Tuesday, September 13, 2011

1 year on and where am I?

Well I have managed to get a promotion at work, but it is just an acting arrangement and therefore only good 'till the end of the year.  I have got a few small jobs done around the house.  The kitchen is almost finished, though I could have said that last year.  I think there is only one door frame to paint and the pipe for the extractor fan to do.  We do have a 5000L water tank that has helped us to cut our metered water usage in half!  I love it when it's full and I run the whole house on rain water.  Nothing better than a hot shower in rain water.  Nothing but clean rainwater, except maybe a little bird poo!

So what about the bike?  Well it has a new home!  No I didn't sell it, but I have relocated it from outside, under a cover, to inside my new man cave.  Now I can work on it and not have to pack up at the end of the day.  I can do 10 mins here and 30 mins there so I should be able to get more done.  Also, due to the new storage, I should be able to find the missing air filter while I move everything around.  That said... I've moved half of the stuff now and still no sign of it?

This morning I was up a bit early so I went out and moved some things into the container.  I had my nice CBR600 wheels on the bench and decided to see if the sprocket thing I bought from the states fit it.  Basically I got a bare rim with none of the cush drive bits and no sprocket.  I did a bit of research and found that the CBR carrier would be way to fat anyway.  I came across one comment by a guy who rode SV650s and he said that lots of people put the CBR wheels on them and use a carrier from an old VF500 Interceptor that had a lot less bulk.

After a while looking around eBay I found someone who had the whole rear wheel of the VF500.  I did a deal to just send me the carrier, rubbers and sprocket.  The part was cheap, but the postage was steep.  I would rather pay the person a lot and skip USPS, but that isn't how it works.

So this morning I pulled out the carrier and the rubbers and the rim.  It took me 30 second to see how it all went together and the rubbers fit PERFECTLY! and are in great shape for such an old part.  The sprocket has almost no wear, but I'm not sure on the pitch and it also has 46 teeth... a bit to steep for me.  I like to cruise at low revs, but I think the 46 will just be too tall and have nothing off the line.  Time will tell, but the carrier is exactly right.

So we take the wheels from this bike

Then we take the carrier from this bike

The rear disk from this bike

And the swing arm and axle from this one

And we put it all on this bike

You have to love the Internet!  Where else could I find all the info to make a Frankenstein mix like this work.  That said, I don't know if it does work yet.  Stay tuned!

Well almost ridding...

So I pulled my finger out after the last post.  I got out my eBay special XR600 front brake and cleaned it up and fitted it.  Other than the me being a bit heavy handed with the spanner and breaking one part it all went well.  Luckily the part could be got from the old XL brake and reused.

I went over the oil system since I'd left it all finger tight after draining the oil a few months back.  I tightened the drain bolts, but on a new washer on the sump plug.  Tightened up the bit at the bottom of the frame where the mesh filter is and refitted the stone guard thing.  Then I got a nice semi synthetic oil at the correct viscosity and filled her up.  I kicked it over a few times to pump through some oil and nothing leaked.  You've got to love it when a plan comes together.

One of the foot pegs was still removed from when I had the engine side cover off to do the kick spring.  So I went to bolt that on and found the bolt that was there before was really worn out and not the right length at all.  I took the correct one to the shop and picked up a new one.  I cleaned out the thread and put the new bolt in and the foot peg is now as good as new. 

The battery replacement capacitor fits the old battery wires perfectly and will be temporarily cable tied to the frame.  Once the rego is done, I'll do a Saturday of wiring and find somewhere for the capacitor and the other bits to go as since the air box/battery box/ rear mudguard - Honda know how to make a part do lots of jobs - is now gone, they are just dangling in a big empty space.  And more than a little too close to the rear tyre!

I also test fitted the side plastics and they are going to need some loving.  New bolts and washers are needed and I might even have to rely on some cable ties where one of them is all torn up around the mounting hole.  They only need to be secure for now, but will be gone once I cut off the rear sub frame and make up a new one.  I just have to find a seat that I like the look of and let that guide me to what to build.

Then it was time to fill up the tank and start thinking about starting.  I found the jerrycan and jumped in the car.  5 litres of premium fuel should be a good start.  Back home again and I'm starting to get keen.  Think first... I'll have to rinse out the tank... then I remember that I haven't fitted the other air filter...

Air filter... where is that second air filter?  After a few hours of looking everywhere I knew it should be there is no air filter to be found!  Oh well.  I'm going to buy a car.  eBay I hear you say?  Well it just so happens that there is a Cressida on there I like the look of.  More on that later.