Cruiser Index
www.cdthayer.com
Cruiser Maintenance, Repairs, & Upgrades
Page Six
1998 Suzuki Marauder VZ800 Tank Bra Design & Construction
    |
Not finding a tank bra for a Suzuki Marauder VZ800 readily available to her, Bear decided to design and construct her own from raw materials. She used bulk newspaper to make a pattern, and then cut the tank bra out of bulk "leather-like" vinyl fabric. |
    |
Using a standard home sewing machine, she began sewing the tank bra together, including edge trim cut from the same vinyl fabric, to give a more finished look. |
    |
After the edge trim was in place, she attached a black elastic strip around the outer edge to hold the tank bra securely on the tank. Test fittings on the tank and subsequent adjustments to the elastic strip were needed to determine the correct placement of the elastic for a good fit. |
    |
After getting the tank bra adjusted to her liking, the final step
before installation on the bike was to personalize the tank bra using an embroidery
machine. Then, the new tank bra was installed on "Bruiser", Bear's Marauder, to
begin road-testing. A scrap of the vinyl fabric was placed in gasoline for 24 hrs to see what the reaction would be, and the results indicated no adverse reaction such as blistering or discoloration. It appears that the fabric is not subject to damage from a fuel spill. |
1995 Kawasaki Vulcan VN750 Airbox Bolt Repair
    |
The little ears inside of the airboxes tend to split open when tightened too much, causing the imbedded nut to spin when the bolt is loosened the next time. The bolts must come out to service the air filter element, so an airbox repair or replacement is required. If this happens to you, remove the airbox from the bike by removing the two bolts attaching the airbox to the bike, and carefully push/pull the airduct boot through the hole in the airbox. Be careful not to damage the airduct by pulling too hard on the airbox. Once removed, stick a pair of ViceGrips or pliers in through the hole in the back side of the airbox to grip the damaged ear for bolt removal. Put a small hose clamp on the damaged ear to clamp the plastic firmly around the imbedded nut. |
1998 Suzuki Marauder VZ800 Starter Replacement
 |
Removing and replacing the starter motor on a Suzuki Marauder VZ800 is fairly straight forward, and not terribly difficult, but I wasn't sure if it could be done without taking the exhaust loose. I removed the two bolts that hold the starter motor to the housing (as indicated by the two arrows in the upper right photo) and wiggled the starter out of the housing. I held the starter close to the exhaust pipe to remove the starter cable from the post. The starter motor (arrow, lower left photo) will come out between the frame and the exhaust pipe on the right side of the bike. If you're going to be a while before reinstalling the starter, stuff a rag or something into the hole where the starter shaft enters the housing (arrow, lower right photo) to keep dirt and debris from entering. |
 |
The starter motor has an o-ring (arrow, upper left photo) that seals the mounting hole into the housing. I had to wiggle the starter while pulling outward to overcome the resistance of the o-ring seal. Likewise, I had to wiggle the starter during installation to reinsert the shaft into the housing. Then I started the top bolt by wiggling the starter with one hand and turning the bolt with the other. I wasn't able to get both hands into place to start the lower bolt, so I used a piece of rubber hose as an extension on the bolt head to get the lower bolt started. I used a piece of fuel line hose that I had on hand. Once the bolt was started, I pulled the hose loose from the bolt head and completed the installation. |
DISCLAIMER: ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE ONLY SHOWING HOW THE PROCEDURE WAS DONE BY US, AND DOES NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE BEST, PROPER, SAFEST, OR ONLY WAY TO DO SO. NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS, DAMAGE OR INJURY IS ASSUMED BY US IN ANY WAY. FOLLOW THESE EXAMPLES AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Back to the main page CD & Bear's Weekend Cruisers
Best viewed with 