Project Z750 part 33

Okay, so we have brakes, we have lights, we have forks.

Next up is a quick test ride round the block. so I put my helmet on, wheeled the bike out of the garage and fired it up.

I put it into first and pulled gently away. okay so far. I tried the brakes just to make sure they wouldn't explode when I first used them (or at least for them to explode at slow speed). The brakes work. woohoo !!

okay corner coming up, oh. steering is a bit of a challenge, but I made it around the corner. Okay now to try second gear, clutch in, gear lever up.... and second gear (that shocked me, but I'm getting a bit of a pessimist with this bike now)

okay, trundle down the road and another corner coming up. I have to fight the bike round the corners, and I'm not sure if that's something I've done when changing the forks. Or it could just be the tyre pressure (which I should've checked before taking the bike onto the road!).

okay, next gear. Clutch in, gear lever... oh, the gear lever won't go up. Oh Oh. okay, try first gear again, yep can get into first, up into second. okay. now third... nope, the gear lever just wont move up into third.

okay, I'm round the block and back at home. I fight the steering to get onto the drive, and have a quick chat with my wife, and she suggests that the gearbox may just need to loosen up, after sitting for years, so I go round the block again.

unfortunately, I still cant get the bike above second gear.

Back in the garage and I checked the tyre pressures. it was 12 psi at the front (instead of 36 psi) and 19 psi at the back (instead of 42), so I've pumped the tyres up now, but still a bit more to do. I need to work out (and hopfully fix) the gears.

Comments

Triathlon Training in the new year

So, my 2019 training has got off to a good start. I'm running regularly and my knees seem to be holding up. I've got a training plan to get me to a middle distance triathlon in September and I am managing the run distances I have set myself. I need to find some longer cycling routes to work and ones with a few hills too, but that shouldn't be a problem. my weekly cycling distance is okay, I just need to move to get my ebike to be doing less of the work. last week I did use my normal commuter bicycle and managed the whole four days as well as my runs, so that was a really good sign. Swimming won't be an issue, I have always found that to be the easy part of a triathlon (not that I'm fast, but I can keep going, and I did manage to swim the distance within the cut off time when I tried the ironman 70.3 last time) The main worry about going longer is my knees. I've got a 10K booked in late January which will test my knees out and I'm hoping that they hold ...

Project Z750 part 16

The piston puller has arrived. it looks like a pair of pliers, but works opposite so that when you press the handles the "nose" of the pliers expands. the idea is that you put the nose into the piston, grip very hard and turn and pull the piston so that it comes out. the theory is great, but actually using one isn't. in use you are trying to grip as hard as you can, and at the same time trying to pull the piston out of the caliper (as well as maybe turning it if it's stuck like mine). it took a herculean effort to get one of the pistons out, I was gripping as if my life depended on it, trying to twist the piston and pull it out of the caliper. when it turned (a little) it gave me renewed hope of getting both pistons out, and eventually the piston was out, so just one more left. so now on to the fifth and final brake caliper piston. I put the piston puller tool into the caliper, gripped with all my might (no laughing please) and twisted. Well something mo...

Project Z750 part 14

I thought that some photos would be in order rather just all that plain old boring text, so here is a front caliper and it's pistons: This is the caliper before I managed to get the slide off. the pistons show a before polishing started and part way through. Here are the pins that hold the pads into the calipers. again you can see the before and part polished (I hope you can tell which is which) I thought I would show a picture of the rear caliper in pieces: there are more bits for a single caliper than I realised. The rear is a single piston caliper. and one of the front calipers. the front calipers are twin pistons (as I hope you noticed) I dont think that I will be able to remove all of the corrosion from the caliper pistons, so it looks like I will be getting all new caliper pistons. I'll order them once everything has been cleaned thoroughly.

My Ramblings

Search This Blog