Gasket!

Yeah, it looks pretty bad. The bike is definitely out of commission until I get some new manifold boot gaskets.

The bike has been running pretty badly. I took it out for a test drive today (after doing a colortune... guess what? I have to do it again now!) and the throttle response was pretty poor. Couldn't get much above 65mph (not that I would mind you, Mr. Law Enforcement officer/speed trap demon) and I know the bike has potential. Way back when I first bought it, it ran pretty good! But then, of course, the PO hadn't changed the oil, air filter or plugs for I don't know how long.

Needless to say, I ordered gaskets and O rings from chacal today, and hope to have them by early next week. I sanded down the surfaces of boot the boots and the manifold, so when I do get them, they should just fit flush.

I did take a few snaps of the bike prior to tearing it down again.

That side cover sure turned out shiny. That's hours of sanding, my friends, and look! There's me, taking a photo! Is my hair out of place?

The bike looks pretty good when it's all together.

I also tried fabricating a piece to fit over the coils, using the old coil covers. It may work, I just need to find some sort of bracket to hold them in place.

I also bench sync'd my carbs, and will NOT mess with those adjustment screws again until everything is running smoothly. Which means, of course, I'll have to readjust the pilot screws...

Definitely a labor of love, and as much as I complain about how bad off the bike is running, I do like working on it.