{"id":1139,"date":"2011-04-09T20:51:35","date_gmt":"2011-04-10T00:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.50.23\/wordpress\/blog\/?p=1139"},"modified":"2018-04-07T17:23:35","modified_gmt":"2018-04-07T21:23:35","slug":"nutshells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forths.com\/index.php\/2011\/04\/09\/nutshells\/","title":{"rendered":"Death by Nutshells?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This afternoon I started with the disassembly of the 1972 Honda project bike. \u00a0I was prepared for more ‘discoveries’, and it didn’t take long to realize that this poor bike was just not cared for properly. \u00a0That will change.<\/p>\n

The seat came off easily, as did the fuel tank. \u00a0So far, so good. \u00a0The remnants of the original fuel line were rock-hard and were discarded. \u00a0As each nut, bolt, screw and thingamajig came off the bike, they were tossed into zip-lock bags with little notes documenting their locations and purpose. \u00a0I also took quite a few digital camera pictures to catalog the original state of the bike, for future reference.<\/p>\n

Then it got interesting. \u00a0When I removed each air filter, I could hear rattling sounds coming from within. \u00a0Hmm. \u00a0When I tipped the air filter on its side, little nutshells poured out. \u00a0Both air filters were equally filled with nutshells. \u00a0I assumed a mouse may have taken up residence in these air filters at one point, but what doesn’t make sense is that when the filters are mounted on the carburetors, there’s no way for a mouse to get inside. \u00a0I can see two possibilities. \u00a0First, it’s possible these air cleaners were occupied by little critters before<\/em> they were mounted on the motorcycle. \u00a0The other possibility is that the nutshells were placed there maliciously by a person to create issues. \u00a0Regardless, one carburetor showed signs of ingesting these nutshells. \u00a0I had expected to see old sticky gasoline residue and dirt in these carburetors, but not nutshells.<\/p>\n

Shifting to the electrical system, I decided from the start to replace the original rectifier. \u00a0Rectifiers are like electric valves, converting AC current from the alternator to DC that the battery, engine and accessories can use. \u00a0These old rectifiers were made with selenium, and tended to degrade over time. \u00a0Today, rectifiers use silicon, which is more durable and efficient. \u00a0This will improve the bike’s charging capacity, which is important since, for safety reasons, I plan on riding with headlights on. \u00a0A picture of the original and replacement rectifiers is below.<\/p>\n

When I extracted the original wiring harness, I compared it to the new one. \u00a0This comparison is shown below. \u00a0The old harness was cut away, removing all the wires that connected everything forward of the engine. \u00a0Poor bike.<\/p>\n

Sunday I completed the disassembly, removing the engine, rear swing arm suspension, center stand and front forks. \u00a0The frame is in good shape, but it’ll get cleaned and repainted. \u00a0Both front and rear brakes look almost new. \u00a0I thought the front forks might be leaking, but both forks were filled with oil and it looked good. \u00a0I’ll still replace the fork seals. \u00a0Finally, I did pull the engine head cover to take a peek at the camshaft lobes and rocker arms. \u00a0Everything looked excellent. \u00a0Over the coming weeks, I’ll start the reassembly. \u00a0Wish me luck!<\/p>\n