Saturday Ride with Fairlight

Two Saturdays ago, Fairlight and I went out for a ride near Independence.  The last time we had seen each other was a decade ago at our high school graduation.  Incidentally, this was the first time Fairlight had been on a motorcycle.  The above photo is of Fairlight in front of the winery that bears her last name.

Back at Independence.  Fairlight wrote up a nice blog post on her website about the ride.  We will be taking one of my other motorcycles out in the near future when the rain lets up enough to have a good ride.


 


 


 


 

 

 

 

 

 

PC800 Fuel Tank Modification

Over the weekend, I finally had some time to work on the PC800 fuel injection project again.  After months of planning to weld on the fuel tank and insert an internal tank pump from a CBR600RR, I finally decided against it due to several factors.  First, the shape of the tank is difficult to weld upon.  Second, I would have had to recess the tank which would effectively reduce the total volume of fuel that I can access.  Third, the internal pump would have taken up more room and thus reduced how much range I could get out of the tank.  Therefore, I decided to do an external pump.  At the moment, I am eyeing a Walbro GSL393 155 lph pump that can run at the pressure (~45 to 50psi) I am after.  They run roughly $100-150 depending upon which website I purchase from.  I will also have to purchase a fuel pressure regulator (more on that later).  My main concerns are that the pump will use too many watts and overload the PC800’s electrical system, and that the pump will need a low pressure feeder pump depending upon where I can locate the unit.

After making the decision to go with an external pump, I went about modifying my spare PC800 fuel tank and fuel level sensor to accept a fuel return hose.  The brass fitting with the blue cap above is the result.  I had to cut some metal around the O-ring flange on the tank and  drilled a hole through the fuel level sensor housing as well.  After a few runs to the hardware store, this is the resulting solution.  I have yet to test it for leaks beyond letting some gasoline sit in the tray of the fuel level sensor.  A full gasoline test will be coming up when I have the time to take a couple of gas cans to the station and have them filled.  I don’t anticipate any leaks but one never can be too cautious.

This modification will not affect the fuel level sensor’s operation.

Now that I have decided to go this route, I will need to purchase a fuel pressure regulator.  Looking around online, it appears that I will be paying somewhere between $50 (used on ebay) and $150 for a decent unit.  If I choose the right one, I will also have the ability to have an external fuel pressure gauge.  Naturally, I want more gauges on my dash.  I expect that to run another $50 or so.  Hopefully in the next month, I will be able to find the money to purchase these components.  However, first I need to finish modifying the carburetors into throttle bodies with injection ports.  That is going somewhat slowly as I still haven’t figured out how to shape the injector ports properly.  I have some ideas on that but haven’t come to a full resolution yet.

 

Dual Sporting with a PC800

Today Drew and I went up around Marys Peak on his recently acquired Yamaha XT225 and my Honda Pacific Coast.  I’ve ridden most of these roads before so it was my pleasure to introduce Drew to them.

In the middle of nowhere on our bikes.

Drew with his new toy.

Me with my PC800.

A short while later while riding along, my back end slid out and took me and my whole bike with it.  The action starts around 50 seconds into the above video.  I was fine and the bike was fine.  No damage to anyone other than a bruise on my right leg.  Yes, my right leg.  I must have whacked the foot peg when I went down on the LEFT side.

 

Road marks.  It was very deep gravel on top of sand or something similar that looked like it was nice and compacted.

No real damage to the PC800.  Just the Mick-O-Peg bent in a bit.  A little pushing and it was back in the right position.

 

Once I get a dual sport, we’ll explore this road.  The PC800 is too valuable to go crashing very often!