Timbone
Well-Known Member
Geez, how many things can go wrong with these things?!
On my ride to work yesterday, I'm on the East side of downtown making great time on the moto when, int he middle of a turn, -BAM! - things get LOUD! Even though it's 6:00am and very dark, I can tell right away that the muffler cap has fallen off and all the muffler innards have spilled out on the roadway. I hook around, shining my bright headlight all over the road and the side of the road. Nothing shiny. I'll never find it. I turned around an resumed my ride to work. I stop at the convenience store to pick up something to eat fro breakfast and, upon squeezing the clutch lever, I get no clutch! I brake hard and the engine dies.
Again, very quickly I look at the sprocket cover and it has happened again. Another screw has come loose and there's no pressure on the bucking bar. I dig a screwdriver out of the backpack, remove a screw from the clutch cover side and tighten down the sprocket cover. A quick fix, yes, but I had just replaced that damn screw!
OK, so all day at work I am wondering what I will do with the super loud moto. I can't ride it like that! So immediately after work, I buy a soft drink and some steel wool. I carry some extra 6mm 1.0 nuts and washers in the backpack so I am good there. I cut the bottom part off the Pepsi can and I found something sharp to make a hole in the top that would allow the stud to fit thru. I stuffed a little steel wool inside the muffler and down into the open side of the Pepsi can. I was cautious as I didn't know how much would cause too much back pressure. I fit the can up, tightened it as best I could and rode home.
It was better but still TOO LOUD!
So today,I took all that junk apart. I stuffed a LOT of steel wool up into the muffler and I made a metal cap that was almost exactly the same size as the empty muffler. I ran a nut up into the muffler body, then a washer (I want something for the nut on the outside to bite to) then my cap and i tightened it well, with the outside edges pulling up and into the muffler tube. Of course, I left a small oblong hole so that the exhaust can escape.
It's still loud, maybe too loud, but not too bad. Sounds pretty cool, actually! Not as loud as a Harley.
I also noticed some gas ont he engine, too, and I noticed my tank was almost empty form my work commute the previous day. Very strange. I can get two commutes in on a full tank of gas. I tighten all the carb screws - nothing out of sorts or unusual.
So time for some test runs: I open the fuel valve, pedal up, and -Squirt! - there's a spray of gas onto my left leg! WTF?
At first, I am worried: it looks like the spray came from the primer thingy. Oh no! How am I gonna fix that??
But I finally figure it out: there's a slight tear in the fuel line. Easy fix!
OK, So the test runs: now the bike is quieter (Yay, muffler fix!) and I hear some squeaking. WTF? I ridea bit and I figure it out: the engine is loose and rocking a little bit. I tightened it back down. Ran a few errands and all is good.
So,after all that, I washed up real well and I cleaned my new GT2-A frame to get it ready for painting.
=Timbone=
On my ride to work yesterday, I'm on the East side of downtown making great time on the moto when, int he middle of a turn, -BAM! - things get LOUD! Even though it's 6:00am and very dark, I can tell right away that the muffler cap has fallen off and all the muffler innards have spilled out on the roadway. I hook around, shining my bright headlight all over the road and the side of the road. Nothing shiny. I'll never find it. I turned around an resumed my ride to work. I stop at the convenience store to pick up something to eat fro breakfast and, upon squeezing the clutch lever, I get no clutch! I brake hard and the engine dies.
Again, very quickly I look at the sprocket cover and it has happened again. Another screw has come loose and there's no pressure on the bucking bar. I dig a screwdriver out of the backpack, remove a screw from the clutch cover side and tighten down the sprocket cover. A quick fix, yes, but I had just replaced that damn screw!
OK, so all day at work I am wondering what I will do with the super loud moto. I can't ride it like that! So immediately after work, I buy a soft drink and some steel wool. I carry some extra 6mm 1.0 nuts and washers in the backpack so I am good there. I cut the bottom part off the Pepsi can and I found something sharp to make a hole in the top that would allow the stud to fit thru. I stuffed a little steel wool inside the muffler and down into the open side of the Pepsi can. I was cautious as I didn't know how much would cause too much back pressure. I fit the can up, tightened it as best I could and rode home.
It was better but still TOO LOUD!
So today,I took all that junk apart. I stuffed a LOT of steel wool up into the muffler and I made a metal cap that was almost exactly the same size as the empty muffler. I ran a nut up into the muffler body, then a washer (I want something for the nut on the outside to bite to) then my cap and i tightened it well, with the outside edges pulling up and into the muffler tube. Of course, I left a small oblong hole so that the exhaust can escape.
It's still loud, maybe too loud, but not too bad. Sounds pretty cool, actually! Not as loud as a Harley.
I also noticed some gas ont he engine, too, and I noticed my tank was almost empty form my work commute the previous day. Very strange. I can get two commutes in on a full tank of gas. I tighten all the carb screws - nothing out of sorts or unusual.
So time for some test runs: I open the fuel valve, pedal up, and -Squirt! - there's a spray of gas onto my left leg! WTF?
At first, I am worried: it looks like the spray came from the primer thingy. Oh no! How am I gonna fix that??
But I finally figure it out: there's a slight tear in the fuel line. Easy fix!
OK, So the test runs: now the bike is quieter (Yay, muffler fix!) and I hear some squeaking. WTF? I ridea bit and I figure it out: the engine is loose and rocking a little bit. I tightened it back down. Ran a few errands and all is good.
So,after all that, I washed up real well and I cleaned my new GT2-A frame to get it ready for painting.
=Timbone=
