I am trying to get as much done on this bike before the summer ends. My goal is to get the engine back into the bike by next week. What has happened since my last post? Well I sent in my valve head to Head and Block to get reconditioned. It looks amazing!
This was a necessary job as I don't have the tools or knowledge to do what needed to be done. I am still waiting on my piston rings (they should be in today or tomorrow I think as they were sent out on Monday) but I did get the pistons back in the engine last night.
I got in contact with a local bike shop (679 Bike) about getting new tires put on. I need to call them back and get the tires ordered. I also drained the forks and began the process of removing them. The seals definitely need to be replaced.
The fuel tank needs some attention so I began dealing with that. Opened the tank and found, not surprisingly, that the rubber o-ring is badly degraded. The tank still had some gas in it and man did it stink. I rinsed that out as best as I could in preparation for the rust converting liquid I picked up in Buffalo (by the way, the chemical reaction that occurs is pretty cool and I'm definitely going to be using it as an example of a double displacement reaction in my grade 10 science classes this year). I decided to take apart the petcock as well as there are a couple of o rings in there that will most likely be toast. As I attempted to disconnect the bowl the wrench tore the bottom out.
I order about 5 more replacement parts from Honda and I just put in a big order into Bike Bandit for a new exhaust system plus a couple other parts I need (drive chain, fork seals, air filter). I am off to purchase some fuel line and hose clamps.