Re-re-reviving my '81 Seca 750

Got all my parts and finally have time to work on the bike, now can someone tell me how the frack I'm supposed to bend that tab out? The only source of leverage is the basket itself and I don't want to mess that up again.

 

I use a small screwdriver to prise the locking washer at an angle between the clutch basket nut and the washer. Lever against the nut if you can get a small screwdriver between the tab and nut.

 

Slow and steady, I got the tab bent far enough where I could get channel lock pliers on it/the nut to seat it good. Pic is on my phone.
Got the clutch together without stripping anything this time. got oil in it.
Got the exhaust clamp on only to find the #3 is rusted away as well. Somehow missed that from the other side of the bike when I found the problem with #2. Don’t think my collector is long for this world. So, the rattling is lessened, but not gone.

Had it running, but decided against an 11 p.m. test ride. On the morrow.

Thanks, yet again, @chacal and @hogfiddles for coming through with parts.

 

Rode it to work today. Took some on-the-fly adjusting, but the clutch is feeling good. I couldn't REALLY get on it on the commute, but noticed no slip under load (was an occasional problem), but the primary difference it it's less 'grabby' on shifts.

Though the new exhaust clamp didn't get rid of my rattle, it did quiet overall engine/exhaust noise down a bit. Should have just gotten 4 when I ordered before. My dad has an esoteric expression for that, I was "Caught trying to cut a fat hog in the ass." Got to love Dad-isms. So I'll get to pay more to the shipping gods. AND Len of course, but I don't mind that as much.

 

So, with the clutch behind me, I'm looking to replace tires as the coming month's 'big spend.' Last ones I put on were my favorites so far, Bridgestone S11 Spitfires. Looks like they're discontinued. Had some kind of Dunlop on before that, but I don't recall which nor what I didn't like about them. Off to search tire threads.

Edit: Thread search says Dunlop K591. I forget how much I used to post here. Probably have my oil change history in here, too.

 

I love my Dunlop D404’s

 

Ordered up some D404s.

So, since the clutch rebuild and oil change, I've got the slightest whiff of burning oil after warm-up (not initial start). This is new. Exhaust is not blue, and were it burning off the headers/pipes due to the oil change or dripping out of the clutch area when I had that open, I'd think it'd be burned off by now (at least 100 miles on it since oil change). Level looks OK/normal. Not seeing any fresh dripping around clutch cover, valve cover, drain bolt nor filter housing. Stumped.

 

Is there any oil getting onto the top of the exhaust collector?

 

I could see a few spots that are a bit weepy (like the area around the oil level and neutral switches), but nothing drippy. The oil change/etc., may just be a red herring, though, and I only noticed it b/c I was primed to. I'll keep an eye on those areas. I'm thinking I'll be pulling the collector sooner than later, so I'll have O-rings/gaskets on hand when I do.

 

A sign I may actually be a bit touched: 69 mile motorcycle ride on what I thought was a brisk but otherwise gorgeous Sunday, yet I only saw one other rider. Heh. Saw some old friends as well. One guy chatted with me at the gas station about the bike - he had a liquid-cooled '79 Honda, but his "wife cut [his] *redacted* off as far as riding." Sad. https://www.relive.cc/view/v7O95VARZQO

 

Wheels off for tire mount this week. Rear did NOT want to come off. Took some extra persuasion. I put my mc jack under there after the pics for extra peace of mind.

 

Got my new D404s mounted up on Monday and received my bearings (All Balls) and a slide-hammer bearing-puller during the week. Started on them last night and that slide-hammer wasn't the way to go, as it kept popping out no matter how tight I got it and I didn't want to break anything so didn't go full gorilla and I quit early. The Harbor Freight punch set I had was too short and all my socket extensions were too round-edged to get good 'purchase' on the bearing edges.

Eventually ran to Lowes this morning for a longer punch set and a dead blow hammer. With the longer punch, I was able to drift the front bearings out rather easily. Everything inside the wheel hub was in great shape. Sorry Cleaned things up, including completely cleaning out the speedo hub of 41 year old grease (and then some). Got the front reassembled with little fanfare (it's really easy to cock the new bearings when seating, despite slow/steady taps). Even the brake calipers slid back on fairly easily. My 8 year old helped push the spindle in while I lined everything up.

Took a break with the kids for a few hours and tackled the read when we got back. Removal was MUCH slower. In that case, I worked the right-hand bearing out just enough with the punch to try the slide hammer and collets again. This time there was enough gap for me to get a good grip and worked out the single bearing without much fuss. Then I was able to flip the tire (by the way, I used one of my old tires in both cases to protect the discs, brake drum, gear from the floor) and drive out the pair using a large socket. One thing I noted was that rear grease was NASTY when the bearings came out. It smelled like rancid cooking oil. Yikes.

Instead of just slapping things back together, I took the time to again clean out all of the old grease on the drive gears and clean up the spindle and spacers. I also polished up the brake cover with some Mothers and the cordless drill/buffing wheel. I quit for the evening as I'm going out with the missus (having a bit of a warm spell and hoped to take the bike, but can't rush things). Plan to pop everything back together in the morning (with some fresh grease, of course). Though the old bearings were still smooth and had no play even at 38k miles, the new bearings will give me a peace of mind. It'll be good to have this done.

Then, over the winter, I can check/replace those similarly neglected steering head bearings.

 

Sounds good so far

 

Got the job finished today. Definitely easier to overdrive the rear bearings. Had to back them out of hair after binding them a wee bit. It's great to have tires without a flat spot again. Darn these Midwestern straight roads.

Oldie:

 

So, since the clutch job, I've noticed accelerations are much smoother. Before, I always felt two 'bumps' in power. Initial, then a plateau, then then another tug if I wrung it up to around the 7k mark. Was noticing recently that the first two stages of that are smoothed out/no longer there. At first I though it wasn't pulling as hard, but I think before I was getting slip which was giving me that plateau. Luckily not enough slip to have blued the drive plates - they were shiny. But more than once I've accelerated, though, "Huh, no Earth-shattering kaboom," only to look down and find myself tickling 75 MPH (on a closed course, ofc.).

Also, I just love taking pictures of this thing:

 

Copypasta from the "What Did You Do" tread to keep everything in one place:

The front brakes I rebuilt last fall failed on me last night - luckily in a parking lot. Will update my build thread when I have a chance to dig into it in a few days, but my leading guesses on failure are the piston return spring, and/or the honing job I did on my old cylinder. Do not see fluid loss anywhere (res. is topped up, no light, and no leakage at junctions/banjos/bleed screws. Thought the cable to the remote res. snapped, but it's intact and getting a full range of motion.

Might just be pestering Hogfiddles or Chacal for a known good body. SO frustrated and, honestly, depressed about this. I've got thousands of miles on it since the rebuild.

In brighter news, I did get to ride it to the first local cruise night on Wednesday - the motivation for me getting it back on the road last Fall. Win some, lose some.

Oh well. could have been much worse. Be safe out there.

 

At least you still have rear brakes

 

Exactly. And they're newer shoes I just inspected when I got new tires on in the fall. Stopping good. I keep in practice.

 

Ok, so, finally got into the master cylinder on Saturday. Nothing obviously broken, which is a bit disappointing.

When I took it out, there was zero pressure on the circlip keeping the piston in. In fact, I had to pop the piston out with a little air pressure from the top.

The spring is not broken, but it is still my prime suspect. Might be in my head, but I swear it's easier to compress by hand than it was a couple months ago. Any gauge/guid for how stiff it needs to be? I'm still fairly confident in the hone job I did on the cylinder - feels baby-butt-smooth as far as I can get a pinky in there.

So, for a fuller description of what happened:

When I did the rebuild, I was a little suspect of how much 'return' I was getting but just figured it was a bleeding issue. Even after getting them bled, there was a bit of slack a the the full-out position, so I took up the slack in the cable. There was a time a couple months ago where I had some slack again, and not thinking too hard about it, assumed I just had to adjust the cable again. That's why I suspected the cable initially, thought it was a sign of stretching then breaking. But the cable seems fine (I plan to replace anyway). When the brakes went, they had worked fine right up until they didn't. The piston was stuck "in" but not engaging the brakes (like hydraulic pressure was enough to back them off, but no further). The pads themselves were not hanging at all. When I fully pressed the lever, I could get SLIGHT drag, but definitely not enough to stop.

When I got the fairing off, I could see the lever was, in fact, fully against the master housing - it wasn't a cable length issue. Also, I'm assuming b/c of the excessive inward travel of the piston I'd set the cable at, the brand new dust boot is chewed up/cashed already as well.

Not sure why it went completely how/when it did, and I'm pretty sure I felt a 'pop,' but maybe that was just in my head as the lever suddenly bottomed out. Was really expecting to find SOMETHING visibly broken.

Visual inspection of the seals looks good (I should have taken pictures, but I'm now 360 miles away - I waved at @Timbox on the way through Tomah) but am wondering if I should replace again (they were new in late summer).

So, decision time, do I just replace the spring, cable, and boot and hope that was it? Do I still suspect the bore smoothness? @hogfiddles have you a known good remote master body for an '81 Seca at a 'might as well' price? Should I rebuild the whole thing again, even though the seals are new(er)?

Hope all the dads had a good Father's Day. I drove up with the fam to see my own Dad and we're hanging out for the week. Would love to get the parts moving my way while I'm up here.

 

I’ll look to see if I still have one..... I THINK I do.....