My Nephew Has Been Bitten By The Bug...

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Jacob came over last night with a brand new hydraulic bike lift from Harbor Freight. We had a hell of a time building blocks and strapping the bike to the lift. Once that was done, we remove the wheels - they are in the back of my truck and will get new shoes today. We plan to spend time together wrenching this afternoon and evening and tomorrow morning. Depending on our progress, he should be ready to go tomorrow.
The kid is so excited, he can hardly control himself. To tell the truth, so am I.
My Wee strom is over at Mr. Vasseur's shop...he put new front fork seals and replaced my rear PR3 with a new PR4. I'll be picking it up this afternoon.

 
Jay - I was sorry I just missed u at Ronnie's. We need to get together and take a ride soon

We got all of the mechanical and safety work done on Jacobs new bike. We still have the pretty stuff to do but that can come with time. Jacobs coming over in the morning and we are going to test the hornet proper.

 
Details of the performance award please!! I won't tell anyone.

Jacob is so lucky to have you mentor him. I am jealous and proud for some reason. You are first class!!!

 
Awesome thread. Always my choice to start out dirt but this appears a street start well done.

I’m late running across this thread so if I missed previous mention of this point forgive me (attention span too short to carefully read three whole pages of posts). Living under Mom’s roof and rules may have prevented a bike purchase. But it likely wouldn’t stop a kid bitten with the 2wheel bug from seeking out a two wheeled crowd of his choosing (stuntas?) with no influence from mom or uncle. There’s hours of entertainment available on youtube revolving around the unqualified going for a spin on their buddy's bike.

I had a couple nephews whose dad got them dirt bikes. Shortly thereafter dad ended up out of the picture. They knew I rode dirt with great enthusiasm, if not with great skill. They asked about my riding. Teenage boys-single working mom. If they were going to ride with me they would have to acquire proper and $$$ gear-one issue. If I got these kid’s into riding/racing would I be creating big hassle and worry for sisinlaw? Heck, looking back I couldn’t even afford to ride as much as I did (I still have a tab at the dirt bike place and haven't entered a race since 2006). Bigger issue-if one of these youngsters got hurt because of me how would the family handle that?

These concerns along with the fact that we had our own kids to raise and entertain meant that I may have missed a great opportunity to connect with these kids through bikes. Go to a dirt bike public trail, race or other event and don’t be surprised to see three generations of riders, including mom and sis, out there having a blast. The crowd that my nephews ended up running with caused them much more harm than a dirt bike could. Now I have to wonder how things might have turned out if I had talked the family into supporting/sponsoring the nephews’ interest in riding.

Keep up the good work HP

 
It’s alive!!!

Jacob met me at my office yesterday around noon and we drove over to the tire dude’s shop to get some new shoes put on his bike. Those PR2s should last a while on this light bike.

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We got back to my shop mid-afternoon and started tearing the bike apart.

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The fork oil was stinky. The ’04 Hornet does not have any adjustability on the front suspension.

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Talk about a Naked Standard!

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I found a shop manual PDF file on the web and Jacob was good at looking up torque specs and other references. Those young wipper snappers are good at that computer ****.

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We changed fork oil, flushed brakes and coolant, changed a bent front brake handle, bent shifter, and bent rear brake pedal, lubricated all pivot points, blew out the air filter, cleaned the air box, drained the snot tube, cleaned and adjusted the chain/sprocket, and a few other things.

We wrapped it up about 9:30 pm and I was pooped. But Jacob was so excited about his January Christmas present to himself. He asked me to go with him on a short ride this morning, and I just couldn’t resist. Jacob had to work today at 11:00, so we met at 7:00 am at my house.

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We rode about 30 miles toward the Atchafalaya Levee road, stopping once so Old Uncle Pants could have a cup of Joe.

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We stopped on the levee to play a little.

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A river road is a great place for a 20 year old to get to know a new motorcycle. Wide open, no traffic, no hidden hazards, no cross streets. I could hear that 2-brothers exhaust singing from 100 yards away.

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Looks like he’s getting the hang of it.

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100 miles for the morning and we were both all smiles. We’ll have some good times coming up.

He really likes the bike and quite frankly, I can’t blame him. The new tires and fork oil on that bike really made a difference. It runs like a spotted ape. All told, he’s got well under $2,000.00 in it and I think he did very well.

 
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And if he did not have an Awesome Uncle 'Pants to help him there is no telling how much it would have cost him by now. Without your wrenching skills to back him up he would have had to buy a newer bike or paid someone quite a chunk of cash to get that bike to this condition. Or, he would have to ride it like it was and that would not have been as safe or enjoyable.

Quite honestly in order for me to get all that work done to a bike like that I would have had to just throw my credit card at it until it started working.
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I lack the confidence to attack the front forks.

I look forward to meeting this young man and riding with you both. Someday.

 
My son bought a 250 Kawasaki Ninja as his first bike and then took the motorcycle training course before riding the Ninja.

He had the Ninja a year then bought a FZ6. I rode the FZ6 a couple of times, it was a 97hp rocket. Much quicker than I expected.

He rode on the back of my bike for 6 years before getting his own bike so he was aware of what to look out for when riding a bike.

He has since sold his bike and moved out west. I don't think it will be long before he gets another bike.

It was great to go out on rides together and watch him ride and experience the joy of motorcycling.

 
Update - February 20, 2015

Jacob came by to pickup his Nighthawk 250 from my shop. He's gonna clean it up and put it on C/L for sale. It's about time for that - hell, in 4 weeks, we might hit 80 degrees.

The Hornet runs like a well oiled machine. For a carb'ed bike, I find it runs extremely well. Dead cold - pull the choke and just touch the button. She fires right up and 5 seconds later, you can push it back to 1/2 choke and she purrs at about 1500 rpm. From there, the N-1 gear drop is not clunky and you can take off with no hesitation or delay. Like any carb'ed Honda, she warms up very slowly, but once there, she runs perfectly. And trust me when I say that this bike will get out of its way. That redline is way up there (maybe 13K), and it's a blast to run her up in the power band and let her sing. Jacob gets between 45 and 50 mpg (better than Pants would) as expected and we haven't experienced any mechanical problems with the bike. Next oil change, I'm gonna flush the cooling system again just to be on the safe side. The stuff that came out of there last month was pretty nasty. Otherwise, he's made a great buy and that bike should give him many thousands of miles of enjoyment.

He's ordered a few "make it pretty" parts for his Hornet (Stator cover, etc) - stuff that got rashed a little when the bike was dropped by the PO. I told him to holla when these parts come in so we can plan another shop day. Like any college kid, Jacob is strapped for cash but unlike many, and like his Uncle Pants, Jacob pays cash for his toys so the Frame Sliders, Exhaust Silencer tip, and other farkles will have to wait until "next paycheck" or the one thereafter. He's a good kid - I'm really proud of him and very blessed that he's let me be part of this experience.

Jacob continues to commute to school on his bike, but admitedly doesn't have much time for anything else. I want to take him on a short camping trip, and he wants to join me, but to get off work, he has to give them notice, and Pants prefers to watch the weather and sneak off at the proverbial last minute. If I made Jacob give up a weekend of work cash, and then cancelled on him if the weather turne to crap, I'd feel guilty about it. We'll just have to work that one out.

Jacob's riding buddies ride baby Ninja's, so at least for the time being, he's the "top dog". That 600 cc Honda inline 4 is barely breathing when the sport bikes are hitting the rev limiter. Thankfully, Jacob doesn't ride like a squid, and I truly believe he's capable of riding his 100-ish HP rocket responsibly.

Like our friend LKLD, I'm walking the fine line between teaching/preaching and giving some helpful rider advice with Jacob. He's now got several thousand miles under his belt, and he rides very well. Part of me feels compelled to teach somewhat out of worry. If Jacob falls for something stupid, especially on my "watch", it would be hard for me to look my sister in the eye. But a growing part of me feels I've done the best I can, Jacob's a grown man now, and sooner or later, he's got to take responsibility for his own actions.

You peeps have helped me with this realization along the way - I appreciate that.

 
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Thanks for the update!! Jacob has/is finding what makes "his engine purr" He sounds likes he's miles ahead of where i was in life at his age. His priorities are/seem to be very,very mature!! School and work coming first!! I still struggle with that one....only school being replaced with being a home owner. Your sister said he would do what he wanted anyway...she should be proud too!

 
What a great thread. My cool uncle didn't get me into motorcycling but the summers I spent riding passenger in his Mack flatbed + trailer lumber hauler picking up loads at what I remember as every sawmill in the Northwest ignited a love of traveling the back roads that I have never lost. My progression was a Hondo 90CT in'64, a 305 Super Hawk a year and 9800 miles later and then a 500 Hawk a couple of years later. Decades long break before I bought my '09 and after I stopped wondering what I had got myself into I found my love of the back roads and just smelling the air is just as strong as it ever was.Your nephew is truly blessed to have such a great mentor.

 
[echo of the previous two threads] You are definitely the cool Uncle, but props for doing it right and teaching responsibility.

 
Update March 22, 2015

Jacob and I were supposed to go camping this weekend, but the weather had other ideas. Since he took the weekend off from his part time job, I told him to come over for a shop day. Now that his bike is mechanically sound and proven reliable (Like a Honda UJM would be anything BUT reliable), Jacob saved his nickels and bought some parts to address some of the cosmetic issues.

The stock mirrors on the Hornet are garbage. A friend of mine from the UJM forum gave Jacob a set of Nighthawk mirrors with some black extenders. These work real well.

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Jacob is having fun playing with his toy.

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We installed a pair of frame sliders. Now that we are making the bike pretty, we might as well try to protect it. The upper radiator hose has a small tear in it. It wasn’t leaking, but Jacob wanted to change it and I can’t argue with that.

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Jacob replaced the rashed thermostat cover.

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He picked up a exhaust tip silencer from 2-brothers. This makes a HUGE difference. The pipe is still louder than stock, but it’s not obnoxious. Jacob likes it and so do I.

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The timing chain cover was also rashed, so Jacob replaced it. I took an opportunity to show Jacob what the cam chain does, how the chain tensioner works (same as the FJR), etc. Jacob recognized the hall effect sensor used for the crankshaft position sensor (I think they call this the”pulser”) – he recently learned about this in one of his engineering classes at University.

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Looks pretty good.

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Jacob’s been on the search for a used fuel tank, but they are unavailable and a new one must be lined with Platnum ($900 bucks! Yikes!), so he picked up a bottle of touch up paint. The dent has some surface rust on it and if we don’t do something, he will be forced to replace it soon. So I gave him my dremel tool and he cleaned up the surface rust.

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Then he gently applied the touch up paint.

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I think it looks Okay and he is still at about $2,000 on his whole investment.

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The idle speed was a little low, so we started playing with that. Not as easy as it sounds. The adjustment wheel is very hard to get to, and you risk burning your hands every time you touch it. We had a little excitement as one of the vacuum tees came completely un-done and we had to do some real creative fishing to get it out from underneath the starter. Then more creativity as we used several sets of needle nosed pliers to re-attach all hoses. But she purring at about 1400 rpm now and runs like a top.

We still have the rashed stator cover to replace, but it was getting late and Pants wanted to watch some hoops so I called it. Weather today is shaping up – we may go take a ride this afternoon.

On a side note, Jacob was texting quite a bit yesterday afternoon. I finally inquired and it would seem that a certain member of the female persuasion is the source of the exchange. A while back, this young lady saw him at school, was impressed with the bike, and asked if he’d take her for a ride. They started talking and now they are seeing each other casually. Jacob insisted that she wear a F/F helmet, riding jacket, gloves, and boots. He took her to Cycle Gear and she bought some stuff. Jacob says that she hold on tight, enjoys the ride, and he likes to ride with her. He showed me a picture of her – nice looking kid.

It would appear that the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree.

 
The tank dent looks to be too "creased" to pop out. I hope there is no interior tank coating that has been compromised or he may be looking for a new tank sooner rather than later. If it was me, I probably would fill the dent with Bondo or the like once I was sure that the rust was truly taken care of. It appears to be the only significant blemish in a nice looking motorcycle. Although you couldn't make it disappear without a professional repaint, I think it could become invisible at anything beyond 6' or so. Maybe some black striping or stickers could hide it once it was filled?

Anyway, it looks like he is having some fun with it.

 
Uncle 'Pants is awesome! I am a bit jealous of Jacob. And I also realize why my cousins treat my Dad the way they do...

With regards to females and motorcycles, some ladies just like the bikes. I think it has to do with the danger aspect, the James Dean edginess... If I had only been clever enough to exploit that back in the day... One friend of mine who rides a stretched Hayabusa said it very simply and crudely, "A motorcycle man can get some a--." Not exactly how I would have put it but it stayed with me.

Just wait until:

"Uncle Joey, I need to borrow your bike. "Trixie" and I have a date and we need something a bit nicer and classier than my Honda. Your bike is more comfy with that big custom seat and that backrest for her. Your bike is just what we need, you know, something with saddlebags and luggage capacity since we will be spending the weekend."

 
Ross - the inside of the tank (what I can see of it) near the dent does not appear to be compromised. I'm hopeful that the touch up paint will hold the rust at bay. Truth be told, even if Jacob bit the bullet and bought a new tank from Honda (factory painted), he'd still be ahead of the game cost wise. Sadly, I don't think he has the money for it now.

R/H - Jacob just jumped up about 200 pounds from the Nighthawk 250 to the Hornet 599. And now another 110-ish for the pillion. I don't think he's quite ready for another 150 pounds for the feejer. Perhaps I should tell him what my buddy says:

"I treat my motorcycles like I treat the ladies. You can't ride mine unless I get to ride yours!"

(Bad Pants)

I put on a new pair of shoes on my own horse Saturday, and I wanted to scrub them in before I leave on my next adventure (Thursday). Jacob came over and we rode 20 miles to the firing range. Jacob shoots a Glock 19 and I have a Springfield XD (both 9mm). We each burned through a box of ammo and took the long way home. Nice time.

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