Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A little drip of petrol

On Monday, when I opened the garage door, I noticed a petrolly smell....and there was a suspicious pool underneath the bike. I found that my fuel tap was leaking.

The tank is easy to remove from a Spada, just release the seat, and undo the one bolt uncovered at the tail of the tank. Pull the fuel and vacuum lines off the carburettor, slide the tank back, and it's off.

The joint between the tap and the tank was leaking.

Two bolts hold the tap to the tank....luckily the tank was only a third full, so I could stand it on its nose to remove the tap. The seal for the joint is an o-ring which fits around the filter block. The ring was flattened and brittle.

A visit to an engineering supplier with the old ring secured a suitable replacement. It was soon installed, and the tank went back on the bike.

Result.....no more leak.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Did I mention summer?

So far it's been disappointing. And, to make things worse, yesterday the Waihola Tavern, a good place to stop for a coffee, was burned down. Oh well, such is life.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Summer will be here soon.

The rear tyre has been replaced, and already has a few ks on it.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Winter approaches

Mind you, even in the worst winter, there are still fine weekends for riding.

The bike is going well, but the rear tyre is worn. This I won't replace myself - I'll pay one of the local motorcycle shops.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Replacing fork seals

I'm not going to provide a blow by blow description.

The bike has no centre stand, so you need a jack to lift it.


Remove the brake caliper, and support it with cable ties


After the fork leg has been removed, stripped and cleaned, you need to drive the top bush back in. I used a piece of 40mm plastic drain pipe to do this.

The new fork seal needs to be protected from damage - this can be caused by pits or marks on the top of the fork leg. I wrapped the leg in food wrap, which I oiled with fork oil before sliding the seal into place.


The seal was driven into place using the drain pipe, with a joiner on the end.



For complete instructions for this job, see the service manual.











Sunday, January 11, 2009

Fork seals.....

My right hand front fork has been weeping oil for some months, and I've been wiping a dirty ring of oil off the fork leg after each ride. Today, after a short ride I noticed a splash of oil over the dust seal. The fork leg makes a sucking sound when the forks are compressed, and when I was cleaning up, I found oil on the back of the brake caliper.

Looks like it's time to fit those fork seals I bought last year........