Messages

white vinegar 5% acidity will remove rust without over etching the metal. Eco friendly and cheap.

This. But to be fair, the acid will only convert the rust; not remove it. Some mechanical abrasion will still be required for removal. Before you do any type of converter (vinegar, Ospho, etc.) rinse the tank several times with Dawn and HOT water.

Although I have yet to try it, my body shop buddy swears by this stuff. No mechanical abrasion required. Locks loose rust in place and converts it. He does a lot of marine work but bikes as well. Says it works better than any Kreem or POR-15 stuff he's tried.
https://store.interstateproducts.com/products/Rust_Control/1_step_rust_killer_1gal?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&msclkid=cbd380173f571dcb49b0e0fdd3bb2e26

maybe brush some acetone around the seam to try to soften up whatever they used to stick it on there.

I was thinking of something similar, Mark. I would try "bagging it". Pour a small amount of acetone through the oil line opening and then tape a plastic bag around the case just inside the cover-to-case mating surface. Put an ounce or so of acetone in a spray paint cap and seal it up inside the bag. Acetone goes to vapor at relatively low temperatures and should penetrate that thin amount of epoxy. It may take a day or so.

There is a stem that GoldWing riders have relied on for years, called a "Patchboy" stem. All metal with rubber seals both inside and out. Available in different lengths, sizes, angles, even tees. GL1800 riders switched to them because the Honda original rubber-mounted stems were a major cause of rapid air loss.

I will never use rubber stems in tubeless bike wheels again. I've had one fail while riding. Luckily, or perhaps miraculously, it was on the rear, I was at non-hooligan speeds and I had just come through a turn. I did feel like good Karma came back to me that day. Had it been mid-turn, at speed and on the front....well, it could have ended very badly. I broke down every tubeless wheel I had and swapped them all to steel stems. If I die doing something I love, I'll be good with it; as long as it's not due to failure of a rubber valve stem. 

Funny enough, some motorheads love E85, especially the turbo crowd. (avgas and race gas is not readily available everywhere)

That's because E85 allows SO much tuning flexibility; boost or no boost. You can do some pretty stupid stuff with timing, compression, or a combination of the two before you cross a line and have a bad day.

50 to 1
40 to 1
32 to 1
30 to 1

Alot of range for mix.

You're going to get this range and more until everything becomes electric. 

Great looking combination that if tidy and polished could easily be mistaken for some that rolled of an assembly line in Japan. Been offered up for quite a while now. Non-running is such a value killer. If mine, I would get it sorted and running well and take advantage of the current inflated market. Wish it were closer. I would, at least, be having the conversation. There's always room for 1 more. Right?

I would simply offer this for your consideration, there are full synthetic oils available (several name brands) that spec 100:1 ratio for even air cooled 2Ts. They're considered "smokeless" and provide a written warranty against oil related failure. That being said, these oils could be run at 50:1 and still be twice as rich as recommended. You may want to investigate some of these as options in addition to what has already been suggested and do what makes the most sense for your situation.

The only problem I see is if you are out riding, and then need gas.
you have to have a list handy of where to go.

Consider carrying a spare volume of premix just in case you get caught between stations needing gas. You can buy dedicated containers for this purpose. I like the newer Stainless drinking water bottles. They come in a variety of sizes, double wall constructed, and silicone seals. The seals on some may dry out after a while but replacements are cheap and available from Amazon.

Brakes are not something to take short cuts with. Just spend the extra time/effort and do it right. It could end up being your life or someone elses you're risking.

Brake cleaner on assembled brakes is no bueno. If any of the "dirt" or "grime" on you calipers contains any leaked brake fluid, oil or grease and you spray brake cleaner (solvent) you run the risk of that mess soaking in to your brake pads; at which point, they're junk. You can't clean them.

Dawn and hot water is the safest thing to use as a cleaner/degreaser. You'll be surprised at how effective it is, even when compared to S-100, Simple Green and the like.

How tight are your nuts?

Well, I'm 52; so, not as tight as they used to be. But, thanks for asking. I was beginning to think no one cared. 

If all bearings are correct size, seated all the way in a clean bore, and correct spacers are installed, nothing should ever bind.

This....

You should be able to strip the threads on the axle and/or nut before something starts to bind.

Our Ethanol blended gas here in Florida is crap as well. I think it probably has to do with the climate and getting the "Summer blend". My personal policy is if I'm not going burn through the tank in 30 days it gets non-ethanol. Unfortunately, 93 octane non-eth can be tough to get in some areas.

I find this site handy:
https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=FL

Worst case is you go to your local airport and buy Avgas; typically 110 octane. Even when mixed 50/50 with 87 octane non-eth you end up with 98 octane. As a bonus, Avgas is leaded; which helps with cooling and lubrication. Not as expensive as you might expect.

You can also find higher octane non-eth at a lot of marinas. Price? Well, let's just say you should bring your own Vaseline because they don't provide any. 

Cool trackers, Soonerbillz. All you really need to get in the game and have buckets-o-fun on the cheap. Easier to learn to stay off the brake and carry more speed in the turns on something lighter and relatively low powered. I found out the hard way that it's difficult to unlearn bad habits you develop by starting on a bigger bike. Apologies for the hijack to follow:

Mark, it's crazy how OEM looking the EX/R5 is. Please post more about it. Was this ever a build on the old forum? More details, please.

Just thought I would share a cool pic I took of a buddy and his Seca 650 Turbo over 30 years ago. My how time flies. Anyhow, this bike was super fun; and proved to be surprisingly bullet-proof, when subjected to extremely hard use (read abuse). Boost was easily increased by simply replacing a washer in the wastegate with one having a smaller center hole.     

Thanks Mark. That Jack Nicholson GIF may cause me to have bad dreams. 

Thanks for the reply, Quicklimegirl. I now realize that by asking for details I inadvertently poked you in a sore spot so I apologize for that. So, thanks again for sharing. After I, myself, holed or seized a few pistons, I became hypersensitive to the words. Now I feel compelled to fully understand the various reasons and even combinations of reason that it happens. I initially thought that your wrist pin bearings were somehow a cause or contributor to the seizure. I misunderstood. After many hours of reading and hearing enough first hand personal experience, I've concluded that the OEM or comparable OEM replacement wrist pin bearings, are well suited for all but the most extreme, sustained high RPM, max effort builds. Basically, anything that wears a license plate should be good-to-go with stock stuff and provide a long and reliable service life. One thing to note is that the wrist pin bearing experiences a relatively low speed, acceleration-deceleration, rocking motion as opposed to a continuous roller motion. Even with exposure to elevated temperatures, they lead relatively easy lives given proper lubrication.

But I digress; as Mark could have explained this with about 3 or 4 words and an emoji. 

I had the pleasure of seeing Cheap Trick for the fist time October of 2019 when they open for ZZ Top at the St. Augastine Amphitheater; a relatively small venue with great acoustics. Stan Lynch sat in on drums. Great show.

       

https://daytona.craigslist.org/mpo/d/ormond-beach-kawasaki-triple-h1-h2/7287466867.html

https://daytona.craigslist.org/mpo/d/ormond-beach-suzuki-gt750/7287470415.html

These are local to me. I can store a good bit of this stuff for a while if someone needs me to. I would be willing to box and ship or crate and truck freight anything for a forum member as well.

I've already inquired about RD parts but he doesn't have any.

I feel like I owe you a beer.