Starting to hate the old bikes....

Buffalo-guy · Post by **Buffalo-guy** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:45 am

These postings are sounding all too familiar. I was re-inventing the English language right up to the day of departure, for our extended weekend ride into central BC for an Italian bike rally. I did a 4ls brake conversion on my 73 Duc, sealed the fiberglass tank, and upon putting fuel back in the tank, found that the petcocks wouldn't hold anymore. They worked last year!! I knew I had replacement seals "somewhere", but all my testing time was taken up by hunting for those cursed seals. They finally surfaced, and they fixed the problem, and we left thurs morning on schedule. Picked up a roofing nail in the back tire outside Canmore AB, and the bike went the last 400 klm in the back of the chase vehicle. Put a new tube in at the rally site, and proceeded to put about 1500 more klm. on the bike on some of the most gorgeous roads on the planet. The grin factor from this old "relic" far outweighed any grief up to the point. Our marvelous old bikes are definitely frustrating at times

but the satisfaction extracted from a successful ride, puts all that crap in distant memory very quickly. My inevitable grave site is going to have to be pretty big, 'cause I'm taking them all with me. Cheers guys, and enjoy the summer, and the old relics!
Fred

Post by **Suzsmokeyallan** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:31 pm

Nah,, we will sneak a few off to greener pastures before they go into the ground with you...

jbswear · Post by **jbswear** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 7:27 pm

I'll register my hate, too.

H2RICK · Post by **H2RICK** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:47 pm

Not me !!! Indy recently turned over 6K miles and she's raring to go for another season.
If that flippin' gas tank wasn't sized for a 380, I'd be riding her more. Filling up every 90 miles can get old real fast.....

Way to go, Cliff. I'm glad to hear you're still keeping the true multi-cylinder-air-cooled faith !!!!

Cliff · Post by **Cliff** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 6:56 pm

Rick, yes I have to stop every 90-110 miles for gas and a smoke!!

H2RICK · Post by **H2RICK** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 8:30 am

Yep, me too, Cliff.......just not at the same time !!!

Post by **Suzsmokeyallan** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:34 am

Great news on Indys refurbishment Rick, so this means you can take the 550 instead of the Bandit this summer, that way you will have to stop when i do to fill up.
It would be great to have you looking for gas also instead of me having to remind you to stop for a refill every 100 miles..LOL

rbond · Post by **rbond** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:03 pm

Is it just a too heavy hand for such bad gas mileage? Of course I do not have any experience with any of the triples, but my GT500 consistently gets 41-46 mpg. So with the GT750 tank, I should be able to go 176 miles before going on reserve.

H2RICK · Post by **H2RICK** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:38 am

so this means you can take the 550 instead of the Bandit this summer,

Now that would make the trip VERY "interesting", Allan.

Unfortunately, the carrying capacity of the 550 is severely limited, what with the tiny rack, narrow/short seat and rudimentary suspension. If I only had IBA Allen's physical abilities for coping with old iron on long trips......sigh
My many old "war wounds" would make the trip a LOT less enjoyable than it could be.
Sooooo......Bandit it is.....with almost ALL the comforts of home, not the least being a suitably sized tank, decent mileage, comfortable ride, etc etc.

h2thief · Post by **h2thief** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 5:04 pm

Note to self...... check to see if the floats are full of fuel.......

Been fighting these carbs for two weeks now and finally shook the floats.... left cylinder had gas in the float.... now for the question.... where and what kind of floats are the best???? I saw them at alphasports for about $30.00.... might get the ol girl back on the road yet....

markj · Post by **markj** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 5:39 pm

I had the same trouble with my 550 and, after sodering them up, they are leaking again. Try reproductin decals. They sell the ones for the 550 for about $14 apiece. I'm not sure if they have them for the 750 but it couldn't hurt to ask.

rngdng · Post by **rngdng** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:23 pm

I saw them at alphasports for about $30.00.... might get the ol girl back on the road yet....

If Alpha has 30 bucks listed, you can get them for about 20 each (cheaper anyway....) through Motor City Power Sports.

http://www.motorcitypowersport.com/catalog.asp

Lane

h2thief · Post by **h2thief** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:54 pm

Thanks for the info Lane, I ended up going to the dealer yesterday and got them for $24 each..... just a little less than Motor city... the downside is that without paying shipping I will have to wait a week.....

muzza · Post by **muzza** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:02 am

I'm older and more ornery than any of my bikes and no-one's going lock me in a garage and not tickle my carbs for months!

I'd be troublesome too if I wasn't lovingly looked after on a regular basis.

Poor maligned old bikes.

H2RICK · Post by **H2RICK** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 8:53 pm

I'd be troublesome too if I wasn't lovingly looked after on a regular basis.
Poor maligned old bikes.

Absolutely, Muzza !! The older the bike is, the crankier it gets if not ridden regularly i.e. once a week for 2 hours at least, IMO.
My 550 is reasonably forgiving in this regard......
but the 650 Kwak, even with its low mileage (currently ~14K kilometres) does NOT like to be left standing for more than 1 week.
No way I can figure these old girls out !!! Just gotta ride 'em regular-like.

Starting to hate the old bikes....

gas

Re: Starting to hate the old bikes....