Some Quick Updates: WITW Safe Mileage, CL175 Project

by Stacy on November 2, 2009

We’re firmly into the Fall season here at bolty.net and things motorcycling-related have started to slow down. I’m still commuting every day — 32° during this morning’s ride to work — and even managed to get out yesterday for a quick ride up Mary’s Peak and back under the weak light of Fall’s setting sun.

On the blogging front, I’m setting into a longer posting schedule and hoping to have at least a couple of new posts a week. Here are a few updates that were too small to get their own posts:

WITW Safe Mileage Update

This year’s Women In The Wind safe mileage contest wrapped up on October 31st. My ending odometer reading was 11351, which gave me a total of 8820 for the year. Thankfully, this summer’s oops didn’t count against me. I didn’t reach my goal of 10000 miles for the contest, but I did improve almost 7k miles over last year’s total.

I still have hope for 10000 miles for this calendar year, however…

CL175 Project

Stacey and I drained the oil on the CL175. The old oil was toasty brown in color, very thin, and smelled of gas. We didn’t see any metal fragments, but I’m going to tie a magnet to a string and go fishing in the drain pan when I get the time.

We’ve heard from several sources that it would be a good idea to squirt some penetrating oil down into the cylinders via the spark plug holes. However, there’s been no consensus on what that particular substance should be. We’ve heard all of the following:

  • 50/50 mix of engine oil and automatic transmission fluid (ATF)
  • 100% ATF
  • PB Blaster
  • seafoam

Now, which is it? Back to the research pile for me, I guess!

Operation Shed

We need to clear room in our garage for a workspace before we can start serious work on the CL175 project. There’s a ton of garden tools and other detritus in the garage that really ought to go in a shed. Too bad we don’t have one!

So, we spent a very sunny and beautiful Sunday in the backyard digging out a 10×10 patch for a shed foundation. Shed first, project bike second. Alas!

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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Mike November 3, 2009 at 7:29 am

Motorcycles are a slippery slope!

2 Allaina November 4, 2009 at 10:28 am

Hmmm…. this sounds so familiar….

Hubby did build the shed. All the yard stuff is in it. Oddly enough, there still isn’t room in the garage to work on the motos. What we need is another bigger shed of course! For all the large tools and other non-motorcycle related items. THEN we’ll have room…. One can dream right? Of course we do now have a total of 6 (oh my) whole motorcycles and parts for at least two more in and around the garage, yard, driveway, etc……..

Sigh. :-)

3 fasthair November 5, 2009 at 10:02 am

Ms. Bolty,

Let me clear things up for you. When we got done racing the nitro motor we would spray WD40 in the cylinders and rotate the engine over by hand several times. Tip. Make sure you hold on to that little straw so it don’t end up in the cylinder while you are spraying it. Don’t ask.

Then of course I’ve watched other races kill the fuel supply and run the engine on what is in the carb to drain it all the while dripping ATF in the carb to coat the cylinders for storage.

I haven’t heard you say if the engine is free or not. If it is stuck then pour some diesel in the cylinders and let it set. Repeat as the fluid soaks past the rings until it’s free. Of course if it is stuck you will end up taking the cylinders off and boring them out until the cylinders are clean and straight again.

Personally I would just use some ATF. Squirt some in each hole and rotate the engine a few times with the plugs out and repeat. Do this a few time and you should be good to go. Just make sure when you go to fire the motor for the first time you plug the plugs and \clear\ the cylinder by kicking engine over a few times.

There clear as mud now huh?

fasthair

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