After 5 races and 10 weeks in the van, away from home. My race bike is finally home, and can get a complete rebuild. If you are a regular reader, you will recall that we were commuting to those first races. If you are not, well be aware that we were flying down to the race on Friday, picking up the van and gear, working on the bikes on Saturday, racing on Sunday, then cleaning bikes and gear on Monday morning and flying home on Monday night. It was a tough schedule on our bodies and our family lives and jobs, but what we all forgot about was how hard it was on the bikes to be ridden that hard and then receive just a Monday washing and a Saturday pre race prep amount of TLC for 10 weeks.
They are in haggered shape. Scott’s bike will not hold fork oil in one side. My bike had a piston that was completely burned looking. Both bikes need new plastic and graphics. My bike had not had the bearings repacked since the winter, and they were bad. Grips were gone, radiators were tweaked, clutch plates were gone, sprockets were worn etc… We were doing our best on the road, but the best you can do with our schedule is just not enough to keep up with the damage done by a 3 hour GNCC race.
My gear is bad. The helmet that I had on the road with me took quite a beating from trees etc… All of the spoilers needed to be replaced and the graphics needed to be replaced. I had 2 sets of riding gear with me on the road, the red set was the set that I rode in the first mud race and since it was looking bad I made that my mud gear for the road trip. Since all the races turned out to be muddy, I ended up in that same gear every time – and that set of gear is ready for the dumpster. 2 of the 4 pair of goggles that I had with me are also ready for the trash heap. 1 pair of the gloves that I had with me are worn through, and the 2nd pair is going to be kicked down to mountain bike usage only.
So, the race bike got stripped down to the frame and motor.
– a complete new top end went in.
– of course all fluids got changed. Fork oil, brake fluids, radiator fluids, oil…
– the pipe needed a dent or 2 popped out and to be polished back to a shine
– the bearings (head set, swingarm, linkages, wheels) all needed to be repacked.
– the clutch plates, and springs needed to be replaced.
– new grips, plastic and graphics applied.
– complete new drive parts installed.
– brake pads replaced.
– wheels trued and spokes torqued
– new tires on both sets of wheels
Here is a photo below of the finished product, with my local D16 number applied. It is back to feeling like a new bike again.
Joe
303 Off-road 