The Zipsicle

Got the parts in yesterday for the fork rebuild so last night I started in on the rebuild. First order of business was to watch Fred Harmon’s DVD section on fork rebuilding. Very helpful. I was able to successfully get the left fork drained and disassembled without any problems. The old oil was filthy and sure does smell bad. Draining and flushing the fork oil looks to be so simple that I think I will plan on doing it fairly frequently in the future. I then cleaned up the upper and lower fork tubes and installed new bushings and seals. This much went very well. Tonight I’ll add the fresh new oil and new progressive fork spring and start on the right fork. Next up will be cleaning up the brake calipers and installing the new front brake pads. It appeared to me that the left side pads might have been contaminated with fork oil from the leaking fork so I’m going to replace them all. While I’ve got the front end apart I’m also going to install Hella driving lights up under the cowling and wire them in. Then I can start putting put it all back together. I hope to have it all completed by the end of the weekend if all goes well. And there’s no reason to think it won’t. So far, I’m finding this bike very easy to work on and that’s a very good thing.

Ride safe,
Zippo & Jax

Our new Piggy Backer trailer has been sitting in the crate just waiting for me to put it together. I got to it today. Here’s what it looked uncrated. Notice that some assembly is required:

Putting it all together took me just a few hours. It would have probably been quicker but some of the bolts they send with the thing are about twice as long as required for the task and, since the nuts are NyLock, you can’t just spin them on. It also takes me twice as long to gather my tools as it does most people since I organize them in such a fashion as to make them difficult to locate when I next need them! Here it is all put together and ready to go:

I pulled the wheel bearings apart and greased them heavily. They came greased from the factory but it was a bit sparser than I like to see. the tires call for 60 PSI and the instructions say 40 to 50 so I put in 55. I’ll keep an eye on them closely and see how they’re wearing and adjust as needed. I’m also not convinced that the “inexpensive” latches the thing comes with are going to stand up to the task. Fortunately, there’s a lock that can be locked that should keep the lid closed while it’s going down the road but I think I’ll see if I can’t come up with a more satisfactory latching arrangement. I also still need to get the hitch and wiring completed on the bike but at least we’re getting closer to camping (a thought that causes Jax some laughter as she constantly reminds me that we have a 35 foot motorhome for that sort of thing… ).

Ride safe,
Zippo and Jax

I pulled the front wheel on the Goldwing yesterday (a first for me) to get started replacing the worn tire and found that I had a leaking fork seal on the left side so, while I was at it…

I took the wheel down to a dealer and had them remove the old bearings – $10 + tax – which I thought was very reasonable. They said they had trouble getting them out and had to heat the wheel so I’m pretty glad I didn’t attempt the removal; I’d mostlikely still be cursing it. Took the wheel back home and installed the new All Balls wheel bearings. It’s a strange design that calls for two bearings pressed into each side of the front wheel. I also installed new dust covers.

Then I went ahead and removed both forks. Figured since the bike has 93,000 miles on it they’re probably due for a rebuild anyway. I’ll probably go ahead and add Progressive fork springs while they’re apart. The shop said they’d do the rebuild on them for $85 each (labor) which doesn’t seem like too bad a price. I’m a bit hesitant to tear into them myself but I’m told that the task isn’t really all that bad so I may just go ahead and have at it.

I will probably go ahead and replace all the front brake pads while it’s torn down, too. They look like they probably have some life left in them but new ones don’t cost all that much and it’ll be easier to do now that I have everything apart. Plus, I can’t be certain that some fork fluid didn’t contaminate the pads on the left side.

I also mounted my new Harbor Freight changer in the driveway. The bolts I got to go into the concrete anchors were a bit too long so the changer wasn’t as solid as it should have been but I was able to remove the old tire and get the new one mounted. I’m going to have to replace the concrete anchors and get some shorter bolts before I do the next tire. Still, it was with great satisfaction that I aired up the new tire and I smiled as I heard the double “pop” that told me the beads had seated properly on each side of the rim!

While I had things apart I removed the steering stem to replace the bearings with All Balls but found that a previous owner had already installed them and though they were a bit dry they seemed to be in great shape so I greased them thoroughly and reinstalled them.

Today I got all of the parts ordered for the forks so, hopefully, I can get this thing all back together next weekend and, again hopefully, it’s gonna feel like a new bike.

It was a pretty good day…

I received our new tire changer and wheel balancing units from Harbor Freight, recently. Yesterday I stopped by the hardware store and bought some concrete anchors for bolting the tire changer down to our concrete pad. I also rented a roto-hammer to drill the concrete for the anchors and last night Jax and I went out and decided where the least obtrusive place on our parking pad to mount the unit would be. The changer will be removed and I’ll place short bolts in the anchors to help keep the dirt out of the anchors when not in use but we wanted to locate it in a low traffic area so we wouldn’t be stumbling over the boltheads when I wasn’t using the changer. After selecting a location I placed the changer on the pad and marked the location of the four mounting bolts onto the concrete and then used the roto-hammer to drill the 3/4 inch holes for the anchors. Total time to complete drilling and installation of the anchors was around 15 minutes and I managed to finish just as a heavy rain began to fall.

This weekend (weather permitting) I hope to pull the front tire off the Goldwing and change it over to the new Avon Cobra. I expect it’ll take me a while to accomplish my first ever tire change but it sure will be nice not to have to pay someone else $80 to $100 to do this for me a couple of times a year.

Ride safe,
Zippo and Jax

Jax took her first ride on the Wing this past weekend. The temperature creeped above 60 degrees outside so I was able to coerce her onto the back of the bike for her first ride on our new to us Wing. We purchased it last November but Jax doesn’t enjoy riding if it’s too cold for her so she hadn’t had a chance to ride it yet. And, guess what? She liked it! She found the seat to be very comfortable and the ride very smooth. I took it a bit easy in the corners since it been 4 or five months since she’s ridden but she had a good time. We enjoyed the builtin intercom system and listening to music over the FM radio.

The weather has been phenomenal around here considering that it’s till February. Sunny and 60s over the last week (although it still gets down to freezing at night). Perfect riding weather. we’re looking forward to more and longer trips on teh Wing as the season progresses.

Ride safe,
Zippo & Jax

Yesterday we ordered a new trailer for towing behind our bikes. Being somewhat cheap, and not knowing for sure how whether or not we’ll enjoy trailer towing and camping in a tent, we bought a new Piggy Backer trailer at a very nice price. You can see them here:

Piggy Backer Trailers

Here’s a picture:

It looks to be fairly light but should allow us plenty of room for our camping gear (and new t-shirts on our trips! :>) ) They tell me the trailer should ship Monday so we should see it here in a week or so. I also found and purchased a used trailer hitch for our Goldwing from a fellow on an Internet forum. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for a used hitch for our VSTAR 1300 but I’m betting those will be more difficult to find.

Soon you’ll find us at the campfire with our feet up and contentedly sipping our hot toddies! (Or, crouched over the smouldering mound of wet wood in a driving rain complaining about how cold we are, more likely. LOL)

Ride safe,
Zippo and Jax

Jax and I have finally and officially decided that we’re going to do another two week road trip on one of the bikes for vacation this year. (yippee!) We haven’t decided which bike, yet, as Jax hasn’t ridden on the Wing as of today. She’s waiting for a bit warmer weather but, I think, is starting to look forward to doing some more rides this season (not to mention vacation). We also haven’t decided if we’re going to motel it all or maybe do some camping along the way. For sure we’ll be towing a trailer, this year, whichever bike we decide to ride on. Either way, I know we’ll have a great time.

We’ve also decided on a Utah trip again. We both love visiting Utah and really enjoyed our visit there a few years ago with the RV. We both enjoyed our road trip last year on the Zipsicle and know that we’re definitely going to enjoy another one. Tentative plans have us heading down the coast and then cutting over through Nevada into Arizona to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and then up through Zion. Cedar Breaks, Capitol Reef, Dead Horse Point, and Arches are just a few of the places we’re hoping to ride through and enjoy.

It’s a bit strange. I almost want the summer over so we can take off on vacation and enjoy our trip but I also don’t want to miss out on all the riding that the summer is going to bring. Oh, well. September seems like a longs ways away but I’ll bet it’s here before we know it! Yaaaaay! I just can’t wait for another:

It's another Zip Trip!

Ride safe,

Zippo and Jax

I found a new set of Avon Cobra tires for an extremely good price on the Internet so I ordered them for the Goldwing. I decided to put a 180/70/16 tire on the back. This is a bit larger than the stock size of 180/60/16. The larger tire has a bit higher load rating which should be a good thing. It also has a bit larger contact patch which should also be a good thing. And lastly another good thing; it should also help to correct a bit of the speedometer error common on these bikes. On the minus side is that the bike will stand just bit taller but, but I can reach the ground pretty well now, so it shouldn’t make too much of a difference.

I had planned on paying to have this set of tires mounted so I called down to a dealership that I use for the Zipsicle and they quoted $160.00 to mount and balance the new tires since I didn’t buy the tires at the dealership! I called a Honda dealership and they wanted $200.00. Outrageous, in my opinion, so I went ahead and ordered the equipment I’ll need to mount and balance them myself. It will just about pay for the equipment with just one tire change and since I have two bikes it’s definitely going to save me some money and I can buy my tires on the web at a large savings over what the dealerships want to charge for new tires. I don’t mind the dealers making a profit and want them to stay in business but those prices are simply ridiculous and they have priced themselves out of getting my business for this part of the maintenance.

I’ve watched a couple of videos of the process of removing, balancing, and reinstalling the tires on the Goldwing and it looks pretty straightforward and I think even a mechanical klutz like me can get this one right. I’ll post some pictures after I receive the equipment and get set up for doing the tires. I imagine that the first set will take me longer than it might take a pro to do them but the money I save is going to be a very good thing.

Ride safe,

Zippo and Jax

I was pondering the reasons I like riding my bikes, the other day, and decided that one of the main reasons is the motion…

Not just the motion of the bike along the road, although that’s certainly a big part of the enjoyment, but also the motion of the wind rushing past and my protective clothing moving in the disturbed air. The motion of the pistons sliding up and down (or in and out depending upon which bike I’m riding). There’s the slight but steadily changing vibration as the tires move over every irregularity in the road surface and the motion of the forks moving up and down in response to bumps in the pavement. There’s inertial motion as my body avoids catching up with the accelerating bike and the inertial motion as my body avoids slowing down with the bike as I apply the brakes to slow or stop. There’s the side to side motion of the bike and body as we lean back and forth in the turns and the motion of my head and helmet as I check out the intersecting roads for potentially dangerous cross-traffic. I like the motion as the handlebars turn one way or another at slower, parking lot speeds. There’s the motion of the raindrops flowing back over my faceshield as it protrudes into the airstream and the lights of traffic around me as I ride at night.

There’s even enjoyable motion before and after the ride when I swing my leg over  the saddle while mounting or dismounting the bike – a motion that seems to get more difficult as time goes by.  I dread the day when, for me, the only motorcycle motion will be the neurons firing weakly in my brain as I try to recall the motions and emotions of riding my finely crafted vehicles over what seemed at the time to be endless roads…

Ride safe,

Zippo and Jax

Well, the Bulgesicle looks to be due for new rubber. There’s a wealth of choices in tires to install out there even if you don’t consider installing a car tie (which many do install on their bikes). I don’t think I’m quite ready for that step, yet…

Many riders sing the praises of the Bridgestones on the GL1800 and others like the Dunlops. The Bridgestones that came on the Zipsicle were awful, in my opinion. The grip was lousy at the best of times and terrible when the roads were wet. And, surprisingly enough, the roads often are wet here in the Pacific Northwest. I was never so happy as when I finally wore the B ridgestones out and was able to put a good set of Metzlers on the bike. I also went from a 180/60/16 on the back of the bike to a slightly larger 180/70/16. This gave a slightly laqrger contact patch as well as a bit higher load rating. These tire handle superbly on the VSTAR 1300.

Surprisingly, the rear tire on the stock GL1800  Goldwing is the same size as the stock tire on the VSTAR 1300 – 180/60/16 (and, also surprisingly, so is the load capacity of both bikes the same). I think I will also replace this tire with the bigger sized 180/70/16 on the Goldwing, too. I’m sure it will improve the already superb handling of the bike and, like the Zipsicle, will give a slightly better load capacity as well. I’ve pretty much chosen the Avon Cobra series of tires to try on the Bulgesicle. Hopefully, the mileage will be acceptable and I’m sure the handling will be excellent – even when wet.

I think I will pay to have this set switched out but, I also think that, by the time the next tires are due, I’ll buy the equipment to change the tires myself. Should be able to save a few bucks  and maybe it’ll even be fun. Sort of…. Like visiting the dentist, I suppose… Ahhhh, well. That’s why they invented Jack Daniels!

Ride safe,

Zippo and Jax