Riding My '95 Steamer Solo From NY to CA and Back Again June/July 2025

[ssevy]

Stay tuned...

[Lee337]

 

[93TigerBill-2016]

 

[ssevy]

I am leaving in one week to ride solo from Glens Fall NY, to Los Angeles CA, hopefully arriving at my youngest daughter's apartment on Father's Day. Having previously ridden solo to LA in 2021 on this same bike, I am both excited and somewhat trepidatious about my upcoming journey. The aforementioned 2021 trip was during the Covid pandemic, and I tented and kept to myself in as isolated a fashion as I could. Having to forego all of the interesting social interactions with people along the way was something that I dearly missed, and I hope to do much better this time. The April weather had me snowed in for a few days last time, but the recent storms across the Midwest and south have me concerned about what I may encounter in June this time around?
Oh well, you can only control what you can control, and the rest is in Karma's hands, so might as well get going on what I can do to prepare:
First task is to replace my wheel bearings. I have just over 80,000 miles on the bike, and while the old bearings are working just fine with nary a sign of trouble, I think it is prudent to replace them now. Headstock bearings are also showing no issues whatsoever, and since they do have a "tell" before they need replacement, I am not going to do those.
Other things being replaced include a new chain and both sprockets, all brake and hydraulic fluids, any brake pads near the end of their life, and two fresh tires. I will also check the valve clearances and grease all fittings. Plugs are pretty fresh, so I will probably just run them, as they are easy enough to change along the way if need be. I also need to see how old my coolant is, as it will be hot in the western states.
Riding gear will be a separate discussion as I get closer to next week's departure.

[ssevy]

First task: remove the front wheel and take out the bearings. I left the brake calipers connected and zip-tied them to my crash (sorry, "engine") bars, so they were not dangling with their weight on the lines and fittings. I photographed everything as I went, as the speedometer cable run in particular has to be "just so" or you risk damaging it. Being on my third one, I speak from experience on this
Once I had the wheel off, I placed it on top of my new back tire to protect the rotors from damage as I worked on it. I used Sin's trick and bought a Rawl anchor to insert in the bearing, and then flipped the wheel over and drove it out with a big bolt that I had. Everything went smoothly, and I took apart the speedo drive and cleaned all of the old nasty grease out of it. It always amazes me the square feet of coverage one good blast of compressed air blown into a greasy item can achieve, including bare arms, nearby cabinets, and especially eyeglasses. Additionally, Brake Cleaner is an excellent tool for locating any unnoticed cuts you may have on your hands and fingers, and also a good reminder that a dusty box of rubber mechanics gloves is buried somewhere on the workbench.

Here are some photos of the wheel bearing removal process for your enjoyment:

[Lee337]

What riding gear is always a tricky one with the changeable weather in the UK. I ended up with some textiles that have a waterproof shell so I don't need to take a waterproof oversuit. As they have removerable liners, they do for summer & winter. the only other thing I take is a bamboo base layer which tends to keep me warm in cooler weather & cool enough in warmer months to keep me feeling comfortable.

I usually find it difficult to decide what to take, especially if camping along the way, even with panniers, tank bag and topbox, I still ended up buying a roll bag for tent, sleeping bag & self inflating matress. That was on my XC, I only did a few away trips on the Girly & for that managed to cram everything into the panniers. Didn't take the tent though as I stayed in AirBnB.

I like the method for bearing removal too, never seen that one but definitely one to remember.

[ssevy]

Homemade tool for installing new bearings:






If you use a long carriage bolt as I did, the square head fits snugly in the 1/2" drive socket, so it won't spin and give you headaches. Really didn't require much effort at all to insert both sides at once. You could use another socket on the opposite side, but since it wasn't recessed, I just used the old bearing for a spacer under the two washers.

I could not find a rawl anchor the correct size to do what I did on the front wheel. One tip for removing the old bearings on the rear (which are a dirty sonofabitch to remove) is this: the center tube that you need to offset is really tight against the base of both bearings, which means tapping it slightly off center only gives you a very small lip to try to get your punch onto. Forget the punch, it is a waste of time! Once you have a small lip offset enough to gain some purchase, flip the wheel over and drop a tight fitting socket in the other bearing and give it a good rap. This gains you a bit of a gap, which then allows you to offset the tube much easier, and finish driving the tube and bearing out with the socket. You may need to clean up the tube end a bit, but it comes out, whereas I found the punch method to be damned near impossible.

[ssevy]

What riding gear is always a tricky one with the changeable weather in the UK. I ended up with some textiles that have a waterproof shell so I don't need to take a waterproof oversuit. As they have removerable liners, they do for summer & winter. the only other thing I take is a bamboo base layer which tends to keep me warm in cooler weather & cool enough in warmer months to keep me feeling comfortable.

I usually find it difficult to decide what to take, especially if camping along the way, even with panniers, tank bag and topbox, I still ended up buying a roll bag for tent, sleeping bag & self inflating matress. That was on my XC, I only did a few away trips on the Girly & for that managed to cram everything into the panniers. Didn't take the tent though as I stayed in AirBnB.

I like the method for bearing removal too, never seen that one but definitely one to remember.

Lovely bikes!
When I stopped at my dealer to pick up parts last week, they had some Tiger 900 GT leftovers with luggage for $12,000. I wish I were younger and could afford one!

[ssevy]

Okay, so I got my valves all checked and my shims all pulled. Lots of spots with no clearance on the intake side, which is completely my fault because since the rebuild at 40,000, I haven't rechecked them as I should. Fortunately, the shims are pretty thick, so I think I can get into the proper range without an issue.
Here are some photos:



Notice the white lines I added when I rebuilt it - so much easier to see when aligning the camshafts for removal at TDC.


Both manuals talk about using a wedge to keep the cam chain from falling off the crankshaft sprocket, but if you wedge on the left side of the tensioner, it makes the chain stay too tight to remove the camshafts easily. I decided to use two locking pliers, one on each side, which gives more slack up top where you need it.


One helpful tip is to screw one of the cap screws into the top center hole to gain some leverage for removing the caps.


Interior is clean as a whistle after 40,000 miles using Amsoil.


Lay out your camshafts with the caps in the order they go back on. They are engraved, and if you take several pictures on your phone before taking them off, you can't go wrong.


An egg carton is perfect for holding 12 buckets and shims. I cut off the top so I wouldn't catch it with my elbow and send the contents flying (don't ask).


Definitely measure and mark each shim as you take them out of the buckets. One of mine was unmarked, but most were close to the factory number stamped on the bottom face.

I made a quick spreadsheet with formulas to determine the correct shim replacements, and then I checked each one off the chart to be sure. 3 were in spec, 3 can be relocated, and so I need 6 new ones overall.


I'm off early tomorrow morning to try and track some down. Also getting my new tires mounted, which just leaves installing the new shims and buttoning up the engine, and then oil and filter, new red rubber grease on my caliper pistons, and install new chain and sprockets.

Yeah, I'm scheduled to leave at daylight on Saturday, and tomorrow is Tuesday already

[ssevy]

Sorry, some photos are not posting? I'll try again tomorrow...