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Central New York Carb Clinic #12 - June 8, 2019

Discussion in 'Hangout Lounge' started by hogfiddles, Feb 7, 2019.

  1. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    Smeagol ---you left out the part about your bike shutting down on the ride!!!! ( a few miles into our ride, his bike lost power and c old barely move. If finally gave up when we were heading up a hill to a stop sign. Run out of gas? Nope, still plenty there. What the----????? Well, I felt the pipes and 2/3 were barely warm. I could keep my hands on them. Ok, so the 2/3 coil is dead. As soon as I said that--crazy gnat says, "I KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS!!!!! REMEMBER THAT CLIP THAT CAME APART LAST YEAR ON THE WAY HOME!?!?!? THE ONE WE DUCT-TAPED?? THAT WAS THE 2/3 COIL....I BET IT SLID APART WHEN YOU PUT THE TANK BACK ON". So, we pulled the tank.....sure 'nuff--------pulled the now-soft tape 0ut of the way, pushed it back together, and I stretched the tape around it as best as I could to hold it tight til we got back. Now it's zip--tied together tightly.

    I suspect the idle issue is those o-rings, as we discussed here. It'll be interesting to see what happens after y0u swap them for the correct seals. I suspect that as the rack warms up, they start to bind as things expand. But I will say, it sounds much better this year, and we were able to actually get it synced this time!

    It also sounded a WHOLE lot better than last year, and I've been enjoying watching this one slowly come back to life and become increasingly reliable! Geoff has done wonders with that engine, I'm glad he didn't give up, and it's been a fun challenge to diagnose all the issues......

    I have heard from everyone now, so it's nice to know that everyone's arrived home safely.

    I have most everything put away now, and just have the loose ends to finish up. I should be done doing that just about the time to start pulling everything back out to set up for the next clinic......lol
     
  2. smeagol21b

    smeagol21b Active Member

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    Yeah it's running MUCH better! I stopped every 100 miles to gas up and most I put was $7 in gas! But yeah once I get the money together I'm going to order the proper seals and hopefully that fixes the issues! Getting that carb needle in properly helped a lot too, but we already know why that was a problem lol! Like I said Sunday I probably won't make it to the clinic next year but I'll be there in spirit!
     
  3. saftie

    saftie Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Looks like we all got a year older
     
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  4. MattiThundrrr

    MattiThundrrr Not a guru

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    At least the bikes still look good!
     
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  5. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    Ouch
     
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  6. Fleetwood

    Fleetwood New Member

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    IMG_0602.PNG IMG_0603.PNG IMG_0605.PNG IMG_0606.PNG IMG_0608.PNG IMG_0610.PNG IMG_0611.PNG IMG_0612.PNG IMG_1873.JPG IMG_1874.JPG IMG_1875.JPG IMG_1883.JPG IMG_1884.JPG image.jpeg

    Planning this year’s CNYCC was extensive. I/we have attended 6 of the prior 12 carb clinics with Dave Fox. Always a fantastic event and all prior ones the rain God blessed us with rain. It is about a 200 mile 4 hr drive. The 2019 event had fantastic weather in PA and NY! But we missed it due to a series of small disasters that mushroomed, due to some seemingly minor details in planning. Not only did the motorcycle come off the center stand, on the trailer, it fell over putting a large dent in the gas tank. Thirty miles later a wheel bearing went out on my trailer. We also had the pleasure of meeting a very nice PA State Trooper, rent a new trailer, spend almost 12 hours in a Turnpike rest stop working at solving things, and ended up traveling more miles than if we had attended the carb clinic! Arrived home 3 AM in the morning! So, I don’t forget to add this: Alicia (my Fiancée) was wonderful and a tremendous help throughout this whole ordeal!

    A few months ago, I purchased an XJ-700 Maxim airhead, with 12,000 miles. I knew it had some rust in the gas tank and would need the carbs cleaned or rebuilt. After it had been sitting in our garage a few weeks I noticed some fluid on the front rim. It had either leaking forks or leaking calibers. So, I decided I will rebuild Forks at the CNYCC, and there we can look at the calibers. In the week prior, ordered a basic Fork kit with seals from Len. He was fantastic getting the parts to me. Since my 2003 Escape has over 200,000 miles, for this trip, we bought a new hitch for Alicia’s 2017 Escape, and new wiring kit. A few days prior I completed installing the hitch and the wiring. BTW: I highly recommend E-trailer if you need a hitch or wiring! This trip we were trailering the 86 XJ-700 in my trailer. I have had the trailer for over 15 years. Even added Bearing Buddies years ago and I try to keep them greased prior to every long trip.

    I have trailered my bikes 5 or 6 times before and I am very methodic and detailed when strapping them down. Bike on Center stand, separate strap from each handlebar down to floor hooks. Remove the seat and connect separate straps to each side of the frame where the seat goes. Strap front wheel to wheel chalk bolted to floor, strap to front of trailer tongue. Strap around the rear tire/wheel a few times and tight to each side of trailer.

    Saturday morning, we were loaded up and ready to leave around 8:45 AM. Although we wanted to leave by 7AM, Alicia got home late the night before & we had been up until midnight.

    This trip I ran a long strap looped 2 times around the center of handlebars, Error #1. This trip I ran a long strap looped around middle of frame near seat (not using 2 separate straps), Error #2. This trip, (since I had just used the trailer a few weeks before) I skipped greasing the Bearing Buddies, Error #3. BTW: packing the car, I had my hand on the grease gun in the garage ready to bring it, but decided I already had too many tools loaded, Error #4…… As a precaution, after about 20 miles, I pulled over and put my hand on each hub. They were cool, not even warm. Bearings should be fine…maybe, maybe not!

    Around 10:00 AM we were near Wilkes Barre cruising the Turnpike and a PA State Trooper had someone pulled over so I moved into the passing lane. As I went to get back in the right lane, as I looked in my rearview mirror, the Trooper had pulled out and was coming up behind me. That was when I had the unexpected pleasure of watching as my bike slowly fall over in the trailer smashing the gas tank against the rail. Pulled over right away and the Trooper pulled behind us and got out to help us. I noticed the front strap holding the front wheel had been cut by the edge of the trailer, never had that happen before. That gave the bike slack to slide back then go forward off the center stand. The looped straps gave it enough slack for it to fall over. So there on the side of the Turnpike with the help of the State Trooper we chatted as we got the bike strapped down properly this time. The Trooper was with me in the trailer and Alicia was getting more straps out of the back of the car. It seemed strange that every time she reached into the car to get more straps, he watched her like a hawk! I mentioned to him we were from Fleetwood, he said he knows, he ran the tags! I said, gee by now you probably know the name of our dog! He laughed and said, you would have to be a pretty bad character for that to come up.

    After about 20 minutes of changing the way it was strapped down and adding a few extra straps, we were on our way again. As we pulled out, I said to Alicia, he was really watching you getting the straps. And it hit me: she has a permit to carry. Most likely that came up on his system! We were really lucky he was a such a nice guy!

    About 30 miles later, I started feeling a tug like a wheel bearing going. We were now above Scranton. Alicia also felt it. She said what was that? I said feels like a wheel bearing! We pulled over right away and I felt both hubs, the left wheel hub was really warm. I explained to her the problem. We decided to drop the trailer with bike, and she drove to a Pep Boys and bought a grease gun and tube of bearing grease. Knowing my lovely lady, she explained the situation to the guy at the store & the guy convinced her we needed the best grease gun they have! OH, Lucky me, (I now have 3 grease guns)! The new gun can load grease into a bearing up to 5,000 psi. Anyone want to guess the strength and coordination it took me to compress that grease gun spring in order to get the cap on after loading the grease tube in it? I fought with that cap and spring for almost 10 minutes on the side of the road! And the longer you fight with it, every drop of grease on the case, the plunger, the spring and the cap makes it that much harder to get together! Well, I finally managed to grease both bearings. Then Alicia says, so how long until we get to the carb clinic? I said no, we are turning around. She was bummed out! Told her, the bearing can still go out completely. If we ruin the bearing, I can get the bearing replaced but if we ruin the axle and hub it is a lot more expensive. Not worth trying to chance it, driving further puts us further away from home and compounds the problem if it goes out!

    We made it about 50 miles back and I felt the bearing binding up again. We had 2 miles to a Service Plaza/Rest Area. Slowed down and made it into the parking lot. When we got out to look at the trailer, the Bearing Buddy had blown completely off the axle with grease all over the rim. The new, thicker strap holding the front wheel had been cut again by the edge of the trailer. As an added level of safety, I had also put a strap from the center-stand forward to the front of the trailer locking the kickstand in the up position! That additional strap saved us from more damage to the bike.

    In hindsight, there is a chance I may have overfilled the bearing with the high-pressure grease gun. Or with years of wear the bearing was just ready to go! Either way we now needed a plan to get everyone and everything home. Alicia said: What are we going to do? I said, I don’t know, and I got that deer in the headlight look from her? Most likely I had the same look! I said, we’ll start by going in and getting coffee and thinking it over. My decision after relaxing about 10 minutes, we needed to rent a trailer.

    After about 10 calls it was about 3PM and we needed our plan in place before rental places closed at 5PM. We were able to find a rental trailer in Allentown at Home Depot (60 miles away) for about $50 for 24 hours. By 6PM we were back with the rental trailer. I started unstrapping the bike to roll it off my trailer and said wait a minute. We need to first disconnect the rental, hook up my trailer to the hitch to get the bike off. Then, reconnect the rental to get the bike on the other trailer. That was time consuming! The rental trailer was about 10 inches too narrow to load both the bike and trailer together so we had to first take the bike home. On the way home we thought about things we might need to take back: a few extra tools and more straps. Alicia said how are we going to get the trailer on the rental trailer? I said we need to disassemble my trailer and load the parts. (Here is where I forgot to bring WD-40 for all those rusted bolts, but I did remember to grab a breaker bar). We had to take the front panel off, the back panel, the sides and wheels off the trailer to load it. By the time we got back to disassemble and then load the trailer it was 10PM. At one point a nut rounded off and we were already exhausted. I said we will need to come back with more tools! She grabbed the vice grips and said will this work? It did. Then the same bolt kept binding and not coming out even with the vice grips ion the nut. I said, I will need to come back with a chisel tomorrow. She said get me a hammer I will get it apart. She announced: That bolt is between me sleeping and getting a hot shower, we are not coming back! We snapped the bold off twisting it with the socket & breaker bar. Finally arrived home at 3 AM in the morning without any injuries beyond a few bruised knuckles. In hindsight could not have asked for better weather, it was a beautiful day!

    We rolled out of bed about 11 the next day. Took our time getting started on our day. Looked out the front door a few times to the trailer loaded on the trailer and kept procrastinating dealing with unloading it! Finally, we harnessed enough motivation, and we were able to get the trailer unloaded and returned the trailer by 4:30 the next day! On Monday I found a place to drop off the axle. They said the axle is fine but need a new hub and bearings. I said, do both sides with new bearings and hubs. Now that the trailer is in pieces, I will strip the paint and repaint it. What an experience. I must say we were very fortunate for good weather. We stayed calm and jointly cooperated working together the whole time! Sorry we missed seeing everyone at the CNYCC. We missed the only year of beautiful weather! Always fantastic people there and a great time! Looks like you had a good turnout! Dave Fox always has a great Carb Clinic. Alicia & Ken
     
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  7. Chitwood

    Chitwood Well-Known Member

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    She definitely sounds like a keeper there! Bummer about the bike and trailer but all things that can be fixed easy enough.
     
  8. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    On the bright side, we had fun talking with you on the phone throughout the day......lol

    Dave
     
  9. dkavanagh

    dkavanagh Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    @Fleetwood You're really good natured about all that! Of course, a week later, it might be possible to find the upsides and a little humor. Bummer about the bike tipping over!
     
  10. xHondaHack

    xHondaHack Active Member Premium Member

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    Wow, quite an ordeal. Was planning on helping out with the fork seal replacement. Sure looks like it's due.
    Hope things work out for you next year.

    Tony
     
  11. Fleetwood

    Fleetwood New Member

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    Thanks, she is a keeper! And yes, things can be fixed. I have an 83 XJ650 Max since 1999 I can keep riding this Summer, so no hurry on restoring the XJ700.
     
  12. Fleetwood

    Fleetwood New Member

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    OH NO.jpg
     
  13. Fleetwood

    Fleetwood New Member

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    Thanks Tony. Dave mentioned you planned on helping me. Appreciate you lending your talent and experience, sorry I couldn't make it! Great to hear you guys had good weather and accomplished a lot. I know your thoughts were with us. XJ people are all great people!
     
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  14. Nuch

    Nuch Well-Known Member

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    Hello! Finally having the chance to add to the CNYCC thread! Took a while to get on top of things around here and I didn’t want to just slap something together without enjoying the process of going through the images and already reminiscing about the event this year. As usual, I started out around 3 am to head north from Long Island. I already posted some of the pictures of the drive including being behind that horse and buggy and catching up with @saftie along the way. Here’s a shot I took along Route 20…

    xjcnycc-2019-00.jpg
    The weather was spectacular as you can see…


    xjcnycc-2019-01.jpg
    It wasn’t too long after saftie and I arrived that @TheCrazyGnat and @smeagol21b arrived. @hogfiddles and the crazy, flappy blue guy (background) welcomed us.


    xjcnycc-2019-02.jpg
    Here’s a couple of panoramic shots I took of the two work tents.


    xjcnycc-2019-03.jpg
    As you can see… We got right to it!
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2019
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  15. Nuch

    Nuch Well-Known Member

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    After a good deal of work and several short test rides of course, we ate… a lot!
    xjcnycc-2019-04.jpg xjcnycc-2019-05.jpg xjcnycc-2019-06.jpg xjcnycc-2019-07.jpg
    Mmmm, grilled marinated skirt steak and Asparagus!
     
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  16. Nuch

    Nuch Well-Known Member

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    xjcnycc-2019-08.jpg
    Probably something that most are not aware of, but @chacal is working on some experimental XJ Seeds! Apparently Hogfiddles has decided to pilot the program… it’s still in beta… You need to plant just after the last frost. Here you see two 1100’ s growing nicely. I understand that you can harvest when they “go to chrome.” That’s a industry term I was told.


    Towards the end of the day, we took our group ride. Here is the route we took… it was the same as posted a couple of carb clinics ago…
    [​IMG]


    At some point, smeagol21b had some technical difficulties as posted by Hogfiddles earlier in this thread. Here are some pics of the road side repair…
    xjcnycc-2019-09.jpg xjcnycc-2019-10.jpg xjcnycc-2019-11.jpg xjcnycc-2019-12.jpg
    Hey… That’s a nice shirt you’re wearing @dkavanagh!
    For anyone who is interested in buying one, I’ll create a thread in the “for sale” area shortly.
     
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  17. Nuch

    Nuch Well-Known Member

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    xjcnycc-2019-13.jpg
    Ahhh, There’s my girl! And that’s TheCrazyGnat’s trusty steed up ahead!


    xjcnycc-2019-14.jpg
    Holy MaximX Batman! (AKA @xHondaHack). Some truly expert work/modifications done to this beauty. The custom header work alone is quite a accomplishment! I couldn’t do it justice in describing what was done so I’ll leave that to xHondaHack.


    xjcnycc-2019-14b.jpg
    When the day was over we said our goodbyes and promised to put CNYCC #13 on the calendar. It’s on mine already.

    So… I already have 2 XJ’s of my own, but as it turns out I decided to FOSTER another… an 82 Seca 750. She needs a good cleaning (work currently ongoing), and a few other odds-n-ends but she’s a runner! Obviously I jumped at the chance to show up to a carb clinic with one XJ and leave with two! Check out the inset picture of my cleaning and buffing initiatives… This is why I love these old girls… They have so much potential under all that grime and oxidation.

    By the way, who are those handsome devils in the background?



    xjcnycc-2019-15.jpg xjcnycc-2019-19.jpg
    So off to Lake George we went the next day. As always happens on the back end of the CNYCC weekend, is the end of Americade. I drive in as a gaggle of north east bike enthusiasts leave. Needless to say, there’s plenty of parking.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2019
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  18. Nuch

    Nuch Well-Known Member

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    xjcnycc-2019-16.jpg
    I took the Maxim down off the trailer, suited up and headed north (9N) as is tradition for me now. I stopped to grab lunch at this place called “The Huddle.” Looks like someone is peeking at me from between the potted plants.


    xjcnycc-2019-17.jpg
    Another one of my favorite watering holes in Lake George… An XJ in a sea of Harleys.


    xjcnycc-2019-18.jpg
    Another good pic before one last sunset ride up towards Lake Luzerne. After that I put the bike back on the trailer for the night and headed back into town for dinner.



    xjcnycc-2019-20.jpg
    In the morning, it was time to head home. Here’s a panoramic shot from the place I stay. Awesome. As you can see, I kept the truck with trailer attached outside the room door. Can’t park like that in the height of the summer!


    xjcnycc-2019-21.jpg
    At home, we’re all getting along nicely.

    Much thanks again to Hogfiddles for putting on a super Carb Clinic. I encourage all that have been on the fence about making the trip to do it some day. There is something special about being around a bunch of like minded people that share a single interest.

    Already looking forward to next year. Until then my friends.
     
  19. xHondaHack

    xHondaHack Active Member Premium Member

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    Nuch, awesome collection of pictures! Your captions aren't too shabby either.
    Yes I do need to set up a thread on the 750X. Been picking away on the little stuff that hadn't been done yet.

    Tony
    P.S. Gonna PM you to set up a trip to the Island.
     
  20. Nuch

    Nuch Well-Known Member

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    I have other pictures of your bike. Can send them to you.

    As for a trip across the sound that's good too. Either way actually... I've been looking for an excuse to put the XJ on the ferry. Unlike for cars and trucks, no reservations needed for motorcycles... You can hit the dock whenever you feel like it... They will just stuff you under a ramp or stairwell if need be... cheaper too!
     

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