Vintage Motorcycle and Moped Repair [Lancaster, PA area]

Description

If you live in or near the Lancaster, PA or are willing to arrange shipping the bike to me I can work on your vintage Honda or Yamaha Motorcycle or your vintage Moped. I only use OEM parts whenever possible and the right tools.

Services include:

Tune up

• Chain lube, chain slack, and chain alignment.
• Battery health and topping off the battery if needed.
• Fork oil. I only use factory oils.
• Complete brake flush.  Can swap to DOT5/Silicone for more reliable and practically maintenance-free brakes.
• Control Cables flush and lube. Adjust slack on all cables to factory specifications.
• Air filter replacement. Includes cleaning and oiling for foam type filters.
• Valve clearance adjustment. Includes a compression test before and after adjustment.
• Spark plugs and spark plug cap replacement with genuine NGK components.
• Timing verification and adjustment if necessary. Oil and lube the points felt and cam on points-based ignition bikes. I do static and then dynamic timing to verify.
• Oil change and filter. I only use factory oils and factory oil filters.
• Cam chain tension.
• Verify charging circuit with ammeter and voltmeter. Adjust regulator if manual style.
• Adjust clutch.
• Adjust slack on drum brake linkages, including rear brake pedal.
• Tighten spokes. If they are way off, I can recommend or out-source truing of the rims if desired.
• Adjust idle speed, idle mixture and carburetor synchronization.
• Replace any missing or bad fuel lines, vacuum lines, overflow lines, and breather lines.  I use real 5.5mm fuel line and clips, not the 1/4″ lawn mower lines.
• Test the petcock to verify fuel flow and that it works correctly in all positions.
• Tire pressure.

 

Diagnostics

• Plenty of motorcycle specific tools used for this process. See specialized tool listing below.

 

Repair

• Got leaky carbs or carbs that just don’t run right? For most carbs I can clean and replace the tired, rubber components and get it back to spec. For extreme cases or very complex carbs that need an expert I out-source to Mike Nixon. I only use OEM parts on carbs I service. Exception to that rule would be generic o-rings for crossover tubes, etc. if they can no longer be sourced from the manufacturer. In that case, I only use high quality Viton o-rings intended for fuel.
• Leaky front forks or front end just feels like it’s going to fall apart and dives forward when you apply the brakes? I can flush the forks out, replace those seals and put new fork oil in them. I also measure spring length to check if they are out of spec.
• Brake issues? For drum brakes, I take the hub out, clean the pads and can replace (at your discretion). I also take the brake cams out and clean, lightly sand (if necessary) and regrease. For hydraulic/disc brakes I service the entire caliper and master cylinder. Dial indicator used to check runout for warped rotors.
• Bad wiring, charging issues? I have the right crimp tools and OEM crimp connectors to fix corroded 2/3/6-pin and bullet connectors. I have the right tools to verify charging output. I can replace the fuse box for a new one or change it over to waterproof inline fuse holders and never worry about the main fuse becoming intermittent and leaving you on the side of the road ever again.
• Leaky seals or headgasket? I only use OEM parts for this, even if they must be sourced outside of the dealer because they are NLA. No cheap Vesrah or Athena kits will be used.
• And much more… contact me with your needs!

 

Specialized Tools include:

• Mercury carburetor sync gauges for 4-cylinder bikes (SOHC4s like the CB500/CB550/CB750).
• Fork oil level tool.
• Timing light and dwell meter for dynamic timing of points-based ignitions and to verify stator and pick-ups for electronic-based ignitions.
• Oscilloscope, peak voltage adapter, handheld tachs, analog meters, automotive grade digital meters, ammeters, high voltage capacitor/condenser tester, and homebrew coil testers for electrical diagnostics.
• OEM crimp connectors and the proper crimp tool for wiring repair.
• Hydrometer for testing battery health.
• Automotive-grade compression tester.
• Automotive cylinder leak down tester.
• Angled feeler gauges for valve clearances.
• Proper flywheel pullers and flywheel/clutch holders. I don’t use generic 3-jaw pullers.
• Chain alignment tool.
• Dial indicator for rim and brake rotor runout.
• Float height tool.
• Handheld vacuum pump for brake bleeding and DOT5/Silicone brake fluid conversion.
• JIS T-Handles so I can get those screws out without mangling them up.
• Borescope

Shop work is billed at $75/hr. Most tune-up jobs are 1 or 2 hours.