Took a day off work this Monday to try and button up a few things. Both tires/tubes are mounted, fork seals and fluid, chain on, rear brake adjusted, new headlight mount, etc. Managed to get the carb o-rings installed after a good dip and cleaning. Decided to try and take it for the first ride down the block only to discover a locked up clutch pack. Called it a night and decided to try again the next day. Here's a vid of it running.
The next day I put the bike on the jack and ran it through all the gears winding it out while pumping the clutch lever randomly. Much to my surprise it worked. Ran it around the block a bunch, and it is running amazing. All throttle ranges respond well, no flat spots or choppy areas. Couldn't be happier. Spent last night getting the brake cable installed and wiring up the tail light. Ran out of female spades, so I will be finishing up the headlight switch this evening as well as making a temporary padded seat while I figure out some upholstery options. Spent my lunch break at the DMV today getting tags, so come Saturday I will be able to start plugging in some serious test miles working out any gremlins. Some updated pics will be up soon.
4/26/12
cl350 build/entry : part 11
4/24/12
xl500 build/entry : part 4
James came over to the shop last week and locked the door behind him. I thought it was a beat down for something, or an ass raping. I was wrong. He came over to make sure I put in some time on this build since I had been so busy walking around the bike for the last month doing other shit. So he stayed up past 9PM this one night to get me moving on it again. He's dreamy!
So I found a header on the 'Bay for under the cost of a left nut. I hate that place but living in NJ means no good salvage yards and swaps are hard to cover as there aren't many catering to 30 year old Hondas with good deals being offered. So with the header and a set of flanges in hand I made the needed mods and got that bolted onto the head. The head on this engine is off of an FT500. They had larger pipes. I just made some rings to go over the head pipe ends and welded them on. The flanges are captive on the pipe now but they do the job. Then I fabbed up an aluminum intake spout to get the carb mounted. The shock finally got worked out and I have just enough room for a very slim carb screen. I added some material to the '82 swingarm to make the axle slots more usable with the 18" rear wheel and tire by closing them in and adding a set of new adjuster pins 7/8 rearward. Now I can get that huge knobby in there. I had this tire given to me about 8 years ago. It was brand new. I didn't have a dirt bike so I hung it on the wall as decoration. It's perfect! I stole the old tube from James as he bought a new one and I made some new aluminum wheel spacers to set up the '79 wheel in the '82 swinger. I also made use of an incorrectly ordered rear sprocket that was here. We lopped off the frame as well to get the rear fender sorted. I made some new extensions and got the initial mock up on the fender done. I have a ton of stuff to do still. Gonna be a long month of late nights to get it done in time to test ride and work out the bugs. I love coffee!
Mike47
4/20/12
4/9/12
4/5/12
cl350 build/entry : part 10
Headlight mount is done, for now at least. Tail light mount is done for the most part as well. You can also see the beginnings of the seat pan, some shorty emgo mufflers, and where I mounted my key switch. I'm not a huge fan of the mufflers right now, but they will do until I can snatch up a better pair later.
Here's a quick photoshop to see how I want to do the seat as well as tucking the headlight in a bit more.
I've ran the bike a few times now, and it was apparent that the carbs needed a good cleaning and new o-ring kits. I should have the kits in tomorrow, so I could potentially have it all back together over the weekend. Also have a new pair of tires/tubes, chain, and fork seals to add to the list.
4/4/12
NWA vintage breakfast club 03-31-12
Just a couple pics from Saturday's ride.
Almost uneventful. My old kz400 decided the clutch cable no longer needed a ferrule. A rider suggested we try using the front brake cable as a temp fix, and it worked. It was great to see the old kz on the road pounding out the miles since trading it off.
