The seat hinges arrived today so I could attach the seat to the motorcycle. So in celebration I went for a short ride!
I actually went for two rides.
I started the bike and did a rudimentary carb balancing and idle set, just so it would run well enough to give it a warm up ride. Then I rode it around the neighborhood for a bit. It was running pretty rough just off idle, but surprisingly well in the midrange. And I only killed it once. 🙂
After that, I hooked up the balance gauges and adjusted it a bit better. I got it pretty balanced, but the new throttle cables need to stretch out a bit.
It’s running really lean because of the Luftmeister two into one exhaust and K&N filter, so it spits and pops at idle and under partial throttle. I’ll have to get some richer jets for it.
Then I took it out on the freeway for a few miles out and back.
It pulls strong from the midrange on up, but it’s probably still lean there too. I didn’t want to go too far with it so lean and with no rear brake (who needs rear brakes anyway?)
I also got a nice reminder of why they call these “Gummikuhs” (rubber cows). It feels pretty flexy even compared to my K1100RS (not the stiffest of frames either.) I’ll have to make sure the swingarm bearing pivots are tight enough and that the steering head bearings are adjusted properly.
So, still plenty to do to finish it up, but it’s running and rolling now!
