ever changing mind...

After a few serious buyers contacted me, I backed out on selling my bike. It's tough not to get discouraged when I've been building the bike for a long time and it's faught me every step of the way. The guys at UTMC were the main factor in reinforcing my decision not to sell. Plus, I added up all the money I've put into it and I couldn't justify selling it without riding it.

Last weekend, we fixed the oil leak, rejetted the carbs and then began work on the slide issue. After checking the cable, idle screw and other bits, we determinded it was a cable length issue. So, instead of dropping my hard earned cash on another, I trimmed back the flex housing about 1/4". Now they're all the way down with the throttle closed. I still need air filters but I'm short on cash for a while. After we fixed the carbs and began test starting, I noticed the right plug is black while the left is nice and clean. Definitly a timing issue. I pulled the plug and fired it again to check for spark and it was good. But when I hit the kill switch, it kept turning over! I almost crapped myself. We pulled the battery and began checking for a short but everything looked good. So I pulled the starter selonoid and replaced it with my spare. Problem solved and now onto the next issue.

If I make it to the shop this weekend, we're going to tackle the timing. I'm pretty sure it's off, so time to open those valve covers again. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to mess with the cam chain again but I should have double checked it before I installed the engine. I've also decided to ditch the stock scrambler pipes. They're bent and sit off the engine too far. That throws the balance off to the point of being almost too unstable to ride. I thought about cutting the headers off and fabing a mount for them. But I could get a few pennies for those pipes and put them towards a nice 2 into 1.

My dreams of future projects are starting to get specific. Next year, the RedQueen and I will be getting a house if all goes well. She understands my need for a nice garage to fill with more tools and project bikes. I want to learn how to weld and maybe even start fabbing parts. I want my next project to be either a RD400 or perhaps a GT380. I dig the RD but I know they're not cheap or easy to find.

Enough dreaming for now.. gotta play with the pup. She's 26 pounds now and only 13 weeks old.