This one was used only and just ONLY in city environment, they could be in any condition. This is the worst I've seen too.
Re-baking my ST1300 (Almost-full-redoing)
- Thread starter leondante
- Start date
This one was used only and just ONLY in city environment, they could be in any condition. This is the worst I've seen too.
That's a good one. The Honda Service Manual is more straightforward with fewer (that is, none) of the detail and explanations John Heath provides.
Today started back the project. The new battery just arrived among the new coolant and I just tested it for leakages and damn thing won't stop leaking coolant around the thermostat enclosure. I have to open it all completely and I'm sealing all the hoses connections. I did a lot of things in there to stop it without dissasembing but clearly something is wanting to get touchy there.
Also I've found an oil leak around the secondary gearbox axis thing, where you put the universal joint. I'm taking out the swingarm and the rear wheel. The leak is enough to be worthy the job.
Some pictures of today:
SOME TEETH CLEANING OF SUCH DIRTY MOUTH.
Original state...
Don't remember why but I dissasembled all the thing and messed up bad time, as I lost the original calibration of all the things. Meh, at the end was even better. I calibrated the thing without problem and fast, at least it seems to be working perfectly.
I put some thermal grease on the part that gets the heat from the coolant. The device is purely mechanic, I like that. The outside is fully separated from the inside, so there's no possibility that coolant could leak there. It's just a case where a thermal device push or don't based on the heat it has around, that get there by the aluminium surroundings. Nice device.
I was impressed about putting here a tiny-tiny-TINYYYY ball bearing. Just Honda doing Honda things. I like Honda. I hate their prices but it like their work.
I don't remember if the workshop manual has instructions about it, I think they are there. I know I followed a procedure, but I don't know if it was mine or theirs. Anyways I remember about it that it made full sense and the results were pretty good. Basically was syncing the four butterflies (do you call them that in english? The circles closing the intakes.), then the small cylinders that get air in, and not too much more. The electronic sensor (which you have in Aliexpress for 8 euros and it's just a variable resistor) was put just on zero easily. I know about the paint for better sealing. It was full broken and getting out by itself. I just took out the broken parts and that's why I'm sure it was a good idea for me to have to calibrate it fully. After all the work I guarantee you that the thing is extremelly better than before. Also, the small air intakes were stuck by the trash it had. Yup, better this way. (At the end the dial were better, I took the picture in the process).
BONUS. The air filter box was nasty. And I took out the rubber intake to put the alternator tubing for air refrigeration (personal mod). I'm thinking about cutting it to fit the metal tube and avoid rubbish to get in there as it will be impossible to take it out without dissasembling. I have to do something as bugs and birds and stuff could get in there and I don't want that.
YES, I preserved the rubber seals there. But I'm thinking about putting new ones or some kind of substitute.
Original state...
Don't remember why but I dissasembled all the thing and messed up bad time, as I lost the original calibration of all the things. Meh, at the end was even better. I calibrated the thing without problem and fast, at least it seems to be working perfectly.
I put some thermal grease on the part that gets the heat from the coolant. The device is purely mechanic, I like that. The outside is fully separated from the inside, so there's no possibility that coolant could leak there. It's just a case where a thermal device push or don't based on the heat it has around, that get there by the aluminium surroundings. Nice device.
I was impressed about putting here a tiny-tiny-TINYYYY ball bearing. Just Honda doing Honda things. I like Honda. I hate their prices but it like their work.
I don't remember if the workshop manual has instructions about it, I think they are there. I know I followed a procedure, but I don't know if it was mine or theirs. Anyways I remember about it that it made full sense and the results were pretty good. Basically was syncing the four butterflies (do you call them that in english? The circles closing the intakes.), then the small cylinders that get air in, and not too much more. The electronic sensor (which you have in Aliexpress for 8 euros and it's just a variable resistor) was put just on zero easily. I know about the paint for better sealing. It was full broken and getting out by itself. I just took out the broken parts and that's why I'm sure it was a good idea for me to have to calibrate it fully. After all the work I guarantee you that the thing is extremelly better than before. Also, the small air intakes were stuck by the trash it had. Yup, better this way. (At the end the dial were better, I took the picture in the process).
BONUS. The air filter box was nasty. And I took out the rubber intake to put the alternator tubing for air refrigeration (personal mod). I'm thinking about cutting it to fit the metal tube and avoid rubbish to get in there as it will be impossible to take it out without dissasembling. I have to do something as bugs and birds and stuff could get in there and I don't want that.
YES, I preserved the rubber seals there. But I'm thinking about putting new ones or some kind of substitute.
Sadlsor
Site Supporter
Big difference in the Befores and the Afters.
Personally, I think all the tedious work you're doing is a good investment, as I'm sure that thing's going to run like a top when you're done.
And like someone said here earlier... I doubt that bike will ever again be this dirty, at least for as long as YOU own it.
Personally, I think all the tedious work you're doing is a good investment, as I'm sure that thing's going to run like a top when you're done.
And like someone said here earlier... I doubt that bike will ever again be this dirty, at least for as long as YOU own it.
Well how 'bout that! The same old-school carb sync tool I use myself; gauges with fish tank valves; sync the gauges to themselves then the bike; use the valves to dampen the pulsating needles. works for me.
Well how 'bout that! The same old-school carb sync tool I use myself; gauges with fish tank valves; sync the gauges to themselves then the bike; use the valves to dampen the pulsating needles. works for me.
I really like this tool, kinda cheap and works really fine. I don't like those valves, there are very good inox ones in aliexpress really better and not expensive, but the plastic ones are good enough.
“Better is the enemy of good enough”
The day before yesterday was a great day. I tested it "good enough" for leakings after finding and fixing that I forgot to clean a couple couplings of hoses. So after cleaning pretty well some places and changing some hose clamps, I tested it again and all leaks did seem fixed. Maybe a bit of sweating somewhere but good enough as those things usually get better with use as hoses adapt to the surface where they are sitting.
But not to be out of syncing, I'm posting all the cooling stuff with those repairs from a couple days ago.
Here you have a great example of my PERSONAL MODIFICATIONS. They put a PLASTIC "T" coupling here, I call this insanity, because is pretty easy to break and it's under the admission, begin a great PITA to fix that, also in a pretty heated place, easier to make plastic brittle and blablalblablalblablalb. I bought a stainless steel one in Aliexpress and fixed it for just TWO euros, delivery included.
As I said, new hose clamps everywhere needed (everywhere in short), ALL NEW HOSES except the 90 degrees ones and the weird twisted big ones (damn they were expensive even being generic) and cleaning everything and blablalba. After closing everything and testing, apart from the leaks (big weird hard to find ones), noticed that the coolant (new, fresh, just milked one) was like a damn soup from Thailand full of bits and stuff. So all that coolant went to the sewer, mixed with special cooling system cleaning additive and a mindfull cleaning process and washing and blablalblalbalbla and new coolant again went in. Then the fixing of the other day, and that's it how it went to good enough. I followed the instructions of the workshop manual and the cleaning additive bottle. Spent couple hours cleaning it and then washing the remainings of the coolant, and waited to coolant coming out of the side plugs of the engine before closing them, to take out all the water inside after clearing it. All of this with the engine hot. VERY hot. Added the cold water really slowly (that's why it took too much time), mixing it with the soapy coolant, to avoid damage because temperature changes.
So, thermostat enclosure cleaning... New seal, blablalba... (Damn dirt, I hate it, it was everywhere really stuck).
Tried cleaning the old coolant vase, but the thing got broke because the extreme chemical strenght of the soap I used. It got cracked THE NEXT DAY after the cleaning. It's my favorite, an alcaline workshop's floors degreaser. It's so powerful it takes just by spraying the brown sweaty oils that tyres get with time, making them full black again. I buy it in a store here called "OBRAMAT".
I like to paint the letters and marks in containers. I like to be able to read easily the levels. Also I'm testing the endurance of "Sharpie" markers with this.
Final result. Easy to find my biggest mod, the metal tube for alternator cooling. I want to make a spoon with my 3D printer to push air inside the tube from under the headlight. Also is noticeable the wiring shielding and the inox T coupler. I don't care if those zip ties get broken soon, as they are intended to fix in place the wires until they get the routing properly by their own modeling to the space, what heat will help to achieve.
The coolant pump leaks oil by the small hole intended for that. I'm sure it's because the new oil is cleaning the sediments between the axis and the seal. I'm postponing that for now, the same for the exit of the universal joint axis, it leaked a bit and I think it's because sediment cleaning. Pressure and heat could solve the issue as it got adapted again to the new space that cleaning left behind. I'm riding it a bit before getting dirty again with those issues, as dissasembling everything again is a lot of work and could be just a thing of a couple hundred kms.
By now is GOOD ENOUGH, as it only leaked a bit for a moment and stopped after that. Anyways it's warning me that the thing is old in there.
Thank you very much for your comment, it encourages me to do better explanations, knowing them inspire and help others.
Forgot the assembly stuff and a couple better pictures:
Cutted the original rubber tube to fit the metal one for the alternator cooling.
And a very exciting moment to me, putting the gas tank on it for my very first time, filling it a bit and checking the gas level sensor worked properly. It was so sweet!!
Cutted the original rubber tube to fit the metal one for the alternator cooling.
And a very exciting moment to me, putting the gas tank on it for my very first time, filling it a bit and checking the gas level sensor worked properly. It was so sweet!!
I wouldn't generalize that observation...
But there some who (obviously) neglect their motorcycle worse then a car... maybe over lack of technical insight, I don't know...
Parked outside year round, maybe even used year round, never cleaned, avoiding the costs for the standard service tasks... no TLC at all, just used... a sore sight...
IMO a weird mindset, cause vehicles do cost an arm and a leg, and the better I take care of things, the longer they will serve me and stay reliable... be it a bread-slicer or an automotive...
But it seems that many 'owners' have lost that connection, and when the neglected object breaks down/they get hit with a large workshop quota, they get frustrated and treat it disposable...
like "needing" a new phone every 3 months...
So @leondante has now to catch up with cleansing, refurbishment and replacement tasks been omitted for years there... all at once... finding more damage as needed if the tasks would have been done in time...
By disassembling, inspecting, measuring and resealing everything he does not only build a connection with the bike, he further ensures bringing it back to the intended quality...
I envy the time he obviously has at hands, and the nerve to actually reconstruct his building thread...
I wouldn't generalize that observation...
But there some who (obviously) neglect their motorcycle worse then a car... maybe over lack of technical insight, I don't know...
Parked outside year round, maybe even used year round, never cleaned, avoiding the costs for the standard service tasks... no TLC at all, just used... a sore sight...
IMO a weird mindset, cause vehicles do cost an arm and a leg, and the better I take care of things, the longer they will serve me and stay reliable... be it a bread-slicer or an automotive...
But it seems that many 'owners' have lost that connection, and when the neglected object breaks down/they get hit with a large workshop quota, they get frustrated and treat it disposable...
like "needing" a new phone every 3 months...
So @leondante has now to catch up with cleansing, refurbishment and replacement tasks been omitted for years there... all at once... finding more damage as needed if the tasks would have been done in time...
By disassembling, inspecting, measuring and resealing everything he does not only build a connection with the bike, he further ensures bringing it back to the intended quality...
I envy the time he obviously has at hands, and the nerve to actually reconstruct his building thread...
I feel vehicles as prosthetic parts of me. We have a lot of things that work as part of very own bodies. In the vehicle situation even our own safety is involved. It's for sure another experience to take care of things we live daily with and to just use and consume those same things.
There's a complete different world, universe, LIFE at the side of taking care of what we have. And there's a full DEATH of our world in consuming and using things with full no-care.
As I said before, we create the world around us with our very own behavior towards anything we interact to.
So, this motorcycle is now a very big part of my life.
In other instance, I don't have that much time, just 24 hours per day. I just sacrifice other less valuable stuff (keeping proper priorities...) and train myself to be faster and better at doing things, not neglecting the rest I need to keep healthy and at a good pace.
As you can see, keeping the good behavior took me to be like the previous paragraph through just a mundane bike. Because it's not about the bike, our story it's about who we are and we become what we do. We create ourselves through what we are doing.
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I'm sorry guys about this desecration of my motorcycle, but I think it's the less bad option. I bought this headlight to subtitute the one mine had:
https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005007562807284.html
Mine must be cleaned, polished, and had a lot of work and I need the motorcycle for daily commute ASAP. So, I have a project of mod for the original headlight, which I'm describing now.
I opened it as it was fuzzy inside, I think because the heat of the 24 years of light shining inside. The plastic seems good and just looks like dirty or something like that, so I think that a good hand polish, elbow-breaking-napkinning with polishing products could do the trick inside, but outside thing started with sanding at 400 so... Long job ahead.
BUT I noticed that the guts of the headlight have the style I love, a squared one, the good (to me) old one. Taking out the chromed decoration or painting it black could do a great change on the motorcycle's look. Some pictures:
Notice the fuzziness I said.
Back of the pack:
This part can be really improved by painting it black or just removing it (saving somehow the small bits for the small bulbs).
I know you'll tell me about needing the chrome parts for reflecting light. NOPE. That's not the part of the headlight that gives you light for the road. Maybe others, but it's not the main screen of the lights for you. Maybe I'm wrong, so that's why I'm buying other headlight, also for passing the test of the state that forbids any kind of change in things like lights. If they know that the headlight is from Aliexpress and not original Honda or so, wouldn't wonder if the reject the bike in the test just because not being original.
THE REAL DISHES FOR THE LIGHTS. These are the ones I like how they look. I just imagine the bike with just them in there and I like the idea.
It's barely noticeable, but maybe you can see like me what I mean. I see that old-school (like...) style I prefer. I think I can get it out of there to shine and get it to be of great looking:
https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005007562807284.html
Mine must be cleaned, polished, and had a lot of work and I need the motorcycle for daily commute ASAP. So, I have a project of mod for the original headlight, which I'm describing now.
I opened it as it was fuzzy inside, I think because the heat of the 24 years of light shining inside. The plastic seems good and just looks like dirty or something like that, so I think that a good hand polish, elbow-breaking-napkinning with polishing products could do the trick inside, but outside thing started with sanding at 400 so... Long job ahead.
BUT I noticed that the guts of the headlight have the style I love, a squared one, the good (to me) old one. Taking out the chromed decoration or painting it black could do a great change on the motorcycle's look. Some pictures:
Notice the fuzziness I said.
Back of the pack:
This part can be really improved by painting it black or just removing it (saving somehow the small bits for the small bulbs).
I know you'll tell me about needing the chrome parts for reflecting light. NOPE. That's not the part of the headlight that gives you light for the road. Maybe others, but it's not the main screen of the lights for you. Maybe I'm wrong, so that's why I'm buying other headlight, also for passing the test of the state that forbids any kind of change in things like lights. If they know that the headlight is from Aliexpress and not original Honda or so, wouldn't wonder if the reject the bike in the test just because not being original.
THE REAL DISHES FOR THE LIGHTS. These are the ones I like how they look. I just imagine the bike with just them in there and I like the idea.
It's barely noticeable, but maybe you can see like me what I mean. I see that old-school (like...) style I prefer. I think I can get it out of there to shine and get it to be of great looking:
More like exposure to harsh, UV rich sunshine while being abandoned outside for 24 years...
Dunno about the regs in your area and if your intended headlight mod will pass an annual tech inspection...
Notice it only is fuzzy where the light beam hits, also it's inside. I just plan to take out the decoration of it, not like a proper modification.