Seafoam, how I love thee...

That little white can with the bluish green contents really does the trick. Today, since the weather has been sucking big time (has it ever rained as much as it's raining now or am I just more aware of the weather now that I want to be out in it?) I cleaned up the Mad Maxim, polished everything that's supposed to be shiny and dumped an entire bottle of seafoam into the gas tank.

Yes, an entire bottle.

Not one to follow directions, I am preparing myself for the journey into the wilds of Canada. Someone on the list said, "Get your bikes ready now. You don't want to have to spend hours cleaning out your carbs after the tune up". Truer words never spoken. After pouring an entire bottle in, I took it for a short ride (in between downpourings of the elixir of life) and perhaps it was my imagination, but the bike responded really well. Fired right up even after sitting for a day without being started. Idle'd well, acceleration excellent, if only the weather would hold out. True, you can ride your bike in the rain, but those wet pant legs and mud caked shoes don't exactly scream "ready for work!"

I'm going to do an oil change tomorrow... just the oil, not the filter. Figure I'll add a bit of seafoam to the crankcase as well. I want the bike to run uber well on the way to Canada and even though my 1000 mile anniversary hasn't arrived yet (will surpass that on the way to Canada) I figure it can't hurt.

The parts for my bike should be in by Tuesday. I'll do a front brake pad change (maybe stop that squealing...) and make sure I pack my bearing and my fork seals to go with me.

My heart is beating a little faster... come on next Friday!

It's been a few days

Haven't had much opportunity to ride lately since the weather has been so lousy, although I did get a little riding in on Thursday. The bike was a hard start first thing in the morning, but the afternoon, with a bit of milking the throttle, got going without a blast from the starter fluid. I hope that the clinic fixes that problem. My poor seat is getting torn up (the brace that holds it steady). I wonder what the effects of that starter fluid on the air filter is having... ? Perhaps thats a question I should pose to the list.

I am making mental preparations for the trip. It's hard to believe that in a week I'll be hitting the road for Canada. Lots to do before then, including getting my stuff packed.

Thats all for now. Hopefully I will get some riding in tomorrow, though the forecast is predicting rain... again.

Parts ordered...

Beautiful day, albeit a bit cool, for riding. I called Full Throttle Motor Sports and ordered my front fork seals which could possibly be replaced at the carb clinic in 2 weeks. I sent an email to Russ (host of this years carb-fest) and he said it's possible to get them changed, along with the front wheel bearings. I sure hope so. I think if I saw it done once, I could figure it out. My bike is running a little choppy, but it's probably that new air filter and the leaner mixture of gas and air. I have a feeling I'm going to have what amounts to a whole new bike come weekend after next.

I am going to print out the best way to get to Haps house and make sure that map gets put in the tank bag. Friday night at a hotel then Sat. morning we take off for the clinic. Saturday night I'll be staying at Russ's house, then taking off early Sunday morning back to Hap's (maybe).

It's a little scary going that far on my own with no back up. All I'll have is my cell phone, and Dan won't be able to come and save me...

That's all right. I have faith in the XJ.

The Rubbing...

Well, it was a lot of hard work, but the end result is pretty decent. I followed the directions to the letter regarding the mirror type finish you are supposed to be able to achieve, but I still think it could use some work.

Ah well, I am happy to let it stand as is. No chips or scratches, nothing to marr the paint, so I guess I'm happy. :) It is a very nice finish, and it wasn't as difficult as I first thought it would be. I'm eager to get started on the tank as soon as possible. Once that's done, then I am going to figure out a way to paint the frame of the bike without taking the whole bike apart. I should probably do it the hard way, but...






Well, here's my impromptu workshop. I have a nice view of the pond I put in right outside my window. Notice the many bottles of seafoam. I usually buy a couple of bottles every time I make it out to Murray's or Menards. Menards seems to have it for less. $4.88 a bottle. I plan on running a couple of bottles through in the next couple of days, mainly because the bike is running a little choppy. I bought and installed that K&N filter, but it isn't doing much for roughness. I'm thinking the only thing that is going to fix that problem is the carb clinic in 2 weeks.

I think I have enough paint to do the tank. The rear fender... well, I will get to that sooner or later, but it's actually in really good shape. The front fork seals definitely need to be done, as well as the front wheel bearings (though to be honest, I haven't heard that weird clicking since the spill... :-?

I also received the XJCD's! I'm very excited because now I have a definitive source for all the parts I need to make the bike run and look fantastic. I am thinking of taking the bearings with me to the clinic and see if it can't be done there since they will have all the tools. Also the front fork seals. I don't want to push it, but...

Painting over the Mona Lisa...

Well, here it is. Paint stripped off the front fender with Aircraft stripper, part sanded with 400 grit sandpaper (a bit harsh, but it worked) and washed. If you are thinking of painting your own parts, be sure to wash them quickly. The rust started forming right away, and although I have read that this is not harmful, all I could think of was huge rust bubbles breaking the surface of my paint job.





Ok, let me start off by saying this is my 2nd attempt. What happened to the first, you ask? Well, I had gotten to the clear coat part, everything looked pretty good except for a couple of small spots where the bracket sits when the unthinkable happened... the part rolled over on the bracer I had it sitting on! Perhaps it was the wind, perhaps it was bad luck... whatever the cause, my beautiful part was marred beyond repair! (scratched it right down to the metal beneath, although how this is possible is beyond me... the base coat was dry!) Anyhow, I waited for it to dry then tried sanding it out. No luck. It looked like crap. GrrrRR!! &%#@@!! I was so pissed. I wanted the first trial to come out perfect.
Well, as fate would have it, I'm glad I re-did the part. Even without the gouges in it, there were a few spots that looked like indentations.
Held here by the support screw, you can see how smooth the surface turned out. Not a mar to be seen anywhere. I made sure to primer coat the underside as well. I was handling the part with kid gloves, but it seemed every bug in the universe wanted to land on the wet paint.






Here it is, ready for painting. Having learned my lesson, I hung the part back on the wall and sprayed away. I decided to use Garnet Red, the closest to burgundy I could find... why don't they make burgundy? I don't know. The results are below:

Finally! Painted! Egads! What is that?!? A small scratch between the holes in the middle! ARGH! Yes, I bumped it taking it off the wall. At first, I didn't think it would matter because the support goes across the top anyway, so no one would ever see it, right? Wrong. I can just imagine the start of my rust problem right where no one can see it. I waited til it was dry, buffed it out a bit with sandpaper (2000grit) and finally came out with this:





Ahhh.. smooth as glass and shiny as the dickens. For my first (sic) paint job, I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I learned from my mistakes fo sho, and know what not to do the next time. This gleam is pre-rubbing, so I can't wait to see how it looks after I am all done.

I used nearly half a can of spray paint ( about 4 coats) and 3 layers of clear coat. The directions tell me to use 2000grit sandpaper on the finish, making it all hazy. I'm scared. I like the way it looks, but many have gone before me and their paint jobs turned out like mirrors. Yeah, I know it's just the front bumper, but hey, if you worked on your bike, wouldn't you want it to be the best it could be?

I spent a large part of the day ticked off, unnecessarily. I hope that I don't make the same mistakes the next time. I plan on doing the rear bumper next, and finally finishing off with the gas tank this winter. That is going to be a trick and a half. Hell, just getting the tank off proved to be fruitless. But, it's just going to take some manipulation and good intentions and the bike will be gleaming in time for next spring. Part of me wanted to get the whole thing done by the time I go to Canada, but that doesn't look likely.

Thanks for reading (if you are).