Progress

So now my Dad is on a lifetime ban for using torque wrenches, I felt a bit safer in the workshop, and proceeded to get the old studs out by basically clamping them in a vice while I twisted the fork round (only the latest techniques used here people...). Unfortunately my local nut n bolt merchant didnt have any studs, but had some stainless bolts and this worked out quite well as I could use the hex head to tighten the bolts in before cutting the heads off (I was quite proud about figuring this out :-D).

 

With this sorted it didn't take long to get the front end back together and the brake bled up. I have however made a mess of the brake light switch on the handlebar so will have to do a little rewiring to get it working again.

Check out the sexy caliper oh yeah!!

I knew it was too good to be true...

All was going well, I'd taken the forks off, emptied the old oil, check the spring lengths, I'd got visions of having the front end completed by tonight, all was happy and glorious in Tombo land. Then I gave my dad a torque wrench, with which he unleashed destruction on my happy place.

'Do these have a torque setting' says Dad. 'Why yes' says I, and it was only a low one, so I set the little torque wrench up and handed it to him without further thought while I merrily selected a split pin for the spindle nut.

Then after a few seconds something in the back of my mind wonders why I can still here cranking noises.....
.....ITS ALREADY TI...SNAP!!!

to be fair he never uses the torque wrench, that's usually my job. And the one he was using only gives a slight click. I think he'd already tightened them up enough with the normal wrench and didn't realize that the wrench was telling him straight away that it was tight enough. I just wish I had noticed five seconds earlier!!

Suggestions for getting it out and where to buy a replacement stud on a postcard please to the usual address.

My heart bleeds....

Front Brake

The front bake was pretty poor so I decided it was best to strip it down for a look if it was to have any hope of getting through an MOT and more importantly, stopping the bike.

As you can see, the braking system was full of gunk and the master cylinder was no better, so got out the old wallet and bought new piston, seals and master cylinder rebuild kit from Yambits on ebay. They were really quick and very knowledgeable (as I found out after buying the wrong size kit! Duh!).

Bling!!! I may have got a little carried away with the dremel but I think it looks alot better just as brushed alloy, so i did the same to the master cylinder housing too. I hope I have fitted the circlip on the seal correctly, please tell me if I havent!!!

Here it is full rebuilt and ready to go back on the bike. I have swapped the (gaylooking) original bars for my old bandit ones. The grips that came with the bike were hideous and felt like holding two soggy cucumbers so I put the trusty old bandit grips on too. I had to cut the plastic throttle twisty bit (technical term) down a bit as the bandito bars dont have alot of room on them.

I think it looks miles better like this, though it does make it a little cramped getting the brake line round. I've also got most of the engine back together, just want to check the valve clearances before I shut it all up. Thanks to my Dad for helping rivet the cam chain back on, I'll wait till its running before I trust him to do it again...

Cannot wait to fire this baby up!!

Top end rebuild

The top end rebuild is going well, Ive scrubbed and polished all of the horrible black coke away and reseated the valves with some good ol' grinding paste.

Before:

 

After: **GLEAM**

 lapping valves: (Budweiser optional)

Then I re-honed the bores to get back that lovely cross hatched look;

And finally I fitted the pistons back on after putting on the new rings that I got from Heiden Tuning in Germany. A lot cheaper than trying to buy them over here!!

  

Now I just need a second pair of hands to help me get the top back on and fix the cam chain back in place etc......'DAAAAAD!!'

The start of the 650

Right, so onto my first attempt at building a custom motorcycle. Its a 1980 XS650 US import. Its only done 10500 miles and has spend the last ten years sat in the back of a garage so its in pretty good nick.

 

It drinks loads of oil at the moment, so I have decided to strip the top of the engine down first, replace seals, rings etc, and then get it back together and make sure it runs right as is, before I start chopping the frame. So first job is engine out.

Boom! This bike is great to work on, soo much easier than the bandit, I didn't shear one bolt!

Bleaugh! Black cack on the pistons and valves, will get all that cleaned off. On the plus side tho, the barrels look nice and undamaged.

So now its time to get the wallet out and get some new pistons rings and gaskets etc, so I can tidy this baby up and see if I've cured her drinking problem!

Bandit complete

Here is my first 'project' just about complete. The only thing left to do is stick some decals on it and get it running right (there seems to be a fueling issue). But for me, its finished enough that I can start on my next project guilt free...

Before:

After:

OK so its not a custom or anything, but I've learn a hell of a lot about bike mechanics, and more importantly, removing sheared bolts.