Hopefully soon!
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For my next dumb idea… a taste of Italy
- Thread starter WideAWAKE
- Start date
Hopefully soon!
Boy, you’re really having to work for those modifications! Nice job!
Yes, there have been a few other things that needed to be changed to make this all happen thus far but the good thing is, all these things have been well documented and sorted out by far more intelligent people than I. It’s just monkey see, monkey do over here haha.
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Nope. You’re brilliant!
Started working on what I could finish up while waiting for my wrist pin so I set my timing.
I really think someone could make one of these to fit an xs cause it makes timing soo easy.
It’s called a Buzzwangle…
Mount screws into the flywheel, you insert a piston stop, then turn it all the way in one direction until it hits the stop, zero it, spin it all the way the other way. Take that number and divide by 2 and you have your Tdc.
Move it to tdc, zero it and then move to your timing mark, in my case 17deg.
My timing mark is the T and fire is the line.
Next up was the need for a new cylinder shroud as it’s key for keeping it cool.
With the bigger cylinder and long stroke crank, there is a 10mm gap at the back and a bigger one on the left side.
I basically wrapped it in plastic and used it as a form mold and extended the skirt.
Haven’t finished it yet, but you get the idea.
The speedo that I’m running hooks up to a cylinder temp gauge and I order to run it I had to make a little room in the fins.
The following day…
Wrist pin and head gasket showed up, put on a thinner head gasket and still had a 1.4 squish… scratched my head for a minute and realized my solder wasn’t compressing enough as it was too thick.
Went with a thinner twisted solder and it was close enough for me. 1.1 is perfect but I can live with 1.2
As for the wrist pin, when I went to install the piston I put the C clip in one side, put the piston on, went to put the other on on and…
Come on!!!
The pin measures to spec, so these batch of kits must have the grooves for the C clips machined in a new position and the pins from previous kits and too long.
Stuck it on the lathe, machined it down and it’s good to go.
Once that was sorted I got the top end all together and let it sit over night.
Pressure tested it for leaks.
Let it sit for a few minutes and it’s tight.
Hopefully it goes into the bike in the next day or so.
I really think someone could make one of these to fit an xs cause it makes timing soo easy.
It’s called a Buzzwangle…
Mount screws into the flywheel, you insert a piston stop, then turn it all the way in one direction until it hits the stop, zero it, spin it all the way the other way. Take that number and divide by 2 and you have your Tdc.
Move it to tdc, zero it and then move to your timing mark, in my case 17deg.
My timing mark is the T and fire is the line.
Next up was the need for a new cylinder shroud as it’s key for keeping it cool.
With the bigger cylinder and long stroke crank, there is a 10mm gap at the back and a bigger one on the left side.
I basically wrapped it in plastic and used it as a form mold and extended the skirt.
Haven’t finished it yet, but you get the idea.
The speedo that I’m running hooks up to a cylinder temp gauge and I order to run it I had to make a little room in the fins.
The following day…
Wrist pin and head gasket showed up, put on a thinner head gasket and still had a 1.4 squish… scratched my head for a minute and realized my solder wasn’t compressing enough as it was too thick.
Went with a thinner twisted solder and it was close enough for me. 1.1 is perfect but I can live with 1.2
As for the wrist pin, when I went to install the piston I put the C clip in one side, put the piston on, went to put the other on on and…
Come on!!!
The pin measures to spec, so these batch of kits must have the grooves for the C clips machined in a new position and the pins from previous kits and too long.
Stuck it on the lathe, machined it down and it’s good to go.
Once that was sorted I got the top end all together and let it sit over night.
Pressure tested it for leaks.
Let it sit for a few minutes and it’s tight.
Hopefully it goes into the bike in the next day or so.
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Been side tracked but I “finished” it up and tried to took it for a few test runs.
Kickstarted (clutch would slip) went to the floor under compression. I could slowly kick it through but not hard enough to start.
The upside of building all these custom parts is you have no idea how they interact until you get em goin. Haha
It would seem the nipple of my clutch basket made slight contact with the plunger of the crank case side when I torqued it down. This put a slight release on the clutch plates. So back apart…
Shorted the clutch nipple and good to go.
You’ll notice I have a different clutch basket than the one I machined. My buddy had a nice lightened one sitting on the shelf. The upside to this style (original late style) is they are hardened which will allow me to run roller bearing instead of the brass bushing on the other one. (I had to machine pockets into this one as well, just like the first one)
So back together and got a few laps in.
A few things that were obvious as soon as I made a few laps.
The kick start slightly rubbed (intermittently) on first gear and made a clicking noise.
Swapped out the ramp so that my kick start gear would be deeper in the kickstart shaft.
The next thing was break drag.
After pulling it all apart and investigating, I determined that the plunger on the master would not fully return.
As you can see the back hole is blocked, keeping pressure on the break shoes.
Swapped the outside square o ring on the plunger for a slightly smaller round one and makes work like a charm.
Returns perfectly.
I also swapped out the front lever which was very difficult to find but finally did. Just needed to shorted it a bit.
Also greased up the rubber “floats” on the caliper to help with quick release and alignment.
Back to road testing and I didn’t like the way it pulled through the gears. Lacking a bit of grunt. I tried running the tallest gearing it could pull and while it pulls it, I want a bit more down low so back apart and swapped the front 17 tooth sprocket for a 16 and it’s much more to my liking.
After a few laps, the typical crank case breather blow back was driving me nuts so I made a little modification and it eliminated spew.
A clean motor is a happy motor…
It’s started raining so it’ll be a few days until I can get it back on the road and finish dialing in my jetting.
Once I get it dialed. If it revs out good I’ll run it. I have a feeling it still may like 1 more drop in front sprocket.
We’ll see.
Kickstarted (clutch would slip) went to the floor under compression. I could slowly kick it through but not hard enough to start.
The upside of building all these custom parts is you have no idea how they interact until you get em goin. Haha
It would seem the nipple of my clutch basket made slight contact with the plunger of the crank case side when I torqued it down. This put a slight release on the clutch plates. So back apart…
Shorted the clutch nipple and good to go.
You’ll notice I have a different clutch basket than the one I machined. My buddy had a nice lightened one sitting on the shelf. The upside to this style (original late style) is they are hardened which will allow me to run roller bearing instead of the brass bushing on the other one. (I had to machine pockets into this one as well, just like the first one)
So back together and got a few laps in.
A few things that were obvious as soon as I made a few laps.
The kick start slightly rubbed (intermittently) on first gear and made a clicking noise.
Swapped out the ramp so that my kick start gear would be deeper in the kickstart shaft.
The next thing was break drag.
After pulling it all apart and investigating, I determined that the plunger on the master would not fully return.
As you can see the back hole is blocked, keeping pressure on the break shoes.
Swapped the outside square o ring on the plunger for a slightly smaller round one and makes work like a charm.
Returns perfectly.
I also swapped out the front lever which was very difficult to find but finally did. Just needed to shorted it a bit.
Also greased up the rubber “floats” on the caliper to help with quick release and alignment.
Back to road testing and I didn’t like the way it pulled through the gears. Lacking a bit of grunt. I tried running the tallest gearing it could pull and while it pulls it, I want a bit more down low so back apart and swapped the front 17 tooth sprocket for a 16 and it’s much more to my liking.
After a few laps, the typical crank case breather blow back was driving me nuts so I made a little modification and it eliminated spew.
A clean motor is a happy motor…
It’s started raining so it’ll be a few days until I can get it back on the road and finish dialing in my jetting.
Once I get it dialed. If it revs out good I’ll run it. I have a feeling it still may like 1 more drop in front sprocket.
We’ll see.
All this machining to make parts fit goes way beyond tuning carbs and adjusting valves. Work like that is above my pay grade! 
Nice work!
Nice work!
All this machining to make parts fit goes way beyond tuning carbs and adjusting valves. Work like that is above my pay grade!
Like I said, quite a bit of monkey see, monkey do goin on here haha.
A lot of smart people have made this made it easy for me.
Soo I’ve been test riding for the last few weeks and I’m happy with where it’s at. Gonna stick a fork in it. Call it done.
Tried a 15 tooth sprocket, 16, and 17. Went back to the 16, I loose some top end but it pulls very well through the Rex range which the 17 lacked down low.
Cruising speed 65, tops out about 77. It may have a bit more in the tank, but the pipe I have limits my revs. A more peaky pipe would certainly open it up, but that comes with engine stress. I wanted a bulletproof motor.
I had some weird bubbles on the headset show up, soo I stripped it and polished it. Easy solution haha.
Also, swapped to a different seat that was originally on it, but I modified the rear section.
Tried a 15 tooth sprocket, 16, and 17. Went back to the 16, I loose some top end but it pulls very well through the Rex range which the 17 lacked down low.
Cruising speed 65, tops out about 77. It may have a bit more in the tank, but the pipe I have limits my revs. A more peaky pipe would certainly open it up, but that comes with engine stress. I wanted a bulletproof motor.
I had some weird bubbles on the headset show up, soo I stripped it and polished it. Easy solution haha.
Also, swapped to a different seat that was originally on it, but I modified the rear section.
Fantastic!
Wow! That really turned out beautifully! It looks right at home cruising up and down the beach. Well done!
I am wanting to wear heels, stockings and garters just to take it for a ride...
Beautiful work, looks fantastic! Great photo’s too. Congratulations on a project well completed.
BRAVO!
WOW Looks great 
I wish I could do close to that kinda work but even with 650's I have 10 thumbs and a memory deficiency
I wish I could do close to that kinda work but even with 650's I have 10 thumbs and a memory deficiency
Can we start a Calendar for the members projects that aren’t XS650’’s?
Thanks for all the kind words!!
Bianca, as I refer to her, was a fun one to build.
The Cushman had a few hard days out side…
First one when the new workshop gets finished.
Bianca, as I refer to her, was a fun one to build.
The Cushman had a few hard days out side…
First one when the new workshop gets finished.
