First Street Bike Project - with a few questions

[Sci85]

Well, since I'm now waiting to get some parts blasted to begin the real reassembly process, I felt compelled to get at least something done today so I stripped the rear caliper to get it ready for painting back to the OEM red. Someone had painted over the factory red with black so I had two colors to cut through. Here are the before and after pics. Took about 1.5hrs.

Before



And the after...


Sci85

[GateKeeper]

Aren't wire wheels the cat's a$$......

It would almost be nice to leave em just like that, nice and shiny.....mine are at that stage as well I just left more of the original paint on most of my parts,,,,,,for now

are you rebuilding the calipers, new pistons, rings, etc, I think mine have to be done, sent an email to Boulevard Suzuki for some parts, but no reply, ohhh well, I will try again latter next week.

.

[Flyboy]

Nice work Sci, I would almost be tempted to hit that caliper with the polishing wheel and rouge.
How is that for coincedence, both of us busy with the rear caliper.
I guess I am a littl late on the stator issue, but yes, they run in the engine oil.
One of the ways to shorten the life of your stator is to run your engine on low oil, the oil helps to keep the temps down, by leading heat away from the stator, low oil levels tend to leave the stator frying.

[Sci85]

Aren't wire wheels the cat's a$$......

Yes they are. We'd be scr'd without them. I like them shiny too but since I'm going for the factory look, i will probably paint them back to factory. But, you never know...

are you rebuilding the calipers, new pistons, rings, etc, I think mine have to be done, sent an email to Boulevard Suzuki for some parts, but no reply, ohhh well, I will try again latter next week.

Yes, even though they look ok. No point in getting all clean and putting back on dirty underwear no? Let me know if they have a kit or you have to order individual pieces and the cost if you don't mind. I'm creating a parts list with cost so I can see how ugly this is all going to be. BTW, Xtreme Powersports (partforyamaha.com) has a good selection and are just a little bit higher than Boulevard. I don't mind paying a bit more for quick and reliable service. But, it is the holidays so that probably has something to do with it.

Sci85

[Sci85]

Thanks Flyboy. I figured it ran in oil as even a seal would not leak that much. Actually looked pretty good in there. I'm feeling really good about this find so far. Only a couple things are going to be problematic. I'm missing the choke cable and they don't make it anymore and my seat pan has seen better days. Will have to find someone who can make me a new one. Any forum members offering that?

Oh, and I'm waiting to see the pics of your caliper ;-)

[Redneck]

Z1 Enterprises had caliper rebuild kits, and so does cyclepartsnation.com also has the OEM replacement parts sold as a set. Z1 has much better shipping cost if I remember right cyclepartsnation had the lower prices but shipping was quite a bit more. I have used both I will say the customer service at cyclepartsnation was pretty good. I recieved the metal composite head gasket and it had started to split when i recieved it, so I contacted them. They asked if I could send a picture of what it was doing, then they shipped me out a new one, no extra charge they even paid for shipping. $25 US dollars for rebuild kit from Z1 and $21 from cyclenation.

Paul

[Sci85]

Ok cool. Thanks Paul.

I took the frame and swing arm down to the blaster today and should get it back tomorrow. I'm so stoked to be doing something other than tear down finally!

How does that rattle can appliance epoxy hold up on the frame? Does it chip or flake very easily?

Sci85

[GateKeeper]

Lucky you to find a place to get your parts blasted, I found sanding the frame down by hand was not so bad took a bit of time, but I had my older son helping with that part, so it was a good time...

SVSooke told me about the appliance epoxy in the rattle can, have not heard any complaints from him, and he has done 2 frames already, I will take a gamble and try it as well, well I already got the paint......

At least with the appliance paint you can do a touch up if need be, where as powder coating you cannot, and if it chips/scratches your up the creek.....

There is also a silver appliance color as well, so if your adventurous and want to go away from the norm of black, there is an alternative.....I was thinking of white, but did not see it in that color.....

[Sci85]

I will search around and see what others experience has been. I know powder coat is not cheap but it is extremely durable. Last thing I want to is to put all this back together just to have the frame paint chip with every little rock or boot that hits it.

Did a little buffing today. This is the rear brake caliper mount. Thought it might give a nice contrast against the painted caliper.


Sci85

[Sci85]

Some more good news. I found that missing left front caliper and distribution block on ebay today. Now all i'm missing is the choke cable and handlebar control. Found a used choke cable on ebay but waiting on a better description of the condition before pulling the trigger.

Getting oh so close to build time!

Sci85

[brslk]

I will search around and see what others experience has been. I know powder coat is not cheap but it is extremely durable. Last thing I want to is to put all this back together just to have the frame paint chip with every little rock or boot that hits it.

Did a little buffing today. This is the rear brake caliper mount. Thought it might give a nice contrast against the painted caliper.


Sci85

Coming along nicely! What are you using to polish with?

There are several parts on my bike I want to polish but I know nothing about polishing.

Bruce.

[Sci85]

If the surface is smooth, I just hit it with either a sisal wheel and black compound or the denim wheel and brown to start, then finish up with white polish on the cotton wheel. Last part is a coat of Mother's which is amazing stuff. You can find a set of 3 wheels and compounds at ACE, Lowes, Autoparts stores, etc to get you started. I put mine on my 6" bench grinder.

If the surface is rough or has nicks, then you have to break out the sandpaper. The above piece had some casting marks under the paint so I sanded those out with 320 wet/dry, then went 400, 800, 1000 wet. From there, I hit the buffing wheel as above. Took about an hour.

Here's a nice idea of what the above process can yield.

Before:


After:



Sci85

[GateKeeper]

Hey Bruce.....

you have a Princess Auto close by, just grab this, it will do it for you.....

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/prod...ng/Buffing-Kit




Sci85, sorry for the hijack.....but I am keeping it on topic.....

and that is some great polishing......that rear brake caliper mount is looking great......

[brslk]

Hey Bruce.....

you have a Princess Auto close by, just grab this, it will do it for you.....

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/prod...ng/Buffing-Kit




Sci85, sorry for the hijack.....but I am keeping it on topic.....

and that is some great polishing......that rear brake caliper mount is looking great......

That's awesome GK. I was about to respond to Sci to tell him there is no ace or any of those he mentioned here.
And then you point me to a place nearby that has exactly what I am looking for.
Thanks for that.
Thanks to both of you actually.

Bruce.

Those old ads should have read "you meet the nicest people on a Suzuki".

[GateKeeper]

Glad to help.....