Project Retro

So the name of the 1991 CBR 600 F2 project is going to be project retro.

The Chain and sprockets are on.  The DiD gold chain is nice. I also installed a new stator cover that you can just see in the pic.  This bike never had a new cover - the old one was scratched from a crash.

I painted the muffler system as it was looking a little ragged and re-installed it.  The carbs are on an just need to be tuned.  The radiator is on. 

I need to paint the gauge cover and install it.  Then the bulk of the work is completed.  Summer here I come.

New toy - R1

I have ridden 600cc bikes most of my life.  But I really wanted to get a liter bike to ride.

So yesterday I snapped at the chance. And here is a crappy picture of my new toy.....

It's a 2004 Yamaha YZF-R1.  I got it from a young man here in Edmonton who said he wanted to buy something smaller.

It has been crashed on the left side pretty hard and tipped over on the right side.  Mechanically it is sound and it has 13000 km on it.  I got it for less than 4grand.  The goal is to get it fixed up and ride it this summer.  I want to change the colour into a Valentino Rossi homage M1 FIAT scheme.

It will be a fun project and in the end I should have a R1 that looks good, runs good, and cost under 5 grand.

Crap & Carbs

The old 1993 CBR was annoying me because it would not start. And I don't know why but I need to fix things that don't work.  So I pulled off the air cleaner and dumped out the mouse nest in it (sorry - no photo).  Then I checked the spark.  Therefore, it must be fuel.

I pulled off the carburetors to clean them and inside they were gummed up with fuel varnish. Really gummed up - the choke would not move as the needles were frozen and the vacuum slides would not move either. This bike had sat a long time.  When trying to remove the air/fuel screws the two inside needles left their tips behind in the carb body.  Nice – now they are garbage.  I ordered a used set off eBay.  Not sure why as I never really planned to ride this bike or even fix it up.  Oh well.  They should be here next week.

I stripped down the carbs from my 1991 bike and boiled them in lemon juice.  Then I reassembled them.  They are so clean you could eat off them.  There was some light varnish in the bowl and a few of the slow idle passages were plugged.  It should run better now.  Next up is adjusting the valve clearance and syncing the carbs.

Work, Winter and Waiting

October 2010 - April 2011 there was snow on the ground.  When that snow melted I went back to work. I had a job that took me away from home from June - November in 2011.  This basically meant that I got nothing done on my truck.

I did get the garage door replaced on my return home.  The old door was just metal and was a 7 1/2 " door in an 8' frame.  So now a correct 8' door is on the garage. It is insulated and has a new opener which is super quiet as it is belt driven, not chain like the old one.  I went through Overhead Door and thought they were OK to deal with here in Edmonton.

So now the garage is one big open space.  The trucks are still parked outside in the snow.  I will resume working on them once summer 2012 hits Alberta.

For Christmas I got me a motorcycle lift.  It is hydraulically operated and is absolutely amazing for working on bikes.  I don't know how I lived with out it (I remember, I had a sore back).

So for the winter I am going to post the work I am doing on my motorcycles.

I own a 1991 Honda CBR600F2.  I bought it in 1995 and it was the first real street bike I ever bought.  I still have it and it has never really been fixed - it was crashed when I bought it.  Since there are now a ton of replacement fairings on eBay I decided to put some repairs into the bike and get it ready for summer.

Here is a stock photo of what it looked like brand new in 1991.

 By the time I got to it in 1995 it had been dropped on the left side hard and the right side lightly.

So up on the lift it went and I started to strip it down.



The plans are as follows:

New Chain and Sprockets (15 front & 45 rear)
Repair radiator/Overheating issues
Repair upper fairing stay
Fix Kickstand issues
Repair scratched/bent parts from crashes in 1992, 1993, & 1994 : (
Clean muffler
Fix gauges
Replace fairings

When coming back from the Saskatchewan job in November I picked up a 1993 CBR600F2 for 400 bucks.  It had been crashed hard, the front forks are messed up and the fairings pretty tattered (and off the bike).  It would turn over but not start.  I bought it for parts for my bike.

Here is what it looks like sans gas tank and radiator - pretty much how I found it.  That's my CBR in the background

So this winter will be full of bike repairs and getting ready for summer. 

Stay tuned.