Bike updates for 2019

With my wife taking a break from work and losing our Kia sportage to a catastrophic engine failure, we're down a car and don't have the extra cash to buy another.  My work is switching offices and the parking situation doesn't look really good so I plan on using my motorcycle more this year so that my wife will have a car to use and also my cb750 can get some use without sitting for another year.

I am determined to use the bike this year. I replaced the tires last year but didn't have the motivation to clean the carbs before the weather warmed up enough to become too hot to ride.  

I cleaned the carbs and am hoping I don't have to do it again as long as the bike gets used and I run some fuel injector/carb cleaner through it regularly.    

Since I like working on this bike more than riding it, I did find a few more things to change for this season.  Adjustable brake and clutch levers made a really nice difference for me. I got a set of really cheap adjustable Chinese levers (less than $25 for clutch and brake levers including a master cylinder) that I may replace (just the levers) .

[ update: Due to the poor design of the adjusters,  the brake lever adjuster moves with the vibration of the motorcycle. As soon as I adjust it to my preferred setting of "3", it moves to "1" within a minute of riding. I've discovered that the challenge of using cheap generic parts is that I can't just buy any old levers to replace the existing one with the poorly designed adjusters. Since this is a custom application, I have no idea what levers might fit since every model has a slightly different shape of lever mount. I have a question out to 2 of the sellers of this brake and clutch lever setup. Hopefully, they'll be able to tell me "just buy a set of levers for a Bonneville T120".  In the mean time, I've added a lock washer and tightened down the adjusters to the point where they don't move even if I wanted to adjust the lever. Should be safer to lose the adjust-on-the-fly for some peace of mind set and not worry]

I spent half a day bleeding the new master but couldn't get the air out of the system even after separately bleeding the master.  As a last ditch effort, I found an old marinating injector and reverse bled the system from the brake caliper which worked immediately.

I specifically searched for a brake master with a 1/2" piston but wasn't happy with the reservoir that came with it since the short/wide proportions allowed the fluid port to be open to air with the bike parked, so I found a thin/tall reservoir to replace the original one. 

At first the smaller reservoir seemed like it was too small, but a quick search gave me the comfort level to move forward since it seems quite popular to just run a clear tube for a reservoir for some builders.

I had some trouble mounting this reservoir and ended up using some scrap metal to make a mount for it. There are lots of entertaining options for brake reservoir mounts from cheap to expensive but most people won't need to make anything if they don't want to do it.

My mirrors were begging to be replaced for the last 5 years but it was one of those things that could wait for next year.  They were cheap ebay mirrors that vibrated and I couldn't see very much in them.  I tried drilling a hole in the bodies and filling them with silicone, but that didn't do anything about the vibration, despite this,  I was still willing to put them back on until I installed these new levers.

hidden set screw for mounting the
mirror base (bar weight)

M Factory bar ends
configured for horizontal mounting - swap
the set screw and mirror for vertical mounting

With the notion that I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone, I figured that bar end mirrors would both replace the mirrors and also give me bar end weights to help quiet the vibrations in the handle bar.  Since I'm running an off-road aluminum handlebar, I was having trouble finding bar end weights that would fit the inner diameter of the bars which measured 14mm, narrower than standard 7/8" bars.

The bar end mirrors can be installed from the end as well as vertically and I need to decide which one I prefer. I suspect installing them vertically will make them more susceptible to wind pressure levering/loosening the mirror mount so I think I'll do the horizontal mount. While the mounting base is still subjected to levering forces at speed, it's less than vertical mounting. The view in the mirrors seem to work pretty well since neither my elbow, arm or shoulder block my view to the rear. Adjustability appears to be somewhat limited but this should imply a more stable setting and increased reliability. 

mounting options for the mirrors

I've seen a slightly more expensive version of this mirror called "The Oberon street fighter mirror" and if I need to re-purchase these mirrors I'll get the Oberon since the mounting nut is made of brass and might allow a tighter mount than the aluminum nut that came with my cheaper unit. Everything else appears to be the same from what I can tell.  On the road, the image in the convex mirror is wider than expected and the fuzzy image from the vibrating mirror  appears to be excorsized for now.

Horizontally mounted mirrors

Vertically mounted mirrors

Future plans:
I'm waffling on going full cafe/brat because I'm not sure I want to cut the frame although I'm certainly moving in this direction.  These classic bikes have alot of respect in original condition, but ultimately no collector value due to the large quantity produced back in the early 80s.  Typically, builders turn sad condition yard finds into the cafe or brats that are quite popular today.

This bike was a garaged survivor but I've turned it into something else.  A lower brat style seat is going to be ordered over the winter along with a tiny lithium battery along with 'cleaning up the triangle' a little.  I don't like the side covers and they will probably not be very useful with a lower brat seat so.. maybe cutting the side cover tabs and the frame while I'm at it.

Rewiring the LED brake lights and adding additional turn signals in the back for improved visibility over my current temporary setup. I'm running a combination LED brake/turn/plate light and my son tells me the turn signal is hard to see when brakes are illuminated. I've already got a sequential LED blinker, I just need to wire it in and find a place to attach them.