Milk's 03 Bullet dual sport build

[noisymilk]

Br's Arizoni and Ace,

Yes, no up and down play are apparent. Actually feels remarkable solid. Was just worried about the lateral movement I could feel/see.

Very well then. I will proceed with my build (all cautions from everyone about stock bottom end have been well heard). Maybe get the barrel and piston on tonight when I get home. Yeah!

[noisymilk]

Ok guys, quick question here.....

When one is doing to modification to the timing with stock cams, you are simply pulling the gear that lifts the intake and turning it one tooth counter clockwise, correct?

[ace.cafe]

Correct.
Put the engine on TDC first, so that the dots on the cam gears are lined up with each other first.
Then you can take the intake cam off and move it counterclockwise by one-tooth, and put it back on. Then you can see that you have done it correctly because the dots are not lined-up anymore, and the intake dot is one tooth higher than the exhaust tooth.

Of course, you must have our high compression piston on your engine when you do this for your build. Don't do this until you are going to install the high compression piston.

Here's what it should look like when you're done.

[noisymilk]

Thread necromancy here!

Hey hey! Look what just got back to me from Tom / the Mondello shop!



Yup. Got the head back. I thought the exhaust valve was receding (again) because I likely drove it too long in the heat (again). So sent it to get repaired by the good folks there, and an effort at adding some heat shedding stuff. I guess this is a magic goo inside the head:



And some treatment on the exhaust port to keep the heat moving out and down the pipe:



So that, plus the nice new external oil filter which can also add some cooling properties....the alloy barrel....and some judicious riding on my part and hopefully this becomes a lovely reliable(ish) bike.

I ordered a bunch of jets for the CVK34 I am going to try and dial in, but will probably do the breakin with the reliable and known Mikcarb. (25 pilot, 127.5 main on richest clip) I figure rich is good while running in. Then once there is stability there, I can work on tuning in the CVK. Maybe give me a little more throttle stability with altitude changes that I am looking at.

And hey! Picked up this gem on ebay:



It's a stock 500 crank that has let go. Got it for 25 bucks plus shipping. Perfect for sending off for the crank improvements that are offered. I am holding out until Chumma is done with their improved floating bush that is in testing right now. It seems to be their budget conscious option they are trying to set up. And since I am not building a fire breathing monster here, I think it might suit me well.

Hope to have the machine together and running again by this weekend. Merry Christmas present for me maybe.  By the way....anyone reading this. The oil scraper rings for pistons that are 3 parts....does the wiggly part get sandwiched between the other 2?

Ok, be safe all.

[barenekd]

The oil scraper rings for pistons that are 3 parts....does the wiggly part get sandwiched between the other 2?

Yes

[ace.cafe]

The "wiggly part" goes on first, and should butt ends, but not overlap when it is installed.
The scrapers go above it and below it in the groove.

[noisymilk]

It lives!

Ok, so the whole "gonna get it together this weekend as an early christmas present to myself" thing kinda went out the window. But, put it all very carefully together (even learned how to check the gap on the piston rings). Put some MMO into the piston. Lots of kicking to try and move some oil into the brand new oil filter. LOTS of kicking.

But hey hey, it started up second kick!

And promptly filled my garage with smoke.  Exhaust leak at the head and the usual "been sitting for several months" crap. Had to run it for a minute or 2 several times to get the oil up to the rockers (left the covers off so I could verify when it got there). Didn't want to let it get super hot, just wanted to hear it run.

So as I said before, stock Mikcarb, stock slide, 127.5 main (richest needle setting), 25 pilot. Jedi Council....does this seem a good place to start for running in in Phoenix (1200 ish feet)?

Gonna do something about the exhaust leak at the head. I think I might try beer can shims instead of silicone sealant. I read somewhere that Ace and others do this to good effect. And immediate riding is nice, rather than waiting overnight. Plus, when money is available, the header is going to Jet Hott anyways, so a few more removals are in my future.

For running in....A handful of 10 minute hops around town. Right? Up to temp, the full cool down. Then keep the RPM's down (say 45 mph max) for what, 500-1000 miles? Or a full 2k? Change the oil often. Gonna do my 10 minute hops on whats in there, then change before the first slightly longer run.

Any other words of advice for the break in?

I promise a few photos tomorrow or the next day.

Be safe all. Friends in the Northeast....stay safe from this big ol storm coming your way.

[ace.cafe]

It lives!

Ok, so the whole "gonna get it together this weekend as an early christmas present to myself" thing kinda went out the window. But, put it all very carefully together (even learned how to check the gap on the piston rings). Put some MMO into the piston. Lots of kicking to try and move some oil into the brand new oil filter. LOTS of kicking.

But hey hey, it started up second kick!

And promptly filled my garage with smoke.  Exhaust leak at the head and the usual "been sitting for several months" crap. Had to run it for a minute or 2 several times to get the oil up to the rockers (left the covers off so I could verify when it got there). Didn't want to let it get super hot, just wanted to hear it run.

So as I said before, stock Mikcarb, stock slide, 127.5 main (richest needle setting), 25 pilot. Jedi Council....does this seem a good place to start for running in in Phoenix (1200 ish feet)?

Gonna do something about the exhaust leak at the head. I think I might try beer can shims instead of silicone sealant. I read somewhere that Ace and others do this to good effect. And immediate riding is nice, rather than waiting overnight. Plus, when money is available, the header is going to Jet Hott anyways, so a few more removals are in my future.

For running in....A handful of 10 minute hops around town. Right? Up to temp, the full cool down. Then keep the RPM's down (say 45 mph max) for what, 500-1000 miles? Or a full 2k? Change the oil often. Gonna do my 10 minute hops on whats in there, then change before the first slightly longer run.

Any other words of advice for the break in?

I promise a few photos tomorrow or the next day.

Be safe all. Friends in the Northeast....stay safe from this big ol storm coming your way.

The earliest break-in miles are the most critical. Get the bike out on the road, and do some moderate accelerations and decelerations, allowing the engine to do the slowing on deceleration by closing the throttle and letting the bike slow down. Then accelerate moderately some more, and let the engine brake the bike to slow. Do this a lot. You can do it in various gears. Don't let the bike sit at only one speed, and generally be accelerating or decelerating to some degree as much as you can
It's going to get hot. Don't cook it. Keep the rides short to avoid overheating for the first 100 miles at least. As you get more miles, you can increase the riding times and the rpms gradually.
By 500 miles, you should be mostly broken-in, but it will still need to get to 1000 miles before it's all done.

And remember, those things we did to help reduce overheating are just a "help". They are not a total overheating preventative. It can still overheat, and so it is in your hands to not do that.
If you are out in the hot Arizona sun at 110 degrees, you MUST lay off the throttle and go slower than traffic. The fins simply cannot cool the bike in those temps except in very light loads. And that means going slow. This is an air-cooled bike, and if the air is not cool, then it doesn't cool the bike well.

[BigDon]

Just went thru this thread top to bottom......I wanted to say congrats on the fire up!

[noisymilk]

Hey Big Don! Thanks a lot....I'm pretty pleased as well.

And yes, Ace, .....I live in the stupid desert and need to stop being stupid and trying to toast this bike in the heat. 

So, as promised, a few photos of a very dirty bike with a very clean barrel and head:



(Yup. gave up on the beer can thing and went with the silicon thing. No firing up til tomorrow now.)



And the new oil filter all plumbed in and working very well:



(Never mind that hole up above from the old oil cooler I had mounted there.)

The thing that is helping keep my bike from puking its oil filled guts all over my back wheel/license plate everytime I go 10 feet:


Shiny new-to-me muffler that doesn't rattle with broken baffles like my old one did. Note that the securing arm didn't reach the old bracket on the frame....it's held in place by a pipe clamp for now. I might fab up a little extension bracket of some sort....but between that and the fabulous OReilly exhaust clamp, I am somewhat enjoying the ratty look....


Still considering doing something different with the turn signal situation, something mounted maybe on the back of the back rest here:


With something like these that I pointed to earlier in my thread:


Not sure....still debating. I like the idea that the wiring could be moved out from where the tire is under there, to just under the seat.

Ok. So on to breaking in. Thanks Ace, for the primer on how to do this and not screw it up (again). 

And of course, the usual whinging around about what to do next to get this ready for some travel. Rear shocks are a must. Am thinking soft bags at this point. Mefo Explorer tires still (when the trip is imminent...gonna stick with my really nice AM26's for now). Possibly the Radon speedo, possibly front progressive springs.

More importantly is to just plan the trip and GO.

Thanks all. Talk to you soon.

[mattsz]

Hey Milk-

Hunkered down in the storm and just finished reading your ride report of your scooter ride to Canada - what a treat!  Looking forward to seeing this thread progress further...

  (stealing emoticons from ADV!)

[noisymilk]

Br Mattsz,

Thanks for the kind words. That trip was a wonderful experience for me and Dean. He had never ridden before, and hasn't ridden since. I actually sold the green scoot and bought his. You might see it in the background of my pics here. I am planning future low cc trips as well.

Run what you brung.

[Scottie J]

What a great project!  This thread gives me inspiration on getting my Indian finished.   

[noisymilk]

Well, the breaking in is going well. Lots of local runs (20 or less miles), never above 3rd gear, never revving hard, lots of engine braking. I figure I am approaching 150 miles right now (no speedo). So I'll do this a bit more, change the oil, and then start looking at some longer running.

The engine feels nice and strong. Planted. Exhaust note is nice. I'm getting a slight hesitation right off idle on the throttle...I'm assuming it's because I am running very rich on the needle (highest setting), and I can correct it once I feel broken in and start looking at good jetting. Obviously, a different carb is in my future....

No oil from the head/barrel. No oil from the barrel/case. Yay! Slight weeping from the exhaust rocker feed. That I think I can sort. But slight weeping from here:


I flared the pipe in there. The tubing I used is 1/4" ID. It's the smallest I could get to fit on the outlet of the oil filter. Anyone have any ideas?

Bought myself a set of these:


They are tank panniers. 14 litre total. I think they will make a nice place to carry tools and stuff. Am pretty certain to go with soft rear panniers as well. Hoping to get a few days off to make a quick run down to Rocky Point for a day or 2 of camping, and see how she is behaving in general.

Alrighty. Thanks all. Be safe.

[noisymilk]

Oh! And Brother Mattsz, hurdy gurdy's are cool. One of the most amazing things I ever saw was a hurdy gurdy solo on the Page/Plant No Quarter tour back in the 90's. Blew my mind the tones that guy could get out of that instrument.

Be safe.