Bike Maintenance - Burns Style
So, it's getting to be about that time again.  The snow is finally melting, the roads are being cleared of the sand, and the race  season is fast approaching.  So what does that mean?  Time to do all the maintenance on your bikes that you should have been doing over the winter!

I loaded up the XX and the F4 and headed off to a super secret tuning shop whose location I am not at liberty to divulge.  :-) The plan was to check valve clearances on both bikes, check the carbs, and time the cams on the F4 to try and wring a few more hp out of the motor.

I arrived at the secret location about 1:30pm.  I think I left around 5am.  The sun was coming up as I pulled into my driveway.  But we got everything done!

 
The high performance dog Sasha and the low performance dog Cooch check each other out.  I feel a new NEDoD calendar coming on.  "The dogs of NEDoD".  :-)
Patrick is takes in all the doggie love.
After trying to chase Sasha around for a while (a lost cause for Cooch), Cooch gives up and resorts to doing what she does best, guard.  While Sasha decides to head out and check out what's going on somewhere else.
Mmmmm, purty F4 engine bits.  The cams are out, waiting for their new slotted cam sprockets.
The F4's carbs. We took them apart just to make sure they were still nice and clean, since they had to be pulled anyway.
F4, sans cams.
The XX and the F4, with Patrick in the background hard at work.
The XX sans valve cover.  Didn't need to pull the cams, all the valves were in spec.  Gotta love Honda.
What do you do when threads on your timing wheel don't match those of the bike you are trying to time cams on?  You improvise.  Patrick checks out Fizzer for any donor bolts.
Patrick poses with his latest creation in precision timing equipment.
One engine mounting bolt from Fizzer, some garden hose (No joking!) and some electrical tape later, we are all set.
Yup, that's where the bolt came from.  Poor Fizzer!
Patrick marks the timing wheel.
You think Patrick was joking about sanding down valve shims? He wasn't.
Setting the timing on the exhaust valve.
Setting valve timing is precision work.  Those observant will notice that the filename of the photo just switched from "407" to "408".  That would indicate it's past midnight now.   :-)
And setting the timing on the intake cam.
It's about 3am.  Everything is mostly back together.  Patrick is punchy.  So he decides it's time to take the camera and start taking some "glamour" shots.
Trying shots with different lighting.
With flash.
Without.
A good shot of the setup being used to time the cams.
Nice close-up of the dial gauge on the exhaust lifter.
Damn.  Patrick decided to show me #6 after he was done.   :-)