Upon assembly of the bike yesterday, I opted to stick with the oil seal that was already on the output shaft. In all the messing around, I pulled the O-ring that seals the inner diameter of the output pulley spacer and found that it was pretty well chewed up from the pulley being loose. That got replaced and everything buttoned up.
Part of being methodical means that assembly ate the few hours I had to spare on it: blue thread locker here, a little anti-seize there. Pretty soon I was out of time on Saturday. It didn't help that the tail light lens had some scratches and I got sidetracked removing, sanding and buffing for more than an hour (it looks really good now!).
That meant the planned paint detailing became a hurried wash on Sunday morning--because I wanted to ride the dumb thing and see if the problems were fixed.
I did go over every inch of the paint and chrome, though. A few more tiny paint chips were found (not caused by me). They got cleaned and filled. This scratch on the tip of the fender is the worst of all of it. It's next on the list to get dealt with. You can also see the fine swirls and scratches in the clear coat. When I get a chance...
Other problems that got dealt with: the intermittent charging light and the engine randomly cutting out. I never found a definitive--ah-ha cause--but, when I was removing, cleaning and regrounding the engine to the chassis, it must have been solved. Not a hint of a problem in 240 miles today.
Did a loop of the farmland around Camarillo and Oxnard on the way to the coast. This was later in the ride, from the top of the Santa Monica mountains. The Los Angeles coastline is visible in the distance, from about Marina Del Ray down to Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Again--the starbursts of swirls can still be seen, as are a few superficial scuffs. Not bad for an 18 year old motorcycle but, still easy to correct. I wouldn't be so fanatical about it but it came with an outstanding finish and that's how it needs to be kept.
Earlier in the ride: Pacific Coast Highway, approaching Point Mugu. As much as the romance of PCH implies twisty roads, the part in southern California ain't one of them. It's broad sweepers, moderate speed limits and enough traffic and cops to pretty much make anything more, pointless. The highways getting to and from here were open and straight. Just sit back and watch the day roll by and this is the perfect bike to do it on.
A brief jaunt up a few miles of Deer Creek Road for a coastline shot. No time to do all of Deer Creek today. This ride didn't even start until almost 3:00 PM. The bike performed flawlessly though.
A little further south. Traffic was light for a Sunday.
What's a trip through the Santa Monica Mountains without a gratuitous visit to The Snake?
Most of the weekend circus had settled down by the time I got there. Not to disappoint, there were still a handful of guys trying their luck at touching down an elbow in that stupid corner. The Rock Store was dead so I didn't bother to stop. I was chasing the sunset in the distance and home is 82 miles from here.
What remains is removing the bags and backrest, really rubbing out that paint and--early next year--take the front end apart and have the peeling and rusty bits rechromed.
