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Updates Archive | May 2005
 
   
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Flat & Gloss Black Honda Rebel Chopper - 250cc Chopper05/30/2005
Quick Update on the bike project.

The wiring harness went back on the bike. I finally got it hooked up to where it works. Still some connections to sort out and the rear section of the harness needs to be connected up and all lights hooked into the harness. I also need to use cable ties to clean up the look of it.

The bike has a new battery. The previous owner had a battery on the bike which was the right size and amperage, but physically too big for the battery box. As such I had to buy a new battery and got the pleasure of filling my first battery with acid. It was precharged, but required 10 hours of charging for maximum life.

As I was working with the harness, I was trying to see if hooking the battery up would get the switches working. I couldn't get anything to light up. For some reason I hit the starter switch and the starter turned over. So I hit the horn, and it honked. It was pretty loud, being a freeway blaster horn made for cars. I tested some of the hand switches on the new hand left hand control and they were working!

Flat & Gloss Black Honda Rebel Chopper - 250cc ChopperAs such I decided to take the bike out of the house, and see if it would start up. So I got the ramp, brought the bike out of the living room down the front steps (my neighbor looked at me like I was nuts, all he saw was me riding a motorcycle down the front steps) and then locked the house and took the bike, the second quart of oil, and the ramp around back to the drive way. I filled the engine with oil from the second quart, and then proceeded to put a gallon of gas into the tank. I pulled the choke open manually using the cable, turned the gas on, and hit the starter switch. The bike coughed to life on the first try! My next door neighbors undoubtedly thought I was insane as I was screaming: "She's ALIVE! She's ALIVE", like in Weird Science... I let the bike run for 20 minutes or so, to force the engine paint to cure and the header wrap to cure. The header wrap smoked for a good 30 minutes after the engine was shut off but the manual said to expect that.

There is still alot to do on it. The clutch cable is being replaced (currently have one on order) as it's too long (stretched from use) and not going to be of much use to me since it's worn out and I can't depend on it. As I said, I've got to cleanup the wiring harness, hookup the rear harness and tie in all of the lights. I did a test mount of the front seat mount, and it needs to be drilled, painted and mounted. I also need to cut the seat pan, mount the bolts to it, drill it, stain it with black stain underneath where it will be exposed, and test mount it to the bike after the brace is screwed to it. Then I'll have to cut the pad, glue the first layer and staple the second layer of pad to it and sew a custom seat cover for it. Then I've got to use loctite to permanently mount the footpegs, put the sidecovers and wiring house covers on it. Then put the front sprocket, chain, and chain guard back on. Test the alignment of the wheels and get the back wheel properly aligned. Doublecheck the sparkplug gapping, rig the choke up somehow since it's not possible to operate it from the handlebar anymore.. Mount the license plate bracket and license plate. Build the shield (windscreen) from scrap steel and mount it... Mount the seat, and take it for it's first ride. Due to the way my schedule is for the next month though, it means it's going to likely be another four weeks before all of this is completed (ugh!) since I won't be able to work on the bike for 2 weekends.

Debating names for the bike, currently I'm thinking Elvira. I'm also debating what to do with it when I'm done.. Do I sell it? Do I keep it for a month or two and then sell it, or keep it for a year and sell it.. or just keep it. I donno. Would anyone want to buy it? That's a good question in itself! I've got new extra fork and dust seals for it, fork oil, and a few other things I could thrown in along with the manual.. but I'm not sure. I've enjoyed working on it so far, it's been an interesting project. We'll see when I'm done. When I look at it now I don't know. Maybe when it's completed I'll be in love with it and want to keep it. I remember when I bought it how I saw the potential for it to be something better than it was.. we'll see.

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of the bike. I'm debating making heat shields to cover the dents in the pipes. Since they are purely cosmetic, and do not affect the inner pipes I don't know if it's worth it from a weight standpoint to add 10 pounds back onto the bike after I've already lightened it considerably by losing the fender struts, passenger pegs, stock seat and passenger pad, OEM turn signals (weighed alot more than my new ones), OEM headlight bucket and taillight (those weighed about the same as my replacements, but I get a bigger headlight this way!) as well as going to a smaller battery (OEM size, not the oversized giganto battery that the old owner had on it) which will actually fit inside the battery box sidecover.
 
 
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Maru and the bikes the day we left Eureka Springs for home.05/08/2005
We did our first bit of motorcycle touring this weekend. We packed our bikes up and headed for Eureka Springs on Friday after work. We spent the night in Clinton, Arkansas rather than ride in the dark. In Clinton we met a couple on a white HD Springer who were staying at our hotel. They were pretty nice. We also ran into one of the town's 3 sport bikers (really nice guy) at the Pizza Hut. He saw us ride in and stopped by as he was hoping we were locals who rode that he hadn't met yet.

We got up early the next day, had a continental breakfast (biscuits and gravy, raisin bran, and milk and oj) courtesy of our hotel.. And then hit the road. About 10 miles from Harrison my engine cut out.. And I pulled over and switched to reserve. The Buell's tank is a bit anemic, but a fillup in Harrison got us the rest of the way to Eureka.

We stayed at the Bavarian Inn, it's a Czech And German style hotel and restaurant. The room was huge. We got a suite, which had a nice seating area, a fireplace, king size bed, bathroom with shower and heart shaped Jacuzzi. It's the cleanest hotel I have ever seen in my life, the room was immaculate. They included all kinds of extras, mouthwash, body lotion, etc.. Really a welcoming place and the staff was very friendly.

We unpacked, parked the bikes on the little walkway to our room (we had a ground floor room which had it's own patio), locked them up and covered them and changed. We waited at the Trolley stop, And got a day pass for each of us for $4.00. That allowed us to take any Trolley we wanted, and the Trolley drivers were really swell guys! Very helpful, a credit to Eureka Springs.

We missed the parade downtown because we were at the Christ of the Ozarks statue. We took the Trolley Downtown and ate at a little hole in the wall (literally) called Chelsea's which was downstairs from a restaurant whose name I don't remember but which had a line to get in. Chelsea's had a bar outdoors and dance area in the courtyard that looked straight out of Europe. The staff were all young, very coolaAnd friendly... And the place wasn't busy. There was a sign that said: Lousy Food, Bad Service and something else.. The service was very good, The food was great and cheap (we ordered onion rings as an appetizer and they sent out a heck of alot of them!). Maru had the Philly Cheesesteak Pita, and I got the Beer Battered Fish And Chips.

We walked up to the history district and saw the Victorian homes, which reminded me of Czech in how close to the street they were, and how well tended the yards and gardens were. We then walked up to the Crescent hotel, we went in briefly and the lobby was VERY creepy. The hotel has a history that says it's haunted. We considered staying there, but I'm glad we didn't as the place was packed. There was also a small Catholic Church next door to it which was breathtaking, very beautiful inside and out.

After we were done with the town, we headed back to the hotel and got dressed for dinner. We went to the Bavarian Inn. Maru had the 1/4 roast duck, and I had the svickova (beef in sauce with dumplings) like my mother-in-law fixes (a favorite Czech dish of mine). The food was very good, and we had some Pilsner Urquell with our dinner, and had strudel for desert. After that we stopped in the gift shop, bought some bubblebath and tried out the heart shaped Jacuzzi.

The next morning we got ready and saddled up early. We were worried it might rain, as the sky looked like it. We had kolache in the lobby and headed out. We stopped in Harrison again and gassed up. The roads were wet in some places in the Ozarks where it had rained earlier, and we got a light sprinkling (like 5 seconds) twice, the bugs were pretty bad (had to clean our face shields a couple of times). We stopped outside Conway to gas up again, and then went the rest of the way home. After unpacking, letting the bikes cool down, and putting them up we headed out to get a late lunch.. While in the restaurant it started raining. We made a good choice leaving early because if we had waited an hour longer we would have been riding in a heavy downpour in Little Rock.

We calculated our gas mileage for both bikes, and each one got better than the manufacturer says. Kawasaki and Buell both say that our bikes get 70 miles per gallon, but we averaged 75. I topped Maru's tank off everytime I filled up and I envied her 4.8 gallon gas tank. I also need to get a new seat, because the Buell seat is fine for short rides and around town but after 4.5 hours riding it's none too great. I need to find a Kawasaki seat too and have a seat builder make a better one for Maru using the seat pan. I can just get a Corbin seat since Corbin makes a nice gunfighter seat for the Blast.

The bikes performed very well, and ran great. Before we had left for Eureka I did a checkup, oil, gas, tires, lubed Maru's chain and checked the chain tension, checked her coolant level, etc.. Anyway, Eureka was Biker Central, there were tons of guys on bikes on the way up and in Eureka. There were bikes all over downtown. We passed Iron Horse Stables on the way in, and it looks like an interesting place. I could go on forever, but I'll stop. Here are some photos from the trip:

Me and the bikes at our overnight stop. Waiting for the Trolley at the Bavarian Inn Restaurant in Eureka Springs. Downtown Eureka Springs, Ice Cream and Choppers. Christ of the Ozarks
Me with the bikes, taken by Maru from our second story room at the Best Western in Clinton. Me and Maru at the Trolley Stop at the Bavarian Inn Restaurant and Hotel. Downtown Eureka Springs, Maru with Ice Cream and Choppers. Christ of the Ozarks
A Victorian home in Eureka Springs. Cool Victorian Home on a wedge, very narrow. Small Church in Eureka Springs. Us at a small Church in Eureka Springs.
Maru with a Victorian House in the Historic District. Me and the Narrow Victorian House in the Historic District. Maru and the cute little church. The two of us at the cute little church.
The Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs. Our Heart Shaped Jacuzzi at the Bavarian Inn in Eureka Springs. Me with the bikes, ready to roll home in Eureka Springs.  
Maru at the Crescent. Do you see any ghosts? They claim the place is haunted, we went into the lobby but it was too creepy so we left. Maru and the Heart Shaped Jacuzzi. Safe for Work, thanks to lots of bubbles. :-) Me with the bikes, I'd just gotten done packing them for the ride home.  
Copyright © 2005, Stephen E. Gideon.