It's literally been MONTHS since my last entry...mea culpa!
The CT90 I purchased back in June will be out of service for a while longer. It was getting dark and he didn't have much room for a test-drive, so I had to go on instinct...turns out my gut was out to lunch.
The carb and intake boot did NOT fit together, so he had electrical tape holding them. The carb has a fatal flat spot that won't allow for any decent riding.
The clutch....doesn't. That is to say, it never disengages. With the CT's, depressing the shifter actuates the clutch mechanism. If you hold the shifter down (or UP in this case) you can rev the engine and the bike won't move...if it's working properly....which it isn't. I can hold the shifter up and the bike will take off if I give it gas. Shifting on the fly is interesting, to say the least.
I suspected that it had been assembled wrongly, so I took it apart and re-assembled it as per the many YouTube videos and it still isn't working properly. I think I may need a new clutch basket...and I broke off one of the tines that holds a shock-absorbing spring in the clutch assembly...so yeah, a clutch basket is in my future.
Once I've got that part working, there's the issue with the carb....might have this working by next Spring.
As for the TW...nothing but routine maintenance.
I noticed a bit of a bounce in the front end when at speed, so I pulled the wheel and balanced it...took a bit of weight to get it right but I still didn't like that Kenda K270. It is a 5" knobby tire that makes a big racket and is difficult to turn in technical sections, even though I don't do many of them.
I installed a 4" Shinko SR241 instead and am quite pleased with how it is handling so far. I made the mistake of installing it without balancing, but that doesn't seem to be an issue at this time.
I had ordered a new rear-tire a few months ago and decided to mount it today too...might as well have new rubber all around so I have a base-line.
In hindsight, this is something I should have done LAST season, and it is definitely something I will add to the list of SEASONAL maintenance. The PO must have done a lot of water-crossings as there was quite a bit of rust on the inside of the rim. I was able to take it off with a wire wheel in a cordless drill...then I painted the rim to minimize future rusting...but like I said, this is something I should investigate once a year.
I was able to remove 99% of the rust that clings to the tube, when the rim is rusted...surprisingly easy with some warm water and a plastic scraper. Didn't appear to compromise the rubber at all, which is good.
I lubed the bead BEFORE trying to install the tire back onto the rim and this helped. Once the tire was fully mounted, it only took 16 PSI to fully seat the bead.
Now, I just need to ride "moderately" for a few miles to break in the new rubber....
