[katanarider]

OEM lines?

the 600 started leaking pretty badly last week. So...that needs addressing so I can stop taking the truck to work. 100 miles/day commute, I'd much rather ride (yay warm CA winters!) So....tomorrow the 600 front suspension is getting rebuilt. And RT springs put in. And emulators. :

I hate you ! ...lol

[92xjunker]

Aah, gotta love it, we do have some empathy for you cold folk. Not very much but, some...

[shpielers]

No progress in too long...not liking it...
Ordered the OEM fuel lines, they came in the mail this AM. Hoping on Monday I can hook them up, resync my carbs, and finally take her for a spin and find oht what needs tinkering with.

The 600 is feeling pretty damn good though now!

Think we're about to get our 2nd storm of the winter here in NorCal. Logged 2k miles in the last month alone on the 600.

[shpielers]

FINALLY got something done the other day. Not much. Very little in fact. But I at least pulled the cover off if nothing else.

Hit the clutch/brakes with a mitivac, so hopefully that pulled out any remaining air. Brake levers do not feel any firmer, but are still very decent. My 600 feels better, but I might not have the front wheel perfectly centered, so that might play in.

I WAS going to install some OEM fuel lines with the spring cages around them, then realized I had forgotten the key. (Bike is still living in my parents side yard...) So couldn't really do that, as the seat was attached. Yes, you can hit the cable just right with a screwdriver, but I didn't feel like dicking around to figure that out.

The rear wheel is binding. Not sure why, and ran out of time. But I believe it has something to do with the caliper/brake/rotor. Possibilities include warped rotor, bad pads, a bungled caliper rebuild, and most likely, improper alignment. I'm going to try removing the brake pads with everything else installed in place and see how well the wheel spins then, and I'll proceed from there.

My lease is up in 3 months. I'm ditching my roommate and moving somewhere where either I have a garage, or can pull a bike inside.

Sorry it's not a more exciting update

[gsxkat1100]

Where did you order the OEM lines with springs from?

[katanarider]

I did my first ride of the year after all that gosh darn blistering cold weather we've had the last several weeks. To my disappointment, I found that my clutch is now slipping. This is only the 3rd or 4th time riding the bike and it certainly did not slip the other times. That made me think that the issue shouldn't be clutch basket related. Therefore, I did some searching on the web (Google). Needless to say, I didn't find anything specifically about the Kat 1100. However, I knew that several Suzuks came with hydro clutches, so I did a general Suzuki hydraulic clutch slipping search. I found out that the smaller port inside the master cylinder cup provides the return path for the fluid when the slave disengages. If that port is clogged, the clutch will remain engaged and the result is slippage. The same thing can happen to the braking system, if the return port gets clogged then your brakes will stick. I've not cleaned my master cylinder yet since this just happened to me 2 days ago, but I wanted to give you all a heads up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YSldW85ioI

[subforry]

Brake levers do not feel any firmer, but are still very decent.

I think that is the way they are. I have newer MC, rebuilt calipers, and stainless steel lines. The levers are not firm but provide plenty of stopping. I am sure front can be locked up.

Good to hear you got some wrenching in.

[shpielers]

Where did you order the OEM lines with springs from?

The lines I got from RonAyers. When I first began pulling things apart the original 22 year old fuel lines with springs were still on it, so I am reusing the springs. I didn't see the springs at either ronayers or bikebandit when i was looking.
(Purpose of springs is to prevent fuel lines from kinking)

I've heard that the return hole has to be cleaned, made sure I did so on both the clutch and brake MCs when I was rebuilding them. The little teeny guard cup over it is a PITA to get back in FYI. Used fishing line to ream out the hole.

[gsxkat1100]

Thanks for letting me know that Ron Ayers still had the lines available. Mine are on their way.

[shpielers]

So was able to get a bit of time with the bike in over the weekend. Enough to get the carbs off, fuel lines installed, carbs back on, sync, and lube the throttle and choke levers.

So about those fuel lines
I'll get some pics up tonight so you'll be able to actually see what I'm talking about.

They're LONG. I've never ordered OEM lines, I've just used the cut to length/pay by the foot stuff at the local auto parts stores. I was expecting these would be cut to length. They aren't. So that was surprising. Not a big deal as I still had the OEM ones to measure. Turns out 1 of the new tubing was long enough for both fuel lines once trimmed.
The el cheapo auto store lines I had rigged up temporarily really were crap, they were already splitting. So what I thought might be an internal fuel leak/incorrectly set float wasn't.

Didn't get to tackle the rear wheel binding though. That's for next time.

[shpielers]

No progress for a while. Some S.O.B. busted my truck window and helped themselves to my tools. They were in the back seat, under my bike cover, and I have tinted windows and was parked in a gated apartment complex in a decent area.



Only reason they were in there is because I'm still working on the 1100 over at my parents place. Not doing that again...

Spent the last few days off finding replacement tools. If you're in the Bay Area, Drew's Used Tools in Santa Cruz is a pretty good place to pick up used tools in decent shape. Mostly American made stuff, some almost new, some that's older than me and needs some cleaning up. All at a good price. Still need a few things, but was able to replace enough that my next day off is going to be spent up to my ears in oil and grease.

[gsxkat1100]

Sorry to hear about that.

I had a break in at my garage a few years back and they made off with almost 6k in tools and my new Dewalt compressor. I was not a very good person to be around that day.

[shpielers]

Able to put in some wrench time yesterday. Noticed an exhaust leak last time I syncd the carbs, so ordered the exhaust gaskets for the header/head and header/collector?muffler? union. Turns out I didn't have 1 exhaust leak. I had 5. All the bolts holding the header into the engine were only finger tight. ...wtf?! Pulled them, gaskets came out easily enough, except the one around where I initially noticed the leak. Dunno how but the PO somehow bashed the thing in hard.
Going to be a right bear pounding that back to round. Have the holes plugged with rags on the head. Since I have them off, I'm thinking about sanding the header down to remove rust, and then giving it a coat or 3 of high temp paint to prevent further rusting.

[katanarider]

Able to put in some wrench time yesterday. Noticed an exhaust leak last time I syncd the carbs, so ordered hee exhaust gaskets for the header/head and header/collector?muffler? union. Turns out I didn't have 1 exhaust leak. I had 5. All the bolts holding the header into the engine were only finger tight.

Don't be mad, be glad ! Mine were some what welded in place and snapped the bolts off in the head, ( Big thanks to my local machine shop for getting them out while on the bike). I think the aluminium deforms or oxidizes which freezes/welds the bolts in place. Also, the aluminium is way too soft which is why "locomotion" used those Timeserts like he did during his build. Make certain that you spread as much hi temp nickle Antiseize as possible on those bolts before you reinstall. I'm thinking of removing my Kat 600 bolts just to be safe before its too late. That is, if its not already too late.

[Locomotion]

Its not unusual to find more than one gasket in the exhaust port, mine had 3 in each!