[raderj]

Rode my bike for the first time in over seven months! 

It was covered in our storage unit and still looked nice. Lubed the chain. I pulled the plug and sprayed some WD-40 in there (about an ounce or less). Then while that sat for a minute I turned it over with the kick starter by hand a few times and reconnected the battery. Then I put a rag over the spark plug hole and used the electric starter to blow the rest of the WD-40 out. Plug back in, cap back on and she fired right up!

Smelled like a boat with a little white smoke out of the pipe until it warmed up but it ran great.  I little bit of surface rust on some bolts and such that need tending to and the oil filter cover seeps a little. I will fix that when I change the oil this weekend.

Rode the bike home from the storage unit without a hitch and watched the sun go down.

A good first day after getting home from deployment!

Thanks for all the advice and help that led me to this day. It made it a cinch.

-Sgt Johnson
USMC/0351

[mplayle]

Congratulations on the successful reviving of the bike and above all ...

Welcome Home!

[Joel-in-dallas]

Welcome home! Enjoy your ride.

[Ice]

WELCOME HOME RADERJ !!!!!!!!!

[Ekatus Atimoss]

It was five months before the first ride in my case. Kept it on a charger/life extender, added some "fuel system protection" chemical into the tank, carefully washed the C5 and WD40ied all the visible metal parts. No rust so far. As for prepping the engine with oil in advance thorugh the spark plug hole, asking for advice was like asking two doctors and getting three different answers. So I just cranked the engine using the kickstart with ignition off and then...one click only...engine came to life with ignition on and e-start. Like if the bike was never stowed away. No smoke. No shaking. I thought "good job, RE" - one cannot ask for more.

Regards
Michael

[ace.cafe]

Welcome home, Sgt Johnson!

Enjoy your riding and be keep the shiny side up.

[High On Octane]

Welcome home!

That's great that your bike fired up nice and healthy out of storage.   Glad to hear you had an enjoyable 1st ride of the year.  Here's to many more!   

Scottie

[raderj]

Thanks guys! It's been kind of chilly so I am waiting to ride.

To do list:

Adjust chain
Clean whole bike and get rid of all rusty spots
Change front tire to K70 that I got in the mail
Change oil
Re-glue seat
Change the brake fluid (it grabs a little)
Change fork oil (sometimes the forks "stick" down when I brake and then pop back up when I give it some throttle on take off).

Should be fun!

-Sgt Johnson
USMC/0351

[barenekd]

Hi, Sarge,
Where are you stationed now?
Spray the bike down with some ACF-50. That will take care of your corrosion problems, the  current ones and it's good for a year! Don't get too carried away with it, and put some paper or something under it to catch the excess!
Bare

[raderj]

Thanks, Bare. I need to find some of that stuff.

I am stationed in Norfolk, VA now.

Culture shock on the East Coast!

[GreenMachine]

Sarge:  Wow you're back..Seems like u just left...What was it 6 months ago? ...Remember u saying u wanted to do some work on the bike and change the tires..You just had no time to spare before departing tdy....Glad to see u made it back safe n sound..My buddies son is a navy seal stationed in Norfolk/Va beach area....Last September, the spouse and I  spent 4 days along the boardwalk/bike path down by the statue of Neptune..
I was surprised by the volume of traffic and the road conditions of the major highways being in a bit of disrepair....A bit jaring on a enfield (I hate to think what a hardtail would feel like)... ... Glad to see she didn't let u down and started right up for ya after your extended break ....Enjoy your summer and hope u stay awhile..Thank You for your service.. Cheers..GM

[barenekd]

Thanks, Bare. I need to find some of that stuff.
I am stationed in Norfolk, VA now.
Culture shock on the East Coast!

HTe ACF-50 is available at some Auto Parts stores. O'Reilly's, I know sells it if you have any of those out there. A road test link:
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/404/15868/Motorcycle-Article/ACF-50-Corrosion-Preventative-Review.aspx?WT.i_e_dcsvid=1034574548

I spent a couple of years at Oceana a long time ago ('67-'69). I was racing Scrambles and Flat Track in those days while in the Navy. I had a pretty good time there!
Sorry we missed riding together while you were here!
Bare

[raderj]

Yeah riding in CA was so fun. I wish I could have gone out with some of you local guys. There are some people over here that I have talked to that want to go for a ride. Enfield people in every place!

[raderj]

I have a K70 sitting in my living room. Is it hard to change a tire out yourself?

[Arizoni]

Sure it's possible to change a tire but if your like me you'll find it's easier to do half of the job and let the people who have the right equipment do the rest of it.

What's half the job? 
Removing the wheel and taking it to the motorcycle shop.

If it's the front wheel the job is pretty easy if you have the right size wrenches and a scissor jack from your car.
Loosen the pinch bolts and the large nut on the front axle.  Place the jack under the front engine mount and raise the bike so that the front tire is just clearing the pavement or floor.  Knock out the axle keeping track of where the spacers are and being careful with the speedometer drive unit.
The rear tire is a little more work but there are some posts here that can help you thru it.

Getting back to doing the whole thing by yourself you'll find the tire changing tools supplied with the bike are pretty flimsy and they can be bent when your prying the tire off of the rim.  Also, they supply two of them but you really need three.

The first time I changed a tire was on my Honda 400F.  Getting the wheel off was easy.
Getting the tire off was a PITA but doable.  Getting the new tire on however was a monumental task.
I tried dishwashing soap in water to lube the tire bead but even with this and all of my pry bars it took the better part of the afternoon.  I was lucky because I didn't pinch the inner tube but doing that is easy to do and you won't know its damaged until you try to inflate the tire.  Then, it's back to square one.