WINTER MAINTENANCE...90% is getting started !

[Lucasind]

O.K. ...starting a new thread, so everyone(northern states ?) can show what they are doing to stay busy while their time was otherwise spent riding ...and make sure their bikes have yet another season of flawless operation ! Nearly 10k miles on my XII this year,and not one breakdown or even a "hic-up" in the 2015 season of operation
Now.....on the way back across the country, my XII broke yet another speedometer cable,
I am on the 3rd one in three years of ownership..... The first one, I have no knowledge(of course) in the installation and lubrication process, but the second one, I went WAY above and beyond the "call of duty" to insure "longevity"....that didn't happen...so I have now installed the 3rd speedo cable, I have owned many bikes over the years ...and have never seen a "speedo cable" munchin bike as the XII ! I disassemble and examine,and lubricate every part of the system... and gotta just say ...HUH ? I have read some guys post's saying the cable should be run on the "outside" of the fork for best results.....then have read other guys saying the exact opposite in their post.

Anyway.....Here is what I did after work today....Supporting one of the rally vendors... I purchased a set of "Galfer"stainless break lines from Don M. a couple of years ago at the
N.C rally,and am putting this job as #1 on the "to do" list for this winter maintenance session.



I find this "update kit" to be very well constructed,and nicely marked for the installer ,with "tags" telling you "which line ,goes where"
I installed the rear line first ...and anticipated the "dreaded" XII "can't get it bled" syndrome .......after installation of the new line....it feels like ya can't get the same "feel" that ya had before, on your rear brake pedal,till ya force the caliper's piston ALL the way back into the caliper....and keeping a "eye" on the reservoir, you will see that last annoying burp of air. then good results are soon to follow.



Here we are at Dec. 1st already..... and my XII wont be on the road till spring !
If we happen to catch another day or two...of unseasonably warm weather...the 13 six is raring and ready to go for a ride



Here you see my 2 spray cans, of electric contact cleaner, and cleaner lubricant,for servicing the rear break cruise micro switch,and the DOT 4 break fluid. OEM brake lines have been known to "breakdown" internally, and still look good from the outside...but are rotting out on the inside !
Contact board member Don M. if you would like to get a set of these stainless lines for your ride.
More to come ...as the winter continues ! What are YOU doing to your bike this winter ?
(I know you guys in the south will answer ...riding... )................Tony

[ekap1200]

Well good to see this , your getting the jump on me this year....
I still have a fuel pump job, then a Harley with a few wiring rats nests, a 1930s clutch job / with modifications, a steam engine's throttle valve, a few items of the honeydew list .......

Then finally my bike.
Front and rear tire for me this season along with fork oil change and inspect the head set. Rear wheel brg's while its off, and if time and parts permit I may add a CB to it.

Still looking for some theme's for the AVA rally "metal art" this year from ya'll up from that area. Done the dream catcher thing so that's out. really need some input from you Great Lakes folk's . Got any pictures of that area, places of interest , things to see or anything that comes to mind....

Gene

[ohiojack]

Tony/Gene: I'm ahead of both of you. Bike has been torn apart for the last two weeks. Front forks for progressive springs, new seals and oil. I will take tony's advice and lube my speedometer cable. Changing my plugs to iradium, new battery and then moving to my rear tire and checking bearings, brakes and changing rear end grease. I will then move to changing my rear shock oil. Hopefully I have everything covered. Gene are you going to meet up with Tony on the way up to the Upper Penn in June? It would be good to ride with you. ohiojack

[Lucasind]

Well good to see this , your getting the jump on me this year....
I still have a fuel pump job, then a Harley with a few wiring rats nests, a 1930s clutch job / with modifications, a steam engine's throttle valve, a few items of the honeydew list .......

Then finally my bike.
Front and rear tire for me this season along with fork oil change and inspect the head set. Rear wheel brg's while its off, and if time and parts permit I may add a CB to it.

Still looking for some theme's for the AVA rally "metal art" this year from ya'll up from that area. Done the dream catcher thing so that's out. really need some input from you Great Lakes folk's . Got any pictures of that area, places of interest , things to see or anything that comes to mind....

Gene

Sounds like you are going to be a busy guy after you get off of work for quite some time !
That is quite a list there ! what is the 1930's clutch project on ?

As far as the suggestion for your metal fabrication....I remember the pieces you made sold well at last years rally. The Mackinaw Bridge is up that way ...and it don't get more "great lakes" than that ! also alot of "lake freighter" ships like the Edmond Fitzgerald ? ? We will be crossing the Mack Bridge in less than 200 days ...can't wait ........................Tony

[Lucasind]

Tony/Gene: I'm ahead of both of you. Bike has been torn apart for the last two weeks. Front forks for progressive springs, new seals and oil. I will take tony's advice and lube my speedometer cable. Changing my plugs to iradium, new battery and then moving to my rear tire and checking bearings, brakes and changing rear end grease. I will then move to changing my rear shock oil. Hopefully I have everything covered. Gene are you going to meet up with Tony on the way up to the Upper Penn in June? It would be good to ride with you. ohiojack

Hello Jack , Sounds like you have a quite a list there too ! If you have'nt already done it ...don't forget to change your fuel filter, I installed iridium plugs and replaced the OEM fuel filter in my XII one weekend, a couple years ago, O.D. reading was (I think) 20k ...took the bike down off the lift ,and out for a test ride, Holy Cow ! I couldn't believe the difference in acceleration and power ,It was like I was riding someone else's bike ! The previous owner of my bike was a shop... and they assured me that "ALL that" had just been done(they must have not known where that fuel filter was hiding !)
.I am about to replace my fuel filter tomorrow after work whether it needs one or not ,and replacement will become part of my winter maintenance every year cause they cost no money, and my local NAPA stocks them. I think you can find all of the applicable part #s in the "Tech Center" page of this forum...................Tony

*click on "Dollar for Dollar"

[voyager55]

Don't forget new bushings

Tony/Gene: I'm ahead of both of you. Bike has been torn apart for the last two weeks. Front forks for progressive springs, new seals and oil. I will take tony's advice and lube my speedometer cable. Changing my plugs to iradium, new battery and then moving to my rear tire and checking bearings, brakes and changing rear end grease. I will then move to changing my rear shock oil. Hopefully I have everything covered. Gene are you going to meet up with Tony on the way up to the Upper Penn in June? It would be good to ride with you. ohiojack

[ohiojack]

Voyager55: Do you mean the bushings in the rear hub??

[Lucasind]

...I'm sure that he meant the bushings in the fork lower.here is a video that gives you a idea where they are and look like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rQ9n3TKatQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Tony

[ekap1200]

Well guys , seems I got your interest in the 1930. Its a neet little pick up that a customer is reto-fitting a new computer controlled engine into it. But the tricks are keeping the original 1930 trans, that has a tube from the output to the original rear. So , so far I have machined the flywheel to accept a different pressure plate, Not a big deal. I have to modify the pressure plate dog/blocks to get the proper throw-out bearing dimension and movement. That's the final task of this job. The drive shaft is a solid 1.100 shaft that rides inside a tube from the trans to the rear. It had to be cut back 14.3 inch's and I had to hob out the splines onto the cut end to fit the trans. This was done on my mill here in the shop and was not as difficult as it sounds. Five shops turned him down, so of course I jumped on this job and ended up spending 4hours in set up and 3hours doing the job. Not your typical NO-PRESSURE JOB, I'm sure there are allot of 1930's shafts out there for sale if I buggered it.
But it turned out to be a breeze once it was set up.
Any how, plans for us are still to far out to plan, Marie has been battling Kidney stone issues for over a month now and her new jobs a hassle and my two girls have their issues we deal with. So we will not know for a while what we will be doing , but we will make the Rally.
Thanks for the ideas on the metal art theme. That gives Marie something to do looking for pictures for me to get into Auto-Cad and work on.
Carl has been a great help in ascertaining those hard to find items for the bike from H*$#L and is sending a fuel pump up to me for it. I will be a busy man here for a while and have not seen the HD wiring mess in person yet. But it sounds like its a mess.
Remember what my wife say, " A BUSY MAN IS A HAPPY MAN "
Gene Kap.

[cushman eagle]

I don't have my bike down for the season yet,but my plans are: change the rear tire,replace the drive shaft with one I bought and greased the u-joint,regrease the swingarm bearings,change the engine oil/filter,shock oil and fork oil,and rear brake pads .I rode 40 miles Sunday,so I don't know when I am going to start the winter service.Tony,I am already thinking about new brake lines for next winters service,let me know how you you like your new ones.

[Lucasind]

I don't have my bike down for the season yet,but my plans are: change the rear tire,replace the drive shaft with one I bought and greased the u-joint,regrease the swingarm bearings,change the engine oil/filter,shock oil and fork oil,and rear brake pads .I rode 40 miles Sunday,so I don't know when I am going to start the winter service.Tony,I am already thinking about new brake lines for next winters service,let me know how you you like your new ones.

O.K will do Loren, Like it or not ...our bikes are getting old, even though I was not experiencing any "issues" with my braking system, I am just doing this BEFORE I do.
The same with hoses and o-rings for the cooling system....Not one issue of trouble ...but it is all getting replaced, don't like any surprises while out of state on vacation !
I carry a spare alternator with me when I go touring, and am about to get a spare fuel pump as well , I;m a worrier ! ...................Tony

[VoyKimmer]

Mackinaw Bridge is over 300 miles from Hurley. Not really remotely related to the town. Duluth Min is much closer and the shiyards.

[ekap1200]

Mackinaw Bridge is over 300 miles from Hurley. Not really remotely related to the town. Duluth Min is much closer and the shiyards.

Great work guys, bridges/shipping/ and Light houses, got some ideas going now. Thanks

[Lucasind]

Mackinaw Bridge is over 300 miles from Hurley. Not really remotely related to the town. Duluth Min is much closer and the shiyards.

...Yes .. Am aware of the distance from the bridge to Hurley WI..but the question asked ,was "great lakes things" NOT Hurley specific things.....and you might find "ships" in any shipyard.

[ekap1200]

Mackinaw Bridge is over 300 miles from Hurley. Not really remotely related to the town. Duluth Min is much closer and the shiyards.

...Yes .. Am aware of the distance from the bridge to Hurley WI..but the question asked ,was "great lakes things" NOT Hurley specific things.

Hey whats a few hundred miles . we own Voyagers.. just a hop skip and a jump for these bikes...

Tony; I re-read your to do list. I need to do the darn water-log o-rings also.. gee my list is getting longer.

[Lucasind]

....I hear ya Gene ! .I pulled the drain plug, to drain out my coolant after work today....it's outside P-ing in the pan right now Will remove the radiator,unplug the IC igniter, and remove the air box tomorrow...no sense in procrastinating about it ! ......."GET ER DUN" I have no "leaks"
....but sticking the lead light up ,in,and around all things related....I see what might be classified as very minor "seepage" well...can't have that ! More posts to come about that .................Tony

[krasmu]

Finally got mine put up for the winter and now the weather has taken a turn towards the 50s.
I'm looking at doing some lighting work. I have LED side markers for the front fairing, trunk and saddle bags. Want to make a final choice on driving lights. You guys have convinced me to mount them on the crash bars now. would hate to do damage on the expensive fairing. I'm planning on sending my stereo out to Pete for some mods there. will install a 12V power supply somewhere to power a phone or GPS. While I have to fairing off the bike I'll be going through the mounts for the dash and stereo. something up there is loose and rattling big time. I have the parts from Carl to repair my trip odometer and then I'll move down to lubing the speedo cable and front bearings. I have new Polk Audio speakers to install and full break job. If time allows yet, I want to strip the lower tail light lense and get that operational as well. Would love to do a full LED conversion on the bike but might have to do that a little at a time. After reading some of the other posts, it sounds like I should put some thought into some of the other heavy hitter items as well. I suppose fuel filter and plugs would be wise since the fairing will be off and they will be exposed anyway.

[triton28]

One 1990 engine out and ready to disassemble due to the presence of tell tale silicone on the crankcase halves. Someone has been in the engine before me and I don't trust any mechanic who would use such a large amount of silicone on the mating surfaces, instead of Three Bond which is the proper sealant for the crankcase halves. It's hard to say where the goop has gotten to so I will be doing a complete tear down and check out on this one. It had been sitting outdoors for 3 years not running but the previous owner at least had enough sense to keep the cylinders oiled and turned the motor over every month. The carbs, well that was another story!
The next engine, a 1987, sitting off to the side in the frame needs a starter chain job, it's got the 700 rpm sporadic rattle so out and apart she comes as well.
After 25 and 28 years I'm sure the piston crowns/combustion chambers need a good decoking job. Lap the valves, new o-rings/seals and gaskets and they should be ready for another couple of decades.
Regards,
Dave

[Lucasind]

....Dave , You will certainly be Voyager busy this winter !.............Tony

[triton28]

Good thing I'm retired! I'm going to need all winter for these guys.
Dave