Thought someone may find this interesting. 1969 BSA Firebird. TOTAL nut and bolt restoration from the sludge trap up. 2 1/2 years of my life spent cussing and bleeding but so worth it. Took second place, Peoples Choice, at the Davenport Iowa motorcycle show. I absolutely love it! IMG_0925.JPG IMG_20...

My '83 was notorious for this. I regularly ride in COLD weather. It never started with the choke on. I always went no choke- 2 to 3 twists of the throttle- hit start. As soon as it started I hit the choke full on. This works down to 15 degrees, thats as cold as I have ridden to work.... The bike had...

On my 83 I had a squealing noise that I thought were the tensioners also. Turned out to be the tach drive cable. I could feel it by grabbing the tach when running, it vibrated very strongly- speedo cable did the same thing a week later. Drove me nuts trying to find the noise!! If you cant feel it tr...

Thank you Gentlemen!! I did ever so slightly back them out just enough to turn with my finger. A little confused as to why Mother Honda would allow them to set too far in....

Replacing the front wheel bearings. When fully seated I can not turn the inside of the bearing with my finger, its too tight. If I back of from fully seated (just ever so slightly) then of course I can turn it. There is no bur on the spacer between left and right and I used All Balls bearings. Posit...

On my '85 Aspencade the third led bar from the bottom on the temp gauge has ceased to exist... Not a huge problem but I do need it for the front air pressure readout. Is there a way to check and possibly repair this one led bar? All the others are in good working order.

I just wanted to give a shout out to GoldwingDocs for fixing the off idle hesitation on my '85 Aspencade. It was not real bad but REALLY irritating!! Take off from a stoplight and a little hiccup and hesitation occasionally a backfire then it ran great. I forum searched the problem and came across a...

Hi all. I am replacing the front wheel bearings on my '85 Aspencade so I had to remove the brake discs. Trying hard not to rip the damper cushion thats between the disc and hub, I did destroy one. My questions are: how important is it to use the exact material to replace it? I have a rubber type mem...

I frequently ride in very cold weather (15 degrees is my record low) and use heated gloves by First Gear. Holding on to the throttle gets a lot harder for any length of time with gloves on. I bought a Cramp Buster and trimmed it down to my preference. Works perfect!! You can use your wrist to operat...

Looking to replace my '85 Aspencade with something a bit newer. I upgraded to this from an '83 Standard with Vetter fairing and Honda bags. Both bikes have the dreaded headshake at 30mph slowdown, even after new neck bearings. What year did this finally disappear?

I have an 85 Aspencade and ride until the snow falls. 15 degrees is my personal best (or worse lol) for a 32 mile ride to work at 4:30 a.m. I use First Gear heated jacket liner and heated gloves a LOT! Never had a problem. Removed the radio and use the control panel and original knobs for the heat s...

My two cents worth: Make sure the plunger on the wire clip end is not stuck. It should move in and out freely when depressed with your thumbnail. Been there- leaked that.

I am going to bet that you found the problem in the speedo. Had what sounds like the same thing on my '83. Squeak started small and became louder by the week. DROVE ME CRAZY trying to find it. Replaced bearings, timing belts and tensioners. One day while riding I just reached down and felt the speed...

Mt P.G also checked close to spec until I bent the wires with my fingers as far as I could reach while checking with a multi meter. Finally found that the wiring was either broke or corroded about 4 inches from the plug under the faux tank. More wiggling put it back to spec then back to 0. Problem s...

I had a similar problem with my 85 aspencade. Ran fine then in an instant it was like someone hit the kill switch, everything dead. Started right back up and dead again. Happened 5 times just going around the block! Finally tracked it to the pulse generator wire which tested fine until I wiggled the...

New to me 85 A. Seems like the speed sensor is not accurate, so many people passing me unless I get it to 65 mph in a 55. Really don't want to find out the hard way (ticket) so can some one check rpm at 55 and 65? Now you have another excuse to tell the Misses that ya need to go for a ride.....

I have put over 60,000 miles on my '83 with the 130/90's and never had a problem using the Dunlop Elites. The last tire I put on was a 140/90 and could not tell a difference.

And also that you have verified that the slides move properly and the diaphragms are perfect(no holes). Lifting the needle adds just a touch more fuel in that rpm range what's the best way to check the slides? When I had the carbs apart the diaphragms looked ok i don't know if they are sealing perf...

A carb sync can remedy some weird noises and vibrations so let us know on that one. If I remember correctly (its been a while since I owned my 83) a retorque of the head bolts are in order after a short run time.

Thanks Nate, now I am really curios to see any answers on this. There is no such thing as too much info on our 'Wings!

Hi dano955, hotwire gave a fantastic response to your question and I would like to add my experience as well. I was sure one of my pgs were bad but tested in spec while installed on the bike. I removed them and tested them again and found one went completely dead while I wiggled it during testing. B...

Hey repo, I have not heard of doing this but am wondering what the advantage is. I replaced my 85 A easily and they were cheap and easy to find.

I personally would not get sand paper anywhere near an open cylinder either. What I did was use new razor blades and carefully scraped every mating surface till clean. Yes it was labor intensive but effective. It is easy to nick the mating surface if you strong arm and rush it. (p.s.- I have been of...

I used Athena on the last head gasket replacement. After 15,000 miles (so far) no leaks or problems. They fit nicely with no surprises. I also CAREFULLY scraped the carbon off the piston tops but left the carbon ring in the bore alone. Man I love scraping carbon....NOT!

Having trouble finding a vb 48 a left front carb for a 1983 that is not astronomically priced. Will any other vb carb work? Does anyone have an extra they would sell? As always THANK YOU in advance!