Jim's 1980 SG Miss September

One of the things Yamaha scrimped on that seemed to get worse late into the seventies was the cleanup of the casting flash on their cast parts. It was done to cut costs, so in a way we should be thankful they did... bikes were more affordable. To be fair... most companies also did the same thing. The little bit of grinding they did do just becomes a magnet so that dirt doesn't want to wash out with just a sponge... you really have to scrub to get the road grime out. Although I kinda enjoy cleaning a bike in a perverse sort of way, given the choice I'd rather be riding it.

So, with that in mind I'm slowly cleaning up all the casting lines. Not only will they clean easier, they'll look much better when painted. My (somewhat lofty) goal is to make the SG look better than it did new. This will help.
Here's the triple tree after I bead blasted it and dressed down the casting marks...
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Sorry, I forgot to take some "before pics" but all you gotta do is look at your own bike to see what I'm talkin about.

While I'm waiting for my frame to come back from the blasters, I'm also gettin some other bits ready for paint...
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Blasted and primed the battery box. I was kinda surprised that the pitting wasn't near as bad as I expected and it had no rust holes whatsoever. Nice!

Here's the primer I'm using...
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It's an epoxy primer for aircraft that costs about a gazillion bucks a gallon. FAA regs dictate that it must be thrown out when the shelf life has expired. A dumpster dive netted two gallons. This is by far the best primer I've ever used.
For the topcoat I'm going with DuPont Centari with a hardener. I've painted lots of cars and bikes with it over the years and would stack it up against any paint.
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The front fork lowers benefit from this as well. There's big left over casting ridges on the caliper mounts and at the bottom of each leg. Medium, then fine, then extra fine Roloc discs make short work of them.
 
Got the first batch of frame parts painted today. I'm limited on how many I can do at once because of the size of my "paint booth."
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My "paint booth" is the wife's clothes line. That's all I could fit. They turned out good... very happy with em.
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Looks great Jim!

BTW - I bought the MigPak 180 and brought it home on Sunday AM - but now it will sit for a week till I get back from a biz-trip to Germany. It came with hand-held sheild but it looks pretty flimsy.

What is your advice on masks? This is my first welder so thoughts / suggestions are welcome.

At least I’ve already got the 220v service installed. I had planned for a welder when we built this house. But life intervened and for 20 years, the label on that big double breaker marked “Garage - Welder” has been staring back at me on the panel in the basement - set to OFF all this time. Soon that breaker will get some use!

Pete’s Inferno - yeah baby!! :devilish:
 
What is your advice on masks? This is my first welder so thoughts / suggestions are welcome.
This looks like a pretty good helmet.
First time I used an auto darken helmet I was hooked. Can't imagine how I got along without one. I also like the big glass because I use reading glasses when welding. Big glass allows you to look over the top of em. Be prepared to spend 75 bucks or more. The cheapies don't really hold up. Ya get what you pay for.
 
Looks great Jim!
BTW - I bought the MigPak 180 and brought it home on Sunday AM - but now it will sit for a week till I get back from a biz-trip to Germany. It came with hand-held sheild but it looks pretty flimsy.
What is your advice on masks? This is my first welder so thoughts / suggestions are welcome.
At least I’ve already got the 220v service installed. I had planned for a welder when we built this house. But life intervened and for 20 years, the label on that big double breaker marked “Garage - Welder” has been staring back at me on the panel in the basement - set to OFF all this time. Soon that breaker will get some use!
Pete’s Inferno - yeah baby!! :devilish:

Hi Pete,
good that the garage already has a 220V outlet. Sure beats running a big fat extension cord from the clothes dryer outlet in the basement.
Welding mask? The handheld you got with the welder is better used for folks to watch you weld. Or better yet, as a grain scoop.
Get a good quality auto-darkening welder's helmet and don't stint the cost.
I welded for many years with a plain dark glass helmet until my wife bought me an auto-darkening one.
They are so much better than an ordinary helmet that if mine went missing I'd buy another with my own money.
And practice welding on stuff you ain't gonna trust your life to, eh? Especially with MIG.
With stick or gas welding you can tell a bad weld just by looking at it.
Unless you get the settings perfect for the job you are doing MIGs can lay a bead that looks perfect but has zero penetration.
Burn, baby. Burn!
 
Looks great Jim!

BTW - I bought the MigPak 180 and brought it home on Sunday AM - but now it will sit for a week till I get back from a biz-trip to Germany. It came with hand-held sheild but it looks pretty flimsy.

What is your advice on masks? This is my first welder so thoughts / suggestions are welcome.

At least I’ve already got the 220v service installed. I had planned for a welder when we built this house. But life intervened and for 20 years, the label on that big double breaker marked “Garage - Welder” has been staring back at me on the panel in the basement - set to OFF all this time. Soon that breaker will get some use!

Pete’s Inferno - yeah baby!! :devilish:
When my bike needs welding, which is very rare, I pay for a professional welder to do the work.
Bad timing for the trip to Germany, Pete. Octoberfest is over now. Chances are that all the beer has been consumed, and it may take a while for the breweries to gear up again. When I arrived in Munich a few years ago, this picture shows the first thing I did on arrival:
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Went to Oktoberfest in 83 down in Munich. I can still taste the dark Bavarian beers. Just remember... if you can see through it, it aint reel beer;)
 
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Dang it RG - no beer??? :wtf: I wish you'd told me that before!! :yikes:

I'm now sitting in the departure lounge at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) waiting to get on a Delta flight to Der Vaterland so its too late to turn back.

Oh well - I'll just have to drink Riesling! Not much time for partying though, I land in Frankfurt tomorrow morning, drive to Essen (I believe the RAF visited there some years back) and then to Schweinfurt - home of FAG (a favourite of the USAAF, as I recall) and then down to a little town near Nurnberg where I have a raft of students doing a 12 month co-op work term. I do this every year - a lot of driving, but very interesting and its good to see the kids doing well.

Fred - thanks for the good thoughts on helmets/masks (love the crack about a grain scoop). I see a bit of a shopping spree in my near future. The welder at work has already told me that I will need a jacket, skull cap, an apron and a really good helmet. I will be searching the "short ends" bin in the shop for practice pieces as well I've already got a slag hammer, wire brush and a good array of vise-grips. I will also need to round up a bottle of shield gas....

The first project will likely be something simply like an XS650 engine stand and then I want to make a dolly out of a Princess Auto truck ramp so that I can move the ST1300 around the DCW without having engage a tugboat. After that, (and A LOT of practice) I will be working on the Cafe bike - adapting the sidecover mounts to the steel 74-79 style covers versus the plastic snap-on type and making up the seat base, plus arranging hinges for it on the frame side rails.

Say - do you need to do anything on a bike (like disconnect the battery/alternator etc.) before welding on the frame?

Cheers and auf wiedersehen!

Pete
 
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Installed the tapered roller on the steering yoke. Didn't have a tube that fit the inner race, so I used a Dremmel to enlarge the hole on the old race. Set that on the new bearing upside down...
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Took a tube that was too short and taped a socket to the top to make it long enough and set that on the old race...
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I just painted the yoke yesterday so I didn't want to set it on anything hard... like the workbench. So, I set it on my lap, lined the bearing up and had my helper tap it in place with the tube...
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What a trooper! Not often I thrust my wife with a hammer, but she did great:)
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All Balls even sent me another sticker for my rollaway. Nice!
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Nice set-up on that bearing.

She looks like she's having fun with that hammer Jim and she appears to have a good arm - keep her happy!!

EDIT: GEEZZ Jim - I just re-read your last message more carefully and now I fully appreciate exactly what she was hitting and where the other end of it was located. You're a gutsy guy and that pretty blonde is a keeper!

Pete
 
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