Month: May 2017

All 3 Brake Calipers Installed

Progress today

New(er) front caliper assembly

Drained and disassembled new-to-me right front brake caliper. Cleaned/polished interior, piston edges, exterior, hanger pin, etc.

Right caliper mostly apart

Checked existing pads.  Found them to be EBC HH in very good condition.  They measure same thickness as new pads. Scrubbed braking surfaces and reinstalled the pads in the caliper. Reassembled caliper and installed on the fork leg with polished bolts.

Completed same process for the left front caliper, but found extra part at the end.

Pad spring and otherwise assembled left caliper

Disassembled again, assembled with all parts, and installed on the fork.

Removed rear brake assembly including pedal/peg/master cylinder unit, fluid reservoir, and caliper with hoses.  Disassembled new to me rear brake caliper. As for the fronts, found EBC HH pads with little wear.

While the rear was naked, scrubbed and wirebrushed the swingarm, hub, sprocket, brake disc, and brackets. Polished brake mounting bolts.  Reassembled rear brake caliper and installed on the bike.

Forks and Front Wheel On

Posted updated checklist [V7]

Progress today

Touched up black paint on front and rear rims – mostly scratches near edges. Some historical, and some from damage I did with tire spoons.

Reassembled right fork leg with new seals and oil. Found new stainless 8mm x 30 bolt was a bit too long to seat, leaked. Reused original (good) brass bolt and it sealed well.

The custom 41mm seal driving tool worked well. Pounded on a wood block from the top to seat both the upper bush and oil seals.

Bought a new stainless 8mm x 25 bolt for the left leg. Completed reassembly of left fork with new seals.

Reinstalled both forks on the bike. Reinstalled both clip-ons.

Installed front wheel.  Found the new stainless left fork bolt protruded very slightly into axle space – its head longer than the original Showa bolt’s. Next time we’ll buy OEMs.  Filed it down and polished surfaces and axle to fit.

Reminder: Will need torque wrench to verify all fasteners installed today are correctly tightened.

Wirewheeled and polished heads of the 4 rear wheel lug nuts.

before and after

New tires mounted

Progress today

Removed old tire and half mounted new one on the front wheel.

Wrestled for an hour or so and couldn’t get the 2nd bead over the rim with the irons.

Pulled and scrubbed the rear wheel.  Wrestled – with no results – trying to even get the old tire off the rear wheel. Hard as rock and not moving with the spoons.

Took the wheels and tires to Ancient City Cycles, who made quick work of the job.  They mounted the tires immediately, at a decent price, and had me out of there about 20 minutes after I got them the tires. Nice.

Day’s end:

Right fork leg apart

Progress last night

Painted brake pedal in the new right peg assembly. Nice match – in color and texture/sheen – for original anodized surfaces on the bike.  Used Rustoleum automotive gray primer and Rustoleum metallic matte nickel paint.  Will also use for lower fork legs and probably other bike parts as we go.

Progress today

Disassembled right fork leg. Cleaned parts. Sanded, degreased, primed, and painted right fork lower.  Re-painted left lower to match.

Will reassemble both forks after paint has 48hrs to harden.  Also need to slot a 2′ length of 1.5″ pvc pipe to fit tubes to use as a bush/seal driver.

Left fork apart, spark plugs changed

Posted updated checklist [V6]

Progress today

Pulled stripped fork bottom bolt from right fork leg with fluted screw extractor (EX3 size). Very tight, apparently seized. Started to bend the tap handle, so switched to crescent wrench. Scary and slow, and the extractor twisted a little sideways, but finally pulled it.

Attempted to fit new seal and upper bush in left leg.  Green seal driver did not work, at least not well.  Need better clamp and maybe thicker plastic tube/pipe. Also I caused inner (threaded) part of damper assembly to ride up so lower bolt wouldn’t reach. So …

Completed disassembly of left fork leg.

Then able to push inner damper down to end.

Cleaned parts. Left leg ready for reassembly. Also enables more thorough oil fill/measure routine.

Drained coolant at water pump. It was surprisingly green as opposed to brown and rusty. Hope that means it did a good job preserving internals.

Disconnected both radiator hoses and pivoted radiator up to access front spark plug holes.  Replaced spark plugs in all 4 cylinders.

Reassembled radiator hoses and installed radiator bracket (apparently off for years – bolt partway in hole).

Stock muffler out

Progress Sunday

Removed up-pipe/muffler clamp. Muffler bracket bolt frozen, started to strip with open-end wrench.  Removed muffler complete with passenger peg bracket. Stripped out most of the old (steel wire/gunk) header gasket. Reference note:  inside pipe 450mm, outside diameter 550mm, so “donut” muffler gasket needs those dimensions.

Progress today

Used breaker bar (thanks again, Dan) with muffler/peg bracket in vise. Actually sheared bolt, but that got it out of the bracket, freeing the muffler.

Cleaned up stock muffler (for storage) and passenger peg bracket, for reinstall.

Rear-end minus pipe and passenger bracket

Added new Delkevic mounting bracket with longer, stainless socket bolts and dryfit assembly on the bike. Tested muffler fit. All OK so far.  Will test with bodywork before final assembly.

Front wheel, forks off

Posted an updated checklist (V5)

Progress today

Removed front wheel.  Wirebrushed/cleaned axle, spacers.  Washed wheel and disks.  Polished disk with scotchbrite, brake cleaner and fine sandpaper to clean all braking surfaces.

front wheel (before)
front wheel (after)

Fabricated wheel balancing stand from flange and iron pipe on workbench leg.  Tested. Looking good.

Made seal and bushing driver out of vet pill bottle. Cut off the bottom and added two hose clamps. Fits perfectly on stanchion tubes. Will see how it works on re-assembly.

Removed  clip-ons from forks, then fork legs from the bike.



forks fresh off the bike

Cleaned outside of forks, scrubbed with scotchbrite pad. Removed stickers, degreased and sanded lowers (sliders) in prep for prime and paint.

Pulled bottom bolt from left fork, but couldn’t break the right one loose. Starting to strip the hex head. May need to do bolt extraction.

Disassembled left fork leg:  pumped oil out of bottom hole. Pulled out rotten dust seal. Found retaining ring a little corroded. Oil seal significantly deteriorated with solid crud crust. Took considerable slide-hammering to remove it and the bushing. Both bushings in good shape with no scoring or noticeable wear.



left leg parts (before)

Cleaned inside slider tube and pried off fork protector. Did final scuff sanding and degrease on slider, then primed and painted it.

left slider after paint

Polished both stanchion tubes to flatten rust pits. Used (000/0000) steel wool and WD40. Used fine file with no pressure to clear the larger spots.  Not perfect, but they are very smooth to the touch with no raised edges to catch rubber seals or score the bushing.

stanchion tubes after polishing

Front brakes apart

Progress today

Emptied and cleaned out front brake master cylinder.

diaphragm, plate, cover sequence/down sides for master cylinder

Tested brake lever and found smooth action and pumps fluid.  Noted tiny part loose in bottom.

Checked against clutch master for position of that piece …

Removed front brake assembly from the bike. Disassembled to leave hose assembly for later sale (?) and recover the right side reflector and bracket.  Did basic clean on parts and fittings.  Calipers will need teardown and rebuild. OEM Piston seals and boots on order.

Later … wire-wheeled new (old) brake pedal, received today.

Plastic fix: turn signal

Posted updated checklist (V4)

Progress today

Shopped supplies, tools for forks. No luck yet on plastic pipe/tube for bushing/seal driver.  1-1/2″ PVC coupler is too large and too thick.  Fork stanchion tubes are 41 mm diameter (about 1-5/8″).

Bought and installed more stainless fasteners. Notably front master front cylinder screws.

(compare to before)

First attempt at ABS plastic welding with cement. Used cleaner (mostly acetone) and medium black cement to fix broken mounting tab of right front turn signal body. Set up in less than a minute.  Left to cure for about 4 hours.  Assembled into upper right fairing section.  Worked like a champ – very solid. Expect good results for body plastic, too.

inside view, lamp out
lamp in
outside