Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Member's Rides The bike that started it all

Hello, my name is Kevin Alvey. I am the new owner of the America that Robert Wade owned when starting this forum. I took some pics and here we go.

I could not be happier with this find. Robert drove it to my shop and I bought it on the spot. Very low miles and ready to ride. Thanks Robert, you found it a good home. I promise to take the best care of the bike that started it all.

nice lookin bike bud

Looks great!

Nice Kevin!
Could you give us a shot of the bars and risers? They have an interesting look .

Sure, I can do that.

Congratulations and enjoy the "new" ride. Look'n GUD!!

How come sometimes I can not see the pictures. No red "x" or anything. Just no photo at all, but everyone is commenting on it, so I assume it exists. This happens occasionally.

I get the same thing with FireFox occasionally. If I go to IE the pictures show up. Never have figured it out. Hope someone has a fix.

Frank

The pics are posted on facebook but that album is public so everyone should be able to view the pics.

Here are a couple shots of the risers and bars at your request;)

Grab some stainless cap screws from Ace or True Value to bolt that riser cap on and you won't have rust in them.

Those pics came out BIG
I guess they're the standard speedy risers but the bars look a bit narrower than standard to me.Maybe it's my eyes that're narrower than standard.
I'm thinking of swapping my America bars for a set of speedmasters.

Yeah, I uploaded the pics directly from my phone. I didn't think they would come out that big. I will try to resize them.

The bars are a standard drag bar. I like them narrow.

I should get some stainless bolts. I thought they were. I guess not;)

Those are HD risers and cap.Similar to what I have but straight.
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/The_Dog33/myrisersfront.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg170/The_Dog33/myriserriderpos.jpg

Edited: The Rules -- Do not post pictures of your own bike in someone else's thread in this forum. That's fine everywhere else on this site but goes against the spirit of this particular forum.

NICE!!!!! I like the triumph cap better;)

That is just an HD cap with a modified pewter lapel pin attached to the cap.

Cheater;)

Thanks for those pics Ian.

I don't know if I'd go that narrow a bar Kevin,they do look cool though.Maybe I'll just stick with the speed master setup.We'll see[if I ever get off my backside and do something about it. my middle name has become procrastination lately]

I posted a thread on the tech forum about the bike running lean. I found the culprit when pulling the carbs.



Also discovered the main jet is 155. pilot is 42. No shims. Needle is Nbad.

NOw2 wondering why the shop that cleaned the carbs not long ago did NOT replace the rubbers. These have been bad for a long time. The work was done at Big Four Cycle in Evansville. This is the kind of thing that makes me NOT want to have work done at a shop.

Ordered a haynes manual, new manifold to carb rubbers, oil temp gauge and oil pressure gauge, and some new pilot jets and shims. I got the jets just in case the rubbers were not the only reason for running lean.


Also thinking about new tires based on board member recommendations. But really thinking about white walls. I think they would look awesome.
I am open to advice on this.

Same thing happened to my bike running like crap.Its the very small flange on intake and original clamps that is the problem I bought new rubbers and stainless clamps and as I run with no airbox and have fitted the bracket to the carbs to stop wobble it's all good.
And first I thought it was the cdi problem so I bought the Procom unit and the bike is just amazing now

I think the clamps I have are the marine clamps, but how can you really tell they are?

OK, I was wrong. So, I did order new clamps too. I can't wait to get the rubbers on with the new clamps, and go for a ride.

Ordered White Wall Dunlops since the tires are 10 years old.
and also ordered new rear drum pads.
All items have arrived.
But I don't think I have any ALLEN wrenches that big;)

Bike is running much better.
No hesitation or dead spots but incredibly hard to start.

I did actually, but they were for my 67 GMC C2500;)

In that case you ordered shoes. Just pulling your leg by the way.

Oh, not to worry.
I got that.
But I do appreciate the consideration to say you were joking.

I pulled the front wheel the other day.
And it wasn't going to be an easy task because I didn't have the right tools to do it.
But I went to harbor freight. NOT my favorite company by the way. They make much more crap that quality tools. But I did find a impact set of 1/2" allen sockets that had all 3 sizes of allens to remove the front wheel. I am not using them as impact drivers. I was pleased to find this set for under $30 to add to my tool box. I thought this info could be very helpful for other BA newbies out there.

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-12-drive-metric-impact-hex-driver-set-67895.html

However when removing the tire we spoted a bit of rust inside the rim so I need to clean that before I can mount the rim. I will wire wheel the rust and then apply some rust converter, and then a little rustoleum spray paint.

Also when buying my tires and tubes I found some wide adhesive rim strips by motion pro.
I will have to cut width wise for the front wheel but these should be perfect for the rear wheel.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/9...WT.ac=SLIsearch

Wow,
Cleaned up the inside of the rim and applied rust converter to the cleaned up rust areas.

And pulled the shoes out of the rear calipers. I am NOT happy with what I found. NO shoe at ALL. As you can tell this is even cutting into the metal.
I have NOT been riding the bike because I new it was bad.
The real problem is the metal from the shoe has been depositing itself onto the rotor (Disc). SO, now I am not sure what I can do other than get a new rotor to replace this grooved and flaking rotor.
Or if I can have the rotor turned.
I don't know that answer yet.
Sadly, again the bike is still sitting and I can't ride.

I think looking at the state of those pads, new rotor and new pads... Do not just fit new pads as they will wear to the disc.. You could have the disc skimmed, but that would depend on how much they have to take off to make it right...

I would just order a new disc off Fleabay or somewhere....

Well that worked out surprisingly well.
I found a 2005 rear brake rotor from a Speedmaster for $51 including shipping.
From the pictures it looks brand new. No rust, no pits or grooves front or back.
OEM brake rotor runs $200 so I think I lucked out.
Hopefully I receive it.

They give you very little to work with on pretty much all modern rotors, more often than not once you see metal to metal you need to replace.

I put a digital caliper to it, and there is enough material there, and I don't think the rotor is warped. But has more grooves than "Stella". And you would not believe the amount of metal deposited on the rotor from the shoe itself. Some would flake off but there was alot bonded to it. And I just don't want to take any chances.
So new rotor and shoes going on when the white walls go on this week.

Better safe than sorry Kevin...

digital caliper or micrometer? Caliper is the wrong tool for that or valve shims. The caliper will only give you the thickness at the outer edge where the pads don't ride or wear the rotor. You want a micrometer so you can measure how much material is left where it is grooved.

Thanks Dog,
I didn't think about that. Sadly, I do not have a micrometer.
SO, I am not taking any chances.
New to me used rotor on the way.... hopefully.

Use a manual impact driver to break the rotor bolts free. It's the blue locktight that demands it.

I didn't need it.
They were easily removed.
Neither the front nor the back were difficult to remove.

www.fasteddysports.com Eddy is member here and will fix you right up. Also our friend Brent at www.newspeedmaster.com. Has pads/rotor kits. Rear pads on mine wore out around 8k miles. I eventually ended up having to replace the rotor also around 20K miles. The rear stock pads on these bikes don't last long. EBC scintered pads are better and longer lasting.

Fast Eddy should appreciate your support.
To be honest he was the first vendor I ordered from. And he was not able to supply some of the parts I needed and it sources them for me.
So, because of that. I always check his site first.

But I have been busy. Got the front white wall tire mounted and balanced, and put back ont he bike minus the fender for now. I got some brackets laser cut, but wanted to give it a ride with no front fender for a while.

Got the rear brake shoes replaced. And the rear wheel pulled and ready to have the new rear WW tres ready to be mounted and balanced. Hoping to be riding this weekend.

But wouldn't you know. Carb is now leaking fuel. Not from the overflow on the flat bowl. But get this, from the rubber to the pod. WHAT?
yeah!

Unless you have a broken line leaking down on to the rubber making look like it's coming from the rubber it is a float leak. The overflow may be clogged.