Well, the Spring Motogiro is now in the history books. I saw rider numbers up to 124 so I have to assume we had 124 bikes starting the event. The Honda 305 was well represented this year. Scramblers, Superhawks and Dreams in all states of condition were represented. Honda in general was well represented from 50cc up thru the 305 for the models available from 1968 or earlier. The 160 twin seemed to be the most numerous of the entire lot of bikes at this year's event.
We had blue skies for the most part, although the 8:30 am start time had riders wishing they had added a few more layers under their riding togs.
We had a few celebs at this year's event. Cook Neilson of Cycle Magazine, who many of us grew up reading, was both a rider in the event as well as the guest speaker for Sat. evening's dinner. Buzz Kanter, Editor of American Iron was riding a Moto Guzzi 250 former Italian Military Meat Slicer and Dave Roper, the only American to win an event at the IoM TT was riding the civilian Sport model of the 1952 Meat Slicer. He actually blew by me on one of the dirt road sections and I almost got off my bike to see why it had stopped. Good thing I didn't because I was going about 40 when Dave shot by me. I guess that answers the question of how you win the IoM. Be able to ride a nearly 60 year old motorcycle at about 60 mph down a clay based, pebble, sand and rock strewn off-camber dirt road like it was a super highway.
Here's a link to the Motogiro webpage in case any of you might be interested. http://motogiro-usa.com/
My bike ran superbly and that is due in part to the help I received from the members here after getting the bike back in August. It did spring a minor oil leak on the right side that I believe is probably the clutch push rod seal. It was iffy when I put it together earlier this winter. So a little cleaning and a little maintence should have her back in top shape.
I did run Rotella T 15W-40 in her. I had to add about a half quart after the first day. I'm guessing at the amount. It was down to the first line and I brought it back up to the top line on the stick. Have not checked the oil since running the second day. Most of the event was run in the higher RPM range since there were lots of elevation changes and some long uphill runs.
My homemade baffles held up well. They seemed to be a perfect match to the jetting. The loudest part on the bike was the intake. When wide open, all I could hear was the roar into the carb throats.
Seat left a little to be desired. By the end of the first day, my butt was pretty sore. The second day, instead of wearing my usual Under Armor shorts under my leathers, I wore my spandex bicycle shorts with the padded butt. It made the difference for me. By the end of that second day I was ready to get off the bike, but I was comfy for a much longer portion of that day's event than I was the previous day. Total event covered 328 miles according to my route sheets.
regards,
Rob
Motogiro East 2011 Spring EventAs a follow up, I checked the oil in the bike yesterday after posting the write-up and found that it was still at the full mark. I'm amazed at this! So it would appear that keeping her wound up for 300+ miles seated the rings back where they belong.
I'm getting ready to installed a crankcase breather valve one of my Triumphs and think that the Scrambler could benefit from a similar set up. Others have reported leaky Triumph stopped leaking once a negative pressure was maintained in the crankcase. I need to research how these 305 engines are vented and then come up with a scheme for the breather valve. If anyone has experience with this on these engines, I'd appreciate them sharing what they know or have learned. regards, Rob
Moto GiroRob,
It was good to meet you at the Giro and talk about the mods to your 305. Your bike does have a nice exhaust note. My 305's major mods are a sissy bar I bought on eBay for $5, and an Ossa Pioneer skid plate I had laying around! I did not check my oil at all during the event. I was preoccupied with the one cylinder dropping off intermittantly. The major clue I have towards the cause is the huge popping back through the intake I was experiencing, which then lead to backfiring through the exhaust, which then destroyed the rubber donuts from the pipes to the muffler. I wrapped that joint with a Bud Light can on Sunday morning and it held for the rest of the event! Lucky for me it ran well off idle, and I could complete the agility tests. Several 305's did not complete the event. One had a major oil leak on the right side and the other blew up when the rider pushed it too hard to make up time. Not sure about the others I saw on the side of the road. One had the seat off. If anyone has any suggestions about troubleshooting my problem, I'm all ears. Thanks, Bob B P.S. For anyone looking for a cheap padded seat cover, WalMart sells one in their ATV section for $17.95. Made by Stearns, fits like it was made for the bike, and most importantly, it cushions nicely without being obvious. BB I ordered one of those seat pads when I got back and it is on it's way to my local Wally World. No shipping if you ship it to a store.
I ordered the seals for my bike and last night got into it. After I cleaned things up, I came to the conclusion that it was not a seal, but rather the breather blowing oil. So rather than change seals that might not need it, I made everything nice and clean and buttoned the cover back up and will ride it and see what happens. I need to research the venting system on this bike. It appears to come from the head rather than the crankcase. I know they are connected but my experiece is venting the crankcase thru the head cause airflow up the return galleries impeding return of oil from the valve/cam chest and excessive oil in the vent air. I know I need to look at the crankcase venting for this engine. But is this a common problem or is there a mod that reduces oil in the vent air? regards, Rob Thanks, Davo. This engine appears to never have been apart. It did not do this, or at least did not appear to do this until I flogged it for two days during the giro. It also used less oil the second day, just about nil, compared to the first. Wonder if I had excessive blow by and the rings have reseated themselves after the giro.
I remember posts last year about that baffle plate position. Had not considered it because I believe the engine has never been apart. But something to consider. We'll see if this continues over this summer. regards, Rob
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
