Ansimp's '81 Resurrection

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Day 16 (I think)

It's been a few days, so here's the latest...

Wednesday, I took the wheels and new tires to have them mounted and balanced. When I returned, I was told that the front tire is the wrong size - it's a 19 and the rim is an 18. Well, '80 and '81 came with 19" front rims, then in '82 Honda went to 18's, according to the spec sheet I have. Anyway, I went home and checked the rim off my '80 parts bike, and it's a 19" so we're good to go!

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OK, wheels and tires in place, so let's play with the lights. I installed the fairing, trunk and bags, and after glueing the right front lens to the fairing and considerable wiring work, everything seems to function. It's amazing how someone can take a harness containing 5 wires (tail, stop, right turn, left turn and ground) and create a mess of 10 connectors and a wad of wire that doesn't even try to work! So, it's all cleaned up, now let's try the LED lights that Tony sent...

Here's the stock (1157) bulbs without lenses - driving lights...

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...And the LED bulbs...

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Quite a difference! I tested the current draw of a single LED bulb, and the driving (dim) circuit drew 80ma (8/100 of an amp) while the stop (bright) circuit drew 150ma. My little 500ma supply wouldn't even start to light the standard bulb, and my cheap ammeter only goes up to 250 ma, so I didn't test them. Much brighter light, much less current and heat, and longer life! Not bad.

Well, all lights are good, tires are good, engine is good, brakes are firm - time for another ride around the neighborhood!

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What a sweet machine! Just one little problem - no rear brakes! The pedal is nice and firm, but nada! OK. back to the garage...

I loosened the brake hose at the master cylinder, and plenty of pressure there. I loosened the hose at the caliper, and not even a trickle! I dug around, and finally found the '80 brake hose, and it looks almost new! Not a fun job,. but I got the hoses swapped and bled, and we have rear brakes! All is well with the world.

The Rat's Nest has turned out to be a sweet ride!
 
"The Rat's Nest has turned out to be a sweet ride!"

Only through the extraordinary talents of one dedicated Oldwing restorer.
Hats off to you Steve, an incredible effort in just over a month!
:clapping: :clapping: :Egyptian: :Egyptian: :clapping: :clapping:

:salute: :yahoo: :yahoo: :salute:
 
Steve - you are a Master craftsman to be sure! I had a chance to ride the Old Girl yesterday when you delivered her to her temporary home, while she waits for my brother Tony to take the big trip across the Pacific.

She feels solid, purs like a kitten, and handles like she just rolled off the assembly shop floor! She has great bones as they say about houses, and you've resurrected her from her past as a true Rat's Nest... WELL DONE!!! :eek:k: You are a ROCKSTAR and a Heckuva Talented Restorer!

Thank YOU for your tireless effort to give her a new life. The hills of South Dakota are in now her future ride plans!
 
wadekj":2so5n5vt said:
Steve - you are a Master craftsman to be sure! I had a chance to ride the Old Girl yesterday when you delivered her to her temporary home, while she waits for my brother Tony to take the big trip across the Pacific.

She feels solid, purs like a kitten, and handles like she just rolled off the assembly shop floor! She has great bones as they say about houses, and you've resurrected her from her past as a true Rat's Nest... WELL DONE!!! :eek:k: You are a ROCKSTAR and a Heckuva Talented Restorer!

Thank YOU for your tireless effort to give her a new life. The hills of South Dakota are in now her future ride plans!
Click to expand...


We might convert another Harley owner yet :smilie_happy:
 
wadekj":2c18db64 said:
Steve - you are a Master craftsman to be sure! I had a chance to ride the Old Girl yesterday when you delivered her to her temporary home, while she waits for my brother Tony to take the big trip across the Pacific.

She feels solid, purs like a kitten, and handles like she just rolled off the assembly shop floor! She has great bones as they say about houses, and you've resurrected her from her past as a true Rat's Nest... WELL DONE!!! :eek:k: You are a ROCKSTAR and a Heckuva Talented Restorer!

Thank YOU for your tireless effort to give her a new life. The hills of South Dakota are in now her future ride plans!
Click to expand...
I see one heck of an interesting ride report in the near future!
 
I have all those videos downloaded onto the iPad so that I can listen to them at any time :music3:

My brother has progressed to the next stage with temporary rego for the RN after Steve dropped it off yesterday. :clapping:
 

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Thanks to all for the kind words! It was a great project. David, you've done some awesome work yourself - you pale to nobody! I'm glad I didn't have to carry the engine! Been there, done that many times, and it's not fun!
 
Just an update. My brother Kim is currently riding the Rats Nest around trying to get the registration/pink slip issue sorted out. He now has an appointment at CHP and another one back at the DMV after today's visit. Hopefully by the end of the month it should all be sorted. At the moment he is enjoying riding the Oldwing and keeps saying how nimble it is ( the rear panniers are off as it won't fit through his side gate with them on). Only a couple of issues, the right side cover fell off ( missing one pin and I forgot to tell him) and it now has a low air light. I told him he had better be careful as he may end up divorcing the Harley. :smilie_happy:
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=81896#p81896:20sc27l6 said:
Ansimp » Wed May 22, 2013 3:10 pm[/url]":20sc27l6]Just an update. My brother Kim is currently riding the Rats Nest around trying to get the registration/pink slip issue sorted out. He now has an appointment at CHP and another one back at the DMV after today's visit. Hopefully by the end of the month it should all be sorted. At the moment he is enjoying riding the Oldwing and keeps saying how nimble it is ( the rear panniers are off as it won't fit through his side gate with them on). Only a couple of issues, the right side cover fell off ( missing one pin and I forgot to tell him) and it now has a low air light. I told him he had better be careful as he may end up divorcing the Harley. :smilie_happy:
Click to expand...
What model harley does he have ? :headscratch:
 
Divorce is not an option, and sounds far to expensive from what I hear... I'll just have to ride them both equally so there is no jealousy...

Although the Rats Nest is still a bit of a dirty girl, as she was spraying right fork fluid up on my white helmet as I took it on a shakedown cruise along the Ortega Highway (SR-74). Better than lipstick on the collar I suppose...

:cheeky:
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=82785#p82785:3up44if1 said:
wadekj » Tue May 28, 2013 12:30 pm[/url]":3up44if1]Divorce is not an option, and sounds far to expensive from what I hear... I'll just have to ride them both equally so there is no jealousy...

Although the Rats Nest is still a bit of a dirty girl, as she was spraying right fork fluid up on my white helmet as I took it on a shakedown cruise along the Ortega Highway (SR-74). Better than lipstick on the collar I suppose...

:cheeky:
Click to expand...
Run a seal mate around the seal, Mine was sputtering fluid all over so I made one with a 2 liter soda bottle, you can buy them around 5 bucks but I didn't want to wait..No more leak.
 
Hmmmm...Those are new seals in those forks! How much air pressure was in them? I put 15 PSI in the fronts, and 30 PSI in the rears. I hope we didn't get a bad seal
 
Time will tell Steve. Kim has to go to CHP and DMV again so he will be riding it some more this week.
 
I second the suggestion to make a sealmate and use it. All it takes is a tiny bit of dirt to break the seal.
 

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