So, heres my first major update since I bought the bike.
I rode the bike up to my parents in laws house where I am able to work on it. I live in an apartment in the city with no garage situation so currently am driving 50 miles up north to work on it. The bike was a champ! Little nervous of taking it up to freeway speeds not knowing the bike but it was a trooper. 50+ miles no problem, with some twisties at the end that were really fun on such a light bike, however the current handlebars are pretty uncomfortable in my opinion and I felt like I had a t-rex posture all the way up.
Here she is up before the tear down:
And odometer is at 13,132 before the build starts:
Various tear down pics:
This is a horrible little piece of design
I took the engine covers off and sanded, wet sanded and polished them by hand, If anyone can recommend a good metal polish that works that would be great. I also cleaned all of the fins of the engine out with baking soda and water and then sand paper. 30 years of grime and oil came pouring out. Still have the valve covers to do but ill leave them for later.
One of the first things to come was new handlebars so mounted them and they already feel a tonne better. Although having read some forums I know i will have to take them off and strip the paint under the switches and riser to create a ground for the starter switch (I plan on keeping most of the stock electrics)
Next thing I did was to label all the wiring harness and tear it down, I also cut all of the un needed brackets off the frame. It turns out I need to do some more cutting but I left some on as I decided what direction I wanted to take things:
I then did a real quick sand and spray of the rear look just to protect it from rust, I know that will all be coming off again when I make the battery tray to mount the electronics but just making sure it doesnt rust as Im still only getting to work on it once a week if not longer. I also used the headers that I had on the bike (Which were in great condition) and shortened them and mounted some new reverse megaphone mufflers on. Cant speak for the sound of them but I am pretty happy with the way they look. Got them to be really tight up against the frame too.
Next was some progressive rear suspension that I got from Mikes XS, great shop that place is! I didnt measure the stock ones before buying these, and wanted the stock length, but these are about an inch longer. Not overly keen on the big gap its created but Ill have another look once I have the new larger tires on that I will be getting.
If anyone can suggest a clean solution to this problem then please let me know. The upper rear shock mount is so long because of all the stock stuff that I have now taken off and are now about 2 inches too long. Is there a way to shorten this without compromising strength? also If i want to get a new bolt what size and thread should I be looking at. God its ugly!
Last weekend I received a seat from Wes at Counter Balance Cycles. Seems like a great guy, and got my seat made from scratch in 2 weeks. Really dig the look of it, exactly what I was looking for. I actually am basing some of the look of this bike on a bike Wes built a couple of years back so was stoked when I found out he made seats for the build.
I also stripped the paint from the tank, I have not polished it yet, but I think I may end up sanding and polishing the Raw tank and then clear coating it. I do like the look of no paint.
This weekend is the superbowl so I am not working on the bike, just having food with some friends, but I think next weekend I will go up and continue on the build. More to come then. Battery box, electrics and then powdercoat.
