The Great (big pain in the arse..) Rebuild!
23/11/03 Well the frame'll be another week , so no progress there yet. Heard from DHL that the tanks and saddle bags I ordered from J&P will be in this week.B nuisance as Im away again for at least 2 days this week, therefore bound to miss the delivery......Also heard it'll now be Dec 22 before the motors here, so nothings gonna happen in a big hurry by the look of it...However given all the work in prep and paint and setting up the tanks and figuring out what fork extension I want with the new rake, it wont make any difference, given I still gotta find time to earn a living...
Tried soaking the swingarm and front guard in caustic soda for days to rid me of the paint/ baked enamel, totally useless, back to the drawing board there...Probably should just get everything blasted but always keen to save a buck...
16/11 This pic was taken a week ago, I finally pulled the motor and g/box out after leaving it while i did another quik trip to Brissy for work. Took the frame up to The Chopper Shop at Gosford for Martin to straighten and rake about 7deg and fix up the butchery I performed a while ago. Hopefully have it back at the end of the week.Im gonna mock it up then to see what fork extension I need to keep it level/slightly raised at the front. Im leaning towards 6", but Ill have ta check. 6" over is actually 8" over stock if the softtail style front end Ive got is actually 2" over stock FL length. Ill be happy if I can use 4" over softail length as these are more easily available here...(and a damn site cheaper..!)
Bought a rear chain conversion, as the belt is 9 years old, and the new motor might be pushing things a bit. Gotta find a spanner thatll take off the nut holding the original front sprocket off....Not being a millionaire yet Im cleaning up the rear mag and fitting the new rear sprocket It'll look good enough for a bike that gets ridden occasionally...mmm chrome pretty....
Front sprocket came with a spacer to fit under the rear sprocket, which gives space to fit a 150 tyre apparently, but Ill wear out the 130 first...(tight as the proverbial mouses...)
25/10 Thought I might as well document the rebuild that has gone from a new engine to complete rebuild/ makeover this week. Decided I couldnt do a half arsed job of painting the frame,(for a change) so everythings gotta come to bits. 2x 4 hour odd sessions got it to as u'll see it down the bottom, couple of hours tomorrow ought to see the engine/gearbox separated and out of the frame
Will update as theres progress...(dont hold ya breath...)