The rusty old scooter.

[dorkburger]

Thanks Scott.
Forgot to add.... the front shock mod is a fail.... the trailing link setup put too much leverage on the springs and the suspension sinks enough to cause the tire sidewall to rub on the fender. I have a heavier spring I removed from a bad control valve I may try, or I may just return it to stock. With the shaft freed up, the stock setup should allow for some give. I’ve yet to decide...

[dorkburger]

Its cold. And my garage heater froze.... I put the electric heater a few feet from the scooter, put my jacket on and did a bit of work. Shocks are returned to nearly stock.....
Seems that I misplaced one of the rubber bushings from inside of the shock, so it will sit lower by about an inch.... I'm fine with it.
The cereal box gasket is a semi win. There is about an inch diameter oil spot under the scooter since I did it. I can live with that. Its still better then before.

I just want to get it finished. With house projects ongoing and a set of modded forks for the 1150 soon to be en route, its time to move on...
I can now definitely appreciate the effort of a full on resto by working family man. Back in the day I tore my 1100e down to the frame, painted the frame, detailed everything, and reassembled it over a single winter. That would be a couple year project now....

[roeme]

(...)The cereal box gasket is a semi win.(...)

You could get sheets of gasket paper off ebay/amazon/whatever and cut one yourself?

[80GS850GBob]

Glen, maybe the gasket was a good idea except for the material...make another and 1st coat it in gasket tack or some kind of spray gasket sealer before the re-install?
My thoughts are your still going to have issues with the kick start spring...but another newer motor could fix that issue - finding one that'll mount up and be inline like yours is now, that'll be the challenge. Depends on how much "stock" you'd want to be...

Is there a motor rebuild shop near you? The have spring compression jigs to test valve spring rates/heights....should be so much tension at so much deflection....they could tell you what the spring rate is on your springs with that devise....then you could look for a slightly stronger spring in the same OD.

[dorkburger]

Thanks guys. I'll go with the gasket as is unless it begins to leak heavily. I did coat on both sides Permatex before installing it. The tube is now unreadable, so I'm not exactly sure what it is anymore. Its paste- like, not silicone. A guy did offer that his shop may be able to replicate the original spring if it became a desperate situation.

Regarding the engine... it has a few hundred miles on it at most, and has generally ran fine. My guess is that rechecking the points, setting some sort of decent gap (I'll go with the matchbook for now) and rececking the carb will set it straight. Losing the 2 stroke sound and smell would be unacceptable in all but the most extreme cases.

[roeme]

(....)Losing the 2 stroke sound and smell would be unacceptable in all but the most extreme cases.

Totally and fully agreed. One just can't beat that reeeen-den-den-breeeeeee-den-den-paf-den-den.

Reminds me of that frog meme.

[dorkburger]

Well, clearly progress stopped over the winter, plus recent work on my ES sidetracked me.....
I poked at it last night. Matchbook gapped the points and confirmed a good spark. The oil leak seems to be good for now. And the kick start arm pinch bolt hole threads stripped. The bolt threads looked bad when removing it, so it was expected. It will get a nut / bolt combo....

My younger son has expressed interest in getting a dirt bike so I want to get this back up and running so he can at least start learning clutch finesse.....

[80GS850GBob]

.... And the kick start arm pinch bolt hole threads stripped. The bolt threads looked bad when removing it, so it was expected. It will get a nut / bolt combo....

...drill/tap one bolt size bigger?

[dorkburger]

It lives!
I ended up drilling the kick start lever and putting a stud thru it with a nut on either end. Although it looked clean, I pulled off the carb and blew out all of the passages. With everything back together, a couple of kicks did nothing. I then really choked it by sticking my index finger in the carb throat and kicking it once. It popped and sputtered a bit. Next kick it started. After playing with the idle a bit it idled on its own and pretty smoothly.... by two stroke standards anyway.... I took a couple of laps around the block and everything seems to be in order. Some adjustments are needed on the clutch / shift control and the carb, but overall it's good. The shock diversion and goofing with the springs was ultimately not needed. With them cleaned and freed up they actually provide some suspension action. The electrical problem turned out to be a wire that slipped out of the terminal block on the hanblebars. Light sort of works - one beam is out - and the horn just makes me laugh. It sounds like an old school buzzer type of doorbell.
http://1965 Raleigh Roma by Glen Brenner, on Flickr