Catching Up With The Mods

No, not the scooter riding, skinny tie wearing, dedicated followers of fashion. The other kind of mods.

Around the same time I replaced the stock signals with the "bullet style" ones, I also ditched the stock tail light in favor of a "lucas style" one. This was one of my most anticipated mods, because I really don't like the look of the plastic spaceship look of the stock ones, and I had been wanting to ditch them since I got the bike.

So far I've been really happy with the new signals and tail light. The only thing I wasn't really happy with was the lack of brightness from the dim bulb. I went ahead and ordered an LED bulb from Super Bright LEDs. Specifically, I got the 45HP-LED BA15 Tower Bulb. There's definitely a big difference in brightness, so I'm really glad I made the switch.


The rain has been near biblical in these parts for the last couple of weeks. Luckily it let up a bit just before Chrsitmas, so I got to go for a brief but grin inducing ride up and down the Hollywood canyons. With no work left until New Years, I'm hoping the weather will cooperate enough for me to squeeze in a few more rides in 2010.

Rain And More Rain

I'm over it. Let the sun shine.

Sleigh My Ass...

5 december: Sinterklaas, Holland
Sinterklaas is a traditional children's gift-giving feast in the Netherlands. He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve, 5 December. The feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of Amsterdam, children and sailors. He is the basis of the mythical holiday figure of Santa Claus in the United States. Sinterklaas rides his (iron)horse assisted by his Moorish helpers called 'Zwarte Pieten'.

Wired

I spent last weekend finally modding my taillight and signals. I've never liked the stock ones, so I've really been looking forward to changing them out. I went with a Lucas style taillight and bullet style signals. Drilling the rear fender and wiring everything for the taillight and rear signals was a bigger job than I was expecting, but I managed to get it done late Sunday. I figured that the front signals would be a breeze, until I realized that the new left signal blocks the key when it's in the OFF position!


What a pain in the ass this turned out to be! I managed to get it to work temporarily by shimming it out with some rubber, but I've got an ignition relocation kit on it's way for a more permanent solution.

Garage Company

Yesterday I finally made it down to Garage Company in Inglewood. I had heard about it from a couple of BIR folks, so I really wanted to check it out after the things I had heard abou it. Well, it was very cool. It's such a unique place and very surprising to find something like this here in L.A. It's part museum and part store. Lots of beautiful vintage motorcycles and every part you could imagine. And just when I thought I'd seen all of it, there would be another back room or the cavernous garage packed full of hundreds of bikes, some of which were being worked on while I was there.






I didn't end up buying anything this time, but I have a feeling I'll be back when I have some more scratch in my pocket.

A Triumph That Leaks Oil?!

Yeah, I know it's a shocker. I've been getting some leakage from my valve cover for awhile now, and it seemed to be getting worse lately. So I finally ordered a new valve cover gasket and gaskets for the individual bolts too. In the meantime I had heard that it was worth checking the tightness on the bolts to see if they need a little extra action. To my surprise and frustration (there may have been some cussing), one of the cam caps where the bolt screws in, was STRIPPED!!!! Great! I went ahead and installed all of the new gaskets anyway, and the leak seemed to get slightly less serious, but it obviously still needed to be dealt with.



I've never drilled and tapped a thread before, and I only get one shot at it in this case. If I fuck it up, I have to replace the ENTIRE HEAD! Time to call a professional for some assistance. I called a couple of places, but it seemed like my best bet was the guys down at BA Moto down in Garden Grove. They used to work at the old OTD in the OC, but started their own shop. So you get their experience, without having to get gauged by dealer prices. And on top of that, you get to hang out and watch while they work on your bike!


It turns out that the other three bolts were on the verge of stripping, because when Jaime (the mechanic) went to tighten them down, they stripped right out too!!! You can see grooves on the cam caps where some monkey just tightened the heel out of the bolts and they dug down into the aluminum. Why wouldn't you do this the right way, and torque them down to the factory specs???!!! That's just lazy,sloppy, stupid work. Luckily Jaime seems to have the same hatred for that kind of work that I do. Thank god a I brought the bike down to them. I saved myself a lot of time and frustration. I asked tons of questions, ate some pho from a local spot, and it was a great experience all around.

So far, so good. Hopefully this solved the problem. I'll be monitoring this closely and we'll see if we can be leak free for awhile. My bike might look like a classic, but that doesn't mean I want it to leak like one.

Cooling Off In the Driveway

Had a good little ride out to Thousand Oaks to meet up with some BIR chaps and then up to the Reagan Library for a look at the motorcycle exhibit last weekend. There were some great classic bikes there, not to mention the old Air Force One. It's pretty cool to walk through the plane and check out all of the bitchin' 80s wood panelling, formica tables and more jars of jelly beans than you could possibly imagine. So Reagan: Terrible President, Cool Library.