My $Free.99 Project

oh no, don't keep records of what you spend on motorcycles
Nope. Don't even. Can't. Won't. Not gonna do it. Because, in order to do this, you have to buy that. To do that, you gotta buy something else. And to do something else, there's the other thing you have to buy. I really haven't spent a whole ton of money on "The Basketcase". But the tools I had to buy, to do the work? Yeah. $$. I should be tooled up now (I have to keep telling myself that!), so now all she can bitch about is what I'm gonna be spending for parts. Necessities? Luxuries? Doesn't matter. I told her before: "...it ain't gonna put itself back together. I need parts, or I spent all the other time and money for nothing." :banghead: So after the sting of the holidays passes, I'll join the "parts-order-of-the-month club". :bike:
 
So turns out those spare parts were in GREAT shape overall!! Wiring harness look amazing, controls were complete and in good shape, turn signals had like new lenses on some of them (a skosh of road rash on one of the rears, but that's ok). So the plan will be to use the '78 harness, add the appropriate fuses via in-line individual fuse holders (headlight, turn sigs, brake light, ignition) test!

I also need to clean/lube the clutch handle and perch to achieve smooth operation, but the spare clutch handle has a solid factory rubber coating on it still and looks great! Need to also finish up the headlight bucket at some point (unsure which one to use, the metal/chrome one or the fiberglass one). I'll be running a LED headlight (I've 2 GE Nighthawk's laying around) and I'll swap to LED turn signal bulbs. I'll also likely get some TX650 red rear signal lenses (on e-bay for like $11 ea, NOS) and run those as brake/turn's as well w/ a run/turn/brake controller.

Everything is shaping up nicely!! Still need to figure out the choke though...
 
Found out the emulators are done!!! Those should be shipping out soon with the springs so I can get the front forks done!!!

Found some old parts I needed (headlight shell, wiring parts, etc), and got the headlight adjuster parts off eBay. Making progress getting the wiring harness installed.

Running total: $1456.57
 
Emulators and springs shipped 1/17, so should be here soon, meaning I can button up the forks and front wheel/brake. Also got some NOS red turn signal lenses so I can do a triple brake light w/ turn signals. Need to get some pictures up soon and finish up other small odds and ends. Will be getting the lower end of the engine inspected/cleaned/gasketed along with a starter motor inspection/cleaning next. Need to button up wiring, do some testing and then I can try out a compression test and make sure all the valves are within spec. Once that's done, hopefully a test fire!!

Running total: $1480.28
 
Time is fleeting these days, w/ a minimum amount being available to spend on this project (currently getting my avalanche ready for a road trip and I've been exercising more in the evenings), so updates are slow. I apologize for the lack of pictures, I need to throw some up!

I did get some small bits that I found on sale - led signal & brake bulbs, run-turn-brake controller module (Hopkins 48925 tail light converter, $17), led flasher relay, fork oil, etc. I will be setting up the front turn signals to function as running lights too, and might swap to a board based light to get more, but I need the bike running first :-D

I did get the emulators and springs back from DMr, so I'm hoping to get those installed soon so I can mount up the front wheel and then get the brakes installed to ensure there's no issues. I still need to rebuild the front caliper, but man those Ducati calipers parts are $$$

Running total: $1583.70
 

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Amazing what a wire wheel and a grinder can do for some old forks! A little bling and elbow grease is perfectly fine in the budget!!!

The side cases will likely get the same treatment, even if it means a new gasket....
 

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Some updates:

Installed the fork seals and got the forks back together with the emulators. I still need to measure for and cut the spring spacers. Got the left side cover cleaned up with the wire wheel - the finish is not as even as i'd like (the light plays some tricks, as can be seen in the "after" picture), but it's far better than it was before.

I discovered that I forgot to modify the stator mount (some mounting tabs at the ~7 o'clock position), so I've to pull the rotor to get that removed.

I'll pull the right side cover soon and hopefully be able to re-use the gasket. It's nice seeing both wheels together on the bike again!! I can't roll it around yet, as I need to install the front wheel spacers and speedo housing. Once that's done I can get the brakes mocked up.


Quick question: what is the thread pitch and length of the fork drain screws? Also, is the factory seal an o-ring or is it some sort of sealing washer? I can't find specs on them.
 

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The screw has the standard pitch for an M4 fastener, .7mm .....

cjjqAqH.gif


Also, if you do need them, the sealing washers are still available from Yamaha .....

https://www.partzilla.com/product/y...?ref=cf809e53e6cdc988252465f9ed808af5a651fe77

So is the stock screw for that matter. This is one of those fasteners that you can get the size of from the part number. You look at the middle set of digits in the number. In this case, the number is 98580-04008-00. The middle set of digits, the "04008", tells you this is an M4 fastener and it's 8mm long.
 
Right side before and after. It's not easy getting an even finish with a wire wheel, but it's better than before! Later down the line I can focus on asthetics if I need to..
 

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Went down the rabbit hole filing some of the standoffs near the pads, but seemed as if I didn't need to do so. Tried spacing only the caliper, but then pulled out the dial caliper to measure. Turns out I needed 0.185" caliper bolt spacers and it just so happens the pandemonium rotor spacer is 0.185"! So I threw the rotor spacer on and it lined up the caliper perfectly.

So for those that are interested in the swap, a brembo 4 piston running the pandemonium swap kit, with an XS1100 slotted rotor and mag wheel, should just run the rotor spacer and be done with it!

I'll be ditching the lock tabs and just going with some thread locker on the rotor bolts. Probably also switch over to some button head allens too, dunno that part yet.

Now I need to find the front axle nut, it's completely MIA!
 

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If you take the engine sides cases off carefully without tearing the gaskets you can reuse them.

FYI, this worked a treat. Likely from the lack of firing the engine, but hey, saved the gasket! :-D


Now a question for the class: anyone have a good source for brembo caliper rebuild kits? I need to first do a teardown and inspection, but there's always a chance of needing new seals... I've found kits on e-bay, but they're around $60 and I was hoping for a better option if possible.
 
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Need to figure out front fender spacing under the brace, already cut the stock mounts off, just need to finish it up.

New pads are in up front, need to make sure the caliper doesn't leak. Installed uni filters and new single breather and then a brake booster valve. Need to work on some wiring too. Oh and yes, need to figure out the whole cam chain skip mistake, grrrrrr.... also need to cut off the old swingarm brake stay mount and weld it back on the tx750 swingarm.

Anywho, slowly knocking things out
 

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1st time she's been on two legs in awhile. Those shocks make the rear wheel just BARELY touch when on the centerstand.

Kickstand needs to be repaired for sure. Might reinforce the center stand at some point too.

Next up is lower end stuff: sump filter/gaskets, starter inspection, cleanup, etc.

Eventually I'll get to the cam chain (I'm def NOT avoiding this....) And finish the electrics
 

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OK, little update - check out the cam chain and appears that i'm all lined up on the teeth there, so that's good! Started working on new battery cables, cleaned up the starter & bench tested it (seems just fine!). Installed the Heiden sump screen & did the gaskets/seals on the lower end. Swapped the kickstand w/ the other one I have laying around and added yet another zerk fitting thanks for @5twins (still need to paint it and put a rubber bumper on to keep from banging the frame).

Next up will be mounting the starter, cleaning up the wiring some more (need to hide the unused stock charging/ignition system wires), making better sense of the wiring in the headlight bucket and tweaking the clutch worm gear per the many threads on here.

I did some compression tests yesterday. Throttle wedged open (running EX carbs), exhaust off, dry cylinders (I did put a little ATF in them right after I brought the bike home in 2017), kick starter only (about 15-25 kicks each side depending on how tired my leg was). Results below. From everything I've read, I think these numbers should be pretty good??? Thoughts?

upload_2020-4-27_8-51-52.png
 
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