Front Brake Reservoir Issue

Since I had to change all the brake fluid on the "Phoenix K" I took a look at the " Little Wing" and it looked like it could use some brake fluid also. I hooked up the vacuum pump and changed the fluid in the wing.

When we got home from Kari's training ride I noticed that we had some drips out of the reservoir. I looked at the reservoir and the inside wall looks as though it might be a little deformed outwards. I looked up pricing on line and found replacement kits anywhere from $40 to $70 dollars. A call to Crofton Powersports (my local Honda dealer), they priced the parts at almost $100! In an effort to conserve cash I don't have I decided to do/try a home fix.

When I was cleaning and checking the K100 wiring I found that many of the connector boots were shot. I couldn't find a replacement locally and didn't want to pay BMW pricing. I bought a bicycle inner tube and fashioned boots from it and sealed them with zip ties.

For the brake reservoir, I cut a piece of tubing and sliced it so it would lay flat. I poked a couple of holes in it for the screw and screwed it down under the lid. I didn't tighten too hard because I think the screws are just going into plastic, I didn't want to strip the threads.

I'll find out tomorrow if the fix works. We're doing Kari's third training ride.

Kari's First Ride

Although, I'd given Kari a "walking" lesson a couple of weeks ago she really didn't ride the bike. She surprised me this week, she came home with Motorcycle Endorsement Learners Permit.

After going to the Farmer's Market for veggies we went over to the empty mall parking lot at about 8:30 am. I started her lesson with a walk down the lot while slipping the clutch which is what she'd already done. She then did the same thing ending in a left turn, then a right turn. She next did a pylon walk. She was getting tired, her hand was tired from the clutch, and it was getting hotter. To finish up I had her do a walk and then lift her feet up.

Here are the videos:

A quick change of the front brake fluid

Kari has surprised me by going to the MVA and getting her learners permit. We talked about riding the Wing tomorrow to the farmers market, then going to the mall and doing a riding lesson. We're out pretty early, I think we'll get to the mall no later than 8:30, which should give us some time on an empty parking lot.

After changing the brake fluid on all three brakes of the K, I looked over and noticed that the brake fluid was low on the wing. I had the vacuum pump out and ready to go. The only problem I ran into was that the Wing uses DOT 3 BRAKE FLUID. The beemer uses 4. I had an old bottle of DOT 3, it had never been opened so I used it. I don't think it's the best but it would do until I get a fresh bottle of DOT 3.

The flush and fill went without a hitch, except that I did over fill the reservoir and spilled a little on the tank. I wiped it off, and went and got a soapy paper towel to wipe things down. I hope that did the trick.

Saturday... A new Wild Goose Chase, Mirrors and a Seat

On Saturday I'm setting up times to go look at another set of mirrors and a rear passenger seat. Looking at them again I think neither one is going to work. The mirrors are an aftermarket set for sport bikes. I'm not really into the style. I think I'm just going to end up going to ebay and buying a new mirror.

These are the mirrors I'm looking at buying.







They're a little too "Cats Eye" crazy. The carbon fiber look is big these days for almost everything, but I just don't think they'll look great on the old mini wing. I do like the idea of the integrated turn signal.

The seat I'm looking at is the rear passenger seat from a VTX 1800 with seat back cushion. I don't think the seat will work but I think I can use the cushion because mine has rotted away.

Here's the seat and cushion.








The cushion for my bike lives on the back of the box and is part of the hinge/spring unit that holds the box lid up when open.

A Wild Goose Chase for Mirrors

I think I mentioned that the left fairing mirror got bunged up at some point in it's life. Someone drilled out the top of the ball joint on the base to stem connection and put some epoxy around it to try and keep the whole thing together, which it does. The bad thing is that the epoxy doesn't hold the ball joint in place and the mirror slumps down.

***Place Picture here



I've been on a quest to find replacement mirrors. I actually found a fairing in Florida that had the identical mirrors on it for $25. The problem was that the drive was 3.5 hours each way. I didn't buy it. I saw mirrors on ebay, a single mirror was $40. I fell back on my old standby, Craigslist.

I found two sets of mirrors. When I left in the morning I said it didn't really matter I was coming home with a set. The first set was from an old Katana 1100. They were scratched which didn't bother me. Unfortunately, I hadn't anticipated that the angle of the mirrors when mounted on a bullet shaped fairing don't match the same angle.  No matter how I angled them, I couldn't make them match the angle of the OEM mirrors. The owner had these up in Locust Point, about two blocks from Fort McHenry, He listed them at $50, but quickly came down to $30 without me asking.

The second set of mirrors was from a 2005 Yamaha R6 for $30, They were in Jarrettsville. Although, I had passed through Jarrettsville a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't been up there since my cousin lived there 40 years ago. These mirrors were plasticy and didn't fit any better than the others.

I didn't buy either set. Although, I did call Walt in Baltimore and tell him that I was going to look at the angles to see if I could work with his mirrors. 

One possabilty is to build angled cleat blocks similar to what we do on sailboats to get a fair lead on a line. Of course the problem is of course it's alot of work.

The search goes on.

Things To do

I bought some muffler sealant to hopefully seal the joints in the new mufflers. However, I don't want to install the new mufflers until I Paint the new and old hardware to hang them. Also, I need to deal with the rear brake.

I think I mentioned that there is a squeaking in the rear brake. My first inclination was to pull the brake off and take a look. I checked out the honda cx500 technical manual (downloaded through a forum, not bad but not good, it looks like a pdf of an old copy) it shows how to remove the brake, but, the rear wheel needs to be removed. I also checked out some youtube posts on rear brakes. The hardest part is getting the rear wheel off, which must be separated from the shaft drive splines. All in all, it doesn't look like the worst job in the world but I'd rather not do it at this time if I don't have to. However, in the reading, I found that honda in their infinite wisdom put an indicator on the rear brake assembly. By depressing the brake you can tell how much it's worn. I haven't done this yet. I've pulled the K100 into the garage to test a new Mass airflow Sensor that a friend lent me, but that's a different story and blog. Right now the garage is a bit crowded and I can't quite see the indicator and depress the brake by myself.

Don't get me wrong, it's probably a good thing to take a look at both the brake and rear spline. I have a feeling that the PO didn't put as much work into the bike as I thought. That might not be surprising, he was getting a harley after this bike. I think the only reason he got it is because he had one in 82. I think that he probably did rebuild the carbs, but that's about it. I don't think his heart was in the bike. On the other hand, I love this bike, I always wanted one. I've always thought this bike is what a light touring bike should be. I thought that it was a bike that is better suited than the Goldwing. Don't get me wrong I think the BIG WINGS are formidable bikes. Like most large mechanical things they need more care because there is more. More carbs, more rubber, more gas, more everything. 

The LITTLE WING, is smaller, lighter, and more nimble. While the GL500 is a good bike of a good size, the GL650 might be a little better for me, being bigger and heavier. For now it's the GL500.

After the rear brake and possibly the splines. The mufflers need to be take care of. At some point I'll rebuild the front forks. The PO had already bought the new seal kit to fix the air system. I almost forgot. In my reading it's recomended that the crank shaft fan be replaced with an electric cooling fan. 

Then it's on to super detailing. Taking wire brushes both by hand and on a Dremel tool to clean the small bits and pieces on the bike. At some point I'll have to decide if I want to do a complete restore of the bike. That means a complete dis-assembly, soda blast, and paint. I've never done anything like this before, so it'll be an experience.

This is a link to a forum account of a guy who did it:

http://cx500forum.com/forum/general-discussion/2718-my-82-gl500i-restoration.html