Determined

it won't brake me

I decided to take yet another stab at the fuel filler cap today. For the past week it’s been sitting on the bench, upside down with the underside of the filler cap soaking in diesel.

Every couple of days, well every time I went into the garage anyway, I agitated it a little.

I was hoping this would have done the trick, so I drained out the diesel & was shocked at the state of it. It was a rusty brown colour with solid bits of something in it which I haven’t even tried to identify, but was hoping that the latch was now free enough to be able to open the cap.

So, tank the right side up, I carefully insert the new (stronger) key into the lock (I had a new one cut just in case I broke the original one), I turn the key and it begins to turn through around 70^o. Exactly the same as before, still can’t open the fuel cap.

Next, I get the endoscope out again & take a look inside, but it doesn’t look any different to the last time I had a look inside.

It seems I’m running out of options. 

For my next trick I’m going to try covering the latch in #Harpic x10, limescale cleaner. It has a weak solution of hydrochloric acid in it so I’m hoping that whatever is causing the latch to jam will be dissolved. I’ll have to find some way of applying the Harpic to just the latch though, probably a small length of piping & can only leave it for around 10 minutes or it could damage the tank. Watch this space.

Time to move on to the brakes. You may have read about the issues I’ve been having trying to get hold of brake seal kits for the front callipers. I spotted a brake seal kit described as for a Triumph Trophy 1200 front calliper 1993 on that well-known on-line auction site, so as the listing was for one calliper only, I ordered two kits.

Long story short, what turned up was two seal kits for the rear calliper and after a few e-mails going back & forth to the supplier along with a quick phone call, the correct seal kit is on its way, together with a rear seal kit (I had to send the ones I already had back), which I also needed anyway. So hopefully all now sorted, thanks #Wemoto, you’ve earned more of my custom.

Back to the garage, I already had the rear brake calliper removed and armed with my new brake piston removal tool, I started to strip down the calliper. The only thing was I couldn’t move the pistons. I ended up reconnecting the calliper to the rear brake hose, bleeding the brake & using the hydraulic pressure the push the pistons out so they were nearly, but not quite out, then disconnecting the calliper again. Finally, I got the pistons out, stripped the rest of the calliper down & gave everything a good clean. Turns out that after cleaning up the pistons and finishing off with 0000 grade wire wool, the pistons were near perfect, so don’t need replacing as I originally suspected. I then did the same with the remaining front calliper, so all three are now stripped down, cleaned & ready to reassemble once the seal kits arrive.

That done, I thought I’d start cleaning up the rear of the bike, starting with the chain. I suspect I’ll need to replace it but wanted to clean it first to assess the condition. I used Wurth chain cleaner and a brush to give it a thorough clean, then lubed it with some old chain lube I’ve had hanging around for too many years to remember, early 2000’s anyway. It cleaned up OK but while lubing it I noticed a couple of links were rattling. The sprockets are good, but I’ve confirmed that the chain will need replacing.

So, things are moving on limited only by my available time and the pot of money that I haven't got.