Project Nam

[Guest]

Strange I know, but my brother-in-law has a strange fascination with all things Vietnam (and Elvis!). And since it will be somewhat army inspired in terms of paint job, etc, we figured it was fitting.


Got loads done today! 2 people certainly work a lot faster than 1!

Got the bike stripped down, detabbed, engine out and taken apart in 1 day, plus carbs apart and in clean green to soak.

Some shots:








Is this starter still OK? It just pulls apart...


Will try and post a mock-up in the week.

[Johnny Drummond]

some paint choices

Hi Wally,if he is inspired by that era the paint scheme should be easy:-paint it black!,don't know how you're going to get it to sound like a huey though hehe.The starters for the GS series should have 2 phillips screws going from the top to the end with the gear that engages with the starter clutch(at least the GS550,1000,GSX1100,Yamaha XS750 and Kawasaki ER250 Scorpion and GPz 305 I've worked on have been that way) but maybe Pete or someone who has worked on twins can enlighten you further.Good luck and I hope you have as stress free build as possible!.Johnny

[wally]

shorty exhaust, some imagination and the twin might sound like a Huey....

Thanx for the tip! I went through the box of extra spares we got with and found the bolts!
Just need to find the wiring...

[Johnny Drummond]

the smell of victory?

Glad to hear you found them!,I thought they should be there!,it might have just enough of an off beat firing order to make that whump,whump sound-IF he goes everywhere at tickover,can you get camo exhaust wrap??.The wiring should be reasonably easy to tell the front from back,if it's anything like the bigger GS's,the FRONT will have a triple connector shaped like an open square(to plug into the head light, the REAR should have a flat 3 pin connector for the brake,tail/stoplight.At least it's not as complicated as a car loom I helped fit when I was an apprentice,after 3 days of worming it in and out of doors,trunk lid and engine bay we realised that the damn thing was back to front,oh how we laughed-NOT.Johnny

[wally]

We got a whole whack of spares with the bike and most of then I am doubtful if it is even off this bike...

Luckily the wiring harness was still on the bike, so we labelled all connectors as we unplugged them, but some sections look bad. I will have to take a look and see if the starter motor's wires are connected to the harness or somewhere in that box of mayhem.

[Johnny Drummond]

there should only be a heavy black wire going from the starter to one side of the starter solenoid(round metal thing with 2 M6 studs sticking out the top)the other heavy wire goes direcly to the + terminal on the battery.the light wires go (I think )one to the kill switch on the bars and one to a fuse that should be the only wires for the starter.Johnny

[wally]

I will have to check the harness and box over the weekend.

Just want to get it tested to ensure it works 100% and whether or not we need to find a replacement...

Thanx for your help so far!

[JvZ]

I am expecting another awesome work of art Wally!

[wally]

Thank you for the kind words JvZ!

Not sure about work of art...

Got the carbs out of the Clean Green.

This is what was left over in the bowl containing float bowls and external strips, etc.



This came out of the carb bodies!


He wants them painted, so I will try some of the tutorials on here.

[pete]

Good to see you starting Wally, tuning in!

As for the starter, yeah Johnny has it, just one big black wire from the starter to the solenoid and it's grounded through the engine, so there'll be another big black wire under one of the crank case bolts.

Those carbs look like the newer '83 and onwards ones too going by the floats...

[wally]

I think his is an 82/3 model.

We had planned to do more work this weekend, but he decided to change his plans.

Gives me time to repaint and refit my motor.

[pete]

Aaaah ok, that would explain the carbs then

While he's not looking, pinch his ignition setup

[wally]

It might be a while before his bike is up and running - we are aiming for Sept/Oct.

Might be a good idea!

[wally]

Got some work done on the bike (while he was off galavanting...).

Got the rear hoop welded in an welding went much better this time around, though the oxygen regulator is still giving hassles...





Ground welds after the shots.

Plan for next weekend is making battery mount, cut and weld in seat pan and make headlight mount.

[wally]

Not too much done today. Mainly as I spent some time on the Yahweh bike reinstalling engine, exhaust, carbs, igniter, etc.

But got 1 half of seat pan for Nam bike in plus tacked mudguard in to check positioning.