Rolling restoration of a 850L

[Grimly]

No, you didn't miss it, I haven't done them. Yet. I haven't even fitted new spark plugs yet. At the moment it starts easily, runs well, idles well and is quiet. I plan to wait until the airbox is finished and new rubbers are fitted and then do them together with another carb sync and plugs.

Oh, mine did all of that. With two inlets and two exhausts on the tight side - not closed-up tight, but tight enough. There was a difference afterwards. Come to think of it, the in/ex were evenly spread - each cylinder had a tight one.
Quiet isn't necessarily good on these - I'd rather have a slight but discernible valve lash noise than a silent one.

[eil]

I drilled out main jets to 130 using a 1.3mm drill.

I think I read that you were going back to stock, but as far as I understand this is not a kosher way to step up to larger jets!

Looking good overall, though!

[Cyrano]

It's been a hectic few days but have used the need for distraction to get a few jobs finished. First was to get the airbox stripped



and a couple of coats of hi-build primer


and finally painted. It's all rattle can stuff and it turned out all right. Much better than it was but maybe the cold had a part to play in the finish.
Then I fitted out new foam strips inside and on one chrome side due the original rubber perishing.

All new rubber hoses too. Lovely.

Carbs were returned to standard by replacing the washer set up with the original spacers and a new set of 115 main jets.

My head was only partially engaged, doing stupid things like fitting the tank before fitting the breather hose and noticing that I hadn't mounted the cables to their brackets.
It started up very easily and came off the choke very quickly with a nice idle. A quick trip up the road on a very cold and rainy afternoon brought a smile out. It pulled nicely and cleanly through the revs. I haven't got enough road to get passed third or fourth gear but it is the best it has ran yet by some distance. Also noticed that the gear indicator isn't working.

Before I packed up the day, I pulled the tank off to find the airbox had pulled the gear indicator connector apart during the fitting. Easy fix. Then I realised that I still hadn't fitted the breather hose. Once that was done I decided that was enough for one day, who knows what damage I could do with only half a brain working.

Edit- Forgot to mention that I fitted my second hand mirrors too. Picked a cheap pair on ebay that were listed for GN125. Same part number. All the joints needed freeing off but they're all good now. I think mirrors are needed if only to complete the look.

[Steve]

I drilled out main jets to 130 using a 1.3mm drill.

Was was your reference that said a 130 jet has a diameter of 1.3mm?

Different jet manufacturers have different standards for measuring and labeling their jets, I am not sure that Mikuni is the one that labels them by diameter.

Either way, unless have some precision drilling equipment, I wouldn't trust drilling the jets, anyway. New jets are cheap enough to at least use some that are accurately made and properly labeled. Imagine the frustration of the next owner. He is going to possibly see that the bike is running a bit lean, take the bowls off the carbs, see "115" on the jets and increase them to 120s. Little would he know that he is going DOWN about four sizes in the process. Please do everyone a favor, remove those drilled jets and pitch them in the trash bin. Get some proper jets and continue with the "fun" of jetting.

.

[Cyrano]

Time to do a little bit a catching up on this thread.

Mainly been doing a lot of little jobs in various places but the biggy is the restoration of the seat. Once I had removed it, I unhooked the seat cover and removed the foam. What was left didn't look good and was going to need some repair of the welding kind. I thought the best thing to do was to get it shot blasted because my main man for welding usually complains 'what rusty crap have you brought me this time?' and I was able to reply 'it's not rusty'.



It was going to need a lot of work.



Unfortunately he was loaded with work and couldn't do it any time soon, same with the second guy I tried. Then I remembered another friend who had moved back to the area and of course he could do it. For free.

[Cyrano]

Using an Ichiban Ultrasonic cleaner.

I got one of those Ichiban Moto Ultrasonic cleaners.

Start of with a dirty old part from a motorcycle...



Drop it in the cleaner tank...



Set it to run on the 'bad ass' setting and hey presto...



That is 'Bad Ass!'

*Disclaimer: Results can vary and may depend on the amount of Elbow Grease used during the process.

[Cyrano]

Other stuff...

Received my order of Moly 60 grease. As so little is needed on the spline drive I've found another use it too, on the gear drive of the stairlift. It is due for a service too.

Also found a decent pair of infill panels (those two plastic pieces that sit in front of the tank). I only had one and it was covered in overspray.

Bought a second hand fuel tap, (I know, should have bought new but I thought I'd give this cheapy used unit a try first) I pulled it apart and gave it a clean in the ultrasonic bath. I appears to be in tact including that pesky valve that is missing in the original one. Not tried it yet.

Then I started playing around with the fuel tank. I bought one of those cheap Am-Tech dent pullers from Amazom. I was really surprised how good it was. I found the key to good result was applying heat to area first. As it will get painted anyway, I wasn't bothered about damaging the existing paintwork.

Before...



During...



After...



There are plenty more dents, another came out completely while another that was creased and another that was deep were made considerably better. All of this made me realise that I was having fun but will never get it looking the way I want as I don't have the ability or talent and I should pay a visit to a local paint guy.

[Cyrano]

Went to see a paint guy.

HAving decided to bite the bullet and spend a fortune on the paint (after all this bike is a keeper and I don't want to have to look at it and think 'what if..' or 'I shoulda..') I scoured the interweb and found this guy who is local to me.

Have a look at some of his work there is a GS in there too. LINKY

I wasn't to sure about what colours or combinations I wanted as I had seen many that I wanted and some I've wished for since I was a kid. Until he showed me this...



It is candy red over gold (using the gold as a pin strip and though the photo shows a pure white we will be going for an 'Olde English White'. The infill panel will follow the lines of the GS tank, not the way it is in the photo, and the side panels will be just the red.

I can't wait but he is that busy he can't look at starting it for another 6 weeks. I've left the side panels with him and he will include them on the next day he does a load of plastic repairs.

It's going to cost an arm and a leg (and when I finally decided on what I wanted I have to add a kidney too) but I think it is going to look deadly and I can imagine I'll have to turn back for another look every time I walk away from the bike.

[eil]

Nice to see some progress being made. I'm with you, that tank looks pretty nice.

[Cyrano]

1 step forward, 2 steps back.

The Frankenstein look.



I have since given the tank a quick coat of black for protection of the bare metal until the paint guy is ready next month.

I also got the seat base back from the powder coat guy and it looks much better than it did and of course will look great when it gets covered up and nobody will see it again.



More good news is that the second hand fuel tap cleaned up nice and it works. Put all the hardware back on the tank, stuck a gallon of juice in it and it flowed in the right direction with no leaks.

Took it for another short run up the road and back and thought I could hear a blow from the headers so checked all the bolts for tightness. And that's when the trouble started.
Long story short...



You can see that the first one had broken some time ago (PO had 'glued the bolt in place) and the other two wouldn't play nicely despite my best attempts to cajole them from their resting place. Number 3 did move a little before it gave way so Iexpect that one to be the easiest to remove which is good as it is the most awkward to get to. The other 5 came out cleanly. I've made an ebay purchase of a little stick welder that I'll pick up on Tuesday to try the 'weld a nut onto the stud' method of removal. Wish me luck. That gives me a few days to let the penetrating oil soak in and polish up every little nook and cranny of the exhaust system. I might have another my at my home made soda blaster and clean up the front of the engine while it is accessible.

[Good Times]

Broken exhaust bolts. ugggh You'll get it tackled though!

[Cyrano]

Using my recently acquired stick welder yesterday and today and i have this to show for my efforts...



Good news is that it was the one from No. 3 cylinder (the most difficult to get to).

Bad news is that there isn't much left of No. 1 sticking out so may have to drill and tap that one. Still working on No. 2.

It's painstaking work but getting that one out this morning is encouraging.

Other news...

I went to see a guy about getting the seat recovered and as soon as I walked into his premises I knew I was in the wrong place. He had two cars in the workshop that he was re-trimming.
1. 1935 Aston Martin Le Mans.
2. Aston Martin DB7 Volante.

When he quoted me £200 for the job I knew it would be expertly done but I also knew it was never going to happen at that price.

[Good Times]

Stay in it! Good job on the bolt

[Cyrano]

End of week update and stage 1 is nearly done.

Got 2 of those exhaust bolts out and had to drill and tap the third one. Luckily it was on the outside and easily accessible.

Had to junk the balance box on the exhausts and replace it with 2 pieces of pipe as suggested by Steve in another post. Made up the exhaust studs using s/steel M8 threaded bar and capped off with S/steel dome nuts. Lots of copper grease used.

Tuesday Got some insurance sorted using the chassis number in the absence of a registration number and booked an MOT test for the afternoon. Went to set off and the thing wouldn't start. properly but it would run on one cylinder. Bollocks. MOT cancelled.

Wednesday. Turns out the the tank was empty. But why? Petrol had leaked past the pet cock, past the carb needles and filled the engine.
Oil drained.
Pet cock cleaned out. Again.
Carbs pulled and cleaned and new needle body seals sourced and fitted.
New petrol.

Brain fart moment:- While the tank was off I noticed that the RHS coil wasn't secured to the chassis. How long have I left it like that? No wonder it would only start on 2 cylinders. Another reason why this is my last project.

Hurrah, it all runs fine.

Thursday. It fails the MOT on bent handlebars. Rush home and swap over the bars with neighbours 600 Bandit.

It passes. Stage 1 (all the mechanical bits) nearly complete and it's deemed fit for the road.

Rush home and refit the old bars until the new ones arrive.

I enjoyed the first open road ride, the speedo soon went off the clock as it only goes to 85 and it handled pretty well. Motor pulls well from 6K rpm.

Friday (today) spent all morning sorting out the paperwork to get it registered in the UK. Had to call the DVLA (DMV) and get them to walk me through it. Should take about 10 days to get a plate.

Dropped off the tank with my paint guy. Had a chat with him and every thing he says convinces me that it will be superb. That'll take 2 weeks to do.

[Cyrano]

Stage 1 complete

I finally got it done. That doesn't mean it's finished, but it's done for now.

Tank and panels are on with a new fuel tap fitted. Starts up so easy.

Collected the seat today and WOW! What a transformation.

New registration plate fitted so it's now road legal and ready to go.

Just a shame it was too late in the day to go out and join the swarms of bank holiday riders and I wasn't feeling well enough to take it out in the evening.

Got a few errands to attend to in the morning but I'll be out tomorrow afternoon and I'll take my camera with me.