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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 3:58 pm
by mazer
Yes, the pieces are all there, but the plastic is in really bad shape. I can get another cluster for about $45. in good shape without cracks. So I think I will go that route. My reasoning is that I really am trying to restore this bike to as good of condition as I can go with it - before surrendering it to the mechanics to work on what is way beyond me (ha - the whole rest of the bike right now

)
I dont know how much vinyl work would be on this type of plastic. The plastic piece seems kind of brittle. I am getting the seat recovered by someone in San Francisco who specializes in that type of repair.
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:58 pm
by obfuscate
mazer wrote:
Oh well - at least I am figuring things out - it is kinda like a puzzle in 3D, with alot of dirt and grease, and wicked positiions you have to be in just to reach what you need.

Good to know I'm not the only one who counts one day of working on my bike as the equivalent of a yoga class. Makes me feel better to know it's not just me
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 3:21 pm
by mazer
Hey follow - there is a couple of You Tube videos on how to properly pick up a bike, they show little women picking up big huge bikes...check it out, and be careful, I would hate to hear of an accident in your garage keeping you from riding!!
Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 3:22 pm
by mazer
oh yeah I did it!!! I finally got the gas tank off.....YESSSSSSSS. It was not too hard, I unbolted the tank - very easy, one bolt...unplugged the sending unit - easy - like unplugging anything plugged in, took off the fuel vacuum hose - that was easy too. The fuel hose was a bit harder to get off, but I got a flathead screwdriver and a pair of pliers and worked it off carefully - the hose looks a little ugly so I will probably get that replaced. I drained the gas out - which is why the tank came off in the first place.
Now I have to see how bad the inside of the gas tank is, as far as rust goes, clean out whatever rust is in there, and clean the petcock....I will be looking for how to do all this in the manual and on line which is where I got alot of the info on everything I have done so far. The hardest time I had was wrestling the tank off the bike without dropping it or accidently taking some of the hoses or lines off with the tank.
One thing - the bike looks so pathetic. No seat, no tank, no instrument cluster

I hope it forgives me for doing all of this. I also hope it works...I did use white out to mark the place where the pieces go together. Whiteout is easy to see, easy to mark with and easy to get off..If you are all interested I will keep posting my progress, so far I have found it easier than I thought and very rewarding. We will see if I still feel the same when I try and get everything back together.