Bobber Build by a total Newb

[Johnt3]

Your spring mounts turned out great dilbone. Be careful sitting on your seat while mocking it up, shit happens.... like spitting a spring out and falling on your ass! Did it ,wasn't pretty.

 

[dilbone]

Your spring mounts turned out great dilbone. Be careful sitting on your seat while mocking it up, shit happens.... like spitting a spring out and falling on your ass! Did it ,wasn't pretty.

John, the first time I attempted to sit on the seat with the springs not bolted in I shot one across the barn...I didn't fall down, but that spring shot out like a rocket.

Well, I finally got a a bit more work done...an hour here and an hour there doesn't make for much progress.
I welded on the seat bungs and got the holes finished in the seat pan...terrible welding job...I think I'm digressing

So with the seat done it was on to the rear brake. I cut the old brake mount out of the frame and cleaned it up. Now I've gotta figure out where exactly I want it and weld it up.

 

[Johnt3]

Well hell, that's a good idea man! That looks familiar.What peg mounts are you using? That'll help decide on where your pivot will go.

 

[Johnt3]

When I was sorting mine out, it all came down to how far forward I could get the pivot and still use the stock master cylinder. The brake pedal shaft will be close to the front cross member. If you go with a different master cylinder you can rotate the pedal shaft and gain a lot more wiggle room to play with placing your pivot.
A master like this will help.I think that would be a better looking way to do it.

Or you can just do what I did. Wire on the spring is only temporary.

If I'm stepping on your toes let me know. I've been known to do before I think...

 

[dilbone]

When I was sorting mine out, it all came down to how far forward I could get the pivot and still use the stock master cylinder. The brake pedal shaft will be close to the front cross member. If you go with a different master cylinder you can rotate the pedal shaft and gain a lot more wiggle room to play with placing your pivot.

If I'm stepping on your toes let me know. I've been known to do before I think...

no toes stepping here John...I need all the help I can get!!!! If I had a rear disk I'd be all over stealing your ideas here...that's really slick there. I've got a rear drum so it'll be even easier for me to get it rigged up I think.

 

[Johnt3]

Crap! I forgot you had a drum rear. Sorry about that dilbone.
Hell, I guess I'm known for typing before I think too!

 

[dilbone]

I've gotten a few more things done on the rear brake setup. I cleaned up the pedal mount a little more and welded it in

Then I cut down the brake stay and welded it back together

I used some 1/4" x 2" flat bar to make a tab for the brake stay...I should have used 3/16" oh well

My brake pull rod is gonna be way too short now so I picked up a 4 1/2" carriage bolt to add the length, crimped it in the bracket, and welded it up

all that's left is a bracket for the switch, return spring, and a stop for the pedal...I need to stare at it for a while and make sure I can get all three of those from one bracket and make it as small as possible

 

[Johnt3]

Hey dilbone, look at what Paulrxs650 did with his rear setup, post 28. Looks to be a very clean way to do it.

 

[dilbone]

Hey dilbone, look at what Paulrxs650 did with his rear setup, post 28. Looks to be a very clean way to do it.

That was a clean look for sure. I think I ended up with a decent finish...although I think I'm going to change the switch mount a bit...I should have angled the top of the L bracket so the switch body would follow the same line as the spring itself. It works like this but it bothers me that the spring pulls at an angle.

Now that the brake linkage is done I may start working on the tail light/license plate mounts. The headlight and turn signal brackets will crank out pretty quickly. The fender is going to have to be re-radiused so I'm kind of putting that off...that may be one of the last things I do. I started with the seat and brake linkage because I figured once I got the things with moving parts done the tabs and brackets would be quick and easy part...we'll see I guess
I'll have to tear into the carbs here soon and see if I can get this motor running. I'll need to do some reading on where to start for jet sizes and get some ordered.

 

[I am Carbon]

Looks good Man!

 

[Johnt3]

Your rear brake setup looks good dilbone. I see what ya mean by the switch mount and spring. My fender was the same way,it didn't follow the tire well so I cut it back a lot.
The fender was free so I couldn't bitch.

 

[dilbone]

Looks good Man!

Your rear brake setup looks good dilbone. I see what ya mean by the switch mount and spring. My fender was the same way,it didn't follow the tire well so I cut it back a lot.
The fender was free so I couldn't bitch.

Thanks fellas...I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere

 

[dilbone]

I had been working on the tail light/license plate bracket for a little while and decided I didn't like where it was going so I ordered one. I hope I don't end up with a tail light handing by the wires as I go down the road...we'll see I guess.
I got it from Accufast 2-D...a small shop in Tenn.

I moved on to the headlight bracket and welded it up, cleaned it up, and drilled some holes.

Doesn't look to bad...but I forgot to take the Yamy badge off the tree when I had it apart...looks like I'll be taking it apart again here soon.

 

[Johnt3]

Hey dilbone. Headlight bracket looks to be very stout,should work out well for ya.What style of tag bracket did you get?

 

[dilbone]

Thanks, I figured 3/16" plate was probably appropriate for a 1lb headlight

This is the bracket I got

I think it'll be alright, but I'm half tempted to weld on some reinforcement at the axle mount hole. I've read so many horror stories about broken brackets I'm a little leery of using any axle mount setup.

I got my new motion pro clutch cable today, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice and heavy it is. I do know one of the issues with this bike was that the spline gear for the clutch had pretty much blown up, the clutch cable at the motor end had the lead end ripped off, the push rod was missing from the motor, and the oil seal looked like it had been mangled a little. I replaced the bushing, seal, and went with a one piece rod hoping it would actually function properly. It goes in and out of neutral nice and easy, but it will only shift up twice...I don't know if that it because it isn't running, it needs adjusted, it's skipping up into 5th, there's no oil in it, or if there's something broken in there. I guess we'll see once I ever get it running.

I looked at the carbs tonight finally so I could see what jets I'm dealing with to know what I need to order. They're a mess, I couldn't get a single screw to come out. I soaked it good with WD-40(I'm out of PB Blaster my go to penetrating oil) Looks like I'll be picking up an impact driver and trying it again this weekend.
Battery box, signal brackets, fake oil bag and I may be ready to get it fired up.

 

[Johnt3]

I like that tag bracket. Your getting there man! I'm hoping that mine will survive too. I think the light is the main problem breaking. Have you tried rocking your bike back and forth when you go to shift it?
I picked up some of mikesxs throttle and clutch cables, I hope to not have problems with them. Yeah, get some more PB it's way better than WD40.If all else fails you go could maybe use a pair of small vise grips on the screws and replace them with some stainless cap-screws. I replaced mine with them and they look good.

 

[I am Carbon]

Looks good I like both light brackets.
PB is the best that I've found/.
GL on getting her goin

 

[dilbone]

Not much going on with the build lately. Life is just too busy right now.
I'm still waiting on my tail light/plate bracket to come in...apparently the guy has "lost" some orders recently and I'm still waiting...

The other night I figured if I ever want to get this thing running I better check the filters so I took them both out and this is what I found.

I don't think it looks too bad compared to some I've seen and there are only 9,000 miles on the motor. Any thoughts on the bits in there and what's typical?? The large white parts are actually reflections. Just some small black bits and a few metallic flakes.

Then it was on to the sump filter...yep, blown out like everyone said it would be...

I tried to get the mesh to lay down and stay put so I could smear it with JB weld...2 layers and it looked like this...I think it'll hold

Now I'm waiting to get my order for the filter and right side gaskets, jets, uni filters, a replacement mixture screw I had to actually drill out of the right carb body, and some other odds and ends so I can attempt to get this thing to fire up.

 

[dilbone]

I had a minor setback last week that could have turned into a real pain. In taking out my spark plugs on the motor the threads were damaged in the head. Looked like the plugs had actually fused to the heads.

And this is where several people would say I screwed up by not working on the motor first...but I know I'll be pulling the heads eventually anyway to rebuild at least the top end when I blow everything apart for paint so I didn't feel like I needed to be in a rush for that. Having a spare motor at my disposal also put this one on the back burner for me. Anyway, after some reading I found mention of something called a "back tap," so I thought I'd give it a try. I inserted the back tap into the plug hole and expanded until it engaged the bottom threads and backed it out. I repeated several times in each and finally was able to get the new plugs started in the holes.

I did get my carb parts in too, so I was able to get the 137.5 mains and 45 pilots in and everything else cleaned up and reassembled. I got the oil filters put back in and started working on the right side cover with gasket clean up...what a pain. I still need to pick up some gasket remover to help soften some of the stubborn areas.

I've been putting off the battery box because I'm not quite sure what I want to do to mount the TCI box. I've read too much about not putting it in the fake oil tank for heat's sake, so I figured it would have to either fit into the battery box or be able to bolt onto the box in some way while still being somewhat covered. I think I have an idea for that, so it was on to the actual battery box.
I have a couple of pieces of 16g sheet metal to work with, so I got to bending...

I knew it would be short so I needed a filler strip to finish it up

I ended up deciding to use the original rubber battery box liner as shock absorption in the new box

I had to grind off some of the tabs off of the rubber liner so it would fit in the box, but it fits like a glove

Now I need to whip up a bottom for the box then work on my TCI mounting idea. Once this gets done and mounted I may have to try to wire up as much as needed to get the motor running.

I still have to mount the tank, make and install turn signal mounts, put together a fake oil tank, and eventually get the fender re-radiused and mounted. I'm glad I've had to do some welding on the battery box to give me some practice on the 16g before I get to the fender. The list seems to be getting shorter...slowly, but still forward progress...

 

[Johnt3]

Good progress dilbone! I hadn't heard of the back tap before, I'll have to remember that one.