I got my bikes back!

A song comes to mind as I type this post; "reunited and it feels so good!". We'll get to that in a minute. It has been a bit since my last post, but I promise this time that I will be getting back to a more regular posting schedule very soon. Enough with the preamble, let's dig into the post.

Here is the blank canvas with which my dreams shall become reality! This was taken right when we first moved into our new rental unit. It is a standard two car garage. The house is from the 90's. It has a few things going for it. Unlike my last American house garage, this garage in this house is finished with drywall and ceiling. At the front of the garage (behind me in this shot) is the hot water heater and HVAC unit as well as a nook for the washer and dryer. There is a lack of outlets. There is one on the ceiling for the garage door opener and one for the washer. There is one additional outlet at the front of the garage. I will have to come up with a good electrical distribution plan once I get rocking and rolling after converting this space into my bike shop.

Here is the garage the day I started typing this post. It is looking a bit smaller now that we have received our household goods from Japan. We got our stuff about three weeks ago and have been unpacking and organizing for all of that time. I haven't made any real improvements to the shop. I have just tried to organize in order to keep the most space available for the one last shipment of stuff coming from the west coast. I did add some light, foil sided, bubble wrap to the garage door to help cut back on the afternoon heat. My garage door faces west. Starting about 2 pm the sun beats down on the garage door and the space heats up. I added the insulation in stages and was able to take a temperature reading at 3:30 one sunny day. The insulated portion of the door was 96 degrees F (about 35.5 C). The non-insulated part of the door was 111 F (44 C). While 96 isn't cool, it is a darn bit better than 111. If I work on the bikes with the garage door open, it is a little better since I get some airflow. I have a fan that I can use to spot cool the area I'm working in. We'll see what the shop looks like when I have all of my stuff located in one place for the first time in three years.

Later that same day, this big, beautiful truck arrived. This truck contained the last of my family's worldly possessions. This delivery is all of the things we didn't take to Japan with us. My whole shop from our house in Oceanside, CA is inside. We weren't expecting it for another couple of weeks. We got the call earlier in the week that it would be coming. It took a bit of scrambling to get the garage ready to receive all of it. We've been having very volatile weather this last week. I needed to make sure that we had space for everything in case the skies opened up while we were unloading. I was eagerly awaiting this final load. My bikes are inside. Hopefully they made it in one piece!

Just as predicted the weather got a little dicey after the driver unloaded everything. I had to cram the last few things into the garage as some wind and dark clouds rolled in. No rain fell, luckily enough, but at least I was ready. It is not as bad as it looks. We have a lot of organizing to do, but much of what you see here is empty or mostly empty boxes and bins. Just looking at this picture drives me crazy. I get an itchy feeling in my brain with this kind of disorder. I worked way too hard moving, shuffling, cleaning and unpacking. In the Florida heat and humidity, I was sweating buckets. I kept working and working, so much so that my wife had to check on me a few times to make sure I was doing okay. I pushed through the heat to get some space carved out for a functional shop so I could work on the bikes among all the clutter. I'm happy to say it turned out well.

Unfortunately the FZ1 didn't make it through its storage and transport ordeal unscathed. The geniuses that loaded the truck put a crossbar in such a way that my Zero Gravity Double Bubble windscreen got shattered. I have a few new scratches on the bike to live with, but nothing mechanical seems to be damaged. This is similar to my Honda Ridgeline that was also in government storage for the same three years as my bikes. Three years in storage with no damage and things get busted in delivery. I got reimbursed $1700 for the damage to my truck. Hopefully I can get enough money to replace this too.

 

As luck would have it, I had the original windscreen that came with the bike when I bought it back in 2016. Once I had my shop in order I was able to change it out in 15 minutes. It was very nice to have all of my tools back in one place. I did a more thorough check of both bikes after some of the dust had settled. So far nothing else has popped up needing repair. I started a list of things to do to get both bikes back up and running and organized my tool box and equipment. 

The next day I got started right away on the bikes. After trying hopelessly for three or four hours to charge the FZ1's battery, I gave up and bought a new one. I got some oil and a couple of gallons of gas. The CRF450 started on the third kick once I had some fuel in it. It also started peeing gas all over the place. Either my petcock is leaking or the float valve is stuck open. The FZ1 got the new battery, a quick three quart oil change and a splash of fuel. After trying in vain to get it to fire off, I consulted the manual. It was cranking well, had good oil pressure and spark in the number 1 cylinder, the only one I checked. The air filter is dirty, but there aren't any rat's nests or blockage in the airbox. The fuel pump was kicking off every time I turned the key on. Lastly I tried checking the carburetor bowl drains to see if gas was making it to the carbs. Dry as a bone is the verdict. Despite my preps, draining the tank and carbs, running the bike until it died and spraying the fuel tank with WD-40, it looks like I have to pull the carb bank and clean out the remains of the crappy California gas that is probably blocking the float valves closed. That should be fun...not.

Well since I obviously have a bit of work to do, this is a good stopping point for this post. Check back soon to see if I was able to solve the issues and get my bikes on the road again. In between unpacking boxes and organizing the garage, I should be able to get out in the shop and work on the motorcycles. I also have to work on my old trailer and clean my tools. My wife wants her good washer and dryer back and that treadmill won't move itself. Take care readers. Chat with you soon!

Mat