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This morning when I got up, my kitten was bugging me to feed him, but we were out of wet food and he only eats dry food as a snack. Yes, I know he is spoiled. It's all ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sacra_imbri's fault, and that isn't the point of this story anyway. So, after reading my email, news, comics, etc, I decide I can't stand his pitiful cries anymore and go out to my garage to start my bike.
She doesn't start. Play with the choke, still nothing. Eventually, I realize that I am out of gas. This seems odd, since the reserve light never came on, and my mileage was about 35 miles too low to be empty. However, I refuse to let this get to me and decide that this is a perfect time to do some minor maintenance that I have been wanting to do, specifically, replace to fuel filter, check/replace the air filter and check the choke and throttle operation.
So, off comes the tank. This isn't as drastic as it sounds, as it only takes three bolts and the entire thing just lifts off. Doing this I find that the reserve indicator has become unplugged, explaining why the light never came on. I set the tank aside and proceed to work on other things.
I check the choke and throttle, see that they are fine, just a bit dirty, so I wipe them clean. Next, I pull out the fuel filter and start on the air filter. Now, the air filter box on my bike has two bolts that hold it closed that have a #3 Phillips head, and a third, with a 10mm head, that attaches it to the chassis. I start to try the first bolt to open it and it wont budge. So I start to really crank on it, still nothing. Then, all at once the screwdriver twists. Unfortunately, it only managed to strip out the head of the bolt. I refuse to be bothered by this, and try the other bolt. Without even twisting hard it strips out. I refuse to be bothered by this.
About this time I get hit by what feels like a cluster headache, a form of migraine that my father gets whenever he has a bunch of stress go away.
Once I can see again, I head out in my truck to get food for Junpei and other, now necessary, items. At the parts store I find out that they don't have the air filter for my bike, no surprise, but if I can come up with they part number they can order me one. They can't look it up themselves since they only have the catalogs for cars and trucks. I refuse to be bothered by this. Luckily, they do have a fuel filter that will work.
Next, on to a hardware store to get an easyout for the stripped bolts. Ace dosen't have one, but Gambles has a nice clerk that shows me where they are and explains how to use them. This gives me the opportunity to get a pepsi to help with the headache. Finally, I head to Smiths to get food for Junepei.
After putting away the groceries and feeding Junpei I get back to work on the bike. I drill out the starter hole for the easyout, then put it in. As I twist the easyout in it hits a bit of resistance. I keep twisting, then it snaps apart in my hand, leaving a bit of it filling the starter hole. I refuse to be bothered by this, and head back to Gambles to trade out for a new, unbroken, easyout.
Back home, I try to drill a new starter hole. After dulling the bit trying to drill through the hardened tool steel of the easyout, I give up and try to drill a starter hole in the other stripped bolt. This, of course, doesn't work as I have already dulled the bit. Now, I can't use the easyout to pull out the stripped bolts. I refuse to be bothered by this.
Looking at my options, I now realize there is no way I am going to get the air filter box open with it still in the bike, so I take it off. I try to drill the starter holes again, but only manage to snap the drill bit. This starts to bother me, and my headache still hasn't really gone away, so I decide to put in the new fuel filter so I can get some time to think about things. It goes in place painlessly, so I go back to the filter box.
Flipping the thing over, I find that the bolt holes go all the way though the box, but the bolts only go most of the way. This means I can get a larger drill bit in from that side and drill out thestupid things. After I drill out the first one, I knock it into a small puddle of water nearby and watch the water boil. Same thing with the second, and the bit has changed color and is probably ruined, but I don't care by this point. Finally, I get to open the box and see what my filter looks like.
Now, I know New Mexico is dusty. I've changed air filters before and am always amazed by how much dust they have in them after just a few months. I have never seen this much dust in a filter in my life. There was almost a quarter inch of dust in the bottom of the box, outside the filter. No wonder I've had problems with high end power and mileage. The good news is that none seems to have gotten through the filter and into my engine.
Why did Honda see fit to put those bolts on so tight? And why did they put such massive bolts there in the first place? It is just an air filter box after all.
I head back to Gambles with the filter box to try to find new bolts. After 20 minutes of searching, the clerk and I discover that, 1) I have almost completely drilled out the threads in the box, 2) What little bit of thread remains has been damaged beyond use, 3) All of the self tapping bolts are too short, and 4) The metal left isn't thick enough to tap new threads in anyway. I refuse to be bothered by this, and eventually, we hit upon the idea of using a smaller diameter, but much longer bolt, along with some washers and wing nuts to hold the box closed.
I get back and realize that I'm halfway to being able to pull the carburetor out so I can clean it, something I've been wanting to do since I got the bike. After some encouragement fromsacra_imbri I decide that now is the best opportunity I am going to have for quite some time. I'll spare you the details, but suffice to say I have taken off enough so that tomorrow morning all I need to do is lift my carb assembly out of the frame so I can take it apart and clean it. And, of course, since it will be out of this way this will be the perfect time take a toothbrush to the outside of the engine and really shine it up.
It is really amazing what can happen because of a hungry cat.
One final note. Normally, when I am working on a vehicle it takes about ten minutes before I am ready to start beating someone until I feel the satisfying crack of bones breaking under my fists. For some reason I never got particularly frustrated the entire time I was working on her today.
sacra_imbri's fault, and that isn't the point of this story anyway. So, after reading my email, news, comics, etc, I decide I can't stand his pitiful cries anymore and go out to my garage to start my bike.She doesn't start. Play with the choke, still nothing. Eventually, I realize that I am out of gas. This seems odd, since the reserve light never came on, and my mileage was about 35 miles too low to be empty. However, I refuse to let this get to me and decide that this is a perfect time to do some minor maintenance that I have been wanting to do, specifically, replace to fuel filter, check/replace the air filter and check the choke and throttle operation.
So, off comes the tank. This isn't as drastic as it sounds, as it only takes three bolts and the entire thing just lifts off. Doing this I find that the reserve indicator has become unplugged, explaining why the light never came on. I set the tank aside and proceed to work on other things.
I check the choke and throttle, see that they are fine, just a bit dirty, so I wipe them clean. Next, I pull out the fuel filter and start on the air filter. Now, the air filter box on my bike has two bolts that hold it closed that have a #3 Phillips head, and a third, with a 10mm head, that attaches it to the chassis. I start to try the first bolt to open it and it wont budge. So I start to really crank on it, still nothing. Then, all at once the screwdriver twists. Unfortunately, it only managed to strip out the head of the bolt. I refuse to be bothered by this, and try the other bolt. Without even twisting hard it strips out. I refuse to be bothered by this.
About this time I get hit by what feels like a cluster headache, a form of migraine that my father gets whenever he has a bunch of stress go away.
Once I can see again, I head out in my truck to get food for Junpei and other, now necessary, items. At the parts store I find out that they don't have the air filter for my bike, no surprise, but if I can come up with they part number they can order me one. They can't look it up themselves since they only have the catalogs for cars and trucks. I refuse to be bothered by this. Luckily, they do have a fuel filter that will work.
Next, on to a hardware store to get an easyout for the stripped bolts. Ace dosen't have one, but Gambles has a nice clerk that shows me where they are and explains how to use them. This gives me the opportunity to get a pepsi to help with the headache. Finally, I head to Smiths to get food for Junepei.
After putting away the groceries and feeding Junpei I get back to work on the bike. I drill out the starter hole for the easyout, then put it in. As I twist the easyout in it hits a bit of resistance. I keep twisting, then it snaps apart in my hand, leaving a bit of it filling the starter hole. I refuse to be bothered by this, and head back to Gambles to trade out for a new, unbroken, easyout.
Back home, I try to drill a new starter hole. After dulling the bit trying to drill through the hardened tool steel of the easyout, I give up and try to drill a starter hole in the other stripped bolt. This, of course, doesn't work as I have already dulled the bit. Now, I can't use the easyout to pull out the stripped bolts. I refuse to be bothered by this.
Looking at my options, I now realize there is no way I am going to get the air filter box open with it still in the bike, so I take it off. I try to drill the starter holes again, but only manage to snap the drill bit. This starts to bother me, and my headache still hasn't really gone away, so I decide to put in the new fuel filter so I can get some time to think about things. It goes in place painlessly, so I go back to the filter box.
Flipping the thing over, I find that the bolt holes go all the way though the box, but the bolts only go most of the way. This means I can get a larger drill bit in from that side and drill out thestupid things. After I drill out the first one, I knock it into a small puddle of water nearby and watch the water boil. Same thing with the second, and the bit has changed color and is probably ruined, but I don't care by this point. Finally, I get to open the box and see what my filter looks like.
Now, I know New Mexico is dusty. I've changed air filters before and am always amazed by how much dust they have in them after just a few months. I have never seen this much dust in a filter in my life. There was almost a quarter inch of dust in the bottom of the box, outside the filter. No wonder I've had problems with high end power and mileage. The good news is that none seems to have gotten through the filter and into my engine.
Why did Honda see fit to put those bolts on so tight? And why did they put such massive bolts there in the first place? It is just an air filter box after all.
I head back to Gambles with the filter box to try to find new bolts. After 20 minutes of searching, the clerk and I discover that, 1) I have almost completely drilled out the threads in the box, 2) What little bit of thread remains has been damaged beyond use, 3) All of the self tapping bolts are too short, and 4) The metal left isn't thick enough to tap new threads in anyway. I refuse to be bothered by this, and eventually, we hit upon the idea of using a smaller diameter, but much longer bolt, along with some washers and wing nuts to hold the box closed.
I get back and realize that I'm halfway to being able to pull the carburetor out so I can clean it, something I've been wanting to do since I got the bike. After some encouragement from
sacra_imbri I decide that now is the best opportunity I am going to have for quite some time. I'll spare you the details, but suffice to say I have taken off enough so that tomorrow morning all I need to do is lift my carb assembly out of the frame so I can take it apart and clean it. And, of course, since it will be out of this way this will be the perfect time take a toothbrush to the outside of the engine and really shine it up. It is really amazing what can happen because of a hungry cat.
One final note. Normally, when I am working on a vehicle it takes about ten minutes before I am ready to start beating someone until I feel the satisfying crack of bones breaking under my fists. For some reason I never got particularly frustrated the entire time I was working on her today.
