutty!!! I have always been the one to say that my IMS tank fits fine with the GPR rig on my TXC, and it still does up at that forward end. Just now the rear alignment pins are way off. The tank is drained and will sit out in the sun on a black top paveway and after a few hours or solar power we will work with it again. just weird even though it is plastic (and maleable material) it deformed that much,,its like a 1in deformation. If no fit I will throw on the OEM tank and do our ride with my 1 gal oil container filled with gas on my gear bag,,,like before big tank days, no sweat it just adds to the adventure!!!
PS if no fit I will make a jig to match the bike dims with adjustble pins and squeeze the tank into shape with solar power then force. Also the tank was sitting the garage and the tank cap vent works fine (when i squeeze the tank it hisses out air.
put oem tank back on, will carry a gallon in my container. bike is up and ready for action IMS said they would take the tank and put in the oven and reinstall it onto their positioning jig to reshape it.
got er all back together on fri eve, left for baja on sat morn, rode all day sat, camped rode all day sun, back in SD sun night, bike was flawless... lesson..lots of drama with other bike that was loosly with our crew. PS before going on a bike trip make xtra sure the machine is prepped and tuned properly, especially in the wilds of Mex PPS more bling does not make the bike run better.
PS this weekends story is very long and complex,,,,,,moral of that long winded story is: for all going into the boonies of any where, just have your sh&t together. pissing and Whining and blaming others gets you nowhere but into deeper crap! Our core crew came together and found fast and safe solutions to the issue at hand (good team work).
I was not reffering to our beloved Marque I was refferring to the machine that died in the wilds of N baja, and whose owner blew major fuses and blamed us for his misery.
Word. It's easy to be so consumed with a new farkle that a frayed wire or creaky bearing goes un-noticed. Blaming everyone else when it breaks is Nature's way of minimising embarrasment at one's own poor wrenching... You have a very good point about teamwork though. We don't really have much wilderness in the UK, but it's still clear that panicking and apportioning blame at the first obstacle is how merely annoying situations turn dangerous. Even though I've never been great with authority I have to say that groups can benefit from a "leader" that they're all happy with, just in case. I never thought I'd see myself typing that, lol. Hope IMS get your tank sorted btw.
I have heard (out here in net fantasy land) complaints about IMS,,,,,,,I have never had anything but great customer service from them as far back as 10 years with a Kato tank that started leaking around one of the molded in inserts after many month of hammering (they happily replaced it). And now they say to simply send my tank up to them so they can heat it an re-jig it for fit, after over a year of me hammering that thing. I am sure it will come back in form fit condition. if not I know I can work with them to adjust the fitting pins on the jig. R PS we really did make the bike recovery as logical self preservation team effort and with added circumstantial luck evrything came out fine, for us,,,,for him another story. now how the heck to remove all the foam cubes in that tank???? (I have a good idea) coathanger!!
all good, tested south of border done, but actually this is the weekend after the fri eve 18sep finish. the first photos were from 16 sep, we left for a 2 day ride on sat morn 19-20 this photo is 27sep after a rinse off of baja dust
ps the 117H is my Western Hare Scrambles No.. I did not go to Glen Helen after all. went with the crew for a more fun and much longer ride (well it was supposed to be more fun). Note I finally used pieces of the Ferracci graphics kit (05-07 model). I like the result. all ready tore the graphic and gouged my swingarm on a mex rock (see the Renthal R). bike was flawless under heavy stress for 2 days. PS 6th gear wfo is stupid fast on this thing, only did it for a few seconds on a long dirt road straight line with good ahead view. we did single track as much as possible
If you had been holding your mouth like this when you were reinstalling the tank, it would have gone on. You just weren't holding your mouth right.
I know this question wasnt directed to me but I thought I would give my $.02. I recently replaced my fork seals and the dealer didnt have the OEM stuff so he recommended all balls. They were alot cheaper but man did they go in hard. I had a seal driver that I made at work but I still couldnt get them to seat (tool wasnt heavy enough). Finally I took it to a local shop and they had a pretty rough time as well. If I was going to do it all over I would go with OEM.
