This last Episode is just to tell you how the shake down run went, and lay out the project from start to finish in pictures…..
The Day dawned overcast and wet.. but only drizzling, so nothing too drastic. I had a few other chores to get sorted too so after a spiffing “full English”, courtesy of MissyP, it was game on…
First of three non related jobs was clean the garage door of all the black over-spray, (it settles up on top when the door is open,) wash off the guttering of the house,,(been putting it off for months), and wash the van… (beginning to forget what colour it is)…
Dug out the Kharcher washer, and blasted off the door…. (Tick, done), then got to blasting the green stuff off the guttering, (Never fit white bloody guttering..DOH) . and so to the van…. And as soon at I started… the heavens opened… it bloody slung it down.. it was nothing short of sodding stair rods. And in two minutes I was soaked through…. Oh well, cant get any wetter now…
Finished the van, washed off the ZRX too for good measure….. and I was ready for action….
Excited, I pulled “RAGE” out blinking into the daylight for the first time…. (It looked smaller than it had wedged in the garage for months), and got the three main tasks under way. .
First was the swap the Handlebars over to the Ranthals I had painted the night before, and get all the controls connected back up and set comfortably, didn’t bother making that a ‘show-how’.. coz its just swapping bars, took ten minutes…
Then it was time for fuel… and button….! Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnn!
Drained a gallon out of the Kawasaki into a can, and very carefully, put it in Rage, stopping half way to check underneath for leaks (as the tank had been off)… all done, so slapped the cap shut, and rolled the pig down the drive to see if it would start….
Key on….Clicklicklicklicklicklick… primed.. (‘Lectric fuel pump) full choke, no throttle….and……”Press” …. Whirred over and over and over for what seemed like an age… stop.. let the starter cool down… right, what’s up… its got fuel… spark… “yeh cannie change the laws oh physics Jim”.. it should fire….
Hit the button again… spun over and over again, and began to cough,,, then cough more… ahh… empty float bowls… easy…
(the problem here is typical of old EXUPs… the pump, pumps only enough for the engines use… not enough to prime the carbs, if they run out of fuel the engine will die whilst the bowls remain full, as the pump “de-primes”, and stops.. thus creating a vacuum, therefore the bowls cannot be drained other than manually, or by evaporation (three months in the shed saw to that, so I needed to prime the carbs.).. there is an easy trick, just reached under, unplugged the coil input leads… spun it over for ten seconds till I smelt fuel, plugged them back in….
Press.. VROOM…. Yah hah haaa!… LIFE…!
It took about five minutes to warm right up, with the usual smoke and fumes from the paint on the headers.. but that was it.. soon it was ticking over by itself till the fan clicked in.. perfect… ready to ride.. where’s me lid…?
After so long out of the saddle I had forgotten how rapid this pig was…. And once out of the village, and on to the A350… I snapped it open to see if it still had the demons in the basement….. and fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…ck..
YUP. All still there…
Got it onto a long straight section, time to check my fave’ pastime… lets see if the front wheel still likes to fly… down to third, 50mph… load up the throttle, and ‘ping’ the clutch lever…… Now at this point, the world would usually go all blue and cloudy, the front would attempt to smack you in the face, and your gonads would retract for safety….ehh but not so today…this time the back end went squirmy, and began to try and overtake me.. bollocks.. 40ft wheelspin.. slowed down, and tried again… same result… rev limiter, and ‘rear end boogie’… maybe trying to wheelie it in soaking wet slimey country roads was not such a good idea… it would probably have gone all Casualty on the third attempt.
Once at the petrol station I decided it was prudent to have a look round it to see if it was the same collection of parts I left home with…. And yup.. all still there.. so slapped a tenner of unleaded in and headed for home… still amazed at the incredible top gear roll on I had forgotten about.. Just sit innocently at 70mph in top.. and snap the grip back and it just tries to tear your liver out of your arse… its just Phuquin Brutal, Naasty, Recalcitrant, and frightening, never has a bike lived up to its name so aptly…. RAGE… yeah, said that right..
Here’s a quick photo strip to show the transformation from Pretty looking 90’s sports bike, to Angry, Ugly, Brutal Rat Fighter…!
ENJOY..
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