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Another rescue project '74 75/6

I'd check with Mickey at Airhead Salvage.

I left him a voicemail about the bar clamps...was going to ride out today to see what he has....nice being close! The two dealers(one east coast) said the lens had to come from their vintage supplier and had no ETA.
 
It runs!

Got everything ready, ( including a fire extinguisher :whistle) after a ride out to Martindale Cycle Works to pick up the bar clamps today. Came home and set the bars in place, went over my checklist...again. Added some fresh fuel, checked for leaks...again, and hit the starter....It fired up on first try! Purred at idle like it has been ridden every day lately :dance
A little skip at 3K, will ride it and tweak that after a good running.
I know this is what was supposed to happen...but still happy it went smoothly for her first start in quite some time.

I am pretty stoked at this point and prepared to roll off the lift for a spin around the compound. I looked behind the lift and across the way where one of Helen's bikes was parked and laughed at the debris field of carbon,dirt,and rust that spewed out of the mufflers...mostly on the floor...a LOT on her bike:banghead Luckily for me she was not there to see that happen.

So, after cleaning up my mess, I rode it in large circles around our drives for about ten minutes and checked things out. Will gear up and venture around the neighborhood tomorrow to see what a shakedown brings out. I just need to remember to not try any GSA moves with those skinny tires! I have no plates or safety inspection sticker, so need to stay off the highway until I can ride it into town when the DMV opens after Christmas break. Still need to transfer the front signals off the Windjammer back onto the bike before the inspection, but no biggie. Oh yeah, the speedo IS working so I am confident it only has 20K as thought...sweet!
 
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Have been on several rides, a little further each time. I did a 200 mile loop this past Saturday and all seems well. Bike seems tight and responsive throughout all ranges...just doesn't stop well! It sure purrs on the 65/70MPH two lanes around here. Passed a few under the limit Cruisers and a R1 with a skill-less rider...all good:dance The look on the faces of what had passed them was priceless.
P1260156-L.jpg

I have adjusted the front brakes a few times and have not replaced the front pads yet, they are sitting here however. It spins freely one day, drags a day later, then will free up again. I need to get the O ring for the adjuster pin before I pull it....thinking it's a possible issue.

I still have a hard lever and with adjusters all the way in at lever and master cylinder cannot get any clearance at the master cylinder under the tank.
The manual says you should be able to get a feeler gauge in there...not happening!

The grandson replaced the MC and front hose in 2002 when he ran it for 2000 miles before re-parking it. The records had a gap and I finally found that 2002 Santa Cruz receipt for a battery, oil change kit and brake parts.He said he used it a few times while stationed in CA.

I have bled it several times. Guess I just need to pull the pads and start at square one again. Also noticed in parts fiche the header says clutch/brake cable with the short or long option for bars...are the two the same? Cannot find a separate listing for a brake cable. I thought he had also changed that cable and maybe put a shorter one on, but the receipt doesn't reflect that.

Oh yeah, still confident from all the records I was the one to roll over to 21K...just a baby still!
 

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Control Cables

Also noticed in parts fiche the header says clutch/brake cable with the short or long option for bars...are the two the same? Cannot find a separate listing for a brake cable. I thought he had also changed that cable and maybe put a shorter one on, but the receipt doesn't reflect that.

The short cables are for the Euro bars. It looks like you've got the USA bars which need the long cables. When I switched from the USA to Euro bars, I kept the long cables for a while, but switched to the short ones for a neater routing.
 
Thanks Justin,
I knew there were short/long versions, just could not locate part number for front brake to master cylinder cable...finally found it in the front brake hose pic in the fiche. Two versions for euro/US bars.

I think maybe the original cable was broken and repaired as there is no slack to be had. May have happened prior to MC replacement by the grandson...he's a big fella and maybe the original MC was frozen when he squeezed the lever!:brow
 
Got the 3K on the bike since I got her running in order to do a "what needs attention now". As noted before, this bike isn't high mileage...just some old brittle parts on her.

Have a few minor oil trails which was expected after it's long slumber. Re-torqued heads ( I believe the first time) and adjusted some really tight valves. Spent a bit of fun time removing old gaskets from the valve covers...one of my favorite pasttimes...NOT.

Pulled front cover to find a nice puddle of oil in the points well:banghead. Looks like both the front seals are weeping so that's on the list of parts on the way. Also more time scraping gaskets and popping out old stiff seals.

One side is leaking on the pushrod seals, but that can wait a bit longer as it's minor...maybe wait until the other side starts leaking:laugh

Pulled the tranny this afternoon to find dry splines as also expected with some hard shifting going on. Hard to tell right now if the rear main is weeping...but I think it is with oil in vicinity. Since I am this far, the clutch comes out and a new seal as well.

Went ahead and ordered a set of OEM knockoff mufflers as well as the originals are starting to show lots of holes popping thru the chrome.

Helen saw the bike in pieces and said I must be keeping it:love...You Bet!
 
If your ever get close to Houston say Katy area give me a buzz and stop by, got one running 74"/6 and a 76"/6 project I'm squirling parts for to start:wave real soon.
Glenn
Pm me and I'll give u my details and exact location if interested....my door is open most of the time for my fellow airheads!!
 
Been out riding and doing major home projects and not online much lately...:wave

After riding this bike for most of the summer locally, and learning it's habits with no big problems, I finally had a big issue last Thursday.

The issues I had with the brakes ended up being an incorrectly installed front cable to the m/c. I forget what I found was mounted backwards...but the result was 0 slack at either adjuster and the calipers not releasing. When we picked this bike up, it wouldn't roll until I opened the bleeder and spread the caliper. The grandson attempted the repair from the CA parts invoice of a new m/c in 2002...poorly. Bad for him, good for us since he parked it when it wouldn't roll and brought it back to TX.

Back to my sad tale...

Was headed to Martindale/Airhead Salvage to see Mikey to get some used parts for the newly acquired non- running /5 the other day on the /6.
I knew I had some small issues to address, including a top end re-seal...no leaks but weeping and the pushrod seals look like armadillo hide. Had replaced many other seals and installed a Boyer ignition...the bike has been running well.

Flying along a familiar back road really enjoying the fall weather and zero traffic when I hear a loud rumble and a loss of power. Thought I had lost a header! I had no flat safe shoulder for a few miles and knew I had a gas station coming up soon...luckily! Pulled in and noticed oil on my left boot...not much, but enough to get my attention. Cranked bike and heard the source, a blown head gasket. No parts today for the /5 and I am stuck under a shade tree outside of Wimberley 30 miles from home. Great! Called Mikey to say I would see him another day and walked to the gas station to get a coke and chill.

Had an older friend needing tires mounted who called about the time I was dialing Helen to bring the rescue rig. He said he was bored and would do the deed since he was about 15 minutes away...he got free mounting/balancing when we got to my place BTW:thumb Thanks Gary.

So now I have parts on order to re-seal both sides and two airheads on the lifts to deal with... oh , and the 69S pile of parts to be painted sitting on the other one...I need to go get a lottery ticket:violin and WIN.

Found several old receipts and Capital Cycle Corporation catalogs in the paperwork with the '73 /5...great parts prices and service prices in the APR-JUN 1989 version! Prob high in '89 to most. The parts I need were about 1/2 the current price...oh well...

BTW...still loving these oldies:)
 
Have been on several rides, a little further each time. I did a 200 mile loop this past Saturday and all seems well. Bike seems tight and responsive throughout all ranges...just doesn't stop well! It sure purrs on the 65/70MPH two lanes around here. Passed a few under the limit Cruisers and a R1 with a skill-less rider...all good:dance The look on the faces of what had passed them was priceless.
View attachment 37664

I have adjusted the front brakes a few times and have not replaced the front pads yet, they are sitting here however. It spins freely one day, drags a day later, then will free up again. I need to get the O ring for the adjuster pin before I pull it....thinking it's a possible issue.

I still have a hard lever and with adjusters all the way in at lever and master cylinder cannot get any clearance at the master cylinder under the tank.
The manual says you should be able to get a feeler gauge in there...not happening!

The grandson replaced the MC and front hose in 2002 when he ran it for 2000 miles before re-parking it. The records had a gap and I finally found that 2002 Santa Cruz receipt for a battery, oil change kit and brake parts.He said he used it a few times while stationed in CA.

I have bled it several times. Guess I just need to pull the pads and start at square one again. Also noticed in parts fiche the header says clutch/brake cable with the short or long option for bars...are the two the same? Cannot find a separate listing for a brake cable. I thought he had also changed that cable and maybe put a shorter one on, but the receipt doesn't reflect that.

Oh yeah, still confident from all the records I was the one to roll over to 21K...just a baby still!



Just curious...how did [adjust] the front disc brakes?
 
Just curious...how did [adjust] the front disc brakes?

After I fixed the routing/ cable connection to the m/c and having a bit of slack at lever finally...I had bike on centerstand and played with the angle with the adjuster under the caliper until it stopped rubbing the rotor.
 
After I fixed the routing/ cable connection to the m/c and having a bit of slack at lever finally...I had bike on centerstand and played with the angle with the adjuster under the caliper until it stopped rubbing the rotor.

This is where I am confused....adjuster under the caliper? Slack in the lever ? I have never seen an adjuster anywhere on a disc brake? The [adjustment] is in the fluid filling the caliper as the pads wear....

Are you talking about lubing / centering ? everything in the caliper mounting ?
 
This is where I am confused....adjuster under the caliper? Slack in the lever ? I have never seen an adjuster anywhere on a disc brake? The [adjustment] is in the fluid filling the caliper as the pads wear....

Are you talking about lubing / centering ? everything in the caliper mounting ?

First I'd say try searching the Airhead forum using the link at the top right of the page. Put "eccentric" into the search box. You will see a number of posts that discuss adjusting the ATE brake caliper. I'm sure somewhere in there will be a reasonable set of pictures showing the process.

Once you take off the small cover at the bottom of the caliper, you'll see a slotted screw head in there. This is part of the "eccentric" adjuster and moves the angle of the pads back and forth. The idea is to get them to be parallel to the disk so that you get maximum area of pad on the disk. Two ways to do that. One is to use a sharpie pen and make a line across the disk. Rotate the tire so you see how much of the sharpie line is erased. Adjust the eccentric until virtually of the line is removed or removed evenly. The second way is to lightly hold the brake lever, squeezing the pads against the disk. Then turn the eccentric until you feel the middle and where it just "wants to be". That likely will be the proper adjustment point.
 
First I'd say try searching the Airhead forum using the link at the top right of the page. Put "eccentric" into the search box. You will see a number of posts that discuss adjusting the ATE brake caliper. I'm sure somewhere in there will be a reasonable set of pictures showing the process.

Once you take off the small cover at the bottom of the caliper, you'll see a slotted screw head in there. This is part of the "eccentric" adjuster and moves the angle of the pads back and forth. The idea is to get them to be parallel to the disk so that you get maximum area of pad on the disk. Two ways to do that. One is to use a sharpie pen and make a line across the disk. Rotate the tire so you see how much of the sharpie line is erased. Adjust the eccentric until virtually of the line is removed or removed evenly. The second way is to lightly hold the brake lever, squeezing the pads against the disk. Then turn the eccentric until you feel the middle and where it just "wants to be". That likely will be the proper adjustment point.



Is it something peculiar to the "per-Brembo" brakes ? I never owned or worked on any of those as I recall ? If the Brembo's had it ? I just don't remember. I'll pull out one of my old manuals, see what i can find.
 
Is it something peculiar to the "per-Brembo" brakes ? I never owned or worked on any of those as I recall ? If the Brembo's had it ? I just don't remember. I'll pull out one of my old manuals, see what i can find.

It's the only disc set-up I ever needed to line up as the caliper rotates in line w/rotor on a pivot point. The pads on these are not flat, each side is angled. The adjuster is under that 19mm plug.

pics are looking up from floor
 

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bummer

DANGIT...:banghead

Pulled the heads to do a complete top end seal since I lost the head gasket on the left a week or so ago. Found a bit of an issue as I noticed a sign of major heat scarring on the intake rocker and the bottom nut was loose. A little sink in my mood of just replacing the gasket.

I had checked torque when I was going thru the bike when we first got it and recalled that same head bolt was the one not near torque value.Yet it tightened back to spec. I was closing in on another oil change and valve check. The bike has been running well and no signs of a leak or popping until it let go.
I had found most of the service history and never saw a head re-torque in it's 20K previous life. Maybe it was just waiting on me.:violin

The threads are shot on that stud and must have been working itself loose again. End result is a damaged head. Good news was the valves and piston dome are clean from any carbon build up and I think the gasket mating surface on the left cylinder isn't damaged. Now have two 750's on the lifts waiting on parts and patience.
 

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It's the only disc set-up I ever needed to line up as the caliper rotates in line w/rotor on a pivot point. The pads on these are not flat, each side is angled. The adjuster is under that 19mm plug.

pics are looking up from floor


That splains it :wave good pics thanks.
 
Can something like that be welded and machined back to spec? I can't say that I've ever seen anything like that...ouch!
 
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