Clutching Good

. . . yes im still here and on the home straight for the finish up of this project. I got the clutch finally sorted. The new fibre plates sorted the issue and is operating perfectly. What needs to happen now is the left hand fairing needs to be fitted and that will be it finished.

Skins

A new set of clutch plates are ordered and will be delivered in about 2 weeks so I attacked the fairing today and fitted the seat and rear fairing along with the right hand side panel. after over 2 hours Sam came in to see how I was getting on . . .

Clutching

I attacked the brake light problem and got it resolved without any major problems. The brake light switch on the front lever was faulty, it looked like it had corroded internally, i swapped it out with another used one I had which workes! The rear brake light switch is activated by the fluid so when I bled the rear brake line and caliper the switch is now working.

Regarding the Clutch problem, I can only recon the issue lies with either the spring plate which houses the ball bearing that the pushrod connects onto or that the plates were stuck together from their 6 year mating?
I drained the gearbox oil and removed the basket to take a look at the plates and they definitely need to be changed . . . the springs are well within the service limit. [should have done this at the rebuild stage]

Toothpaste

... and elbow grease cleaned up the front screen which was badly scuffed all over. the first pic shows the screen with the right hand half "polished" and the left hand side still scuffed. The second image is the finished article. A set of Stainless Steel nuts and bolts replaced the rusted ones to fit it to the fairing.

Refreshed Red

Finding it hard to get this put to bed, its close but there are 2 small things that need to be sorted. [1] both brake switches dont seem to be working. All other electrics apart from the horn are working. [2] the clutch does not seem to be disengaging.

The saddles were in very bad shape, I just couldnt get them cleaned, so I got them recovered instead at a very good budget price,

Smokin'

After a few starts and setting the carb to idle the engine seems to run nicely but because of the strong premix is smoking A LOT ! Here is a 7 minute vid of the 4th startup!

Fluids

. . . Had planned to get the bike started today! Assembled all the fluids needed for the prep work, Gearbox, 2T oil, Coolant and Brake fluid [in case I needed to bring it outside].

Got the Gearbox oil filled and the 2T oil pump bled. Mixed up the coolant and found out the radiator was leaking . . .

Front Brake Caliper

I have had the caliper seal kit and new pads sitting waiting to be put into the front caliper for a few weeks now and finally got to it yesterday.

Like the rear caliper the front was badly corroded so after some sanding, dremeling and a few coats of red paint and some new bling stainless Bolts the caliper turned out nice and fresh.

Re-thread

After a short break from the project I put a few hours in yesterday. After purchasing a thread insert kit I attacked the rear wheel that had 2 stripped bolts in.

Very easy to use and did the trick.

Step 1: drill out the broken M6 threads to M8
Step 2: rethread to M8
Step 3: install M8 to M6 thread insert

Rad & Fab

Cleaned and sprayed the radiator which was in pretty good condition. just a lot of corrosion. So the cooling system is ready to go all the pipes and expansion tank are connected up.

The original rear footrest hangers also included the exhaust hanger on the left hand side. I am not refitting these so instead I fabricated a hanger bracket for the exhaust  from an aluminium off cut which is 3mm thick and very inexpensive and easy to polish!

Detour

Lined up part of the next project - spotted a cheap Yamaha RD250 engine for sale online and bought it. Its a 1975 twin model and needs a lot of work as you can see from the pics below. It came with the original 28mm Mikuni carbs and 2 ignition coils which seem to have been butchered at some point.

I am thinking along two different directions for this project, [1] transplant the engine into a Yamaha FZR250/400 chassis and [2] cafe racer.

Stainless Line

Thought i would post up some images of the rear brake setup with the new braided HEL line.

Exhausted

This evening I fitted the expansion chamber after spraying it black yesterday with heat resistant paint. A few weeks ago I did a bit of a de-coke on it along with the end-can. I heated it up to apply the paint and it was still smoking but nothing to the way it was before the de-coke.

 

Rounded top

In an effort to complete the assembly of the right hand hanger I made a master cylinder plunger/piston from a plain bolt. I cut the head off and used a dremel to round the top. I applied red rubber grease to the contact point on the master cylinder. This is a stop gap until I happen across the original plunger.

Usually 1 but sometimes 2

was planning on getting a lot done today, rear wheel fitted with brake system and realised the wheel bearings I got are the the wrong size. But I cannot tap the originals out so I started with removing the rear wheel sprocket carrier and of course the bolts were seized and not 1 but 2 broke off. With them removed I cannot remove this part of the wheel ?

Mislaid

After fitting the left hand hanger and gear change mechanism I moved on to the right hand hanger to start assembling and realised I misplaced the master cylinder plunger. I remember cleaning it and painting it and I vaguely remember putting it "somewhere safe" so that i'll "find it when I need it". Spent about 45 minutes searching for it.
I also need to find a home for two alternator earth cables, in the workshop manual it says to bolt them to the engine and shows a small image of the location but it does not correspond to this engine?

Spaghetti

Still working on the electrics and the various bolt on bits and pieces that accompany the task.

Adding on

Got a good bit done over the last few days adding on the bits and bobs. Got the handle bars, switch gear and lever housings on. Got the rad and battery box subframe in and at the back end the rear light and splash guards along with the oil tank. I then attached the electronics and rear part of the wiring loom. Its coming together a bit more but looking messy too!

Semi Rolling

. . . meaning there's 1 wheel! Forks and front wheel fitted. All stainless steel bolts fitted and new bearings in the front wheel. I refitted the original brake disc as its within the service limit. The rear subframe has 3 coats of black paint on too to try and keep the rust at bay. The wheels have also been painted the original black by an auto body repair shop.

Here is a link to the before post > http://2strokelover.blogspot.com/2011/12/skeleton.html

From the ground up

Spent a while this evening cleaning and tidying the working space to start the bike rebuild. I got the engine mounted into the frame, swingarm and rear suspension - all the mounting bolts have yet to be tightened and the originals have been replaced with stainless steel where possible.