Jennifer's Makeover

[pete]

Definitely looking good Flyboy!

[Redneck]

woot woot way to go Flyboy, looking nice. Did you happen to use the electric sprayer or was that rattle can. I wish I was patient enough to be overly meticulous but I want to ride before the season is over. I should have put a couple more coats on the engine but I realized I did not have enough paint or the money to run out and get some.

The progress is nice keep up the good work.

Paul

[Matchless]

Excellent! Now you can start hanging parts on it!

[Flyboy]

Thanks for the comments guys, meanss a lot to me.
No Paul, it is nither the elecric gun or rattle can, I used 2k polyurathane in those bomb cans, still don't have a compressor so it is working out more expensive, had I sprayed the 2k with a compressor and a gun it would have been half the price.
I need to just bite the bullet and stop the rebuild and put every cent towards a compressor, then carry on, it will be more cost effective in the long run.

Anyway, finished the final drive today and got the forks stripped down for rebuild, herewith the pics.

Before




Some 1000 grit, 1500 grit and burnishing compound later, oh yes and lots of Cleen green and water






Mmmmmm, I wonder how many parts are inside these things???


15 minutes later........wow plenty.


Another 15 minutes and a refreshment later, 2 cans of parts.


The service manual gives the fork spring length as 421mm with a service limit of 416mm, both springs measured in at 422mm, so all is good inside, I would love to get progressives in there, but just can't afford it now.

In case you were wondering what 30 year old fork oil looks like?
In a word...........NASTY.

[Matchless]

You probably have it already, but just in case, do not forget the special grease for the rear spline!

That polishing makes a world of difference, I must say!
Keep well and enjoy the restoration!

[Flyboy]

Hi Andre, I don't yet, but I will be sure to give a good coat of moly before bolting up the back wheel.

[pete]

That rear drive assembly looks sweet! Nice work

The forks are fun aren't they? I didn't get a pic of my 30 year old oil but it was about the same...

I didn't bother measuring my springs, I figure if I could put them in and get the fork cap bolt on without having to apply pressure then they're shot

[Flyboy]

You know Pete, I didn't have any pressure on the springs when I removed them, probably because I stripped from the bottom up, (there's always one swiming up stream) undid the allen bolt in the bottom first, then removed the wire clip and fork seal, and the top cap came off last.
I wanted to see what I was up against with the dreaded allen bolt after reading all the horror stories, but nothing, easy as pie, no breaker bars or anything, insert allen key, hold fork down with left hand and loosen bolt.
Like I said, it must have taken me 15 minutes per fork to totaly strip, and that was working casual.
I guess that is one of the advantages of living at 5500ft above sea level, 600km away from the coast, very little humidity up here, nothing really corrodes.
In fact, I am being pleasently surprised as I go along, if I see what a lot of guys have brought home with a 10th of the milage mine has on, most everything on the bike so far is still like new spec, the fork springs have not sagged a single millimeter, the rear splines look like they were put in yesterday and when I checked the valves for leakage, only 3 out of the 8 had slight leakage, and I had to wait about 30 minutes to see the thinners leaking past the seats, and not a drop of oil leaking from the timing chain tensioner, not even a weep.
The steering head bearings were another story all together, worn beyond bad, physical grooves, hammered into the outter races by the rollers.
But, that is about the only bad wear I have found so far.
Of course the real truth will come out when I mic up the bores and pistons, because that is the side of things that will show 375 000Km worth of work.
But to be honest, I expect them to be well within limits, when i pulled the barrels, the pistons had very little carbon (avgas) and niether the bores or the pistons have any scuffing at all.
I cant wait to get her back to rolling chassis, then I can sit on her and make bike noises....yaaayy.
Unfortunatly, this months bike budget has been exceeded already, so may have to wait 3 weeks or so before I can go shopping for bearings, seals and O-Rings, to put the forks, wheels and steering head back together.
As you can see, the wire clips that hold the fork seals in, pretty much got destroyed getting them out, so I will just replace them with proper circlips.
I guess while I wait, I can polish up the fork lowers, keep me busy, at least.

[TheCafeKid]

Damn boet.. She's looking sharp already! I'm on the edge of my seat to see more. Makes me want to get cracking in earnest on the 78 750 I have sitting out in the garage. Keep it up!

[pete]

Corrosion wise it's not too bad where I am, but I'm not too far above sea level and I'm probably 20 or 30 km's from the coast as the crow flies...

[SVSooke]

Must be nice,wet and low here.Thing corrode here as soon as you look at them.Price paid for living in a rain forest.

[Flyboy]

Ok, not a heck of a lot to update..................waiting for payday
refurbished the brake discs and started sanding the fork lowers for polishing....what a royal PIA.

Want to get the discs, forks and wheels done, so when I get the bearings and seals, I can assemble and hang the front end and swingarm with final drive and wheel back on the frame..........then I will have a rolling chassis again, can't wait, wanna sit on it and make revving noises.
Anyway, here are the discs.

Before


After


Before and after

[Matchless]

Stan,
Is that the first time the motor has been opened since the 375000 km's you put on it?
Every part done is one less to finish!!
Keep well.

[Flyboy]

Hi Andre
Yep, believe it or not, never had more than the cam cover off since I have owned it, which was a year after manufacture and 15 000km on the clock, so I doubt anyone went into it before me.
I was expecting to find some seriously worn bits, but everything still looks good considering the milage, but I guess the mic will tell the true story.
Measured the fork springs and they are still at factory spec, 421mm, wear limit is 416mm.
Disks are a touch better than 5mm and the wear limit is 4.5mm.

[Matchless]

Well, yours is living proof of the mileage that these motors can give! I have heard they are bullet proof and some have posted that 100 000 miles are not unusual for these roller bearing crank motors and you have more than double that!

Keep well!