Nihontochicken

Oooooohhh, bright red valve covers. Must resist, must resist ...

I'll take the OEM fairing: 100.00 + shipping PM to follow.

Getting into the swing of social distancing now. Here I am today about to go to the grocery store:

I've done nothing, this is how the scooter came fro the original owner. I'm guessing it's just the amount of bolting force on the bar anchor. When I dropped the bike on its left side in the driveway , the bar anchor joint didn't rotate, only the ball joint moved, enough to keep the mirror from breaking (a scuff on the rim only).

As I mentioned in another thread, I'm happy with my CRG barend mirrors, tucked in, give a decent rear view, and one of mine even survived the V11 driveway drop test. CRG makes many other styles, link below if interested (no relation, my mirrors came with the bike when I bought it). http://www.constructorsrg.com/mirrors/index.html

I see what you did there.

Here's a closer shot of the critical parts (not showing the typical T-handle and bit holder on opposite ends). I'm quite limited on the size of pictures I can post here, so this is the best I can do after shrinking the frame, and hence the rather small pics earlier. Shown also is the original mailing box, but I don't still have the receipt, alas. Now that I think of it, the tool may have cost closer to $75, but I'm just guessing now, it was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Note, I corrected a misstatement in my post above. "Depending on how far the sliding hammer is rotated with respect to the Delrin buttons, the tool may be used to either tighten or loosen screws or bolts" should instead read "Depending on which way the sliding hammer is rotated with respect to the Delrin buttons, the tool may be used to either tighten or loosen screws or bolts." Of course, only an idiot would use an impact driver to tighten a fastener, it is generally useful only for loosening. Some specialized bits to cut new slots in buggered screw heads were supposed to be included with the tool, but Joe was out of them when he sent my example, and I never did get them. Too bad, they would have been useful in a few cases.

Colder ... Warmer ... And we have a winner! It is indeed a specialized impact driver. Depending on which way the sliding hammer is rotated with respect to the Delrin buttons, the tool may be used to either tighten or loosen screws or bolts. The degree of rotation will vary how much force is delivered to seat the screw or bolt and how much is applied as a torque. Once loosened, a fastener could then be unscrewed with the T-handle wrench. It was made about fifty years by Joe Bolger of Barre, Mass. I think it was about $50, a fair piece of change back then. What a "serious" rider would have in his kit, along with his safety wire twisting tool.

Here are the tools I generally use: A bit more seriously, as I was going through my old tools, I came up with this one. Anyone wish to identify what it is? Bonus points for naming the maker and approximate year of manufacture. Double bonus points for explaining why this tool was intended as an improvement over its more usual competitors.

Ooh, bright red valve covers!

I have Shinko on my DR650, works decently for the street. For the dirt, well, okay for a smooth fire road, but that's as technical a situation as I want to push an overweight, undersuspended pig like a DR650 anyway. As an aging serious trail rider who gave it up a few years back, here's my rant (again?): Any tire that works well in the dirt will get burned up in a thousand miles or less of street riding and then be worthless in the dirt. Any tire that can last a few thousand miles on the street is about worthless in the dirt from the gitgo. Of course, I'm talking serious dirt riding here, not an occasional gravel road, so this contention has somewhat limited application to the big brontosaurs even heavier than my DR and so even less appropriate for real dirt. I think Shinko is likely the best current trade off between price, dirt traction and lifespan. JMHO.

FWIW, here is the set up on my V11 as purchased from the original owner. The left side CRG bar end mirror was unfortunately static drop tested in my driveway early on and survived with only some scratches, mostly hidden now with a bit of black touch up paint (the left turn signal was terminal). The newer CRG models seem to go for about one Benjamin a pair. I'm pretty happy with these mirrors, adjusted so my elbows take only about a quarter of the field of view. I wouldn't put up with the high rise stock mirrors or equivalent. (Hmmm, looks like the scooter needs a bath. )

Ooh, bright red valve covers. I feel a stirring. Must resist, must resist ...

Replaced the valve cover gasket yesterday with a cheap and simple greenie item available off eBay. Test ride today indicates the oil boundary is holding. Will see what a few more miles and heat cycles do. As mentioned in another thread, most time was taken by cleaning off remnants of the old gasket. Didn't the Japanese solve the problem of engine oil leaks about fifty years ago?

Replaced the leaking left valve cover gasket today. Will smoke test it tomorrow. Just used a readily available green gasket, perhaps will invest in the high zoot metal item if this current entry fails. Of course, most of the time was spent scraping the old gasket remains off the mating surfaces. Noted that the cover mating surface does not seem to be very flat, may have to try the glass plate grind trick if it piddles again. Also temporarily replaced the aluminum front brake reservoir cap with a plastic one that will serve while I get the original recoated due to the brake fluid corrosion of the paint. Maybe do it in Italian fire engine red?