Lost the big windshield's use.
It's been coming for a while now, as cracks had developed on Scarlett's large clear windshield you've seen in previous pictures and postings.
About a week ago, while remounting the shield after replacing a lower plastic mount component that had broken; it cracked suddenly and about a third of the windshield came off in my hands. Dammit.
So the smaller fly screen windshield will be used during cold weather riding. Oh well. Perhaps time to look for someone selling a Ural windshield in the right color scheme.
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Clutch Replacement.
This past weekend, I helped out Tim L., a fellow Uralista in his first clutch pack replacement on his rig.
He and his rig managed to make it to over 44k km before it needed replacing; to me, pretty impressive performance! The anecdotal mileage point where one should be considering replacing the clutch plates is around 30k km so Tim's rig did pretty good!
The hardest part? Removing the factory installed flat head screws that were "pinged" or "staked" in place to prevent their becoming loose during operation. We spent over two hours "coaxing" those suckers with heat, and newly purchased impact driver and just brute strength (all Tim's).
Tim replaced those stubborn and now slightly damaged screws with new ones with Allen heads so next time it won't be that much of a PITA.
New "improved" clutch plate on left, and old one on right.
The burn marks are evidence of the heat used to loosen the
cover plate's screws.
Yep, all components replaced and yep, the longer clutch rod was used along with new throw-out bearing assembly with the old one kept as a "get me home" spare. I think I need to plan on doing some parts purchasing soon as I've used up mine this summer.
After finishing off at Tim's place, I rode north from Longmont to Loveland and visited with Randy, the premier Ural dealer for Colorado and fellow rider. He had the replacement swing arm from Ural that had been seen as a parts claim. Such great support by Ural eh?
Gas Tank Leakage.
Coming home Sunday after accompanying Martha at a nursing conference in Loveland, CO, we came home to a heavy gas smell in the garage. (Patrick had reported it to us before that on Saturday but since we were in Loveland....).
Martha spotted it, it was coming from Scarlett! Dammit.
Turns out, the plastic sensor plug in the fuel tank had failed and was leaking fuel onto the garage floor. What I had thought was a melting snow puddle, was gas. Sigh.
This "plug" was the fuel level sensor that Ural had started using with the 2014 rigs and which had failed for me in terms of operations before and been replaced under warranty, and then the new one had failed soon after and I just gave up using it. Now that it was leaking fuel though, it was a problem.
Of course, the plastic cap that one uses to tighten/loosen it from its mounting hole on the lower left front of the gas tank fell apart as I went to tighten it thinking that's all that was needed.
Had to remove the seat, then the tank (much has spilled in spite of efforts to drain the recently filled gas tank). The use of the fuel pump meant more fuel connections are involved and it was I think the first time I'd removed the gas tank so more fuel that I care to admit was spilled.
Got the tank off and saw this:
The hexagonal plastic cap had twisted off the main
assembly, which remained embedded in the tank.
Had to dig out the remaining bit from the tank, and failed to prevent the innermost bit from falling into the tank. Dammit. Since it's plastic, no big deal but still.....
Went to the hardware store and got a 1/2" x 13 tap tool and cut new threads for the mounting hole as the existing ones were buggered up by now. Then a small 1/2" x 13 threaded insert and installed with with some gas-resistant sealant:
After a couple of hours, I tried some gas in the tank and it seemed to hold so I let it "cure" overnight.
In the morning I put more gas in and it started leaking slightly. Dammit.
Drained the tank once more, and this time got a 1/2" x 13 3/4" long stainless steel bolt from the hardware store along with a rubber washer with an I.D. of 3/8" hole. Installed it, it held gas just fine with more than 3.5 gallons inside so I called it good.
Drained the tank once again and installed it back onto the rig. You have to drain it as the cross-over fuel hose linking both tank halves together has to go under the top frame bar. I think I need to find where I bought those quick-disconnect fittings for a previous rig!
Some PITA coaxing involved with one of the fuel lines but otherwise a pretty straightforward operation putting Scarlett back together. Put about 3.5 gallons back in, bled the fuel pump a bit, and Scarlett started right up with no evidence of fuel leaking.
A test ride involving several miles and no fuel leakage or other untoward symptoms noted so am hopeful this repair will be last for a while.
Such are the vicissitudes in the life of a Ural rider. Martha remains not impressed with Scarlett these days.....ever since her breakdown at Lake Havasu, AZ this past summer.
