[MDairheads] Techno Barn

[Will Andalora]

Many thanks to Chris and Bridget for the generous hospitality this weekend. I had hoped to ride to the tech day, but a surprise birthday party Friday evening halted reassembly of my R80/7 and trouble shooting my new XT225. Two bikes  and neither one could ridden....

So, Saturday morning I loaded the new XT225 along with new tires and tubes and tools, a bottle of port and six pack of beer, some ground venison and pulled pork, and an owner manual for the new bike.  I really wanted to mount new tires, adjust the valves, and give the bike a once-over...

Dave Larabee was probably the hardest working man at Technobarn this year. He changed nine tires and assisted in the balancing of the same. Never having owned a dirt bike I didn't understand what the rim lock was all about and Dave graciously educated me.

Dave even managed to pull some thirty year old tires off of Kevin Fahey's warehouse find R80/7 and get new rubber on the spokes. With Bob Trumble's help I bled my brake fluid reservoir and replaced all the fluid.

Didier expalined what happened with his bike in detail, so no further explanation is needed there... but in the end having the trailer with me was a really good thing. I am thinking about having and airhead rescue logo affixed to the side of it!

After most people cleared out, Bridget treated those who stayed for dinner to roasted pork and vegetables with additional sides. It was delicious and because the weather cooperated we we're able to eat outside by the bonfire.  Wine, port, and other beverages flowed freely. Duane Wildings son Isaac, his daughter-in-law, and two of there three  beautiful daughters joined us and added measurably to the event. Isibella is just under six weeks old and when we did the math we discovered that Chris is a mere 3790 weeks older than her.

The night went late... I may have nodded off for a few minutes in there somewhere, but was rejuvinated by an enormous slice of carrott cake and another glass of port... Seeing no profit might come from drinking more port or beers, the last three standing- Kathleen, Cameron, and I made the wise decision and packed it in just after 1:30 AM.

This morning, I was up early and had the bike on the lift by 8:10 AM. I pulled the seat, tank, side covers and valve covers off the XT and set to work. Shortly thereafter Kathleen announced breakfast was almost ready. Chris had grilled kielbasa and we had it with fried eggs, toast, coffee, and lots of water Like I said, the Kennedy hospitality is legendary...

After some pleasant conversation, we went back out to the lift and Chris offered expertise and moral support. We adjusted the valves, reinstalled the battery, and were just finishing up when Dave Larabee rode in. We hot shotted the bike with some eyther and it roared to life. The carb still needs some tuning, but we rode it around the yard and it really is a hoot to ride!

We cleaned up a bit more and then Chris headed out with Matilda to return Dave's tire changer and wheel balancing kit, and I headed north with the bike on the trailer.

This afternoon I took it for a longer ride and discovered it will do 70mph easily. I doubt there is much more in it, but it's not needed really...

All in all, another fantastic Technobarn. One of my favorite weekends of the year.

Thanks so much Chris, Bridget, Dave, and everyone who joined the fun.

All the Best,

Will


On Apr 22, 2018 3:53 PM, Mike Adams via MDAirheads <mdairheads at casano.com> wrote:

We understand....

On Sun, Apr 22, 2018 at 3:15 PM, Didier Devynck via MDAirheads <
mdairheads at casano.com> wrote:

> I too want to thank Chris and Bridget for allowing us, once again, to
> invade their beautiful property and sharing wonderful food and friendship
> with us.
>
> As many of you know, I had an eventful day. For those of you who were not
> there, arrived later than me, or left before I did, here is how my day went.
>
> It started around 10AM when I went get my bike out of my barn. The bike
> lives on the lift in there, because it’s easier and it saves space. Taking
> it down the lift and out of the barn is somewhat tricky but I have gotten
> used to dong it and bene have a problem. That is, until I decided that
> there might be a better way to do it. That “better” way resulted in the
> bike falling off the lift, which in turn caused the fairing and windshield
> to get badly cracked, not to mention the instrument panel that basically
> shattered. Putting the bike back on its wheels proved to be especially
> challenging since the wheels were not on the ground but still on the lift.
> I was able to drag the bike far enough for the wheels to get of the lift
> and then it was just a matter of lifting it the way I’m sure we all know:
> back to the bike and hands on the handlebar and frame, and then using your
> legs to lift. I can tell you from my experience that its still takes a toll
> on your back so be careful when you have to do that by yourself.
>
> Not to be deterred, I nevertheless got on my way to Crownsville, with one
> more project to do. I had planned to replace the points on my bike, I now
> had to straighten out the fairing as best I could. The latter part went
> well and the fairing ended up looking straight (but of course still
> cracked). I then proceeded to work on the points. The replacement itself is
> fairly easy. The interesting part started when we try to adjust the timing.
> With all the expertise hat was on hand, especially Will and Chris, we still
> could not get the timing exactly the way it should be. We took apart and
> reinstalled the ignition system many times during the process but we
> finally were able to get it the way it is supposed to be (albeit on the
> extreme end of the adjustment range) and I finished putting the bike back
> together. I had to leave because I had to go back home to my dogs so I
> gathered everything and on my very way I went…. For about 5 miles that is,
> at which point  the bike just plain died on me. The engine simply stopped
> running and would not start again. The symptoms looked early similar to
> what I had experienced after SuperTech 2 years ago, when my valves were so
> tight that my engine could not run when it got hot. Even after some cooling
> down, the engine was adamant it would not start. I called Will and he and
> Tom Longobardi came to my rescue. Thank God, Will had his trailer with him
> yesterday and, with Tom’s help, we put the bike on the trailer? Back at
> Chris’s, the first order of business was to check the valves: they proved
> to be just right so that ruled that one out. I then opened up the front
> cover again to see if a wire had gotten pinched in there. All the wires
> were fine but the Will spotted the culprit. In disassembling and
> reassembling the ignition system so many times, the central nut that holds
> the advance mechanism in place had not been tightened on the final
> reassembly. It (and the washer that goes with) was resting in the ignition
> cavity of the front cover, but it was not where it was supposed to be:
> holding the advance mechanism. We put it back (and tightened it, but not
> too hard because it’s really easy to break the whole thing if you go crazy)
> and the bike started like nothing had ever happened.
>
> Will assured me that the bike would run beautifully and it did. I got home
> with no further issue and the engine was purring very nicely.
>
> A world of thanks to Will and Chris, and all the others whose names I
> don’t know, for the help in completing this project. It’s funny how every
> project I undertake on my bike always ends up being far more interesting
> than it should really be. The good thing is that I learn a lot in the
> process. Additional thanks of course to Tom who came with Will to help out
> the bike on the trailer when it was ailing.
>
> Gotta love tech days!!!
>
> Didier
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> MDAirheads mailing list
> MDAirheads at mail.casano.com
> https://mailman.dudley.nu/mailman/listinfo/mdairheads
>

_______________________________________________
MDAirheads mailing list
MDAirheads at mail.casano.com
https://mailman.dudley.nu/mailman/listinfo/mdairheads