Last Saturday, I rode the CL 19 miles to the KC Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club’s Spring Show and back.
Overall it was fun, but I still have some teething pains to deal with:
- The Express SR speedo (my FOURTH!) shot craps about 5 minutes into the ride and screeched noticeably the rest of the trip, even over the louder-than-stock exhaust.
- The gas cap leaks, dribbling fuel all over the tank. To add to it, the quickie spray-bomb engine paint on the tank isn’t fuel-safe, and is lifting all over.
- Making left-hand turns from stoplights, the bike would sputter for several seconds. I’m guessing it’s the float level.
- The idle varies dramatically between cold and warm. Couldn’t find one setting for the idle adjustment screw that wasn’t either coughing and dying or racing way too high at some point. I assume some additional carb work is in order.
- The 6-volt turn signals are pathetically dim. My wife was riding right behind me and in bright sunlight she couldn’t tell when they were on, even when she was staring right at them.
The bike cruises quite nicely at 45-50 MPH and handled just fine, though the brakes are a whole lot weaker than I remember them being back in high school! My cobbled-up exhaust held up fine and no parts fell off, so I guess that’s something.
I have to say, I am losing enthusiasm for this bike. I’m not sure how much I’ll actually want to ride it once I get it all sorted, which dampens my motivation somewhat. I’ve toyed with putting an ad on CL and seeing what I can get for it, but I go back and forth on that idea. You can only sell something once, then it’s gone.
