Things to do...

Right, the plan has been for a long time to ride this bike down to the Hotrod Hay-Ride which is on the last weekend in July. This means that I have 4 weeks to get it done, and in that time it needs an MOT!!

So, time to pull my finger out, Ive got a long list of things to finish off, some major, some minor, but Ive roughly worked out that there is at least a weeks work (40hrs) to get it something like.

Over the last few nights Ive been working on two things - sealing the tank and making some new axle adjusters. The stock ones are too wide for the axle plates on the TCBro's hardtail - so I made some new skinnier and shorter ones.










They fit nice round the axle plates, but as you can see the axle is a bit over-long. A quick measurement shows that I need about a 7mm spacer on either side. But this will have to wait for another day...

As for sealing the tank, I got this kit for about £40;



First step is the 'Marine Clean'. Basically mix it with hot water and shake about inside the tank, I left it in there overnight and the inside looked like this;



Then is the 'Prep & Ready' which is supposed to remove the surface rust. Left this in for about three hours, regularly shaking the tank and leaving it in different orientations. This is what the inside looked like after;



Finally I rinsed it out and blasted it with a hot-air gun to dry out the inside. The tank needs to be totally dry for the sealer to stick properly.



But that's as far as I got last night, I'll add the sealer on Saturday and finish the axle plates.

Wired and running!!

Right, I made some gooood progress last night.

Finished setting up the boyer: set the engine to the 'advance' timing mark (I'm not pleased with transferring the timing marks with the PMA - I like accuracy!), and lined up the little white spot through the hole in the boyer plate;



Then I started on the wiring. I followed my diagram that put up a while ago, and just kept connecting things bit by bit. At this stage I wasn't worried about neatness or routing etc, just wanted to get a working circuit.



I must say the crimping tool and other bits that I got from Vehicle Wiring Products made this very easy. Just cut the wire to length and crimp the appropriate connector on - simples!! This meant that I quickly got the necessary wiring in place for the starting circuit, so I thought what the hell - might as well give it a go!

But before I could do this I needed to sort a few other bits - oil in the engine, put the carbs back on etc. I used an auxiliary fuel tank and put some petrol into the carbs - overflowed on the left side!! A careful disassemble in-situe revealed that I had set the float about 5mm out - DOH! So back together and checked everything else over before nervously connecting the battery.

I got a fire extinguisher to hand and turned it on - it did not spontaneously combust I'm pleased to say - so i pushed the starter button and it turned over...!!! Brilliant the wiring is working I thought.... so I kept at it for a few seconds and BAM! the bike fired up!!!

I didnt run it for very long because it was 11.30pm and it was loud, so I turned the key to stop the engine and....it kept going!! Shit! So I ended up pulling wires out of the fuse box untill one of them killed the engine.... Needless to say Im chuffed to bits and pretty impressed that the thing fired up, I thought Id be lucky if it turned over at all.

The thing rattled like hell mind - i havent got anything bolted down or tightened up so the engine looked like it was trying to make a break for the door! No video Im afraid, but this is what I had set up;




woop!!

Boyer Bransden

Last night I mounted the reg/rec under my fake oil tank. You cant really see it from this picture but I made a couple of little tapped spacers so that the unit doesn't sit flush with the tank, but rather has a little air gap under it.



Then I drilled a hole at the front edge of the tank, so that I can pass wires through. Didnt want to make it too big but had to be at least 1" for the plastic connector off the reg/rec to fit through. Rubber grommet forced in....



Then I started installing a Boyer Bransden ignition system. The magnetic rotor fits through the camshaft and clamps with a long M8 rod to the other side. But unfortunately the unit wasnt a snug fit with the hole through my camshaft (I think its designed for earlier models?) so I had to make a couple of bungs to take up the slack.







This slowed down play quite alot and I got the call that tea was on the table... so I didnt get much further than loosely installing the pickup plate. Next I need to move the bottom end to the 'advance timing' mark and then use this to set the rotor in sync with the pickup.



Slowly slowly catchy monkey!

PMA and TDC

I picked up a new nut and borrowed a thread file from work. I have never seen one of these things before, its brilliant!! I must add one to my toolbox...

Anyways this allowed me to clean up the thread and get the crank nut on so i could finish installing the PMA. I'd also borrowed a rotor puller from TC as the one that came in the kit doesnt fit...



Boom! got the bastard off



Then to install the new kit;





I wasn't convinced with the method in the instructions for transferring the timing marks - basically it told you to set the engine to TDC before you strip it down, and then somehow keep it in that position while you strip it and then install all the new bits. Fairly impossible not to move the crank at some point if you ask me, so I decided to find TDC myself using a piston stop and a timing wheel. I'd read how to do this on Hughs hand built...

HHB - TDC and how to find it



So now I could put the cover back on and mark TDC with (hopefully) a bit more accuracy...

Next I'm going to install the Boyer and keep pushing towards wiring the engine for starting!!

Carb trouble!

Ok so had then apart tonight. I definitely have the wrong choke plungers...





New one is the shiney one. Any clues on where I can the correct ones is much appreciated!!

All of the jets measured up as expected though for the BS34's. So I've gone up 2 sizes on the mains and one on the pilot as is widely suggested on xs650.com for my new setup. 

Or I would have if I hadn't shredded one of the Phillips head screws on the float body ggggrrrrr!!!



Gasket in the rebuild set is wrong. Also checked the float levels and they seemed to be way off 



They measured about 21mm, rather than the 27.3mm in the book. Seemed strange to be so far out but I tweaked it up anyways.

Outside pics

Finally mounted the exhausts - still not really 100% satisfied with it, there are better ways to mount them but I got to the point where I just wanted it done so did what I thought was simplest so I can move on.



Right, that means the bulk of the fab work is complete, apart from a numberplate/tail light mount, so I decided that it would be a good idea to roll the bike out of the shed for a better look. Especially as Ive not been able to stand back a for a proper look in almost a year!







Pretty chuffed with how its looking. If I'm being picky I think the tank doesn't sit quite right. Also I might add some fork gators to beef up the front end a bit...

...and yes I did sit on it and ride it down the hill haha!

New Stock!

Back in stock are the highly popular and extremely useful M8 'top hat' bungs!!

£4 each or £20 for six

"Do they still only come in M8?" I hear you say.... NOT ANY MORE!!

Glorious M10 size is now also available.... £5 each or £20 for five.

Also - dont forget that you can still purchase a magical fab-tab set to complete your bad-ass custom motorcycle;

Just £14 for the set of 8.

Hurry and order yours now before I use them all myself! Email me, buy them through the BigCartel shop or wait till I pull my finger out and stick some on ebay.

All made in England, prices dont include postage, postage to the UK only at this time.

Exhausts and fake oil tanks

Alright, been away getting wet in Europe for a few weeks so finally back in the shed!! I welded the exhausts up and attempted to mount them on the frame... 



I decided to use some genuine Holme Valley Customs frame bungs  and create a couple of fixing points near the end of the pipes.



That's great but then I realised that I had put the fixing points in a position that meant I couldn't get the pipes on and off.... Doh!!

So I fell out with that for a bit, meanwhile I finished off welding up and mounting the electrics box. I used some more frame bungs and a couple of laser cut tabs (also available at HVC!!).







I decided that three fixing points was sufficient..





On the bike;





So next job is to revisit the exhaust mounts...