Update on My 2006 Honda Shadow VT600 Valve Adjustment

 Work was completed last week after I botched the removal of one of the
access ports.  Mechanic was able to remove the stripped access port without
involving the left crankcase cover.

http://blog.dtashley.com/?pS9

Total tab for fixing my botched job, the valve adjustment, oil change with
synthetic oil, miscellaneous other maintenance was a little over $500.

Was advised that they'd feel comfortable keeping the bike for about a week
or so ... but beyond that we should talk about storage.  They quoted me a
price of $200 for storage until it gets warm again (Marshall, Michigan).

Was 38 degrees today with rain ... looked like the best day we'd have for a
while so I went for it.

I rode the motorcycle from Coldwater, Michigan to Marshall, Michigan in the
38-degree rain.

It was the single most unpleasant experience I've had in a long time.  In
addition to me being cold and miserable, when I got off the freeway and put
my feet down, I could feel about an inch of water in both boots (my feet
were literally swimming in icewater).  Not fun.

I got a lot of strange looks on the freeway, and a strange look from the
Marshall Police in town.  They were probably thinking "Should we stop
him?--he might be on drugs to be doing this".
A hot shower and change of clothes made me feel a lot better.

The bike is a bit "compressioney", but sounds fine.  It seems that it runs a
bit different than it did before the adjustment (not much, just a bit), but
that is a tricky issue because I haven't ridden it in a month and my memory
could be playing tricks on me.  (It also seems that I sit higher than I
remember, and that simply isn't possible.)  I won't really know how it feels
until the warmer weather.  It made 75 MPH with no issues.  I won't really
know until I get it out on the road without the rain pelting me.  Even when
I put my head down behind the windscreen I couldn't hear the engine well.

The Lizard.

 e:


You can get cheap plastic rainsuits for a few dollars at discount
stores, wear them a few times and toss them when they tear.

 Use duct tape around the bottom of the legs to keep water thrown up
by the front wheel out of your boots.

 This is getting to be like watching a retarded child pick up an electric
chainsaw.
Just get some gear and ride the damned thing.

 On Tue, 9 Dec 2008 23:11:49 -0500, "Jujitsu Lizard"


    Obviously, the problem is the loose nut between the seat and
the handlebars :-)


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Oddly, I was thinking of you the other day because I had exactly the
same problem on a little 1985 Honda 125 I've bought - the access port
was stuck fast. Unlike yours, it was one with a large wide slot that
you put something like a big coin in, and then unscrew with that.

Anyway, I used the biggest coin I could find (an old half-crown from
the 1960s!). And it bent...

I tried putting a broad flat screwdriver in one end of the slot and
tapping it with a hammer. No dice.

In the end, two of us put two screwdrivers in the slow, one up, one
down, and with a sort of yo-heave-ho call of "One, two, three,
strike!" hammered the ends of both screwdrivers simultaneously.

It moved maybe 5-10 degrees and stuck again. So we knocked it back,
and then out again, in the hope that rotating it a few degrees each
way would eventuall break the corrosion that was holding it in. And
Hallelujah, it came free, and I was able to stick a spanner on the end
of the crank to turn the engine over to check the timing...