In The Garage Again

Here I am back in the garage again.It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that it's 2020 and I'm still on this Earth and still working on my old motorcycles .I turn 71 in the spring and want to spend some quality time up at my camp in the first half of the summer riding my 1971 Yamaha R5 . Took her out last week for a ride and I think I over filled the transmission with oil.She needed some so I thinned it a little with ATF but must have gone over by quite a bit because after I parked her in the garage there was a puddle of oil under her from sitting overnight on the side stand. That lean puts the oil over on the sprocket and shift shaft oil seals and it seems to have leaked past because of how thin that ATF made it.So , yesterday I dove in and pulled it all apart,cleaned up the O ring chain after removing it. Soaked it after cleaning it in a pan of oil so it can work it's way inside.I want this chain to last a couple more years .The front sprocket had a broken tooth so I am installing a new one I had in my inventory. Thought about doing the rear one and a new chain but I can get two or three more seasons out of it the way it is with just a front sprocket replacement  so that's how I'm doing this.

Today I am pulling off the rear wheel to clean everything and inspect it.I'm also taking the swing arm off to look at the bushings and shaft. I may replace the swing arm with a good used one with better bushings .This one has 25 or more years of continued  service on it so it's time to change it or at least look at it real close. It's nice working on my old friend.This bike has been nothing but good to me since I bought her in September of 1985 for  $185. with a shade over 4000 miles on the clock . Here we are 35 years  and over 100,000 miles later ! It's all about how you care for them .If you treat them well ,use good synthetic injector oil and good oil in the transmission/clutch the motor will last a long long long time.I never beat my bikes.This one likes to run at 5000 rpm give or take a couple hundred so that's where I run her. She's going 65 mph at 5000 so I'm good with up to about 55hundred .The red line is close to 8000 rpm so at 5 she's right near the peak of efficiency just loafing along even when loaded up with gear and on the interstate.I used to run this bike 500 miles a day on the interstate packed up like this

At some point before I get too old I'd like to do a frame up restoration on this bike so when I'm dead and gone I can leave her to someone who will continue to care for her. Perhaps some bike museum . Well with any luck that day is a decade or so away. Back to the here and now , I'm waiting for the kerosene heater to warm the work space so I can get down to business.Got an email today from this blog sharing site https://blog.feedspot.com/motorcycle_blogs/
Perhaps this will get some interest in my blog. They asked if I would share their address so here it is. Here is the text of the email :
Hi
I emailed regarding your blog Ridin The "T" and the "K" which was selected by Feedspot as one of the Top 100 Motorcycle Blogs on the web.

https://blog.feedspot.com/motorcycle_blogs/

We'd be thankful if you can help us spread the word by briefly mentioning Top 100 Motorcycle Blogs in any of your upcoming posts.

Please let me know if you can do the needful.

If you'd like to take advantage of our platform used by 2+ million users to get more leads and traffic, try Feedspot for marketers.

https://www.feedspot.com/fs/marketers

Best,
Anuj

I'd like to see services like this succeed .I don't write this for any particular reason other than to do it. It's not something I do for money , I just like to share my motorcycling and other experiences and document what I have been doing with my life. No one reads it and that's ok , I still enjoy putting it into words and pictures . Well , it's time to head out to the garage and get to it.It's a cloudy day here in NY with temps in the high 40's to low 50's F  . Who knows , I may get out for a ride on the Moto Guzzi after I get the swing arm off .  'Till next time , Ride Safe