Day 342 - Donor Bike On the Horizon!

Evenings have been busy with the typical holiday requirements. Baking and trips to the post office and chatting with friends has been the norm. BUT, 365 Days of New has not fallen by the wayside.

Here is the issue - it is not bright enough in my garage, even with the lights, for my camera to take respectable photos. Last night I experimented with a paint and finish remover with great results. However, the lighting was so poor, there was no way my camera would work. Ah well.

Pictured on the left is what I experimented with: Rust-Oleum Aircraft Remover. Although I have no aircraft that needed to be removed, well, it was worth a little try.

After deciding on an experimental part, the rear caliper bracket, I put it on a piece of cardboard and covered the piece with the remover. It comes out as a foam and sticks fairly well.

One warning... This stuff is a very strong solvent, is very flammable and quite dangerous if inhaled. Be careful!!!

After the proscribed five minute wait, with a little steel wire brush, the dissolved paint just fell off. The caliper bracket does have a few hard to reach spots so a smaller brush is necessary to properly remove all paint.

A bit was sprayed on Vixen's tank. After five minutes the paint was quite loose, but due to how thick the paint is here, it was not completely loose.

This weekend should be fun and quite productive. Two days to work on Vixen, and one day to drive out and pick up another VX800! Don't worry. I promise some real pics.

Day 344 - Scrubbing Away

Well, the last few days have been busy with all sorts of 'life' things. BUT, that did not keep me away from my little VX800 project. Using some basic brake and parts cleaner, steel, brass and plastic cleaning brushes and a Scotch Brite pad, about a dozen groups of parts were scrubbed and cleaned and inspected.

Above is a before and after photo of the rear axle. The right side was quite badly caked with old gunk. After a little spraying and scrubbing, it was nice and smooth. In the 'after' picture above, what is shown, is metal staining. Not worried about that, in the least.













Here are before and after photos of some pieces off the bottom of the engine.

The inventory list is nearly complete, but sitting on a flash drive I tossed in my desk drawer at work, several days ago. From here on out, when I show a part, the proper parts numbers and descriptions will be used. "pieces off the bottom of the engine," is honestly not very descriptive.

Day 351 - Temporary Slowdown

Just a temporary slowdown to my 365 Days of New. How do I KNOW it is temporary? Well, Christmas is NOT every day of the year, and the last four days has been spent making Christmas Cookies. This year, instead of sending gifts, I decided to send cookies.

Why not. I like baking.

That does not mean Project Vixen is stagnant. The inventory list is being proofed and corrected. Pieces are being looked at and roughly evaluated. AND I am trying to figure out just when I can make it to San Diego to pick up that donor bike!

Day 356 Continued - Parts List Complete!

Yes, that's correct. On my computer is now a complete list of every part on the American model of the Suzuki VX800. There are even fiche drawings and exploded parts diagrams!

Admittedly, there are a few items missing. They are few and far between, and as such should be easy to find and correct.

Within the next few days, a final proofed version of the list should be available. Stay tuned...

Day 356 - Paperwork!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

PAPERWORK! Without some kind of heater in my garage, that is likely the only kind of work Vixen will be receiving on the weekdays. Getting home at 6PM, a little snack for dinner, little conversation with my daughter and before I know it, it is 7:30 and quite chilly outside.

Vixen's inventory list is nearing completion and will be posted here for people to download and use in their own Suzuki VX800 repair or rebuild projects.

There were several 'oh crap' moments yesterday, day 356.

'Oh Crap' number one: My weekends are fairly busy until the first part of next year. Not that they will be non-stop action, but there will not be a single complete day free to drive to San Diego to buy the donor bike.

'Oh Crap' number two: Money, money, money... After spending money to repair my Harley and then take care of some other unexpected expenses, bills are behind. SO, even if I could pick up the other VX800, coming up with the cash might be tough.

'Oh Crap' number three: Reading through the VX's service manual, in the Rear Master Cylinder section, there is a strong admonishment against using solvents or cleaning solutions on the master cylinder. After previously spraying and scrubbing it down with brake cleaner, this worried me. According to some folks on the VX800 e-mail list, in the worst case, the rubber o-rings and other pieces will need to be replaced. One told me he had done the same as I with no adverse effects. Well, guess we shall see.

Now, does anyone have a space heater for my garage???

Day 359 - Not much today.

No, not much. This morning after taking my daughter to work I read some of the VX800's manual detailing the carburetors and fuel supply. Looked at the heads and evaluated the cylinders for rust. Unfortunately there is a little rust on the sleeve of the front cylinder. If you recall, that was the one already mucked up.

The rest of the day was spent doing non-motorcycle riding things. This evening spent some great father - daughter time at dinner, at the dinner table! That doesn't happen very often.

Then, returned some e-mails, paid a few bills and detailed my Sporty, Athena. Tomorrow we will go on the Iron Crossmen ride. Afterwords, take my daughter to her grandparents for the afternoon.

If all goes well, there will be a little time for me to clean and catalog more parts. Hope to pick up the bike I posted about earlier but a whole day is required. Now it looks like next weekend is filling up. Well, we do what we must.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........................

Day 360 - Sporty Versus the VX800

With two operable bikes in my garage, I thought of comparing them to the specifications of a VX800. Comparing my Honda Rebel would be like apples to oranges, but comparing my Harley Davidson XL1200C Sportster might be interesting. So, here we go.

	HD XL1200C Sporty	Suzuki VX800
Cylinders	2	2
Style	V	V
Valves	4	8
Cooling	Air	Liquid
Compression Ratio	9.07:1	10:1
Carbs	1	2
Transmission	5 speed	5 speed
Weight	555	470
Length	7.5 ft	7.3 ft
Seat Height	26.3 in	31.5 in
Ground Clearance	4.4 in	5.7 in
Wheel Base	60.4 in	61.6 in
Fuel Capacity	4.5 gal	5.0 gal
Horsepower	70	61
Displacement	1200	803
HP/Weight	0.1271	0.1298
HP/cc	0.058	0.076