Captain 80s

So... finally selling them. It's a new era bmart... proud of you. Seafoam Green... to the future!!!

bmart's favorite color! Just look at his avatar!

"This thing pulls like a train!"

Nice! Good job!

Dude.... I don't think the bike is "done". You see a headlight or gauges on it? Did you notice all of the unplugged wiring hanging in front? Pull your hands away from the keyboard and take a few moments to study the situation before firing off comments like that.

Got it. Wasn't clear to me. Carry on.

~270 for 86, ~280 for 87, linkage piece changed on 87 to compensate.

He said McGyvered, so obviously it was chewing gum wrapper, a magnesium bicycle seat post and a hair pin.

That is an unusually worded endorsement. 🤔 😉

And that right there is a problem. I can't, and I would think a lot of people can't either, actually ride a bike any meaningful distance and stay E-free. I don't even have E-free in my town. It's a 20-30 minute drive to the nearest. And it's not even on a route to good riding. I don't use any additives in my street bikes, but every single one gets their carbs drained (not just ran til it dies) every winter.

Wow. Thanks.

Secret is safe with me, as I will do the exact same thing on occasion.

I usually don't even bother with that anymore. Unless it is totally dished out like an original oil pan drain washer and gets replaced, I just reinstall. Never had a leak.

Many of the Champions in that era came from dirt tracking, which seemed to adapt well with the light-switch, rear end steering power delivery, and backing it in to compensate for the not-so-great cornering chassis of the same machines. After the sweet handling 83 NS500R, the next decade plus, was mostly ill handling beasts. Read some stories with Doohan. The next era of Champions were Europeans that grew up riding mini road racing machines. The designs started to change, along with refining how the power was delivered.

People usually want some kind of answer so the bike is not apart for a week. Either order them and do them or get your forks apart and see if you need them. As the components slowly degrade, its usually not like one day you "feel" it. But you will feel new bushings in one day if they are needed. At that mileage without absolutely knowing the service history, I would just get seals, bushings and bolt washers and do it. But that's me. Actually I would disassemble first and then order springs (along with the other as-needed parts) if they were still stock. You do you. And set oil height, not capacity.

Had a buddy who supercharged his... holy shit.

That is some interesting math.

Welcome! A bunch of VFRs and a '14 STi Hatchback here.

Maybe I'm using the term wrong, but I thought that's what it referred to. "George is getting upset!"

I think he said his point, didn't he? It's refreshing to mix it up like that every now and then.

Captain 80s likes how racerxy refers to himself in the 3rd person.

The valve cover bolts are shouldered, which usually means they broke because someone at some point thought over tightening them would solve, or prevent, a leak. In reality, it is the freshness of the rubber bushing that provides the pressure on the valve cover gasket. The torque setting on them is quite low and I have seen it a million times. The good news is that when it breaks there is no load on the threads and they are bathed on oil. Every single time I have been able to use something like a dental pick and unscrew them getting some bite on the surface of broken section. How the shaft breaks could cause some thread interference and prevent, or hinder movement, but I have removed them with this method every time. Same exact story goes for clutch basket bolts.

Time to start a 5th thread then!

I love these type of questions... Nothing else will bolt on. Your idea of "fit" is up to you, your budget and your craftiness. The answer is start with something that doesn't have an "old fashioned" tank. When you remove the bodywork on a fully faired motorcycle, most tanks don't look great. And usually the final product doesn't either. (See budget and craftiness above)

Exactly. "Acceptable option" might be a better term, but yeah. I run 20w-50 in all of my 80's V4s.