Last night I went over to the garage to work on the C70. Although I only have a small space to work in, it is adequate. Earlier in the week, I went to Home Depot and bought the materials for my homemade jack-stand. It consisted of two bricks, a bag of dirt, and a tarp. The bricks go on the ground, for height, then part of the tarp, then the bag of dirt, then put the rest of the tarp over it. The tarp is there so that the bag doesn’t puncture. Then I lift the bike onto that pile, and the front wheel is off the ground. The dirt is pliable enough that the bike “settles†into it and is pretty stable. In the future, I’d like to get a center stand, which would make working on the C70 much easier, but the parts for it would cost upwards of $50, so I will just use my “Home Depot Specialâ€.
Anyways, I got a bit of work done. First, I replaced the bulbs in the speedometer, the neutral indicator, and the hi-beam indicator. The panel lights up nicely now. I couldn’t test the hi-beam light yet because I didn’t start the engine, but the neutral light works perfectly. Also, I replaced the air filter, which was all dirty and oily. That was the easy part, and took about 10 minutes.
Next, I disconnected the front brake and speedometer cables, then removed the front wheel. I then removed the broken fender, and tried to line up the replacement I bought a week earlier. Unfortunately, the fender’s mounting holes are off by about 3/4â€. It’s secured by four bolts, and the top two line up perfectly, but the bottom two by the wheel hub don’t quite match. I will need to make a bracket or extension of some sort. But for the time being, the top two bolts are holding the fender securely in place. Even if the fender shifts, there is no possibility of it getting stuck on the tire because of the way it is positioned.
Next, I removed the old, cracked tire from the front rim. That was easy. But fitting the new tire on the rim was a pain in the rear. It was not pliable at all, and all attempts to get the bead around the rim were defeated. I was super hot and sweaty too, so I decided to call it a night, and bring the tire back to the apartment and have another go at it the next day. But, after taking a shower, and reading up on the correct way to put the tire back on, I decided to try again. (In the comfort of and air-conditioned room!) The secret trick to putting on a tire of this kind is to put some soap around the rim. Simple as that. A little soap and some elbow grease, and the tire went on relatively easily. My fingers are sore, but the tire is ready to be filled with air. While I have the front wheel off, I am going to replace the brake shoes. But that will wait til tomorrow night.
I can’t wait to take it out for a spin, though! With the new tire in front, I want to take it up to top speed and see how fast it can go.
Things left to be done in the near-term:
- Replace rear tire
- Replace drive chain
- Fix front brake light switch
- Make brackets for fender
- Change oil
Oh dang, I just remembered I forgot to charge the battery. Oh well, it looked like it still had plenty of juice, but I try to charge it every couple weeks.