The blue lovely has a lie down at Laava's

[Mom]

Well technically not a lie down as such, more of a little rest.

The very lovely Laava took pity on this gal last weekend and offered his gasket making skills, after the blue lovely disgraced herself at Puhoi. He was even prepared to come here to work his magic, but it seemed only fair the blue lovely went to the mountain so to speak. So this morning it was decided that a trip to the norf was in order.

Talking to Laava on the phone he did suggest, with somewhat of an evil laugh I have to say, that I may get a little wet on the journey. He asked about my fluffy seam and said he was prepared to laugh at me if I showed up with wet pants

Not one to be put off by a little bit of precipitation even though my pants leak like a sieve, I packed a pair of dry pants to change into (the hell with being laughed at eh) and hit the road. The weather man never gets it right afterall. Well, what a crappy day to be out riding The blue lovely was being drawn norf by the smell of new gasket paper a bit like freshly baked bread it seemed, she did however sulk a bit on some of the long straights, seems I may have to revisit those carbs afterall. For me though all was going well apart from the tell tale cold seepage that started not too far from home and was more of a total sensation by the time we arrived in the gargre of Laava.

The blue lovely was as warm as toast though, and Laava made short work of dispatching her oil to the bin. We decided to really go hard out and change the oil filter too, so off that came as well. Now the Radian is an odd (but lovely) machine, with sump plugs and other things in weird places that are not easy to get too, who would have thunk the front of an engine is a good place to drain the oil out of Anyway we were into it!

[MadDuck]

Talking to Laava on the phone he did suggest, with somewhat of an evil laugh I have to say, that I may get a little wet on the journey. He asked about my fluffy seam and said he was prepared to laugh at me if I showed up with wet pants

What an evil, evil, evil man

[FJRider]

What an evil, evil, evil man

Some men are like that ....

[Mom]

In short order off came the clutch cover and hello! Seems there is a bit of a gap in the old gasket, that someone has filled with silicone. Somethings are not fit for purpose and the place there is a gap is where the oil is coming from. At this point I think I may have fallen in love with Laava Sorry Momma Jo and Maha, but seriously, I really thought I was going to have to park the blue lovely up, to discover I dont have to was such a good feeling!

Out come the springs and plates, this man is an absolute demon with a spanner I can tell you We are left with the clutch basket, that is showing some serious signs of wear indeed. Knowing my recent luck though, the whole thing plates included will have to be replaced. I am feeling a bit sick at the prospect.

[Mom]

Out comes the trusty vernier. Now I am not lucky enough to own one of these measuring devices (though I did borrow one from a bloke at work, I WAS going to deal to the blue lovely's clutch this weekend come hell or high water) and we measured the friction plates, and checked the steels for warpage. So far my theories are out the window, I was going for some spacers under the clutch springs being the culprit, after that warped steel plates. Both friction and steels are well within tolerance and not a sign of a spacer to be seen.

Hmmmm, the clutch springs though are well under spec, but that wont create the drag, that will cause slipage of which I have none. That clutch basket is really starting to appear to be the biggest problem. So, off with its head! Or words to that effect. I am sure I could have actually undone the big nut holding the basket to the engine, it was not fastened that tightly but I would have failed in the long run, I dont have a socket big enough

[Laava]

Heh! I loved the bit where you got off the bike, squatted, and leaked all over the floor!

[Mom]

I love watching a man work lovely Laava was standing in the rain (did I mention the weather up here was really crap today? He was using some wet and dry sandpaper in a container of water and carefully ( I would have used a friggen big file if it was me) reducing the wear damage on the basket edge surfaces. I was the brolly dolly Pity there is no pic (Maha was off buying replacement oil and hopefully a new filter) This really cute purple girls sized umbrella was all I could fine at the time, so I was valiantly holding it over his sweaty brow, and we were both getting soaked!

It was a this point I suggested we move inside FIGJAM I tells ya!

Once we were back under shelter I found myself something useful to do, scraping old silicone and gasket from the cover and the engine case, and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Dont ever use silicone to help hold a gasket together people, it is shit and it breaks up to zillions of crappy bits that stick like shit to a blanket. Imagine the damage that stuff could do if it got lodged in oil galleries around your engine. Silicone suks ok!

[oldguy]

rusty colour oil, is it oil?

[Mom]

Maha returned from his trip to buy bits empty handed. Well not true, he had oil Vital stuff, but no new filter, seems we were asking too much of a Saturday afternoon, in the norf. Poor lovely man, got wet ( it really CHUCKED IT DOWN as soon as he left) you really do feel like a shit sending someone off to get something in that sort of weather for them to come back empty handed. Thank you lovely man

So, no new oil filter, but oil. A bloody gorgeous new gasket hand crafted by Dr Laava, and under tolerance springs. Hmmmmmmm. Desicions, decisions.

Not rocket science really. Do not replace the clutch cover until the springs are replaced, so no oil in the engine until new filter is obtained. The blue lovely rests at Laava's!

Thank you Al! Really, you will probably not begin to understand how much I appreciate your help today. Thank you!

So, now I need to buy 5 new clutch springs and an oil filter.

Did I mention this fabulous man is going to balance my carbs before the blue lovely goes home?

But top of the list of wonderful things this man has done for me to day is give me a root before I left! Really, the most jazzy, wonderful root I have ever received

I was warm as toast wrapped in the effect of that root!

[Mom]

Heh! I loved the bit where you got off the bike, squatted, and leaked all over the floor!

Well, I have to say I felt very relieved too! That is so revolting! I was a bit shocked myself, how disgusting!

rusty colour oil, is it oil?

Yeah, the stuff that drained out was oil, albeit black oil and not very pretty. I was certain she had an oil and filter change 3K kms ago, it was paid for anyway. The cases look like they have baked on oil, something like a deepfryer gone bad! When you give it berries with solvent it does clean off, and no metalic residue to be seen. Weird eh? I dont call her blue lovely for nothing

[oldguy]

Poor lovely man, got wet ( it really CHUCKED IT DOWN as soon as he left) you really do feel like a shit sending someone off to get something in that sort of weather for them to come back empty handed. Thank you lovely man

give me a root before I left! Really, the most jazzy, wonderful root I have ever received

I was warm as toast wrapped in the effect of that root!

you told me it never rains in the norf, by the sounds of it, it pissed down

Oh and a bit to much info there mom.

[Maha]

CB1300's are very heavy.....
And no Al, I didnt need hand cleaner.....
Mamma Jo make good toasties!
Neighbours who cough should stay indoors...

[MadDuck]

CB1300's are very heavy.....

Seems there is a story yet to be shared ?????

[Maha]

Seems there is a story yet to be shared ?????

Lets just say, I dont scream and I stay very composed in times of urgency...

Score = 2-1.

[Laava]

most jazzy, wonderful root I have ever received

I was warm as toast wrapped in the effect of that root!

So, you like a dry root then?
But seriously, glad it did the trick.