Tyred & shocked!
At last I have finally found the time between helping sort bikes for the VJMC stands at various events to give my lovely big twin a little tender loving care! The bike was booked in for an MOT which it passed with no advisories although the rear rotary suspension unit was creaking like mad and when I got back the fork seals had started to weep slightly! And all this just after an MOT. I thought it may be just because of the bike standing for so long, as I’ve experienced this before so I did a few more miles to see if they would settle. Unfortunately they just carried on weeping so I ordered a set of oil seals and dust seals and these can be changed when the forks have their new Hagon springs fitted. favourite C J Ward stove enamelling from Burton upon Trent did an absolutely stunning job on the original Suzuki downpipes which look as good as new and I think I’m going to replace the Allen bolts that secure the front down pipe as they seem to have been attacked by years of road crud, being as they sit there ‘in the wind’ so to speak. Just in case, I also managed to purchase an ‘as-new’ pair of silencers which will be fitted at a later date, along with a new fairing brace and steering damper brackets. The downpipes were refitted along with new gaskets from Robinsons Suzuki, in Kent, who are always very helpful and
CMM’S Andy Bolas has finally got time to give his big TL-S lots of TLC!
knowledgeable. After the pipes were refitted I decided to change the oil and filter as it would appear not to have been changed for an eternity, we also checked the air filter out and while we have cleaned it I think it would be best to replace it sooner rather than later. I also think that when I get another spare hour or so I’ll treat the TL to some new coolant too as I couldn’t tell you when (if ever) it has been changed. We then worked our way around the bike, making a list of other bits and pieces which will need attention or replacement, so far we need a rear disc, brake pads, a pair of mirrors, maybe a new chain and a clutch cable. I would like to get a few more little bits and pieces powder-coated too, the rest of the bike should clean up a treat. Working our way to the rear we have a new rear damper and linkage set up from the lovely people at Hagon to replace the rusty old rotary unit. See boxout as to why this could be a very good thing!
The bike was rolling on a set of mismatched old tyres when I got hold of it so we sourced a pair of Continental Sport Attack 3s (thanks to Graham Matcham at Continental Tyres) which have great reviews so I can’t wait to get out on it and try them for myself! Over a couple of evenings, we got the bike on paddock stands and removed the wheels so I could have the new tyres fitted. It’s always cheaper to use ‘loose’ wheels for obvious reasons as it saves on labour. While doing this, I also popped the rear sprocket and carrier in the parts washer as it was caked in road muck and chain lube: in fact I don’t think it had ever been cleaned! With the wheels out we decided to support the bike with my hydraulic stand and remove the rotary damper unit hopefully without having to dismantle the whole bike, which we got away with although we had to slacken the rear sub-frame off so we could wiggle things around to get the rotary unit out. So with the new shock unit and linkage in we could finally get the wheels complete with their new boots fitted. With the bike back on its wheels I gave the rear end a bounce to find it was a little lacking in damping, so looking for the adjuster on the damper unit I realised we had managed to fit the damper with the adjuster facing the inside of the bike rather than how its pictured in the instructions facing the outside of the bike! Doh! Fortunately though there was just enough room to get the supplied Allen key in to adjust it as I didn’t really fancy removing everything for a second time. So now with this adjusted the bike feels like it has rear suspension as with the rotary unit fitted it was either really soggy or when you adjusted it to make it stiffer it felt almost like the suspension had seized! My next issue was how to suspend/ support the bike while I removed the front end. I did toy with the idea of removing the forks while changing the rotary damper but the bike was too unsteady and knowing my luck the bike would end up on its side. I mentioned my quandary to a friend and he said to try an Abba superbike stand which fits in the swingarm mounting, oh and he just happened to have one that would fit my TL! What good luck. So I should be able to get the forks out now and get the seals changed and the uprated Hagon springs fitted in the not too distant future! I’m not sure if I should try to extract any more power from the motor and if so what should I do to gain more oomph? Do any readers have any suggestions or mods they could recommend for a little extra performance? It may not be an issue but it wouldn’t hurt to liven her up a little would it, now? A lot of the problems I am coming across are commonplace with used machines that have stood unloved for a while and sometimes the price of getting a bike recommissioned and back on the road can outweigh the bike’s actual worth, especially if you have to pay someone to do the work for you! This is why I try to do as much work as I possibly can myself to keep my bikes on the road and keep the costs down.
Thanks to: Robinsons Suzuki (01227) 454366, Graham Matcham at Continental for the tyres, Tony Hutchinson at Hagon suspension 0208 502 6222.