Blood, Oil, Sweat and Tears

I know it's been a while since the last real update, but it's been worth it (sort of.)

The bike came apart again on Friday night, and a lengthy process of changes to clean up the engine began. First and foremost were the carbs. We'd done some bad things, leaving some jets loose last weekend, and unfortunately our cleaning job was fairly subpar too. This time, I went out and got some real nasty super-concentrated Motomaster Carb Cleaner (about $4.99 from the good ol' C-Tire.)

Once again, the carbs come apart. The glass jar on the right is holding a small amount of super-concentrated carb cleaner, which the jets were doused in. I also used it to scrub the rust/varnish off the far left carburetor. The spray carb cleaner on the left is pretty much junk, I would avoid it in the future.

You know I love before and after pics, and I know you love before and after pics. Well, on your right you will see a lovely display of what the jets looked like before and after being soaked in this super-concentrated cleaner.

My eyes were pretty much bleeding from the fumes.

Great, so that got cleaned up.. I also rejuvenated the rubber a little bit for the air boot by soaking it in Armor All, a little trick I stole from Dan's Motorcycle Course. Actually, a lot of my knowledge comes from there, so if you are curious about motorcycle repair I would check it out.

Next on the list was the air filter. This was the simplest, thankfully. The old filter was simply chock full of dirt, mostly likely completely unsalvageable. I'm surprised the bike even ran with it on. Anyway, I got a new UNI Air Filter and greased it up with some K&N Air Filter Oil.

The old filter. You can see the dust that's blocked it up just by looking through the grate. Unfortunately it wouldn't come off, so.. out with the old and in with the new.

The new filter, with some sticky red filter oil. Mmm, mm.