Chief Gunner

Good on ya Bro, Happy B-day .....don't be a stranger, anytime you are out in my area feel free to drop in for some cold barley therapy or some wrenching on the KLR.

I'd love to be in on this one, been too long since I have participated in anything around here. It would be great to see some old friends I'm standing by for the designated time & place for the meet up

I started noticing some stiffness in the steering on my '06 XRL. I was planning on tearing down and re-packing the steering stem bearings to fix this issue and I suspected that the grease had all but dried up and worn out. I felt like I just had to share this with all the XR owners here. This mod can be done to many other bikes as well..... After doing some reading in this performance manual for dirtbikes I have. I found an article that was written by a guy who worked at Summers Racing (SRC) and it gave me some really usefull info on a "Must have" modification for all of Honda's Air cooled XR models that I am now going to do on my 2006 XR650L. Being Air cooled the XR's are subjected to allot more heat related issues than liquid cooled bikes because the downtube part of the frames on many of the XR models is used as the oil sump. So when the engine gets really hot, so does the oil and it leads to the breakdown of the grease in the steering stem bearings through heat transfer from the engine to the frame and then to the stem itself. It is this heat that causes the grease to melt and loose it's lubricating properties and it often results in the stiff steering that my bike is experiencing..... The fix is to disasemble the steering stem, clean up the bearings and internals of the stem and replace any excessively worn parts. Before re-assembly you drill 2 holes in the steering stem tube, with the top hole being 2 inches from the top of the stem and on the right side of the stem tube and the other 2 inches from the bottom of the stem on the left side of the stem tube and then tap them using a 6x1mm threaded tap (the zerks I bought have a 6x1mm thread pattern). Once the holes are drilled out and the metal shavings are thoughroughly cleaned out of the tube you install the Zerk fittings. Re-assemble the steering stem and now you can pump the steering stem full of high temp waterproof grease before or after each ride so the steering bearings are always coated with fresh grease....No more stiffness!

Dammit; I did not get to go today, I got home from work in time for the delivery of the new washer and then I found myself ready to ride with the trailer set up but the 4Runner was gone.. I need to stop buying toys and buy me a used truck , all I have right now is 4 bikes and the 4Runner.

I'll try to make it out to your casa tomorrow Jon. I have an excuse if I can't get a hall pass from the Mrs; I'll bring Joliet's Husky specific axle wrench that was left behind at my last Maintenance day so he can get it back Need me to bring anything that will fit in a backpack I'll be on the VMax See ya there

I get off of work at 1 today .......I'm itching to go roost some dirt with my green stickered Five Hundy . Maybe I'll see you out there, I don't have a DS kit on it so I'll have to be done riding and back at the truck before dark.

Today is the last day this place will be open; I'm hoping to find some deals on things I can use. Link here; http://www.sdsportcycles.com/index.html

Belated Happy Birthday Brother Mang! Next time we cross paths there will be a few cold ones on me fer ya!

I have two special tools (sorry Mimi and SCHWINN) that I need to return this Saturday But I also have a few of my own up for "loaner duty" since so many here have been kind enough to hook me up. This one is good for clutch jobs and sprocket change outs: I have bearing pullers and some other stuff: Torque wrenches, Inside and outside diameter type calipers and metric taps, dyes and "easy outs". Here's a link for allot of tools for bikes, not SNAP ON quality but they get the job done...http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/tools/category/tools/ One cool tool I have is a spring compressor for MacPhearson strutts for the cages; I used it on the 4Runner and a late model F150, makes an easy day of it.

We are going to see much more of our Navy getting involved with this issue, there is a whole new class of ships being built that will suit this type of mission well. Here's a message for the Pirates....

I've got an air compressor that will get me to the 100 PSI needed for doing the ever important test but wanted to ask if anyone here might have the gauge and spark plug fitting that would fit my XR650L for doing a "Leak Down" test before I go out and buy one. I want to do a "Leak Down" test on the pig because I think my piston rings are done....It's showing all the symptoms; it's running hot, decreasing power, burning oil and the tell tale spewing of excessive oil from the crankcase breather and I want to confirm it for sure before I decide on just an average top end re-build or to do an HRC 750cc Big bore install. I've got a few other things to do to on all of my bikes on Saturday as well. I have a post for A Maintenance Day at my place this Sat the 4th over in the open discussion thread but figured this would be the spot to discuss this issue. So if you'd like to come by Sat and you might have some tools specific to certain bikes feel free to offer to bring them and chime in.

Here's an update on the pig; I replaced the pulse generator (and right crankcase gasket) , changed the oil and checked the valves (they were fine and within spec). The two oils screens were perfectly clean with no metal shavings or gasket crud in them. I also lowered the idle a tad and checked the choke adjustment at the carb. I did the compression test using Dirt Dames tester.....The Compression was 2 PSI above what the manual calls out. my friend Jim has been riding it the last few days and he tells me that it's running great. It's not getting hot anymore ( he rode it from my place to La Jolla and back on the 52 at speed and said the thermo never got above 220 degrees) , it's not burning oil anymore (it quit stinking) and it's not losing power on the highway at speed anymore. Since I did all of that it's hard to nail down exactly what the real issue was. I suspect that the output of the pulse gen to the CDI had allot to do with it, I had a "Trailside" repair on the wires which may have been grounding or shorting out the electrical output to the CDI........ A while back I got motoworld to replace the CDI (warranty work) after one of the pins shorted out and burned up.....hmmmm, I looked at the wiring diagram and sure enough guess which pin was smoked.....yup the one that connects to the pulse gen. It's a shame that the mechanic at motoworld did not see the Jerry rig electrical tape repair on the pulse gen wires, it was pretty obvious......which tells me they did not do a thorough job on it...... Lessons learned there. Now I need to re-pack the exhaust, the thing is so loud and abnoxious it's embarrising to ride.

Only thing missing is the Wimmins and the Beer? More pics of it here; http://www.navychief.com/chiefbike.html

Here is where I got my new Job; I retired from the Navy as an E-7 but hold an equivilent grade to a LT. (O-3) now and in a year or so I'll be at the LCDR (O-4) level. I had to get out to get promoted :clapping: Seriously if any of you are looking for a job there are allot of job openings for qualified people in a very wide range of career areas here in the states and overseas with the Department of the Navy. The secret to getting your resume looked at is matching the open job description with your own application using as many of the "Key" words in the job description itself . Here is the link:https://chart.donhr.navy.mil/

Thanks for all the "Thank You's" We will do it again, maybe something bigger nextime. I was thinking a live band, and something set up for the families. Maybe not a maintenance day but more like a get together for everyone, softball, games..... I can get reservations at the Admiral Baker recreation park. Do you guy's think that would be a good Idea?

Thank You to all who showed up, it was a very relaxing day. Because all of you are so kind and such good people I like to do these Maintenance days, my wife really appreciated it too. Thanks to Jaynen, SCHWIN, Carguy and Bikeslut for the reirement gifts. tntmo; your shirt killed us....too funny Dirt Dame......that was a very funny post, we had some good laughs when Felicia, Rachel, Jim and I read it together, now everyone can see why my neighbor calls Sheba the "gopher ninja" Very nice to meet some new people too, DSFox, David, Shawn.... Yesterday I did get the new pulse generator in on the pig and I changed the oil so now I just need to check the valves and use Mimi's compression tester (thank you Mimi, I will shoot you a pm so I can ride over and drop it off this week). One the XR is dialed in I will make the serious effort to show up on more rides! Thanks again everybody, we will keep doing these! Aaron

I have not been active on rides for awhile but I'm hoping to change that now that the whole transition thing is just about over with . March 31st is my official retirement date after 20 years in the Navy, I have the blessing from the wife to have a Maintenance day / Retirement get together at the house with my friends here. I live in Lakeside. the last three maintenance days I've had were good times and it's been way to long since I was active around here so I thought this would be a good chance to re-connect and start riding again. So I am open for ideas, do we ride first then turn some wrenches or do we just turn some wrenches and enjoy cold beverages and Lumpia? Nothing facny planned; just burgers, hot links, Lumpia, pancit and maybe some Ribs with beverages of course. I am going to invite some friends from work and try to convince them that they need to get a DS and ride too I am looking at Saturday 4 April starting at 10 A.M so if you would like to fix, modify or work on your ride (not bike specific at all) feel free to chime in and shoot me a PM for directions and my cell number. I will hold off on buying food until I know a close estimate on the number of people who might want to show. I have a manual for the XR650L, and the VMax and I have wireless high speed internet access available in the garage if we need to pull down manuals or tech stuff off of the web......

So I get a call from the wife at work around 2 yesterday afternoon and she tells me she's at the emergency room at Balboa Naval Hospital with Rachel. I ask her what happened and she tells me "Rachel may have broken her ankle" So after work I run over to the hospital (I know it sounds cruel that I did not rush right out at that time, I figured it was not a life threatening injury and the average wait time there is 6-8 hours so I saw no need to rush there). I get to the hospital and locate my wife and daughter after an hour of waiting in the emergency room. I started getting impatient so I went outside to call the wife and try to find them. Come to find out she had already been seen, had X-rays' and was actually in the pharmacy waiting to get her meds... So I show up there and ask Rachel what happened, she tells me "I hurt my ankle going down the hill where the EC for El Cap is, I immediately get a little hot and say "What the hell are you doing there, you were supposed to be in school, you had better not be cutting class".........Come to find out, the school had allowed the kids to gather to mourn and comfort each other due to the tragic death of Rachel's friend Cristian. All of the kids had gone up the hill to change the EC to CS in memory of their friend Christian. Man I felt like the world's biggest "A-Hole".....here's my kid in physical pain and in tears and grief over the loss of her friend and I'm chewing her butt..... I'm sorry Rachel, and I feel very sad to see you hurting so much, please for give me... As for Christian, I never met you personally but have met allot of yours and Rachel's friends. We had planned on inviting him to come riding with us sometime. I told Rachel not to feel sorry about what happened to him, being so young (just 16 years old) and such a good person that was loved by so many that he had an express ticket straight to Heaven. I pray his family and friends find comfort in that. Here's the link: http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=10122356 On a side note Rachel told me that her other friend that was there said that Christian was wearing a helmet.

I'll be doing a COSTCO run tonight, for food, drinks and snacks....feel free to bring anything you would like to A friend sent me this today, kinda like it so I'll share it..... "My Heart's at Sea Forever" Long ago I was a Sailor. I sailed the Ocean blue. I knew the bars in Singapore... The coastline of Peru. I knew well the sting of salt spray, The taste of Spanish wine, The beauty of the Orient... Yes, all these things were mine. But I wear a different hat now, A tie and jacket too. My sailing days were long ago... with that life I am through. But somewhere deep inside of me... The sailor lives there still. He longs to go to sea again, But knows he never will. My love, my life, is here at home, and I will leave here never. Though mind and body stay ashore... My heart's at sea forever

Rachel's ankle is going to be okay, she sprained it pretty good. Aside from feeling deeply depressed over her friend and in some pain due to her ankle she's very bummed....we were going to ride CC on Sunday after getting the bikes dialed in Tomorrow. She'll be ready in a week or two for some desert riding though.

My heart goes out to you and your family, I pray that you and your family feel the loving warmth and comfort that only our true Lord can fill your souls with. I am very familiar with the 67 and after 16 years of living at the bottom of it and driving cars, trucks and riding my bikes up and down it I have seen many bad things happen for many different reasons on it. The hurt, anger and frustration of what happened to you and you family will eventually fade and pass on but yet it will remain in many ways. Life throws things at us that are so unexpected and painful that we lose sight of the absolute miracle that we and those around us take for granted every day. There is only one whom we should thank, worship and ask forgiveness of, we see him in our different own ways but so many of us share the same hopes and dreams and wishes to end pain and suffering for those we love around us. I can only ask you to seek comfort with those you love and find warmth in knowing that none of us are alone. Aaron

Update as of Today... So far I'm expecting the following friends & members to show.... Carguy Tntmo SCHWINN Ride Orange Beezz Joliet Dirt Dame KLR Roger Kip Zenosan Dig Dug SocalHodaka (three others I invited too) Any Others?? I'm just trying to get an idea of the number of people who will show so I know roughly how much food drinks to have on hand. If you would like to drop in and say hi and do some tweaking on your ride but do not know where I live just shoot me a PM and I'll reply with the address and my #'s

On the lighter side.... A little boy wanted $100.00 very badly and prayed for weeks, but nothing happened . Then he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100.00. When the postal authorities received the letter to God , USA , they decided to send it to the President. The president was so amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $ 5.00 bill. The president thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy. The little boy was delighted with the $5.00 bill and sat down to write a thank-you note to God, which read: Dear God: Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington D.C. and those a--holes took $95.00 in taxes.

Thaks for sharing I checked out their website and I just bought the kit for the VMax the price was much better than others I have seen ($55 +shipping). Those will look so much better than the stock black ones on the new polished clutch cover and the clear water pump and stator covers I plan on getting for it.

I watched that a few times just to let it soak in, we are all in serious and imminent danger. It really is time for people to pull together, to take reasonable action and demand accountability from our Goverment/ elected officials. To be focused on fixing our own country is good but we cannot dismiss the possibilities or events that could unfold in the future. We are already the targets of extremist terrorists, if the world economy collapses the reality that there will be many countries that will turn their sights and anger on us is there....very scary times we are living in.