Paging Mark Olson!! Paging Mark Olson!! - Page 9

 

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Never thought to compare those two directly,
but I agree 95%.  Brown ales are too, um, mild
for my taste.  I prefer very malty ESBs, myself.
Since Oasis closed in Colorado, I haven't found
one I'm willing to drink regularly.

Check out Boulevard's "Single Wide" IPA.  It is
a very good alternative to Larry Bell's "Two
Hearted Ale" IPA and a coupla bucks cheaper.

 


heh I wish. I live in outback montana these days. On the plus side
I've the GTTSR right out the back door...literally. Big Sky Brewing
and Bayern are two of the bigger  breweries here and many other small
ones. Pigs ass is fairly light (for a porter) porter brewed up
here...kind of like a heavy brown ale really. I love a good IPA when I
can get it, Long Hammer IPA from Red Hook is available and fortunately
they hop it heavy enough you can almost taste the dirt at the farm
where the hops were raised. ;^) Me likey!

 


I came off the Grand Teton, met some friends
at some watering hole - and at the time,
found Black Dog Ale (out of Bozeman) to be
a pitcher of heaven on earth.  On later trips,
I visited the brewpub, bought the hat, etc,
but I guess the brew doesn't stand up to
travel...but I won't turn it down!

 

Biker Dude wrote:

I suspect that even if the sight glass is very dirty or otherwise
occluded on the inside, that you can still determine if there's oil
present or not, which is all that is required.  Wipe down the outside
and shine a flashlight at it and if you can see oil moving around you
don't need to do anything.  Consult the owner's manual to see whether you
need to check the oil while on the centerstand or while on the wheels.
The wife's EX250 doesn't read correctly on the centerstand, so you need
a helper to hold it up while you look, or a mirror-onna-stick.

If you do decide to remove the clutch cover for the purpose of cleaning
the oil sight glass, you will need to purchase an impact driver with a
Phillips screwdriver tip, to remove the screws.  On a bike of that age I
guarantee at least one of the screws be impossible to remove otherwise.
This is the sort of driver I'm talking about:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947641000P

There are plenty of cheap Chinese (as is Sears' offering, no doubt)
versions of these available for as little as $10, and they will work
just as well as Sears' $25 version:

http://www.buyhardwaresupplies.com/?t=5&m=g1&itemNumber (667


This one from Harbor Freight is a lighter duty version which is even
cheaper at $6:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber “481

but should work fine.

I've had my "Buffalo" brand driver for almost 30 years.  It is a basic
required tool for Japanese motorcycle maintenance, for doing this exact
job.  Steel screws tend to corrode in place with the aluminum engine
cases, and the impact breaks the corrosion loose while at the same time it
forces the bit into the screw so it won't cam out and ruin the screw head.
There really is no more appropriate tool to remove these screws than one
of these drivers.  Oh, and don't be tempted to use the impact driver to
tighten the screws.  Just make sure the screw heads aren't rounded out,
use a good quality screwdriver that fits (usually it is the #3 Phillips
size) and press in firmly while tightening by hand.  You can easily strip
the soft aluminum threads if you give the screw too much torque.

Helpful tip: if you find a mushed up Phillips screw head, you can usually
make it almost as good as new by hammering the head of the screw flat
while it's held in a vise (seat the bottom of the head against the jaws,
and VERY lightly close the jaws on the threads so as not to damage them)
until the crossed slots are nearly closed.  Then hammer the correct size
bit from your impact driver into the screw head to expand the slots,
the slots will be perfectly formed to match the bit, albeit with the
head a little mashed looking.

 

Mark Olson wrote:

Haven't tried it myself but a guy I knew would point a plumber's propane
torch toward such screws for a minute or so, then point an aerosol spray
at it, I seem to remember the aerosol was nitrogen, maybe that's wrong,
which would quickly cool the surrounding metal.  I'm guessing this is
one way to "break corrosion loose", as you put it.  I think he was doing
it on a brake caliper fixture which may not have been the same situation
as an aluminum engine case.  Is this a good technique in general or is
it risky depending on the metal involved? (eg., aren't many carb bodies
made from a zinc compound, not aluminum?)

(The same guy would try to turn a Phillips screw only once.  If that
didn't work first crack, he would immediately get out his impact driver,
and if that didn't work right away he'd then try some kind of thread
loosener chemical or apply heat.  His other advice was to discard any
Phillips driver tip that had any gouges and always use the biggest size
that would fit the screw.  Whenever I've used an impact driver, it
seemed the most fruitful technique involved a good solid whack, not a
bunch of little taps like I've seen people do, also a good heavy hammer,
at least 32 oz. seems to be easier to hitting hard without hitting one's
hand.  This makes me wonder if anybody makes an impact driver with a
hand guard, the kind some big cold chisels come with.)