I figured the first thing I should do is make the bike rideable and as safe as possible, so I decided to start with the rear brake. I've never worked on disk brakes on a motorcycle, and my experience with them on bicycles has been limited to cable controlled, not hydraulic. The problem was that the brake would stop the rear wheel but only back off very slightly when the brake was released, causing some very noticeable friction. I wasn't quite sure what was happening inside the caliper. But that's what the internet is for, right? I started watching some instructional vids on how to free a stuck piston; however, most of them recommended taking the brake to a shop, or buying a rebuild kit. I figured, though, that a combo of common sense and Firestone DBA was all I needed.
My buddy Karl came over and, seeing as he had never worked on hydraulic motorcycle brakes either, we figured between the two of us we should be able to fix it easily. After both of us put flathead screwdrivers worrisomely deep into our respective palms, we decided it was time for a new plan. Karl pulled up some more videos on his iphone, and we agreed the best plan of attack would be trying to push out the piston with compressed air. My compressor decided it was too tired to help, so after giving up on that, Karl pulled the end off my bicycle pump and attached the rubber hose to the bleed nipple. He gave it 2 pumps and the piston shot out immediately, almost snaking one of my fingers. Underneath, the seals were soft and in great shape, so I cleaned all the corrosion off the piston with some brake fluid, reassembled the who thing, and mounted it back on the bike. We bled the line (another thing neither of us had done) and called it a night after testing what is now a smooth, correctly operating rear brake. I'm going to buy a new rotor at some point, as this one is pretty bad, but at least it stops well and doesn't lock up.
Next I started taking shit off... anything I don't absolutely need is going: rear fender (soon to be bobbed... somehow,) blinkers, passenger pegs, broken horn and blinker control assembly, running lights, old sponge grips, etc.. I also started cleaning, got rid of the wasps and most of the spiders, and started Google searching for design ideas. I don't like cafe' racers all that much (although some are definitely cool); it's not really my style. Since this bike is already a beefcake, I don't think it makes much sense to try to get it too slim. So I'm thinking lean and mean, but not anorexic and bitchy. After some searching, I found this pic:
I don't know who built this bike (it comes from an online used vehicle database) but as soon as I saw it I knew that this was the style I was looking for. I recently met a dude at a poker run my band played who has a Street Bob set up in a similar way and it looks badass... so I'm using this as a template. I like the satin black with tasteful chrome highlights, and I like the short rear end. I also think the black mags are killer. The gauges sort of create a little extra hight in front too.
So I've got my inspiration. But I think I can make my bike look better than this one. For one thing, it needs a rear fender that comes up past or flush with the back of the seat, and I don't like the tank he used... the stock one looks better (even though it's a goddam whale.) So here we go; next post, new paint and new, lo-pro seat mounting.
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