Ancaster And Back Again

Elora to Ancaster and back again... about 160kms

Another weekend another good ride, this time to Ancaster and back for an edcamp.  One again the Concours impressed with its ability to cover miles with ease.

It was about 6°C when I left at 7:30 in the morning, and up in the high teens when I came back mid-afternoon.  Both ways was comfortable though behind the fairings, and the new jacket is light-years beyond the old one in terms of both warming and cooling.

I had a moment riding when I was flying through the air on the back of the bike realizing that there is nothing about doing this that I don't enjoy.  It was a windy day, the roads post Canadian winter look like a war zone and it was cold, but even with all that I was still stringing perfect moments together as I flew down the road.  I had a moment before the big trip last week when I was wondering if I'm not taking too many risks riding with my son.  What finally put me right was realizing that driving a car can end you as well, but we do that much more often and usually while paying less attention.  I looked back one time as we were winding our way through Beaver Valley and saw Max with his arms out and eyes closed flying through the air behind me.  I would have hated myself if I'd have never given him that experience.  Riding might be dangerous, but competence and attention can go a long way in mitigating those risks, and the rewards are impossible to find in any other mode of transport.

The more I ride the Concours the better the engine seems to get. On the way home I stuck the phone behind the windshield and got the video below where you can hear the Concour's happy noise.  

Sulphur Springs Road - a better way in is on Mineral Springs Road, the top of Sulphur Springs is rough!

Mineral Springs Road on the way back, it's still Ontario bumpy, but it ain't dirt and it is twisty!

Back up in Centre Wellington, the Concours takes a break where I took the first road pic of my former bike

I always thought that the Ninja was a delight to rev, but the throaty howl of the Concours in full song is hard not to fall in love with:

Flight of the Concours

... with musical accompaniment by Takeshi Terauchi & The Bunnies!

Motorbike Dreams

The first motorcycle dream I had was barely remembered, but I woke up pulling hard on the brake with my hand instead of using my foot.  I've had driving dreams for years, but I can clearly remember that first time I woke up aware of operating a bike in my dreams.  I can't remember the context, but it was nice to know my subconscious was working over the details of riding as much as my conscious mind was.

The other day while home from work sick with the flu I woke up from a much more complex dream.  In it I was trapped in a parking lot after trying all sorts of vehicular attempts to drive past customs in order to leave (I'd just been to The States, so perhaps that's why I had borders on my mind).

I found the Concours sitting on some shipping containers at the back of the lot and suddenly I'm riding it like a trials bike, jumping down from one container to the next until I get down and am able to escape from the parking lot.  Cars couldn't get me out of there but my bike could!

Strangely, I can't recall dreaming about the Ninja, though I spent a lot of time turning it blue again.  Maybe the soul of the machine isn't in the finish.  I've spent a lot more time deep inside the Connie getting it road worthy, perhaps that time has endeared it to me.  In any case, I feel a kinship to the Connie that I haven't with the Ninja, which makes me look forward to the end of the cold even more.

I was originally thinking about where to get Kawasaki stickers once I've got it refinished, but now I'm thinking of finding some Corellian Engineering Corporation stickers and doing the Concours up in full Millennium Falcon style.

From the documentary:  Why We Ride

Sanding Concours

One small heater does the job now that I have
garage door insulation installed.

A good couple of hours were spent in the garage today getting the scratches and dents out of various Concours panels.  The previous owner had used some kind of plastic filler to put back together the lower right fairing after it had been dropped.  With some hand sanding today I've gotten it close enough to prime and prep for a round of painting.  If it isn't perfect it'll be much closer than it was.

I'm trying to find the Tremclad metallic red similar to the blue I used on the Ninja, but I'm having trouble finding it.  Home Depot seems to have dried up on it.  That paint with the gloss clear coat comes very close to looking like it came from a body shop.

I'll keep looking.

The small heater did a good job of heating up the room to 18°C (it was -8°C outside).  The garage door blanket is doing its job nicely.

Got the rear fairing piece around the seat off and prepped for painting.

Everything sanded and cleaned, ready for some primer.

Connie stripped down to the tank.

Sense of Accomplishment!

It's alive.... ALIVE!!!

After fiddling with the speedometer gear housing I was told to make sure I have the line on the back of the suspension and the housing lined up.  I put it back together that way and still didn't get anything, so I took it apart again and tried putting it on 180° from before and bingo, the speedo began to spin.  If you're having trouble with speedo gear housings, try putting it on the other way and turning it to line up with the fork housing mark.

Love that red - the Connie will be getting panels refinished
over the cold months...

All the gauges on the Connie work now, so I'm going to begin to reassemble it after changing out the oil and filter.  I'm hoping to have it back together in the next week or so and then I can take an honest run at a safety and see how it does.  Everything else seems to be in good form.  It starts at a touch of the button and idles steadily after a moment on choke.  The throttle is clear, sharp and very responsive now.  The
brakes feel strong and sure.  After reassembly and a final cleanup, hopefully it'll fly through safety and then I'll have to make some hard decisions about the Ninja.  

It would be nice to get some miles on the Connie before the snows fall.

New speedo cable runs in behind the bottom of the front shock from the right.  It reads accurately and runs quietly.

Hard not to love that big one litre engine... it burst to life with a growl and revs with surprising eagerness.  Smooth as butter too...

Everything comes to life and reads accurately now...

A Day In The Shop

I took a day off from the enormous deck I've been building to work on the Concours.  After the initial clean up I got the instrument cluster off in preparation for a new speedo cable.  This looks like a pretty easy job.  The cluster is only held on with two bolts and the speedo cable runs directly from it to the front tire.  You slot the ends of the cable in and do them up and you're off to the races.  Replacement cables only run you about ten bucks.

'94 Concours clutch lever assembly.  Those
little bolts that hold on the cover are 4mm
and hard to source (not much in the way of
metric bolts around here).  The clutch lever
meets up with a pin and various odds and
ends that connect it to the reservoir.

I've also removed the rather sad looking handlebar end weights and looked at the clutch lever.  The former owner said it was missing a grommet, but it looks like other odds and ends are missing as well from the lever assembly, which is remarkably fine boned.  I've looked up prices online, but there don't seem to be any Canadian online parts sellers that work in this kind of OEM detail.

Considering the relatively low cost of the odds and ends I need (about $30), it seems silly to buy American and deal with customs hassles and shipping costs that almost equal the cost of the parts.  Even with dealer markup, my local Kawi dealer should be able to beat the shipping markup.

I finally got to the various fairing bits and panniers and they look to be in good shape after I got the cobwebs, mud and grime off them.

The current plan is to get the speedo operational, check other details and then put her back together again and take her in for a safety check.  If all goes well there I'll begin the process of putting her back on the road.  With any luck I'll get some miles on before the snow falls and then spend the winter stripping her down for a paint job.

The instrument cluster is a simple removal, two bolts
underneath hold the unit to a subframe.  The whole
thing is connected to the speedo cable out the bottom
and a couple of wiring harnesses out the side.

Many bits and pieces make up a
Kawasaki Concours.  The instrument
bezel (middle) cleaned up nicely after
a soak in some armourall.

I finally got the Connie up on the centre stand.  If there is a trick to that I'd love to hear it.  I ended up putting a wooden
ramp out back and man-handling it up it in order to get the stand down.