The Finished Product
Behold, the finished product! After a few weeks of ironing out some kinks I installed the Maier quater fairing today to complete the project.
The kinks consisted of a minor head shake and persistent oil leak. The head shake was easy, just tighted up the steering stem. The oil leak was another matter.
I couldn't see the actual leak when the engine was running but there sure was oil on the stator cover after a short ride. It first looked like the oil was running down from the left side of the valve cover so I replaced the valve cover gasket with a rubber Real Gasket piece. Very nice, reusable rubber gasket but that didn't solve the problem.
Now I'm thinking it's got to be coming from the head gasket so off comes the head, new head gasket after a very careful cleaning of both surfaces and bolt things back up. Out for a test ride and I still have a $#%&$#@ oil leak!
OK, must be the the cylinder base gasket so the next weekend the whole top end comes off...again. All surfaces meticulously cleaned, new base gasket,new o-rings, new head gasket, proper 3-stage torqueing of all bolts. An entire Saturday but now everything
must be OK. Out for a another test ride and IT STILL LEAKING!
I pull off to the side of the road and rev the engine to about 5K and look at the left side of the engine. Yikes! There's a little fountain of oil squiting up from where the stator cover meets the cases. Back to the garage, drain the oil and pull the stator cover. There's a 1/16" piece of old gasket that I missed when I pulled the cover off to polish it.
Cleaned the surface, new gasket, bolt things back up and out for another test ride. Finally, no leak. Man, did I feel stupid. A couple of seconds of carelessness cost me at least 12 hours of unnessary work on a perfectly good engine. At least now I know that the engine should never leak oil and I got real familar with how the thing is put together.
Anyway, today I did 100 miles, and all is well. The bike runs great. Tomorrow is a 110 mile poker run and in three weeks and friend and I are going on a 1000 mile round trip ride to Niagra Falls. If I get through that without any problems, I'll feel confident that the project is really complete!
It's Alive!
After almost 4 months of work, it's alive! Over the last couple of weeks everything was reassembled, installed, checked and rechecked. I was apprehensive since this is my first frame-off of any kind but after installing the battery, the engine fired right up. I adjusted and synced the carbs and everything looked good. That is until I looked under the engine - oil pouring out of the oil filter cover. Yikes!
Turns out it wasn't that bad. I'd just pinched the new oil filter cover o-ring. Reinstalled the old o-ring and all was well. Nothing else appeared to be messed up so Saturday I got the bike ready for a shakedown run by hooking up the gauages, installing the stainless brake lines, bleeding both ends and installing the 530 sprocket/chain conversion package. No problems except trying to get the %^#*!@ master link done. I ended up doing it on my workbench and pulling the swingarm to get the chain on! That's what happens when you don't have the right tools. I should've just bought a $9.95 link press. Live and learn.
So now that everything was assembled, the test ride began. Again the bike started right up and off I went. It seemed to pull a bit stronger than last time I rode it but it's been 4 months so maybe it was my imagination. The pods are definately louder that the stock air box, that's for sure. I didn't ride far, jast a few miles to the nearest gas station for a fill up, but it sure felt good despite the 45 degree temperature.
When I got back to the garage a quick walkaround revealed a small oil leak coming from the valve cover gasket. Oh well, it wouldn't be any fun if everything was easy. Now I've got something else to work on this weekend. I've still got a lot of cleaning and polishing to do as well but I really do enjoy working on the bike almost as much as riding.
Making Progress
After a couple of weekends of putting things back together, installing new bearing, polishing cases, fixing wiring, etc., it seemed like nothing was getting done. Almost everything that needed to be done involved some kind of problem.
The conversion to tapered roller steering bearing required a shim I had to order and wait for. A previous owner had butchered the wiring of the regulator/recitifer that had to be fixed. The lower shock bushing were a bear to get in, even though I froze the bushing and heated the swing arm. Even reinstalling the center stand required grinding the powder coating off the edges of the mounting points.
Oh well, I guess if everything was easy to do, there'd be no sense of accomplishment.
Today, after getting the forks and front and rear wheels installed, I couldn't resist installing the tank, seat and bodywork just to see how it'll look when done. I still have a lot to do but getting a glimpse of the finished product has be revved up again.
The Rebuild Begins
It's been a while since my last post but I have managed to get some work done on the bike. The engine's been stripped to the cases and inspected. Everything looked good so it was just cleaned of carbon buildup and reassembled using all new gaskets.
I found a local powdercoating company, Powder Coat Finishes, that did a great job on my parts.
Yesterday, with the help my friend Christian (thanks a million), the engine went back into the frame.
This is definately a 2-person job because of the weight of the engine. Just be be sure that the beautiful new finish didn't get scratched during installation, I wrapped some high density foam padding around the danger areas.
Thanks to a tip from the
GS Resources forum, the installation process was made much easier by placing the engine on it's side and lowering the frame into place. The whole process took less than 10 minutes!
Now the fun of putting all the pieces back together can start. There's an awful lot of work to do if I'm to meet my goal of a ridable bike by March 31st. Stay tuned.
Swingarm and Carbs
This weekend presented the first significant problem of the project - trying to get the swingarm bearings out. I borrowed a bearing puller from a local auto parts store but had a hard time figuring out how to position the puller to get enough leverage to get the bearings to move. I ended up using my motorcycle jack to hold the swing arm in an upright position and an old brake disk as a platform for the puller's arms. Even with this very stable and sturdy setup the bearings didn't want to come out. I had to use a propane torch to heat the swingarm so it would expand. I was finally successful but the bearings were totally destroyed in the process, coming out in pieces - little needles everywhere.
Anyway, everythings now ready for powdercoating. If anyone has any recommendation about a good powdercoater in the Baltimore area, please let me know.
I also started the rebuild of the carbs. Tearing them down was pretty easy and held no unpleasant surp
ises. Some hand cleaning with s
pray carb cleaner and a stiff nylon brush before a 30 minute soaking in Berryman B-9 Chem-Dip produced a nice clean carb body. A hour or so of polishing produces a very nice shine. I used Blue Magic Metal Polish Cream, a Dremel, an Oral-B battery powered toothbrush, Q-Tips, a bag of cotton rags and lots of patience. Two down and two to go. Once that's done, thecarbs will go back together.
First Look At The New Paint
Got an emial today form Josh at Josh Hot Rods with a few picture of the new paint. Looks good so far. I'll have the parts back by the end of the week to get a closer look.
Nothin But Bits
I completed the tear-down this week. Nothing left now but a big pile of parts!
The frame's bare and the engine's on a cart. It was a struggle getting the engine out of the frame by mys
elf. I had no idea those things were so heavy.
Special thanks go to "focus frenzy" on the GS Resources forum (www.theGSResources.com) for the tip about laying the bike on its side and then lifting the frame off the engine. Worked like a charm.
I guess getting all the parts that'll be powdercoated degreased and ready for blasting is the next step. Off the the self-service carwash with a pocket full of quaters and a can of engine degreaser.
I've got a very long list of things that need to be done before reassembly. New wheel, swing arm and steering bearings, rebuild front and rear calipers, new fork seals, carb rebuild, all new engine gaskets, clean the engine cases, polish all aluminum parts and a boat-load of other stuff. I've been accumulating parts for the last couple months, mostly from eBay and BikeBandit.com, some aftermarket, some NOS and some custom parts from other bikes.
I'll take photos of all the rebuild and reassembly work and try to mention what parts were used and the parts source. All photos will be posted at http://www.gs750.us. Feel free to leave comments, suggestions or tips as the work progresses.
Behold, the finished product! After a few weeks of ironing out some kinks I installed the Maier quater fairing today to complete the project.
