121 replies to this topic

[Blaqkfox]

Alright, finally got some time to work on the Two-wheeled Death Machine again. Im shocked this clutch was working as well as it was.

https://i.imgur.com/FXEyCRz.jpeg

I had to really pull to separate some of the plates and disc

https://i.imgur.com/ytRcoqK.jpeg

And the basket and clutch pack was just covered in little balls of loose rust.

https://i.imgur.com/iOBBQWU.jpeg

So I recon Ill do another oil change before the trip now. Got the basket all cleaned up best I could

https://i.imgur.com/deLSayh.jpeg

The friction disk looked worn out, oddly thinner in some spots and thicker in others. Theyre just completely thrashed. Not worth trying to save. So now Im just waiting on a clutch kit to arrive

[Tedious93]

What did you use for a clutch tool? Anything special?

[Blaqkfox]

I never took the basket off, so I didnt really need anything to hold the gears.

[Tedious93]

Deep in this bike is a heart of... rust? Talk about "keep 'em runnin'. I think this little ol bike is growing on you.

[Blaqkfox]

Not at all haha. Ive got my nice one to enjoy. And Ive already got it sold actually. Some guy wants to use it for a BDR trip this fall. But it is nice to wrench on this 3VD. Good practice for the nicer one. And I quite like the way this bike is set up, like it makes wrenching a lot easier. Clutch above the oil pan makes clutch jobs less messy, things are easy to access, but things are strange. Odd Yamaha used a dry sump system, I cant say Ive seen an oil tank on any other Honda around this era, well that wasnt a two stroke of course. And the fuel line routing seems like an after thought. Its also an odd choice to me to cram everything up under the gas tank, and have no shut off valve on the tank itself, really makes even a simple battery swap kinda a pain. I am a fan of the down draught carbs tho, certainly makes tinkering with them easier. And I think whatever engineer was in charge of designing the fasteners was high on something. The fairings are such a pain to deal with when the expansion plugs rubber gets old. The bolts get stuck in the threads but the rubber no longer grips. So it all just spins together when trying to remove the bolt and thus the fairings. Ive cursed a few times while dealing with those.

As far as ride-ability goes its a pretty decent bike. It feels solid on the road, although top heavy. But I feel more confident in a corner with it than I do my FZ1. Maybe thats just because of the lack of power though. It feels boat-like. Just wants to float down the road. Maybe Im not used to dual sports, but I like it. Its like a floaty cruiser feeling but more sporty. The gas mileage is great too. I do wish it revved higher, or had more power. The brakes feel a bit lack luster as well. And it feels heavy as lead. But then again its a 30 year old motorcycle so I guess I shouldnt complain. In its day I bet it was a phenomenal ride. Or maybe Im just bias from typically owning lighter and more powerful bikes. But I do quite like the TDM.

[dapleb]

To change battery, adjust carbs etc tank doesn't need disconnect. Just rotate 90degs and rest on suitable stand.

Fairing fasteners lolzio. Can make a 30 min job take 3 hours. I have replaced with plastic car trim fittings which are a bit easier.

[Tedious93]

Those expansion plugs you speak of are called Well Nuts and are available in both US and Metric sizes. I've learned not to over-tighten them. Just finger snug with a small Allen wrench is all you need. I've never had a part fall off even after bashing on dirt roads for a couple of days.

 

I must admit I no longer do that. The legs give out. We never had BDR when I was young enough to do that. Still, BDR with a 500lb bike requires a big boy. Still, I filled my mid-life crisis with a fantasy of running Supermoto a couple of times. Let's just say I had the best seat in the house.

[Snowbird]

Brakes wise blue spot calipers and 14mm master cylinder off a 9er makes a hell of a difference on my 4TX.

[curlylegend]

Not at all haha. Ive got my nice one to enjoy. And Ive already got it sold actually. Some guy wants to use it for a BDR trip this fall. But it is nice to wrench on this 3VD. Good practice for the nicer one. And I quite like the way this bike is set up, like it makes wrenching a lot easier. Clutch above the oil pan makes clutch jobs less messy, things are easy to access, but things are strange. Odd Yamaha used a dry sump system, I cant say Ive seen an oil tank on any other Honda around this era, well that wasnt a two stroke of course. And the fuel line routing seems like an after thought. Its also an odd choice to me to cram everything up under the gas tank, and have no shut off valve on the tank itself, really makes even a simple battery swap kinda a pain. I am a fan of the down draught carbs tho, certainly makes tinkering with them easier. And I think whatever engineer was in charge of designing the fasteners was high on something. The fairings are such a pain to deal with when the expansion plugs rubber gets old. The bolts get stuck in the threads but the rubber no longer grips. So it all just spins together when trying to remove the bolt and thus the fairings. Ive cursed a few times while dealing with those.

As far as ride-ability goes its a pretty decent bike. It feels solid on the road, although top heavy. But I feel more confident in a corner with it than I do my FZ1. Maybe thats just because of the lack of power though. It feels boat-like. Just wants to float down the road. Maybe Im not used to dual sports, but I like it. Its like a floaty cruiser feeling but more sporty. The gas mileage is great too. I do wish it revved higher, or had more power. The brakes feel a bit lack luster as well. And it feels heavy as lead. But then again its a 30 year old motorcycle so I guess I shouldnt complain. In its day I bet it was a phenomenal ride. Or maybe Im just bias from typically owning lighter and more powerful bikes. But I do quite like the TDM.

 

 

I got fed up with the hassle of removing the fuel tank so fitted a pair of shut-off taps underneath the tank. Don't need to remove the fuel tap at all now. And easier to fettle cards with the tank well out of the way.

 

 26.08 Working on TDM850 Fuel System at Rue de la Fosse aux Loups (3).JPG   110.16KB   0 downloads

[Blaqkfox]

To change battery, adjust carbs etc tank doesn't need disconnect. Just rotate 90degs and rest on suitable stand.

Fairing fasteners lolzio. Can make a 30 min job take 3 hours. I have replaced with plastic car trim fittings which are a bit easier.

Perhaps I need some clarification on fuel hose routing then. I currently have the lines from the tank to the petcock routed between the frame and the metal battery tray bracket. It is very tight in there, even more so with inline filters, and Im even using the smallest filters my local motorcycle supplier carries. Do yall have them routed a different way? It seems that metal battery box is right in the way no matter what I do. Even the line to the carbs has to make an S bend around the battery.

Those expansion plugs you speak of are called Well Nuts and are available in both US and Metric sizes. I've learned not to over-tighten them. Just finger snug with a small Allen wrench is all you need. I've never had a part fall off even after bashing on dirt roads for a couple of days.

Yeah I had ordered an assorted pack of metric well nuts off Amazon to redo the nice TDM. My local hardware store calls them expansion plugs. They work great. . . Until they get old and dry rot and shriveled up and the dirt and grime seeps into the threads or whatever. Even on the nice 850 i had to finagle some needle nose vice grips in tight places to hold the back of the nut so i could undo them on the lower fairings.

Brakes wise blue spot calipers and 14mm master cylinder off a 9er makes a hell of a difference on my 4TX.

Everyones always talking about these blue sport calipers, is that an aftermarket brand or what are they off of?

I got fed up with the hassle of removing the fuel tank so fitted a pair of shut-off taps underneath the tank. Don't need to remove the fuel tap at all now. And easier to fettle cards with the tank well out of the way.
 
26.08 Working on TDM850 Fuel System at Rue de la Fosse aux Loups (3).JPG

Also this is genius. Where did you get small metal shut off valves like that??? I guess I could find some online, the only ones like that the local stores sell here are plastic. They fail all the time, I use them on my lawnmowers and stuff

[dablik]

Blue spots are Yamaha, Tdm900, Fazer, FJR, 100mm centres, not the early thunderbird type, best used with a 14mm MC, 900 has one for the years 2002 and 2003, believe it was changed after that ? the previous bikes also had them but check years or MC, some of them are marked with the bore size.

 

Fuel hoses should run to the left of the battery box through a frame guide, chopped mine..

 

For the fairings i fitted these type of clips and no more issues at all, not sure of the size, similar to some on the bike in places already maybe, was long ago.

 

Edit.. Gold&Silver spots work also.

Edited by dablik, 04 May 2024 - 07:11 am.

[Catteeclan]

Been a while since I had my 3vd but I would pull the tank off with the pet cock, unless I remember wrong.

[Blaqkfox]

Hmm maybe its these American sized hoses. Im running the thick black fuel injector 1/4in hose for everything on the barn find bike, cuz thats what I had laying around lol but on the nice one its got that clear thin tube stuff and its still a tight fit through the bracket.

I recon those blue spot calipers are like the ones on my 02 fz1 (Fazer)? They got two big blue circles so I guess thats them.

[Tedious93]

Re your fuel lines: Starting from the tank. Main and Reserve lines should run down to the petcock inside a protection sleeve between the frame rail and forward of the battery bracket mounting. It is a tight fit as there may be other lines.

 

From the petcock a single line should run under the bracket inside the guide underneath up to the Fuel Pump.

 

From the Fuel Pump the line should again run under the bracket inside the guide then up to the carbs.

 

There are three other lines that may cause grief

1. the air box drain hose (remove or shorten so that is drops between the frame and carbs)

2. The coolant line to the reservoir (run it under the bracket just outside the guide or re-route entirely down the other side of the bike)

3. The fuel pump vacuum line (run it under the bracket inside the guide along with the fuel lines to the pump. All of which should be inside a protective sleeve).

 

Hopefully this will give a bit more room.

[Tedious93]

Yes. I'd look for some smaller line.

[curlylegend]

I got the cut-off taps on Amazon.fr  but I'm sure you'll get the same in Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.f...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Tedious93]

So what's happening w/ the barn find Blaqfox? Did it make it to the $1K challenge?

[Nog]

I recon those blue spot calipers are like the ones on my 02 fz1 (Fazer)? They got two big blue circles so I guess thats them.

 

I had a FZ1 - yes the blue spots are the same calipers, Yamaha used them a lot across the range as they're really good brakes, so I guess why change something if it works 

 

I'm not sure if they changed dimensions at all across years, but easy enough to measure to check.

 

You said earlier you find the TDM more confident in corners than the FZ1 - I'm the same with my 900.  I think it's more down to the TDMs riding position and wider bars.  The TDM just feels like its cruising round a corner without issue, whereas the FZ1 had to be pushed. I had a Tracer 900 for a few years too and it was the same confident cornering with that, so I definitely think it's the higher, wider position that helps.

[Blaqkfox]

So what's happening w/ the barn find Blaqfox? Did it make it to the $1K challenge?

Apologies, I took a bit of a hiatus to get a bunch of work done on my FZ1, but I’m back now. The trip is in exactly two weeks. Today I finally got to wrapping the barn find bike up.

Replaced the clutch
https://i.imgur.com/PX68fg0.jpeg

And tackled replacing the stator today as well
https://i.imgur.com/XlaHgvn.jpeg

I hope I will get to ride the entire trip. I was working on an old vintage indian mini bike at work on Monday trying to get the magneto system to generate spark and shocked the shit out of myself directly off the spark plug. Took that AC 20k volts or whatever right across the chest too. Which no big deal, the amperage is so low it shouldn’t have mattered, but tbh it’s the first time I’ve ever shocked myself off a plug/coil. Hurt like hell. And about a year ago I took my royal enfield bullet500 electra x on a 9 hour ride through the mountains, and idk if it was the bar shape, the vibrations from basically racing that little 500 single lung everywhere I went, the backpack I had on, or all three, but it gave me a terrible case of costochondritis (inflammation/tearing of the ligaments between the sternum and pectoral muscles). Atleast that’s what I think it was. I never did go see a doctor. But it took months before I felt normal again. Usual that kind of injury can take a year to heal from.

So just when I was back to normal and probably 99% healed up, I took that spark across the chest on Monday and ever since my chest has been really hurting. It comes and goes. Scared the shit out of me on Monday and Tuesday tho, since obviously taking a big shock across the chest and then having chest pain is cause for concern. Once again, I never did go see a doctor, just felt like it would be a lot of money and hassle being passed around from facility to facility or tying up the ER just for them to just tell me “you’re fine”. That’s the American health care system for ya I guess. I think it just stirred up that old ligament injury. Yesterday I finally felt back to normal, but unfortunately today towards the end of replacing that stator it really acted up again.

So I’m going to be trying to take it easy, but I still have to replace the fork seals, fix the brakes, put the front fairing on, and tires and a new chain. So there’s still a bit of work ahead of me. Assuming I get it all done in time, which I probably will, I just hope I can actually ride.

[Blaqkfox]

These brakes are going to be the death of me. I cannot get them bled I thought maybe the master cylinder I had bought was just bad (since it showed up used and not new like I thought it was supposed to be). I looked over at my sv650 project sitting in the corner and it still had its front master in tact and looked like it would work. I squeezed it and it was working perfectly. Nice and tight. So I ditched the fz1 master I had on the tdm and installed the sv650 one. Bled it. Still spongy. Even my nice tdm has a rather spongy feeling front brake despite me bleeding it multiple times too. Im not new to this either. Ive tried reverse bleeding it, tapping on the lines, unbolting the splitter and tilting it and even unbolting master from the handlebar to tilt it while I work the lever. Nothing working. Im not seeing any air either. Theres no signs of leaks. I dont understand why it feels so spongy. The sv650 master seems to work a little better, but I think that might just be due to the shape of the lever- the fz1 master would bottom out on the handlebar controls. It would actually brake, I even rode with it like that for two test rides, but it only worked in like the last 10% of lever movement. And you could continue to pull it hard until it inevitably hit the bar controls. The sv650 master doesnt start to brake until about 50% through the levers throw. So progress I guess, but I want that immediate click stop that Im used to feeling.

Oh and the rear caliper might be done for. Im going to have to try and drill both bleed screws out. One was already snapped and I broke an extractor in it trying to remove it. The other twisted right off. Despite having soaked them both in PB blaster for several weeks.

https://i.imgur.com/cutLNFT.jpeg

Atleast I got the bike in the air and got the wheels off to go get my tires put on. It was a little sketchy as my neck stand is too short for this tall bike, but I made it work.

https://i.imgur.com/Of1gpMz.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/661iLSz.jpeg

Gave up on the front brake after messing with it for two more hours. Idk what the deal is. Might be doing the trip with a spongy front brake and no rear brake at this rate lol

If I get to go at all. Im def going to the doctors in the morning. My left pectoral randomly went numb on me while I was walking to the toolbox to get a wrench. Idk if my nerves got fried or what but something aint right. Even just reaching to pick a tool up off the floor can make my chest start to hurt. Hope I can still ride for the trip. If not Ill probably let my buddy ride the tdm cuz I dont think hes gonna get his bike together in time. And Ill just ride in the support truck I guess.

Edited by Blaqkfox, 19 May 2024 - 10:24 pm.