A valuable reminder to always wear goggles.

The CM450 started right up this summer:  turn on the fuel, pull out the choke, hit the starter, and it was running inside a second.  I love that.

The Rebel, on the other hand, is probably going to need some serious work.  The first step was to replace the battery, since it failed completely over the winter.  And that's where my safety reminder came in.

I bought a replacement battery, which of course needed to be filled with acid.  This one used a system that's new to me, and looked pretty foolproof.  There's a sort of funnel that fits into the battery, and the acid bottles are sealed closed.  The funnel has pins inside that puncture the bottles, kind of like stabbing a straw into a juice box.  The whole system is, in theory, designed so there's no way to spill acid as long as you follow the instructions.

Unfortunately, there's frequently a difference between theory and reality.  As near as I can tell, one of the bottles cracked very slightly while I was pushing it into the funnel, and a few drops of acid went flying.  One of them flew straight into my left eye.  As an aside, I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever filled a battery without safety glasses, and I'm sure it's the first time it's ever sprayed.  Bad timing coupled with a poor decision, basically.

The good news is, I usually react well under stress, and this was a good example.  I had my contact out within about 15 seconds while I was running for the sink, and had my head under a faucet within about a minute.  After about half an hour of rinsing, I got a ride to the ER, where they confirmed there was nothing permanently damaged, although I did wind up with some mild chemical burns around the lower eyelid.  A week of eyedrops and not wearing contact lenses and I should be fine.

So this was my free warning, and I don't think it's one I'll forget.



Oh... and after I got the battery charged up, the Rebel fired up even more easily than the 450.  The carb still needs cleaning, but everything else seems to be in fine shape.

Rear brakes are DONE

The rear brake has been successfully dismantled, inspected, and reassembled.  It was actually a lot easier than I expected, and didn't actually take very long at all.  Maybe a couple hours, most of which was spent referring to the manual.

The end result was not, though, the installation of a new set of brake shoes.  The whole process was a little strange, and I really wish I'd taken photos before I started, because I no longer remember what the indicator looked like before I started.  In any case, the old shoes turned out to actually be thicker than the new ones (0.183" vs 0.158"), and the service limit is 0.08".  So either set would have been fine, and I just tucked the new set back in their box.  I may very well need them eventually.

After reassembly the indicator gauge correctly shows that the shoes are essentially unused, and I should be able to get the bike inspected in the next week or so, if the weather clears up.  As to reassembly... putting the wheel back on sucked.  Trying, with only two hands, to hold up the wheel, push the axle through from the left, and line up all the pieces on the right, just isn't possible.  I eventually managed to wedge my foot under the wheel to keep it at the right height, but it still wasn't very pleasant.  I also learned that on this particular bike, there's about a centimeter between the tire and the chain guard on the left, and between the tire and the torque arm on the right, maybe less.  I can't help feeling like the original tire may have been a touch narrower, because that seems like a poor design choice...  Anyway, it's assembled and working now.

I also charged up the battery on both bikes (CM450C and Rebel 250).  Both were low enough that I suspect damage has been done, but they should hold for a while.  The CM450 started right up, which pleased me.  A second or two of cranking, and it fired and kept running.  I had to tweak the idle a bit, but I had to do that summer before last when it got cold, so it wasn't much of a surprise.  I have decided I ought to buy a notebook dedicated to tracking repairs and modifications... that way when I go looking for how thick the shoes were when I measured them, I'll be able to find out.  I'll have to remember to go get a notebook in the next few days.

It's been a while.

It's been a while since I wrote anything here.  The short version is that I had a back injury last year that made it unwise to ride.  Basically, riding would have been fine, but if anything went wrong I could have done a lot of additional damage, so I didn't.

Adding to that, the CM450C failed inspection at the beginning of the summer, and I didn't have the time or energy to replace the rear brake myself, or the money to have it done for me.  Well, this year I have a little more time and energy, and the new brake shoes should be delivered today.  I'm actually pretty nervous about this... I've never done work on anything powered that required this much teardown to get to the parts I need to fix.  I have the service manual, though, and a few friends who are good with mechanics to help out if I get in trouble.  Here's hoping it works out OK.  At least it's the rear brake... I wouldn't want to ride without it, but the front does most of the work anyway.

I'll write something about it when I finish!