SECOND UPDATE:
It's all done and runs spiffy. Setting tha tbtich up the right way took a lot of time.
Cant wait to take it all apart tommorow 8O
TIPS:
Watch your frigging hands on the welded shipping frame. Mine looked like Freddy from Elm street had a go at it.
I got my oldest son to help me lift the bike on to bucket before beginning work. It is a square pool chlorine bucket about 20" high and the bike balances nicely on the skidplate. Leaves you plenty of room and clearance to work.
Dont spill the little white container in the little white box packed around mid-frame...Hydrachloric acid, and besides after I spilled mine there wasnt quite enough left to hit the top of the plates in the batt. Charged up fine though, so WTF.
Only remove the bottom shipping frame bolts and you can lift the entire thing off with only 6 bolts.
Do not worry about what goes where. They generally leave one bolt installed where the others are supposed to go to help you out. For example, the rear rack mounts where the reflectors are and they leave 2 bolts installed and 2 bolts in a package for you.
Dont put your rear wheels on backwards..the tread design is meant to channel mud and water to the outside of the tire, not the other way around...Yeah, I almost did
Speaking of the rack..it is going to rub a hole in the the top of the rear fenders in no time as it sits right on the plastic. I suggest a little piece of weatherstripping abour 4" long on either side, between the rack and body work. It does not "sit" on the plastic body, but rub would be a better word..it is really mounted with 4 bolts to the frame.
You will need a long or flexible neck funnel for the oil. Dipstick location is awkward at best.
My dipstick looked like a dog had chewed and twisted the (crankcase) end. Manual says 0.9 Liters so I put in a liter and called it a day. Sight glass is totally covered / full.
Seat can be tricky..it has a tounge near the front and was bent on mine...the tounge goes under the little crossmember behind the tank and if you do the seat correctly it has NO movement whatsoever...to install, tilt the seat forward slightly (fron down, rear up) and shove it toward the tank so that tounge goes under the crossmember, then push the rear down and give tha back of the seat a smack to push it forward a little, then push down and the rear latch will engage....it takes 3 times longer to type this than actually do it, not hard after the first time.
On my bike, the brake lever only has to be engaged to start...not clutch, just brake. I have not tried to start it in gear yet.
The rear wheels are bolted on directly to the hub. The hub is drilled and tapped, but I will be putting Nylock nuts on the backside of them to ensure they dont back out.
THERE IS A WIRE RUN DOWN BESIDE THE RIDERS RIGHT KNEE, IT IS ACTUALLY PRESSED AGAINST THE EXHAUST PIPE AND WILL MELT! This 2 wire run goes to the brake light swith that is mounted on a bracket almost touching the pipe.
I spotted this last night but forgot to move it out of the way, and of course it melted when I started it up after changing the plug. Stupid me.
This is not the easiest thing to fix actually, the mounting tab/bracket is within 1/8" of the pipe and welded to the frame. Its short and stubby so bending it might break the weld...I guess i'll put some shrink wrap tubing on the wires and wrap a 1" strip of that muffler bandage stuff around the pipe in that location.
Spark Plugs..I have 3 different ones...2 NGK and one Champ...they all match up according to NAPA's huge spark plug book..more or less the same plugs except one is "L" for long electrode, etc...I will post the numbers on Sunday.. The plugs are slightly different llengths, but only from the insulator end...they are identical from washer to electrode tip.....NGK made a big difference of course..bike starts in 2 or 3 seconds and purrs nicely, and the Mikuni isnt even in yet.