The Loser: Road Warrior Addition

[Foot dragger]

Originally Posted by Pablo83

Alright, I pulled the Loser back into the shop. Like I said, I think all it needs is a battery, oil, and oil filter. I'm guessing it's $100 away from running, so I'm accepting donations:

Give to The Loser:

I'll match any money donated, so if we can raise $50 in the next couple days hopefully that will cover everything. If all goes well (it always does ) I'll have The Loser at the Elephant ride in two weeks.

Deal?

Strap your car battery on the back. Some long cables and good to go.
Used oil isnt that big a deal.

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by Pablo83

where's the damn shift lever!?

well I found the shift lever. It was with the spare parts all along, I just thought it was the wrong one because it wouldn't fit. After a lot of research I found out the shift pawl from the replacement Shadow engine is not the same as the one in the Ascot. So now I've got to pull the clutch and swap some pawls.

[vintagespeed]

Originally Posted by Pablo83

well I found the shift lever. It was with the spare parts all along, I just thought it was the wrong one because it wouldn't fit. After a lot of research I found out the shift pawl from the replacement Shadow engine is not the same as the one in the Ascot. So now I've got to pull the clutch and swap some pawls.

there must be a more "loser-worthy" fix to that problem...

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by vintagespeed

there must be a more "loser-worthy" fix to that problem...

Yes, we could weld some scrap steel directly to the shift pawl and shape it into a lever, but that creates some maintenance issues.

[Lomax]

Originally Posted by Pablo83

Yes, we could weld some scrap steel directly to the shift pawl and shape it into a lever, but that creates some maintenance issues.

Vice grips ??

Marc

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by Lomax

Vice grips ??

Marc

that thought did cross my mind, but I value my vice grips too much.

[Pablo83]

well she starts and runs, but has no power. The bike can't pull itself up the hill on the side of my house. It's like the mains are clogged, but it's not popping when I rev it up, so I'm not real sure what's going on.

[Pablo83]

It was a little tricky, but I managed to pull the pawl without even removing the clutch. Amazing.



Shadow short pawl vs Ascot long pawl:

[Lomax]

And Vice grips, Just as I suspected.

Marc

[Pablo83]

[Lomax]

Great job.

Marc

[Pablo83]

She's popping a lot like she's running lean. I don't think I cleaned the carbs when I had them out (dumb). This might have been contributing to the overheating issue. Guess I still have more work to do.

[vintagespeed]

nicely done! long live the looser!

[Pablo83]

The Loser made a brief appearance at the Elephant Ride, but nobody rode it. I was suspicious that it was running lean (still seemed to be heating up too much). I've rebuilt so many Honda V twin carbs this summer that I thought I had done the Loser's too, but I wasn't sure so I pulled them out. It turns out I hadn't rebuilt them. This is what I found when I opened the float bowl:



Somebody loved RTV gaskets maker as much as they liked red wires. Overall the jets were pretty clean, but the idle circuits were dirty. I removed the factory plugs that cover the idle mixture screws and cleaned out the full idle circuit and put it all back together and it seems to run well. The radiator temp switch even started working for some unknown reason (the fan now clicks on automatically ).

It's time to take this bike for a real ride.

[Lomax]

It looks like the RTV monster puked inside that carb.

Marc