CBRF2Old

As some of you know, this is my second Ascot (third is Pinky the parts bike). The first Ascot (otherwise known a the GoodAscot) I purchased new and has about 9000 miles on it.
I bought BadAscot a couple of years ago (it was pink...some of you will remember it from Bike Night with pink tassles on it) and cleaned it up, painted it, and did some mods to make it a little "cleaner" looking.
This spring I tore down the front end to replace the steering bearings and do a fork seal replacement on it. As is usual for any of my projects, it took a back seat to some other projects and I just recently got around to working on it again. Put it all back together (seals seem to be working, and the tapered steering bearings work great.) and hooked up all the wiring for the front end...turn signals don't work! Tore down the front of Pinky to check the wiring and I have it all correct.
So, I thought that I would put the tank on and see if it will start. Dead battery. Pulled the battery and put it on the charger. Opened the fuel petcock and gas started pouring out of the bottom of the bike. Can't find the exact leak, but screw around with it for a few minutes and the leak stops.
Put the charged battery back in and tried to start it. Won't turn over all the way. Hydrolocked...pulled the plugs (the ones that are easy to get at, this thing has two plugs per cylinder) and hit the starter. Left side cylinder spits about a pint of fuel on the wall. Good thing I am standing on the right (and not smoking...I am way smarter than that). Got it cleaned up and put the plugs back in and started it up. Huge backfire as it ignited the fuel in the muffler (cops should be here any minute) and then it ran fine. Turned it off and let it sit for a while then tried it again. Left cylinder is full of gas again. Now I need to pull the carbs and see why the float is stuck. Also need to pull the carbs on the GoodAscot because they are gummed up from sitting too long.
I think I will go back to calling the BadAscot Pandora cause every time I open it up, things go bad.

whitedevil

NICE! I suggest we call it "The Black Box"! LMAO

CBRF2Old

No, Black Box refers to something that "magic" happens in that no one understands. Also "Smoke and mirrors" refers to the same. Something wonderful is happening and all I know is that "it is good". The only smoke involved here is when it clears it throat of the unburned gas. Mirrors are what I use to look into the deep dark crevice's of this pig to see what parts are not working.

Just finished changing the oil/gas mixture and found that I have 5 crush washers for the CBR and 4 for the Nighthawk...you would think that I have some for the majority of the bikes in my garage??

Don't get me wrong here, I love working on my bikes, but sometimes you just want to get some return on your investment other than another project...or three. I want to ride this thing!

CBRF2Old

Oh, by the way, the Black Box with Pink Tassels would just sound weird.

shaner

I just call that "every bike I've ever owned".

CBRF2Old

Thanks for making me feel better Shaner. I think my track record is better than yours.

theduckllr

So Karl, you gotta clue us in on the whole "Ascot experience". I had a buddy in highschool that used to let me tool around on his, and I feel like I must have missed something. So what is it about the Ascot that tickles your fancy so much that you find owning three of them to be "not unusual". I mean, back when the Ascots were new, they were underpowered middle weights, with not particually noteworthy performance figures. The brakes are pretty iffy. Was it the japanese take on Harley Flat Tracker styling that sent you over the edge? Did you take a girl for a ride in 82' and get lucky? (I can only assume she didn't press charges). I ask this because I myself have owned a few "older" bikes and had to deal with limited parts availablility, host of mechanical, electrical, and suspension goblins. I know how much time these damn things can require in the garage with greasy hands and busted knuckles. You have to be pretty passionate about a bike to commit that many man hours, dollars, and headaches just to keep them running. Mine were italian racebikes that made me smile everytime I walked into the garage. The rides they offered between teardowns were absolutely worth it. Does a ride on an Ascot do that for you? I remember jumping on a 85 VFR500 and thinking that it must be turbo'd compared to Stevo's borrowed Ascot. You seem like a pretty normal guy, so if you are avoiding the mrs, we would get that.

So why the humble Ascot? (If you don't have an answer, I'm calling the producers of "Hoaders, buried alive" and submitting your name to them).

whitedevil

Found your mistake! this should answer your question. LMAO

theduckllr

Using myself as a benchmark, damn near everyone is "normal"

CBRF2Old

Excellent questions. WD clicked on the right answer about being "normal", but it does go beyond that.
Yes, the Ascot could be considered underpowered, but by what standards? I started out on street bikes (discounting the Husky WR360 that I got my license with) with an '83 Ascot FT500 (the single cylinder) and thought it was a blast. Good low end grunt that would pull a wheelie off idle. Then I saw the VT500 and bought it. Smoother power, less vibration, shaft drive, cooler lines than the FT (yes the flat tracker image bit me hard). I have "backed it in" on a couple of dirt road corners and the VT is not just "image". As for the girl, I had one on the back on some corners heading from Bonneville Dam to Portland at night and wicked it on coming out of a corner, hit about 85 and (drum roll please) there was another corner, not just any corner, but a 90 degree right hander. We tucked into the corner and rode it out. Ground down a screw on the exhaust system and one of the pegs, kicked the bike sideways about a foot and it kept on track. She thought it was a blast (blonde), but it scared the crap out of me. More so the next day when I leaned the bike over to see how far you had to go to touch that screw (spare me the rocket scientist explanations of how much lower the bike would be when under compression).
Yes the brakes are iffy, but on an underpowered bike, they are less important than something that will go a buck fifty in the blink of an eye. They will however pull you to a marginally quick stop when you need it with decent feed back. I would like dual discs up front though.
There is also a cult following of Ascot owners (they didn't sell well when new) and the general consensus of this group is that this is a great bike for around town, mild sporty corners, and short trips (some of them do long hauls on them but they also put gaudy tall windscreens on them). I guess it is a dare to be different thing.
To sum it all up, it must be the styling because I am hankering for a Harley XR1200.

whitedevil

See, now you are just full of it, simply because anyone that knows better, such as myself, knows there is not a benchmark in the world to test you...

theduckllr

Well thank you for the heart felt reply. I did a little digging and gave this some thought. Thanks to google, I was able to track down the "cult following of Ascot owners" and now I'm really worried. It looks like this cult consists of just you, and a Korean male in his 60's that closely resembles Rekes crossdressing avatar. "Backing it in" on a dirt road is a euphemism for "lost the back end moments before riding into the barrow ditch" and can be quickly replicated on any Canyon County gravel lane with a full dress ElectraGlide. But I digress.

No matter what stirs your passion for these bikes, I think we can all raise our glass and toast the fact that the blonde didn't press charges after all.

shaner

Now those are dead sexy bikes! Wait, did I just admit that on a public forum? Holy ###t I'm getting old...

CBRF2Old

I don't think you are even as old as my Ascot.

CBRF2Old

Damn, I should have known that you would google that. Still, you are wrong, there are three of us. The other is a guy that uses his as an adventure bike somewhere in Colorado (search for Ascot on ADVRider.com).

theduckllr

Then perhaps its time you captalize on your budding ranks and fire up www.ascotshaggers.org I think its still available on GoDaddy.

whitedevil

Yes indeed!!!

The guy that sold you the 3 bikes does not count KARL!!!!!! as much as I wanted to allow it, I just can't!

theduckllr

Damn it Karl. You better not be cooking the books just to raise your hit count! If I find out you've been dressing up as a bra wearing,elderly Korean guy and taking self portraits.... so help me god.

CBRF2Old

I acquired all of these from different people...only one of them was a shady deal.

CBRF2Old

I have NEVER impersonated a Korean...er, or ANY of those other things.

I also don't need to start my own forum. There is already an Ascot group out there. Funny thing is that it is hosted on Yahoo groups (quite a few members I might add) and they refuse to put it on a forum format like this. Maybe they are smarter than I think.

theduckllr

I hear you. Those pesky bra straps always dig into my shoulders.

Hozhead

Karl - I do indeed remember the tassels!

You seriously need to get two out of three Ascots into fighting condition. If I make it up to Boise sometime but don't have a motorcycle with me, I'm showing up at your door and demanding that we take a matching set of Ascots on the Lowman loop.