Double or Nothing - For a Decent Brew!

Good blast on the Gixer this morning and the fork seals are, happily, working as intended. Starting at Nerang we headed to Mudgeeraba to do Springbrook, dropping down the Pine Creek road, hanging a left and then over the border to NSW and, finally, Tyalgum.

Why? 
To try out a variety of different roads, and go back in time to get a brew at Dave's newfound cafe - Flutterbies. 'Cause if there's one thing guaranteed with our rides, we'll end up getting a coffee somewhere.
The route involves a good mix up of riding, from tight twisties and wooden-topped bridges (read slippy), to open roads and long sweepers. It keeps you on your toes, and kneedown is easy enough if you want it. It was the first good test of the forks to check if they were going to bottom out, leak or just chuck me off the bike. The only thing they did was get close to bottoming so another click on compression and we'll see how it goes. Sorted.

Forking Hell - GSXR1000K6 Leaking Again!

This is beginning to take the piss!
I've never had so much grief with a fork seal before. Having changed plenty of USD and conventional fork seals over the years, all with no issues, the Gixer's forks are doing my head in. Plenty of you suffer with leaking fork seals on GSXR's so this time I'm determined to work out why. This bike's done a few k's, and had a bit of stick, but you can seal up the forks of an old 'crosser with epoxy in the rust pits and a bit of wet & dry so lets see if we can't fix this thing on the cheap.

I've heard bushing is a weak point on the 43mm Kayaba's so I'll double check them to make sure they haven't worn through the Teflon coating. Bushes are actually available through the better suspension specialists, but they're a press fit, requiring some form of puller to remove them. If I can get away with it, I will. I have slight scratches in my stanchions so that doesn't help, and I've also never fitted seals the recommended way - with a seal driver! It could all be my fault (and probably is).

GSXR Master Cylinder Recall, the Dealers and the Bull.

It was long overdue.
One thing you should know from the start - I can't abide anyone else working on my stuff. I will always try to do it myself. Working in car dealerships for over twenty years does that to you - you see a fair variation in workmanship. So the letter from Suzuki had been festering in my rucksack for six months but, then again, any corrosion present in my master cylinder could've been present for eight years now anyway (it is a K6). 

Any signs? Sponginess?
Nothing. On original hoses, the lever still felt as good as ever. Fluid is changed regularly, or at least while I've owned it. It's not a solid lever, but the brakes are still adequate for hauling the old girl up - and light years ahead of my sixty year old Beesa:) What more could you ask for?

Sunrise - It's a Little Bit Special.

Took an early one this morning.
5.45am, kit up, sneak quietly into the garage, bike off paddock stands, open garage, push bike outside, roll down the drive and hit the starter button. Second gear snicked in, and head out across the top of the mountain. It's stunning out here!
With the sun due to come up at 5.57am, it's still too dark for the visor, but the temperature at this time of the year is just right. Happy rolling along at 60km/h while the petrol light flashes at me on the Gixer's dash, I'm soon at the perfect spot.

Perfect being this...

Now that's a sunrise!

GSX750ES - Switch Gear

The Intricate bits.
Fiddly, corroded, delicate, but pretty simple to bring up as good as new. Having temporarily misplaced the lefthand switch, I set into its better half. 
Apart from the throttle tube, the righthand side contains the light, starter and kill switches, and all were working ok previously. The red plastic of the kill switch has, unfortunately, faded to pink, so I've decided to paint it in satin black to keep it low key. The lettering will also be left in black (at this stage) because I don't want to draw attention to it. Of course, I may change my mind on this later on. But, without further ado, here's what it looked like.

2013 KTM 50SX - Clutch Replacement.

Clutch slipping, loss of drive but, more importantly, no race wins!

Moving on from the centrifugal, three shoe clutch of the previous mini KTM's, they now have an adjustable, multi-plate assembly fitted. Let's have a look inside.

GSX750 - Cleaning the Carbs, Carbies or Carburettors.

Call 'em what you will...
But this is the thing, the 6Sigma jet kit was ready to be fitted; the carbs were looking a little worse for wear; they needed a damn good clean; and I bought a damn cheap ultrasonic cleaner.

That last point, and my grammar, was a problem...
Now the bike ran ok - ok it didn't idle properly (but then it was in a pretty bad state), but it gave me enough of an inkling that most of it was pretty good inside. And that's half the battle. If you have a non-runner, "do it up" and find something's not right afterwards, it can be hard to pinpoint the problem. At least now when it all goes tits up, I'll know it's probably something to do with a part I've stripped - like the carbs.

Initially, they looked like this.
Dirty on the outside and, due to an air filter that was long overdue for replacement, not too good inside either. So onto eBay for an ultrasonic cleaner.