Montreal Motorcycle Show

Just got back from the 2010 Montreal Motorcycle Show -- went with a friend from work. Spent Saturday afternoon & evening checking out the bikes, then we feasted like pigs:  BBQ chicken, ribs, and beer. Spent the night at a swanky hotel just 2 blocks from the big show.

Expensive Italian machinery

Kawi Z1000

H-D flat track racer

Patrick Trahan - competed in the 2010 Dakar Rally

CBR125 racer

Aprillia - the other Italian

Checking out the new Thruxton

Yamaha WR250X

KZ13000 (inline 6-cylinder)

Kawasaki Z1 

The original 1970's widow-maker

(museum quality restoration)

The 21st century widow-maker

Boulevard M109

Boulevard M90

ZX-14-powered T-Rex

Head bolts and valve cover

It's going slow but at least it's progress. I torqued the head bolts this afternoon and mounted the valve cover.

New exhaust header gasket.

Shiny valve cover.

Shiny polished stainless steel hex bolts.

Polished stainless steel exhaust

pent several hours this week polishing the exhaust system. Buffing wheels, wire wheels, synthetic sanding/scouring pads, steel wool, polishing creams, rubbing compounds....tried a bunch of different things. The entire system from front to back now has a mirror-like chrome look...the way polished stainless steel is supposed to look. It's not perfect, but it's a million times better than before. The rear pipe, although it had a mirror-finish last year, was in pretty sad condition after the winter riding I put it through in November and December. The amount of road salt the use here is enough to ruin the finish on anything.

Anyway, after  many hours of elbow grease, here's how it looks:

I even went to a local fasteners store and picked up some shiny new hex bolts for the exhaust system. The GSXR muffler needed a good cleaning, but it was relatively quick compared to the front & rear pipes.

Engine re-assembly

Time for engine re-assembly.... Got home from work a little early today so I decided to get started and put this thing back together.

Same piston, new rings. 

And notice the new base gasket -- 

better not leak when I'm done !

Cylinder jug installed.

Cylinder head, timing chain guides installed.

Cam shaft installed, timing marks lined up. 

Still need to torque the head bolts.

Cleaned and polished the spokes over the weekend.

Been polishing my pipe! (that sounds funny)
Still needs a good buffing with a polishing 
compound to smooth out the finish.

Winter maintenance project and upgrades

Progress report.... Photos tell the story.

Yick. What a mess.

Head gasket area and silicone goop all cleaned up.

piston and head cleaned

Head is ready to go back on.

I've polished the cam and valve covers with a Dremel and a few wire wheels,

 plus a couple of buffing wheels, and a little Autosol metal polish. It will look 

great with the new polished stainless bolts.

I've spent a wad of cash recently on a bunch of new parts. The main reason for tearing things apart in the first place was to fix the leaking cylinder base gasket. I could have just bought a new top-end gasket kit and slapped it back together, but you know how it is: one thing always leads to another, especially for a moto-addict like me. So I've ended up with a bunch of new parts, and a bank account that's running on empty.

Here's the tally of all the parts I've purchased to date, plus the shipping, duty, and taxes. While most of these items were purchased online in US dollars, the list below is in Canadian dollars (the exchange rate these days is pretty good for us Canucks, with $1 CDN worth about 95 cents US). The bulk of it came from ProCycle, one or two items from eBay, and the gasket set was purchased from my local dealer.


$100 OEM gasket kit
$65 OEM piston rings
$500 Mikuni TM-40 pumper carburetor
$42 OEM headlight cover/fairing
$12 spark plugs
$70 braided stainless steel brake line
$18 chain roller
$10 auxiliary light brackets
$50 polished stainless steel bolt kit
$92 shipping
$138 duty & taxes
____________________

$1,097 Total

It's like Christmas!

Still to be purchased: a set of Eibach .47 Kg/mm fork springs, and a 7.5 Kg/mm spring for the rear shock. By the time I get these items shipped to my door, I expect to spend another $300 CDN.
I've also got another potential project in mind...I recently scored a super bargain on a set of '90 Katana 600 wheels. The front Katana wheel is apparently a low-fuss 17" conversion for those looking to fit sticky street tires on a DR650. The rear Katana wheel will also fit onto the DR, but requires a little more work. I managed to find the pair locally for just $60. If I can have a set of wheels with street tires, and another set of wheels with dirt tires, I'll be able to swap back and forth easily depending on my mood.

1990 Katana 600 wheels will fit once I figure out 

a solution for the wheel bearings

I need to think about getting the bike back together soon. Riding season is nearly upon us.

winter maintenance project

Well, it's been about 27 days since I last rode the bike. On that last day, I took it to the self-serve high-pressure car wash and gave it a good scrubbing. Then I rode it home and parked it in the temporary shelter (winter tent) I setup in the back yard. Raised it up with my big bike lift/stand.

I removed the side panels, seat, gas tank, and battery (and hooked it up to the Battery Tender in the basement). Since then, I had been waiting for a mild day to pull the engine. Today was that day. That leaky base gasket needs to be replaced before the new riding season.

The crankcase/gearbox is still in the frame... it was starting to get dark and my arthritic hands & wrists had taken about as much as they could for an afternoon. It's all unbolted, so I'll just heave it out of there another day.

The gasket kit is now on order at the local Suzuki dealer, along with a few parts for the kids' JR50 (my other winter project).

OK, so winter has arrived now.

Pretty cold today but I decided to ride to work anyway. I couldn't help but feel that I got ripped off with regard to the last few days of nice riding weather about 10 days ago. I was working out of town all last week, and while the preceeding weekend was unusually nice weather for early December, I wasn't able to get out for a ride because my wife had stuff to do, leaving me to mind the kids. And then I left town for a 6-day work trip. The day after I left we had our first major dump of snow (about 25cm) and we've had several small snow falls since then. So the streets are now lined with waist-high snowbanks but I still wanted to ride. The main roads are clear as they've been salting them.

The thermometer showed -13 Celcius when I was warming up the bike. The tires (Avon Distanzias) gripped suprisingly well given the cold temps. Neck warmer, helmet, gloves, jacket and boots and jeans. I decided to forgo my overpants because the ride to the office is just 6Kms across the city. My knees were a little cold but not so bad.

Need to yank the top end of the engine soon and get that leaky base gasket replaced. Maybe over the holidays.

I can't believe it's not winter

November is nearly gone and the weather has been rather mild of late. While it's been a little wet at least the temperature has been above freezing. I hope this continues for a few more weeks but I'm nervous that real winter weather is just around the corner. The oil leak from the base gasket continues to leave a drop or two on the ashpalt in my parking space but it's not leaking much at all. In the last 3,000 Km I have not added any oil to the crankcase so the amount of oil loss is minimal. The oil level doesn't seem to have gone down at all. When the weather turns cold I will park it in the temporary shelter I bought (a big winter tent) and pull the engine. With the engine in the warmth of the basement, I'll tear it apart and replace the faulty gasket. This will also be the time to check that pesky neutral sensor unit that other DR owners warn about. The possible carnage the loose neutral sensor screws can cause is always at the back of my mind and I won't rest until I've securely re-set the screws with locktite. And while the engine is out I may take advantage of the opportunity to do a few upgrades -- I'm thinking about a high compression piston and a high performance cam. I'll have to come up with justification for all that cash though... and I've still got my heart set of a pumper carburetor which is going to set me back at least $500. Oh God, where will it end?