Sunday, March 29, 2009
Shed Some Light
I still haven't gotten my bike back yet so I figured I would post some pics of a little mod I did. I replaced all of the bulbs in the gauges with replacement LED bulbs. They are much brighter and use a lot less power. I will need as much power as I can get when I replace my old headlight with a new H4 bulb. The last picture shows the difference between the LED bulbs and the incandescent bulbs.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Setbacks
I finally talked my dad into bringing Nixon down to my house in Atlanta next weekend. So I hope to get the stock CL exhaust ready to go for when it gets here. I have to finish polishing it and get some new screws that hold the heat shield on.
I also just bought a pair of rearsets on ebay for $30 shipped. I'm very excited. The rearsets are basically new footpegs that mount further back, allowing me to get my knees out of my chest when I am fully tucked in. It will hopefully be more comfortable. They came off of a 2005 Yamaha R6 that apparently went down. The end of the peg on the shifter side is broken off and the shift lever is bent. However, I'm hoping to install them so that I won't need the new shift lever. I am going to try and mount them so that I can just swing the stock shift lever around so it is pointing backwards. The shift pattern will be upsidedown, but I think I would like that better anyway. I haven't recieved them yet, but here are the pictures from the auction.
I also just bought a pair of rearsets on ebay for $30 shipped. I'm very excited. The rearsets are basically new footpegs that mount further back, allowing me to get my knees out of my chest when I am fully tucked in. It will hopefully be more comfortable. They came off of a 2005 Yamaha R6 that apparently went down. The end of the peg on the shifter side is broken off and the shift lever is bent. However, I'm hoping to install them so that I won't need the new shift lever. I am going to try and mount them so that I can just swing the stock shift lever around so it is pointing backwards. The shift pattern will be upsidedown, but I think I would like that better anyway. I haven't recieved them yet, but here are the pictures from the auction.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The Beginning - Part 3
I guess it is about time I finished the story about how I got nixon.
So as I was watching craigslist for CB350s, I happened to see a listing for a CL450 in Atlanta. The 450 is a little bigger that the 350, but very similar. The CL designation means it is the Scrambler version of the CB. It is designed for riding on dirt roads and trails so it's exhaust pipes sweep up and to the side and the handlebars are a little beefier. The picture in the ad looked pretty good and it was running. Since I was in SC, I had to wait until Saturday morning to go see it. This time I just took my car figuring if I did buy it, I could just come back later and pick it up. I had a funny feeling I might actually get this one so I stopped by the bank and got some more cash out so I would have enough on hand.
When I got to the guy's house, he had it out in the driveway. He had been trying to get it to start but to no avail. He said the homemade starter button had fried and he couldn't start it with the kickstart. I looked it over quite a bit. I liked the paint job and it looked to be in fairly good condition. There was a some rust in the tank and it had been modified somewhat. It didn't have the original seat, no passenger pegs, different tail light and the start button was relocated under the seat with a Radioshack special. I tried kicking it and got nothing. For some reason I felt I needed this bike so I offered the guy $250 less than he was asking since it wasn't running. He took it. In retrospect, I probably overpaid for it a little, but I had a bike. The guy even offered to tow it back to my house for me.
Now the funny part. As we were exchanging money and filling out the paperwork, we started talking about the bike and some other things. It turns out that he had bought the bike the previous year on ebay from a motorcycle shop in Greenville, SC. The same shop I used to take my old bike when I was in high school. The same shop I was going to be taking this one to get running again. I don't really believe in coincidences so I know there is some reason I ended up with this bike.
Well, he towed her back to my house and that weekend I started messing around to try to get her to run. I jumped it off of my car and the starter button worked fine. The motor turned over but didn't run. All of the lights and the horn worked. I was in business. I took the spark plugs out and they were very black and sooty. I bought some new ones and stuck those in. It fired right up and ran for about 10 seconds. I had brought her back to life! It was awhile before I got her running well enough to ride, but I was very happy I had not bought a piece of junk (although I think my wife has a different opinion).
The day I brought Nixon Home
So as I was watching craigslist for CB350s, I happened to see a listing for a CL450 in Atlanta. The 450 is a little bigger that the 350, but very similar. The CL designation means it is the Scrambler version of the CB. It is designed for riding on dirt roads and trails so it's exhaust pipes sweep up and to the side and the handlebars are a little beefier. The picture in the ad looked pretty good and it was running. Since I was in SC, I had to wait until Saturday morning to go see it. This time I just took my car figuring if I did buy it, I could just come back later and pick it up. I had a funny feeling I might actually get this one so I stopped by the bank and got some more cash out so I would have enough on hand.
When I got to the guy's house, he had it out in the driveway. He had been trying to get it to start but to no avail. He said the homemade starter button had fried and he couldn't start it with the kickstart. I looked it over quite a bit. I liked the paint job and it looked to be in fairly good condition. There was a some rust in the tank and it had been modified somewhat. It didn't have the original seat, no passenger pegs, different tail light and the start button was relocated under the seat with a Radioshack special. I tried kicking it and got nothing. For some reason I felt I needed this bike so I offered the guy $250 less than he was asking since it wasn't running. He took it. In retrospect, I probably overpaid for it a little, but I had a bike. The guy even offered to tow it back to my house for me.
Now the funny part. As we were exchanging money and filling out the paperwork, we started talking about the bike and some other things. It turns out that he had bought the bike the previous year on ebay from a motorcycle shop in Greenville, SC. The same shop I used to take my old bike when I was in high school. The same shop I was going to be taking this one to get running again. I don't really believe in coincidences so I know there is some reason I ended up with this bike.
Well, he towed her back to my house and that weekend I started messing around to try to get her to run. I jumped it off of my car and the starter button worked fine. The motor turned over but didn't run. All of the lights and the horn worked. I was in business. I took the spark plugs out and they were very black and sooty. I bought some new ones and stuck those in. It fired right up and ran for about 10 seconds. I had brought her back to life! It was awhile before I got her running well enough to ride, but I was very happy I had not bought a piece of junk (although I think my wife has a different opinion).
The day I brought Nixon HomeWednesday, March 4, 2009
Long Distance Relationships
I recently left my job in Greenville, SC when I was able to get a job back near my house in Atlanta. It is great to be back at home all week and spend more time with my family. The only problem is that I didn't have a way to bring Nixon back with me when I moved my stuff back. So, she is still sitting in my parent's garage, cold and lonely. My dad said that he would come down to visit soon and bring her with him on his trailer. So I have been collecting some more parts and working on the stuff I do have here. I should finish cleaning the other (stock) exhaust I have this weekend and will re-assemble it when the muffler gasket I ordered comes in. The center mounting point for the exhaust is on the passenger footpeg bracket with the previous owner cut off. I am going to run it without mounting it there until I decide if I want to keep it. Then I will figure out some way to replace that mount. Probably with a P-clamp on the frame.
I have also been looking for some places to go riding around here. When I first moved to Atlanta back in '97, I lived a lot closer in to the city where there was a lot of traffic. That is why I stopped riding my old CB400t and sold it. Now I live in Roswell which is further out. In fact, if you go about 5 minutes north of me, you are in horse country. Lots of farms and back country highways. Lots of nice riding territory. I also found a restaurant near me that has a very cool hot rod 50's theme that goes well with the cafe racer style. It is called Ethyl's Diner and it is in the same building as Andretti's indoor go-karts. Last summer they had Thursday "Bike Nights" so hopefully they will do that again this year. I would be cool to get some local cafe riders to show up.
I have also been looking for some places to go riding around here. When I first moved to Atlanta back in '97, I lived a lot closer in to the city where there was a lot of traffic. That is why I stopped riding my old CB400t and sold it. Now I live in Roswell which is further out. In fact, if you go about 5 minutes north of me, you are in horse country. Lots of farms and back country highways. Lots of nice riding territory. I also found a restaurant near me that has a very cool hot rod 50's theme that goes well with the cafe racer style. It is called Ethyl's Diner and it is in the same building as Andretti's indoor go-karts. Last summer they had Thursday "Bike Nights" so hopefully they will do that again this year. I would be cool to get some local cafe riders to show up.
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