Yall were right, no more foam on the dipstic, and excellent performance all around. In the 9 days it's been on the road, I've put on almost 575 miles. From dirt roads to interstates, that bike leaves nothing in want. Coolant level appears steady. I did hit the forks with Mother's, to no avail. I may or may not bother another attempt.
Had a good trip to Tennessee this past weekend of july 27th-31st. I have a buddy there in Oak Ridge and we ride Windrock Park. It's supposedly 70 something thousand acres and over 300 miles of trails, all skill levels. We got in a little over 60 miles total, about 20 a day. Attempted the hardest trail yet and made it! Trail 3. Here's a video my buddy found that evening. Obviously not of us. Unfortunately overheated my bike most of the way up the toughest section and blew out the base gasket, coolant leak. Was right next to my radiator cap overflow hose, so at the time, that's what i thought was going on and not the gasket. Got the rest of the way up the hill and took a break. Headed for the truck then, unknowing of the base gasket problem and little to no coolant. Bike started surging a little at closed throttle while coast down the mountain. Didn't think too much of it but knew something bad probably happened during that overheat. Loaded up and headed for home. Later that night i thought id top of the cooling system since it boiled over. Started filling the radiator and then shortly, felt water running on my foot. Well i wasn't spilling! Looked quick and saw a stream pizzing out below the exhaust. Could actually see the gasket pushed out. Luckily enough, we made it home unknowingly. My worry was i hurt the piston though from running it with no coolant. Finally got the engine apart last night and inspected. Looks like i might get away with a couple new gaskets.
The putt went on the road 22nd of July.....after 3 weeks of waiting on the CT damm-V. I cleared 1000 miles yesterday, fair weather riding so far. Figuring out cold weather riding early, we’ve had some cool mornings here, so preparing a little for fall weather. Im planning on a 4 day trip to OH in september. That will be a do....less with planning but in accomplishing. 600+ miles one way is a lot of fuel stops and a lot of hours in the saddle. For those with Honda Shadows, in all their manifestations, hondashadow.net is a great bike specific resource. Much smaller crowd than FHC, but every bit as active and informative. Downside, I haven't moved a lick of wood all summer. The tire retaining wall is coming along slowly, hopefully have it ready for firewood by thanksgiving..... Sirchopsalot
What part of Ohio are you riding to? If you roll past Pittsburgh and I'm available i could meet for lunch and log a few miles
Last time I went out, it was 80 to 76 to 77. It looks like I could dip south.....80W to 79S to 22W.....to 36. My leave time is up in the air. Friday 15th. If i work a dayshift on thursday, I'll sleep for a few hours,then bail around midnight. Puts me in your area around 7am friday morning. Not sure that's smart with rush hour. But, with more frequent gas stops, it might be later. If I work a night shift into friday morning, sleep a few hours and scoot out before noon. Puts me out of western ct before rush hour, and out your way 7pm ish. Return trip will be the following monday. If I left at 0700, puts me in your end of.town by about 10:00 heading east, just after rush hour. Im expecting it to be a 11 hr drive each way with more frequent stops for gas etc. Sca Sba
Actually it's pretty well stock except for being lowered, air intake, fuel injection module and the exhaust is debaffled
Yesterday concluded a great trip to OH from CT. Saw SCA Jr and his dear bride. I logged over 1400 miles rt including some really good riding there in OH. Those roads are sick. Dodging buggies was a first: around here, you stay right-in-lane approaching the crest of a hill. There, one stays left-in-lane, as there might be a buggy on the other side. PA was beautiful as always, still too early for leaves to turn, but awesome just the same. It was a pilgrimage to be sure, lots of time (about 12 hours travel each way) was spent in prayer, for others but also diggin' out my own junk. Church there included a pretty burly Divine encounter, and the wisdom and discussions before and during the pilgrimage brought real purpose and direction. I needed that. No bike mods, no fancy saddle (I'm more of a hard@$$ than I thought), throttle boss, highway bars. Minimal gear. Bringing the camel bak, slid into the back pack, was the best thing. I had water always, and didn't have to stop for hydration. Letting water out did require stops. Temps were generally 70's down to mid 50's. sweats all around worked. Fingerless gloves were the glove of choice the whole trip. SCA
Geez, I've seen NOS bikes darker than that! On my own stuff I just change what's in the reservoir, fairly often, but then the whole system once in a while...it seems to circulate on its own and still keeps the system clean.
And here I thought Michigan was flat like a frying pan and featureless like the Bonneville salt flats Those are some serious case-busting rocky trails, not unlike the ones we have here in New England. Pretty intense riding even with bark busters and skid plates. Aftermarket pipes don't stay new long in that environment EDIT: That's Tennessee I believe.
