My day

Time to crack open a beer, Shirley help yourselves to one on me.

I have to quit reading your posts because every time I do I get the itch to
get a Ural... :-)

Yea me too, heck I could even have rode up to the cherohala and rode
in inches of snow!

Tom (Tud you suck)

I'm actually wondering if it may be worth my while to trade the KTM in on a

Let me see if I can remedy that. So, after washing it I ran the bike for
several minutes and it ran nice and smooth. Since the wife was working and
I was home with the kids, all I could do was let it idle for a bit then ride
it into the garage.

That was yesterday, this morning I tried to start it and nothing, wouldn't
fire up. I could get it to sputter on one cylinder for a couple beats but
nothing more. I drained the left carb and the gas in the bowl looked fine,
then I drained the right one (the bike was on our slanted driveway with the
right side facing downhill) and found a little water in there, seen here as
the blob at the bottom.

So with the carbs drained I primed them and tried to fire up the bike, still
no luck. It would sputter for a bit at idle then cut out, or cut out
immediately if I tried to give it gas. Next I checked inside the air hoses
coming from the airbox, didn't look too bad, so I gave it a little wipe and
put the hoses back on. Finally I checked for spark, turns out the right was
getting spark but not the left.

With one side not getting spark the next obvious step was to pull the timing
cover off and take a look inside. I pulled it off and noticed water at the
bottom, which I was hoping the Hylomar I put on last time I was in there
would keep out the water. I wiped the obvious water out of the bottom and
tried to fire it out, no luck but I heard a crackling sound, so I looked
down into the timing area and hit the starter and saw a big spark arching
from the connector for the right side plug. Ah Ha! I wiped down the area
where the sparking was taking place and the bike fired right up with no more
arching. Here's a crude photo that's been doctored to show where the
arching was occuring.

I didn't think about it until now, but if this happens again or if it
happens because of heavy rain, I may wrap some electrical tape around those
metal bits.

Ural since I usually just ride fire roads and other trails off road.

AH #103 BS#80 FHBE#8 FLF SENS
58 FLH - 02 K1200LT - 07 GS-A
MC insurance info at www.bikershut.net

I missed the snow yesterday on the way home but it came last night, followed
up by freezing rain. The day started with me shoveling the driveway so that
the misses could get to work. Since the snow was heavy and very packy I
decided to take the extra effort and pile it in one spot. Once a majority
of the snow was gone it was time to pull the bike out of the garage and give
it a once over.

As anticipated, the boys decided that they wanted to come out and play while
I washed the bike, so I took a few minutes to dig a hole in the pile of snow
for them to play with, then I got to washing the bike. The funny thing
about washing a bike with a camo paint job is that there isn't as much
satisfaction when your done because it doesn't look that different, at least
from a distance. Up close I can see the obvious difference.

The first round was done with a hose with a soft bristled brush on the end,
starting at the top and working down. Even though it had just snowed it
ended up being a nice day, had to be at least in the 40's. The kids had to
loose their hats because they were building up a sweat.

After I went over the whole bike with the brush it was time to put some warm
water in a bucket with some car washing soap and a couple sponges. I went
over the whole bike again, and got under the fenders as best I could. The
front fender was fairly easy since it sits up so high off the tire. After
doing all the tin and miscelaneous bits I took on the engine. Lot's of road
grime and oily goo that seems to come out from crankcase vent. I guess it
doesn't all go back into the airbox, or it blows out from other areas. Not
enough to cause a single drip, just enough to give the engine and other
parts of the bike a bit dirty.

After about 3 hours I was finally done, so I started it up and let it run
for a bit, hoping that if any water got in where it shouldn't that the heat
from the engine might get rid of it. Here's the before and after pics.

The "Wash me" was a nice touch. :o)

I guess the pipes look cleaner.

Why clean the bike when there's plenty of winter left? Next week is a local
bike show. I saw that the dealer had posted that he wasn't going in the

Thanks for the, uh, wash along? An excellent read. Enjoy the bike
show, Tud.

Thanks Curt, but this morning I realized that the show isn't until the 17th,
which isn't next week like I thought. No chance of me keeping the bike
clean until then.

show because he had no new bikes to put in. I offered up my bike if he was
interested. He had decided not to but used bikes in the show, but since
I've actually been riding mine all winter he thought it would make a good
story, so my bike and another customers '06 Patrol are going in. The dealer
will actually be in Germany for his mother's birthday, so it'll be myself,
Rob (customer that helps out at the shop) and the dealer's wife manning the
Ural booth at the bike show. If he wasn't going to have a booth I wouldn't
have washed my bike and I would have entered it in the show and shine.
While washing it I noticed a few things that might not look too good, like
the area that behind the seat that I sprayed with red primer because of some
chips, and the paint being a bit cracked on a couple edges of the hack.
These things don't bother me, I'll eventually just sand them down re-paint
it, but it might not be the sort of things that the dealer would want
customers to see. Truth be told, it's been ridden hard and put away wet,
litterally, so I don't think anyone is expecting a museum piece. I'll be
dropping by the dealer early next week for him to take a look at the bike so
that he can decide if he's sure that he wants it in the booth.

Hell, if you made it this far then you deserve another drink.