Thanks for all the encouragement......it is getting sooo close.  Last night I got the speedo wiring on the fork leg and the magnet epoxied to the brake drum, and programmed the wheel size into the Vapor.  I then bled the front brake and it seems to have a good........."pedal"?  I will bleed it once again when it is on the ground and I can turn the bars and try to move the high spot in the brake caliper around....on the stand the wheel is locked into a position that make a high spot at the banjo bolt. and there could be some air that is trapped in there.

I sure hope this bike turns out to be a good rider, and not just something that looks different.  Just before I tore it down I was having some mental issues.....as it was running great and it was a joy to ride.

Dave wrote on 05/07/13 at 05:37:13:


Yup, I hope so too cause going "back to stock" isn't really an option at this point. Besides Dave, any doubt would be a great excuse to own a second Savage!

IT'S ALIVE!...   ...

YE HAAA !!!!

I am looking forward to seeing your bike sometime.
The custom designed and manufactured parts you made yourself to solve issues as you progressed in the build are especially interesting to me.
I wish I could do that.
Congrats dude.

gdrseeker wrote on 05/10/13 at 08:10:13:


I have a bunch more mechanical ability than I have video ability......but I will see if I can get something recorded and posted somehow.

Last night I mounted the bar end mirrors and mounted the oxygen sensor so I can jet the Mikuni.  This morning I soldered in a resistor and it appears the tach is now working corrrecly, and I installed a longer cable for the compression release.  If I try to start the bike and the piston is on the compression stroke when the starter button is pushed.....the starter is not strong enough to push it over top dead center.  The engine has to have a little bit of momentum built up before the starter can overcome the compression.  My little finger lever is not strong enough to pull the valve open - so I have to put the engine in gear and back up until the compression lever can move when the cam opens the exhaust valve.  Not sure if this is going to be a problem.....I may have to install one of those hand levers if this doesn't work out - but I don't know if those are strong enough to open the exhaust valve with finger pressure either.  My tank is so low that having room for your hand in there is difficult.

The bike is ready for the test ride this afternoon.  It rained all day yesterday and most of last night, and the weather is currently pretty gloomy - the sun is supposed to be out by 4:00.  If I am really a chicken.....I may fasten the trailer to my car in case my wife needs to come pick me up....however I think everything is ready to go!

I weighed the bike before I started this conversion, and the back weighed 200 pounds and the front 150 pounds.  Currently the bike weighs 166.4 in the back and 151.6 in the front.  I have about a gallon of fuel in the tank.....I have to go look at a previous post and see if I had fuel in the last time I weighed it.  So....it appears the bike has lost just about 40 pounds if the bike was previusly weighed empty.

I just taped the side cover on for this photo....the side cover and some paint will definitely make this bike look better.  I will try and get the side covers mounted before I go to the Dragon run in about 4 weeks.

I am definitely excited about the bike being rideable again!
 

WoW I am sooo jealous of your shop.... Wanna adopt me? I dont eat much and would only need a key to the garage??

I rode the bike a total of 50 miles yesterday for the shakedown cruise.  The bike runs well, and I was surprised that after the first ride around the block, the only thing I did was adjust the rear brake a bit tighter before going on the longer ride.  I had put a gallon of fuel in the bike and switched the petcock to ON, and after about 15 miles I felt the bike start to slow down.  I switched to reserve and stopped at the next station - and without filling to the very top it took 3 gallons!  That should extend my range to 150 miles if needed....as long as my arms and butt will take it?

My first impression is that my arms are doing a lot of work to hold my body up, and if I energize my back/core a bit it takes some of the weight off my arms.  When I left the back roads and got onto the highway I found that at 60mph the wind in your chest takes most of that effort away and your arms have an easier time.  The bike feels stable, I did notice that when I was following a car the bike was buffeted around a bit - but it is not any more severe than a normal bike.....I was mentally tuned into it more as this front end conversion to the RM400 triple trees is yet unproven.

The jetting on the Mikuni VW36 is surprisingly accurate for this bike.  I installed my O2 Sensor and the only thing that it looks like I need to do is raise the needle one clip.  The engine is just a tad lean at cruising speed - it has a good mixture at full throttle, idle, and when accelerating.  The muffler core I built seems to be a really nice sound.  It is a bit louder than the Dyna muffler - but much quieter than the Supertrapp that I had.  The combinatinon of this muffler and the Mikuni result in some burbling and slight popping during deceleration - but I do not remember any objectionable backfiring.

I need to reset the alarms on the Vapor for the head temperature.  The bike runs about 253 degrees at cruise and does get up over 260 at the stop lights - I have the alarm points set too low and they are on all the time.  The temperature sender for the air temp is wacko.....I believe it is accurate when the bike is not running - but when the bike is running I believe the lights and circuitry heat up the case and it was 54 degrees during my ride and the temperature display said it was 71 degrees.

It was a very succesful ride.

And.....I do love my garage.  It is the first nice garage I have ever owned and I had to wait and work until I was 52 years old to get it.  I have spent plenty of hours working in gravel driveways, poorly lit and drafty barns, and unheated garages.  I don't watch much TV, go to sports games, or spend much time in the house when my wife is grading her students homework....I go to the garage for therapy!