Build Thread...Special to Cafe Bike

Very nice Pete! You’ve got a lot of balls in the air old buddy! I like the progress being made on Betty!

Thanks Bob! Robin had her polished up quite nicely and all of the electrical stuff seems to work OK as far as I can determine. The key thing now - aside from the usual engine tuneup tasks - is to straighten out those front turn signals which are pretty badly bent up. I’d like to try to accomplish that without dismantling the front forks but I’m not sure if that will be possible.

Anyhow, per ardua ad astra as the RCAF says.
 
Yes, it's possible. Just use the long length of all-thread double nutted through both ears trick. The $200 Special suffered from the same malady when I got it. Good as new now .....

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I think you can straighten the 78E headlight ears a bit. Those are more susceptible to deform by PO's tweaking than the "Special" ears. Hard to find chrome Standard 77-79 ears in good shape. You will need to have good components such as straight signal threaded rods, the cheap pot metal mounts are mostly warped too. Find em & stash em.. use the correct sequence of washers (or lack of) between the rubber components.
And in the bucket.
Good luck !
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I do like the Standard ears better because they mount lower. This provides more room for cable routing and re-routing (needed with lower bars). I may end up swapping a pair onto my Special.
 
Yes, it's possible. Just use the long length of all-thread double nutted through both ears trick. The $200 Special suffered from the same malady when I got it. Good as new now .....

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interesting - do you a linky as to how you actually did the straightening 5T?
Pete
 
Nice going MaxPete. My SH had slightly deformed chromed ears but this was corrected with a few hard hits from a rubber mallet. I did this with them on the bike with a piece of soft pine to hammer against to get that zig-zag bend just right. It will really improve the looks of the bike when knocked back into shape.
 
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The "Standard" headlight ears are more contoured in shape than the "Special" ears and the hollow portion is larger and has more shape. To attempt to mallet them to be straighter will be more difficult. Perhaps a sandwich of thick large appropriate fitting washers can squeeze the flats and then bent with leverage ?
This pic shows a wavy 78E ear which was to be forever wavy
;)
 
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You guys make this so difficult, lol. I'll bet you even enjoy a little Chinese water torture too from time to time, lol. I'm afraid I don't have a link or any pics (I'll get some some day, I promise), but the concept is pretty simple. Remove the headlight bucket and measure it's width where it fits between the ears. Now, get a length of all-thread a few inches longer than that, long enough to reach through both ears and stick out on the outer sides of them, at least enough to get a nut and washer on. Double nut each end through each ear, one nut and washer on the outside of the ear, one nut and washer on the inside. Set the distance, outside to outside, on the inner nuts and washers to the width you just measured on your bucket. Now, tighten the outer nuts. This will bend the ears back into shape, align them, and make them parallel to one another. No hammers, blocks of wood, pounding, bending, swearing, and whatever else you've been doing needed, lol.
 
You guys make this so difficult, lol. I'll bet you even enjoy a little Chinese water torture too from time to time, lol. I'm afraid I don't have a link or any pics (I'll get some some day, I promise), but the concept is pretty simple. Remove the headlight bucket and measure it's width where it fits between the ears. Now, get a length of all-thread a few inches longer than that, long enough to reach through both ears and stick out on the outer sides of them, at least enough to get a nut and washer on. Double nut each end through each ear, one nut and washer on the outside of the ear, one nut and washer on the inside. Set the distance, outside to outside, on the inner nuts and washers to the width you just measured on your bucket. Now, tighten the outer nuts. This will bend the ears back into shape, align them, and make them parallel to one another. No hammers, blocks of wood, pounding, bending, swearing, and whatever else you've been doing needed, lol.


No swearing.....hard to imagine....that is pretty much how we do what we do in the DCW!

thanks 5T!
 
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If the swearing doesn't achieve nirvana, and you end up sliding the ears off the forks. I found this to work well too. The easy hand twisting and pushing the ears done side by side ensured symmetry. Jims eyecrometer was used thru the cylinders to correct the alignment. The strong washers tightened did the job to achieve flatness.
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interesting - do you a linky as to how you actually did the straightening 5T?
Pete
I put in a block of wood to hold the ears out and used some all-thread to pull 'em back into parallel with each other and correct distance apart for the bucket.

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Confirmed on both a 79 Special and the 78E that the distance between the ears to shoot for is about exact 21cm. That would be at the inside edges. Measured upon both bikes fully assembled and tight and Straight.
;)
 
OK cool!

I’m gonna try it the easy way first and then break out the RCN language. They are pretty cattywompus as the saying goes....
 
Well, today we got the new wheel bearings installed in Demi’s rear wheel after I got the hub polished (a bit).

it wouldn’t hold a candle to RobinCs, Mailman’s or Jim’s polishing, but it looks pretty good and in any event, people will be too busy staring at the snazz new paint job on that XS750 tank to worry too much about polished aluminium.

Next up: build that 18” 48-spoke wheel and get Demi’s new tires and tubes mounted and then get her up on the lift so that I can get at the wiring etc.
 
MaxPete said:
I’m gonna try it the easy way first and then break out the RCN language. They are pretty cattywompus as the saying goes....

TRANSLATION:
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I will utilize the "threaded rod and block of wood method" advocated by Messers 5Twins, Jim and TwoMany prior to commencing the use of the type of foul language that is customarily heard within the ranks of the Royal Canadian Navy and the military of other colonial nations.

The indicators (i.e. turn signals) located at the forward end of the motorcycle are quite badly out of alignment at the present time....

Howzzat? ;)
 
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Oh yeah - this is one of the special products marketed by the Evil Empire (aka MikesXS / XS650 Direct) - a rim and set of stainless spokes to replace the 16" 48-spoke doughnut on Heritage Specials with an 18" wheel to sharpen up the handling. A side benefit is that the 18" tires are more widely available from what I can tell.
 
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