Member Contributer SamW Posted December 1, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted December 1, 2013 Since the model year for my old girl will be 25 years old in a month, I thought it was time to pull her out of the living room and put her back on the road. The list of things to do; clean the carbs rebuild front brake calipers general tune up install the rear brake arm install Maxton ride height adjuster install 17" rear wheel new tires Micron slip on exhaust Ride her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted December 1, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted December 1, 2013 PBR can't go wrong .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 ISR calipers??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted December 2, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted December 2, 2013 My red lowers, my white wheels and my Blue ribbon beer! Yes, ISR calipers, rebuild kit and tool was not cheap, but availible in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted December 2, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted December 2, 2013 Amen brother !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rc30clinty Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Nice Job ahead there Sam, good collection of parts to keep you entertained over the cold nights of winter Clinty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beck Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Why was the rear "brake arm" always removed on the RC30s anyway? Was it just a weight saving mod? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted December 3, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted December 3, 2013 Not sure, I think that is the case, it came to me that way, but with the parts too, plus I picked up an extra. What I have noticed is that I went from no rear brakes to a locked rear wheel with very little in between. I pulled the original disk and put on an EBC disk and different pads and the results were the same, so I am hoping this will change that and give me a useful rear brake. Only one way to find out. Below you can see how it is done, and the light weight option I will be putting back on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted December 4, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted December 4, 2013 Carbs are done, they looked much better than I thought they would, I have started it twice since my last ride in Early 2006. A few of the jets were clogged, but it did not take much to clean them up, it makes me want to throw them on right quick and fire her up, but too many things on the to do list. The little carb insulation is pretty cool, but makes the quick jet change carb float bowls pretty worthless... Anyone have a couple of the float bowl screws lying around? I need a couple of them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted December 5, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted December 5, 2013 The leaking capiler is apart, I am going to take my time and try to clean it up before putting it back together. I am sure there is an easier way to do it, but compressed air and long fingers seem to do the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted December 11, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted December 11, 2013 Carbs are done and back on, so are the brakes. The air box is a little different that my other VFR's, the dirt ends up inside the cone filter. My safety wire job on the pads are not quite as good as what they were, but I am sure they will hold. Next on the list is to do an oil change and fire her up, then on to the rear wheel and rear brake arm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted December 11, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted December 11, 2013 Me to as for as the air filter setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted January 10, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 10, 2014 OK, got slowed down by the Holidays, the Flu, a Polar Vortex and other projects. But, she is running like a top now, had to go back into the carbs and clean the filters. Seems the RC30 does not have an inline filter between the tank and carbs, but each carb has its own little filter above the float valve. The main focus has been the rear wheel. I think I can now say what it takes to get a Ducati wheel on the Honda. Step one - The center bore. The Ducati wheel has ~45mm center bore, the Honda has a ~51mm center bore. So off I went to the Machine shop and had it bored. Step two - Wheel offset. The search on the web indicated that the Ducati wheel had about 6mm more offset than the Honda wheel. My bike at a 3.5mm spacer already installed, so when I compared the distance to the chain between the Honda wheel and the Ducati wheel, they were pretty close with just the the 3.5mm spacer on the Duc wheel. But I had the machine shop make the 6mm spacer, I just need the to open up the holes a little more. Step three - cone spacer for the wheel nut Not just the 6mm spacer, the duc wheel is also thicker at the hub, so when using the original spacer, there are about 2 threads of the nut not on the bolt, so using the cross bored hole for the clip or safety wire is out of the question. I tried the Duc spacer, but the Duc uses a much larger nut to hold the wheel on, so the center bore of the spacer is much larger than the Honda. Now, that seems odd since the Honda has a larger center bore on the wheel, but if you look at the hub, the center bolt is mounted inside the hub, so smaller bolt/larger hub. I will head back to the machine shop to see if they can make me a spacer for the wheel nut, and have them tweak the other spacer. But it sure is nice to see a 17" wheel on there!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted January 19, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 19, 2014 Why was the rear "brake arm" always removed on the RC30s anyway? Was it just a weight saving mod? And now we know.... I guess I can scratch that one off the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted January 19, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted January 19, 2014 Contact captain !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted January 20, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 20, 2014 Just call me Captain Brain Fart... Ignore the post above, just rotate the brake caliper around a little and suddenly there is all sorts of room... Now it is on, so it is all good, just need a shorter bolt for the front mount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted January 21, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted January 21, 2014 Did Honda make that swingarm ? and not a vender, looks beefy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted January 21, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 21, 2014 Looks like Honda/elf, please ignore the gross exhaust... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted January 21, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted January 21, 2014 Ah there it is the Elf label .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTM Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 "gross exhaust", That Kerker is beautiful, if you don't want it post it to me, I'll happily pay the postage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted January 25, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 25, 2014 Thanks for the offer! I was not really talking about the exhaust itself, just the black stuff running down from the joint from trying to start it after 7 years in the house. I really need to clean it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rc30fan Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Nice bike. Do you have video of it running? I'd like to hear that exhaust note. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted January 27, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted January 27, 2014 Nice bike. Do you have video of it running? I'd like to hear that exhaust note. Thanks, unfortunately I don't, I don't really have a good way to capture video or sound. But it is a good idea, I have the Kerker on there now, I have a Micron to put on it and I have the stock system, comparing the three would be a good project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted February 25, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted February 25, 2014 First attempt at a youtube video, but this is the Kerker exhaust on a not quite warm enough RC30... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXafMK-UECo&feature=youtu.be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SamW Posted February 28, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted February 28, 2014 Final spacer is back from the machine shop, fits perfect! I put the clip in there just to demonstrate that the holes line up perfect. Now, about the wheel weights... That is pretty pitiful for what it is. I think I can do better than that. How does Michelin mark its tires for balancing? The Pirellis have a red dot, all I saw on these are a UPC near the bead. Now I have a tire on there!!!!! It clears the swingarm, and look, only a 1/2 oz of weight! Look what I got for my Birthday, one more item on the "to do" list. I have a buddy coming over Saturday to help me with the install, no center stand on this one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.