# New bike project.



## th62

Some more pics:


----------



## th62

I’ve done a little frame work while waiting for parts.  The bike is going to be a custom so I’ve decided to narrow the seat a couple of inches which also necessitates making new sidecovers and battery holder.  The battery case has been bent up using 3mm ally, just have to weld the sides on it to finish.  Also had to make up some new rubber mounted brackets to mount it.

Side covers were beat up from 1.5mm ally with a sharp bend to follow the frame tubes.  Didn’t like the crease so I beat up another couple with a gradual rounded bend.  The top seat frame tube follows a different shape and angle from the lower frame tube so as well as bending the cover I also had to twist it, came out pretty good though.  After welding tabs on the frame, rubber grommets with positive stop nuts turned up on the lathe were installed in the sidecovers.  Originally the covers were to be painted, but I polished them up to see what they’d look like.  Very hard alloy so it took a bit to get all the marks out and polish them up.  I’ll wait until the frame and tank are painted and wheels on before I make a D but I think the polished alloy might be a bit too much.


----------



## th62

The cases turned up so I started on the motor, tore it apart and inspected to see the damage.  Surprisingly, the motor was in pretty good nick but compression was down so I put the barrel in for a rebore and sent off for a couple of pistons, rings, gudgeons and clips.  I also sent off for a gasket set, seal kit and a set of stainless, allen head screws.  Chrome platers got the oil tube, points/governor covers and acorn nuts for the cylinder head/rocker cover.

I bead blasted the cases, barrel, head, rocker cover and carbs.  Then back to the polishing again for the rocker inspection caps, side covers, dipstick, cam chain adjuster housing, breather housing, carb top and bottoms.

Carbs were CVs so they got a new kit through them and I managed to find two diaphragms that weren’t holed and also a couple of dented but usable floats.  The lip on the diaphragms were badly squashed so the slides didn’t act as they were supposed to so I cut some gaskets and installed them on top of the diaphragms, Bingo, all fixed, slides behaved themselves.

Hang the classic sign on a bike and prices go through the roof, a good example were the rocker shaft bungs, $20 each from suppliers.  I got four stainless hex head bungs with the same thread for just a few bucks on eBay.  Definitely pays to shop around.

After blasting the cases I painted them in engine enamel and started assembling.  I made up a wheeled stand for assembling the motor and once assembled I found the points backing plate didn’t allow sufficient adjustment to time it so I had to be opened up the points gap to .25mm to time the engine, bugger, new cam chain required.  Anyway I prepped the lube system by turning the motor over with the use of a cordless drill and mounted the electrical components on an ally bracket I made.  Rectifier was shot, I was  not surprised suppliers wanted an arm and a leg for a replacement so I bough a three phase bridge rectifier on eBay for $4.  Coils were also shot, so I found a couple of Bosch units in my electrics box, mounted them and hooked everything up.

Once ready, I switched on and the motor burst into life on the first crank.  Next stepwas to sync the carbs.  Not a fan of vacuum gauges, or the dollars they cost so I made up a fluid manometer using two lengths of 35mm acrylic tube sandwitched between a wood base, joined them together, cut two lengths of 6mm plastic tube, inserted two delron Jets I made up, joined them to the top of the manometer and put a few ccs of water in each tube.  The bike didn’t have any manifold adapters for vacuum gauges so The manifold came off, were drilled and a spigot shrunk into each.  Once back together again, I hooked up the manometer, started the bike and syncronised the carbs.  The video shows how a manometer works.
The cases turned up so I started on the motor, tore it apart and inspected to see the damage.  Surprisingly, the motor was in pretty good nick but compression was down so I put the barrel in for a rebore and sent off for a couple of pistons, rings, gudgeons and clips.  I also sent off for a gasket set, seal kit and a set of stainless, allen head screws.  Chrome platers got the oil tube, points/governor covers and acorn nuts for the cylinder head/rocker cover.

I bead blasted the cases, barrel, head, rocker cover and carbs.  Then back to the polishing again for the rocker inspection caps, side covers, dipstick, cam chain adjuster housing, breather housing, carb top and bottoms.

Carbs were CVs so they got a new kit through them and I managed to find two diaphragms that weren’t holed and also a couple of dented but usable floats.  The lip on the diaphragms were badly squashed so the slides didn’t act as they were supposed to so I cut some gaskets and installed them on top of the diaphragms, Bingo, all fixed, slides behaved themselves.

Hang the classic sign on a bike and prices go through the roof, a good example were the rocker shaft bungs, $20 each from suppliers.  I got four stainless hex head bungs with the same thread for just a few bucks on eBay.  Definitely pays to shop around.

After blasting the cases I painted them in engine enamel and started assembling.  I made up a wheeled stand for assembling the motor and once assembled I found the points backing plate didn’t allow sufficient adjustment to time it so I had to be opened up the points gap to .25mm to time the engine, bugger, new cam chain required.  Anyway I prepped the lube system by turning the motor over with the use of a cordless drill and mounted the electrical components on an ally bracket I made.  Rectifier was shot, I was  not surprised suppliers wanted an arm and a leg for a replacement so I bough a three phase bridge rectifier on eBay for $4.  Coils were also shot, so I found a couple of Bosch units in my electrics box, mounted them and hooked everything up.

Once ready, I switched on and the motor burst into life on the first crank.  Next stepwas to sync the carbs.  Not a fan of vacuum gauges, or the dollars they cost so I made up a fluid manometer using two lengths of 35mm acrylic tube sandwitched between a wood base, joined them together, cut two lengths of 6mm plastic tube, inserted two delron Jets I made up, joined them to the top of the manometer and put a few ccs of water in each tube.  The bike didn’t have any manifold adapters for vacuum gauges so The manifold came off, were drilled and a spigot shrunk into each.  Once back together again, I hooked up the manometer, started the bike and syncronised the carbs.  The video shows how a manometer works.

I knew I had to replace the Cam chain, and since I wasn’t happy with the silver colour I painted the engine, I tore the motor down again, blasted the paint off the cases, barrel, head and rocker cover and resprayed, black this time.  This second tear down  necessitated new gaskets of course so I sent off for a set and laid everything out on the bench ready for reassembly.  Cam chain arrived so I assembled the crank and gearbox and sealed the crankcases.  Bottom end is now in the stand with clutch and alternator assembled and that’s as far as I’ve got this time, just waiting for the gaskets to arrive.  Boredom overtook so I removed the stator and polished it, now the engine internals are nice and shiny.

I knew I had to replace the Cam chain, and since I wasn’t happy with the silver colour I painted the engine, I tore the motor down again, blasted the paint off the cases, barrel, head and rocker cover and resprayed, black this time.  This second tear down  necessitated new gaskets of course so I sent off for a set and laid everything out on the bench ready for reassembly.  Cam chain arrived so I assembled the crank and gearbox and sealed the crankcases.  Bottom end is now in the stand with clutch and alternator assembled and that’s as far as I’ve got this time, just waiting for the gaskets to arrive.  Boredom overtook so I removed the stator and polished it, now the engine internals are nice and shiny.

The cases turned up so I started on the motor, tore it apart and inspected to see the damage.  Surprisingly, the motor was in pretty good nick but compression was down so I put the barrel in for a rebore and sent off for a couple of pistons, rings, gudgeons and clips.  I also sent off for a gasket set, seal kit and a set of stainless, allen head screws.  Chrome platers got the oil tube, points/governor covers and acorn nuts for the cylinder head/rocker cover.

I bead blasted the cases, barrel, head, rocker cover and carbs.  Then back to the polishing again for the rocker inspection caps, side covers, dipstick, cam chain adjuster housing, breather housing, carb top and bottoms.

Carbs were CVs so they got a new kit through them and I managed to find two diaphragms that weren’t holed and also a couple of dented but usable floats.  The lip on the diaphragms were badly squashed so the slides didn’t act as they were supposed to so I cut some gaskets and installed them on top of the diaphragms, Bingo, all fixed, slides behaved themselves.

Hang the classic sign on a bike and prices go through the roof, a good example were the rocker shaft bungs, $20 each from suppliers.  I got four stainless hex head bungs with the same thread for just a few bucks on eBay.  Definitely pays to shop around.

After blasting the cases I painted them in engine enamel and started assembling.  I made up a wheeled stand for assembling the motor and once assembled I found the points backing plate didn’t allow sufficient adjustment to time it so I had to be opened up the points gap to .25mm to time the engine, bugger, new cam chain required.  Anyway I prepped the lube system by turning the motor over with the use of a cordless drill and mounted the electrical components on an ally bracket I made.  Rectifier was shot, I was  not surprised suppliers wanted an arm and a leg for a replacement so I bough a three phase bridge rectifier on eBay for $4.  Coils were also shot, so I found a couple of Bosch units in my electrics box, mounted them and hooked everything up.

Once ready, I switched on and the motor burst into life on the first crank.  Next stepwas to sync the carbs.  Not a fan of vacuum gauges, or the dollars they cost so I made up a fluid manometer using two lengths of 35mm acrylic tube sandwitched between a wood base, joined them together, cut two lengths of 6mm plastic tube, inserted two delron Jets I made up, joined them to the top of the manometer and put a few ccs of water in each tube.  The bike didn’t have any manifold adapters for vacuum gauges so The manifold came off, were drilled and a spigot shrunk into each.  Once back together again, I hooked up the manometer, started the bike and syncronised the carbs.  The video shows how a manometer works.

I knew I had to replace the Cam chain, and since I wasn’t happy with the silver colour I painted the engine, I tore the motor down again, blasted the paint off the cases, barrel, head and rocker cover and resprayed, black this time.  This second tear down  necessitated new gaskets of course so I sent off for a set and laid everything out on the bench ready for reassembly.  Cam chain arrived so I assembled the crank and gearbox and sealed the crankcases.  Bottom end is now in the stand with clutch and alternator assembled and that’s as far as I’ve got this time, just waiting for the gaskets to arrive.  Boredom overtook so I removed the stator and polished it, now the engine internals are nice and shiny.


----------



## matthewsx

Very nice work. I have a Yamaha TT500 I'm customizing as a tracker and also have an XS650 engine that I'd love to find an old Rickman frame for. Some day maybe, all this is 2000 miles away right now so it will have to wait.

John


----------



## FOMOGO

Excellent work on the Yam. They are basically a triumph copy, Not as pretty, but more reliable. I have a 1980 low mile version in line for a rebirth as a scrambler. Polishing can get a bit addictive, but it's a messy business. Cheers, Mike


----------



## th62

New seat pan I made up.  This one has a rear cowl.  Also some chunky engine mounts I fabricated.


----------



## pontiac428

Nice progress on the YamaHarley!  I'm looking forward to the next steps.


----------



## th62

More work on the seat, after a lot of procrastinating, I finally decided on a front mount design.  I also welded on a tank mount hump.  I didn't like the original seat pan build as the rear cowl didn't match the slope of the tank, sooo, I cut the cowl off, lowered the angle of the rear section, shortened it a little and re attached the cowl.  Of course the cowl didn't match, so I had to cut it in half and re bend to the new shape.  The sheet wasn't quite long enough so I ended up with a 3mm gap between the halves I had to fill with weld.  All worked out in the end, although the cowl skirt sits a little higher than I'd like.


----------



## th62

Here's a new manometer I made using neoprene gaskets instead of chair stoppers.  Works the same, just looks neater.  I also finished of the seat by making rear mounts and redoing the front.  Looks quite neat and it's only a two bolt job to remove the seat.  Front mount is basically the same as the first, just angled down so the seat clears the frame tubes.  Rear mounts are two grommets fitted to the cowl, two positive stop, aluminium plugs  inserted in them and two 6mm bolts through them to screw into the tapped tabs I welded to the rear seat loop.


----------



## NortonDommi

matthewsx said:


> Very nice work. I have a Yamaha TT500 I'm customizing as a tracker and also have an XS650 engine that I'd love to find an old Rickman frame for. Some day maybe, all this is 2000 miles away right now so it will have to wait.
> 
> John


I have the remains of a 1981 TT500 sitting in the shed.  Silver and Black tank model.  I ran IT 400 front end and piggyback rear shocks, fitted a 17" rear rim, 2" longer swingarm, really radical cam, 36 mm Mikuni, custom exhaust,(power didn't start until 2500),then hang on, Renthal bars, 20 litre plastic tank for long distance enduros. Getting old as I can't remember the brand names.
Was a handful in the tight so used to swap cams for some tracks but on an open run was bloody awesome.
One of the best bikes I ever had for playing Ivan major on. Mindblowing beach bike. Nothing like topping the biggest dune around.
Nothing beats a 500 thumper for pure fun! Make sure you fit a bigger oil feed pipe to the top end as the starve a bit for oil at peak revs. Valves are plenty big enough as is just clean up the ports and abrasive blast when done. A bit of rugosity helps with fuel atomisation. Pay attention to the transition area under the inlet valve as it is a bit not good on the short side.

I actually had three of them but the '81 was the one I really went to town on. Bought new and was having a full on competition with a mate who bought one of those Honda things.  
Man, just writing this has bought back some memories!


----------



## savarin

Ivan Major indeed, Ole Olsen mate or Ronnie.  Well, thats dated us.


----------



## NortonDommi

Aye. 
Alas. Undone.


----------



## DavidR8

I’ve always wanted one of those big Yamaha thumpers. I think it’s the Manx vibe that I like. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## th62

A little more work: Just put the front hub together using sealed bearings, bead blasted the disk holder and drilled a few holes in the disk. Also put the rear hub together with sealed bearings. The Teles are also together, I removed all the casting marks from the sliders and polished them again, they look 100% better without the casting marks. Unfortunately I dropped the left side slider and damaged the seal surround, bugger! I'll try the aluminium brazing rods I have and see i f I can repair it. I'm thinking of doing away with the sidecovers and either making a polished aluminium battery carrienr and making a feature of it, or I'll shorten the sidecovers at the front and attach brackets to the battery carrier for the sidecovers, that way I wont have to mak e splayed manifolds.
All one handed, had the left hand index and second finger fused and the ring and pinky got new PIP joints. Not easy with just one hand all this work, but, this Yamaha is yelling at me!


----------



## PHPaul

I bought a brand new TX650A back in the day.  (Were we ever that young?)  It was a time in my life (before marriage, obviously) when I was changing bikes roughly as often as I changed my socks.  I kept that 650 for almost 10 years and have no idea how many miles I put on it.  It followed me from Maine to Japan to Florida.  I often regretted selling it.






6 years ago or so, I found a '79 XS650SF Special and relived my youth for a few years with it.  Went completely through it and did a "rings and valves" rebuild on it.  Eventually found it was to small for my big butt (40 years and 40 pounds will do that...) and sold it to a kid who immediately beat it to death by trying to ride it like a crotch rocket.

My current ride is a '16 Yamaha FJ09 with the 900cc cross-plane triple.  What a motor!


----------



## th62

Finished off the front hub:  I drilled the disk with some lightning holes, installed new sealed bearings, polished the hub and because the left side cover that covers the disk mount holes was rusted, I fabbed a new aluminium one and polished that as well.  Bought some stainless fasteners, polished them up and assembled the hub.  I want to go with an electronic speedo, if I can find one, so the speedo drive on the left will probably go and I'll turn up a stainless spacer in it's place.  For a bit of extra bling, I also polished the edge of the disk.  Hub should look nice laced up to a polished ally rim with polished stainless spokes.


----------



## th62

A nice new rotor arrived this morning. A trip out to wingfield in order to find a big lump of aluminium to make a mounting bracket from is in order now. Tell you what though, knock Chinese made products all you like, but both the stator and rotor are excellent quality. Compared to the original Japanese made ones from the 70s, these are superb. I suspect that the kit suppliers in America get theirs from China, for a lot less than I paid, get them to make a mount and sell the kit for $400.


----------



## th62

Finished off the stator mount for the PMA today. I bought a couple of slabs of aluminium, thickest I could get was 25mm, so I settled for that. That meant making a 10mm spacer. After waiting ages for the bandsaw to cut the slab down to a size that would fit in the four jaw I chucked the square slab and made it round, dished the underside to clear the crank bearing mount, bored a 60mm hole through the middle and drilled a couple of holes for mounting.

Next came the spacer: Turned down a 70mm round ally bar to fit inside the stator windings and turned down a couple of locators either side to locate the spacer under the stator and to locate the spacer inside the base, thus making sure the stator is mounted central. Drilled a few more holes and tapped them, then stuck it all together.

Drilling and tapping all these holes scratched the hell out of the ally, so I mounted spacer and base in the lathe again and used some emery to get rid of the marks.

Fits on the engine nicely, just have to file a woodruff down to match the 6mm keyway in the rotor to the 5mm keyway in the crank. After that, solder some terminals on the end of the stator leads, yeah I know, I'm a rebel.

Next job is to turn up a cam for the points. I'm going to convert the twin points system to a single, lots of messing around here trying to get the points firing at the correct intervals.


----------



## th62

Modified the fork legs: Removed the lower mudguard mounts on both legs and the caliper mount on the left leg, ground everything down smooth and polished both legs. I also discarded the speedo drive and replaced it with a stainless bush and ally dust cover I spun up, pressed together and polished.


----------



## th62

> Some painting today. Frame is still at the blasters, soon as I get it back, I'll paint that too. Undecided on tank, guards and side covers, probably black, perhaps with a little sparkle. Either that or metalic charcoal.


*Attached Files:*


----------



## th62

Some nice shiny triple trees.  Couldn't get underneath the top triple tree for polishing so that's just a bead blast finish.  Top had some difficult sections, but I managed to get in there with nylon fibre wheel and narrows mops.  The large chrome washers under the handlebar mounts were rusted, so I spun up some aluminium ones and polished them.  Lower triple tree had a rough cast finish, so I sanded the areas I could get to with the belt sander and nylon fibre wheel before painting..  Finally, I bought some stainless fasteners, cut them to length and polished them.  When I find a magnetic sensor speedo I'll mount that on a polished aluminium plate and use the stock mounts.  Triple trees look good so far.  Picked up the frame from the sand blasters this afternoon and bogged up the rough areas, I filed most of the weld joints prior to blasting so that saved a lot of bog.  Hard to know when to stop bogging on these Japanese frames, talk about rough.  Paint day tomorrow, sand the bog down and apply a few coats of primer before I hit it with a top coat, then float coat it.  I also removed the pins from the footrests, bead blasted everything, rammed a 16mm square bar down through the hollow pegs to straighten them, belt sanded the main bodies smooth, removed the casting joins and hit them with gloss black.  Instead of Inserting pins, I polished up a couple of allen heads and fixed them with polished stainless nyloc nuts.  Rubber peg mounts were buggered, so I bought a couple of rubber bungs from Clarkes.  When I've finished the frame I'll shape the rubber bungs and insert them in the pegs.


----------



## th62

First colour coat on the frame today, I'll finish of with a final float coat tomorrow after scrubbing down. Managed to get the front down tubes pretty straight and smooth with a belt sander and bit of bog, but the area where the footpegs mount, what an abortionate mess, bits and pieces tacked on, welding looks like a five year old did it, folder marks all over it. What a bloody mess these frames are, bits and pieces tacked on everywhere, abysmal welding and fit. I'll have another go at flattening the area tomorrow. This abysmal frame is going to ruin this build.


----------



## th62

Looks a bit better with some paint on it. Have to slip the motor in now so I can knock up some exhausts. Should look - black!


----------



## sycle1

Thats looking sweet !! congrats job well done.


----------



## th62

Managed to get the motor in without scratching the frame, now I can fabricate an exhaust and a few other bits and pieces.  What a struggle though, I'm sure the Japanese have some sort of robotic device that installs the motor, but surely they realise at some stage the motor may have to be removed and not everybody has access to a a robot, what a stupid design.  Next problem is to get it up onto the bench, then after that I'll have to remove the motor again at some stage to fix a leak at the bottom of the barrel.  Getting the motor In wasn't the only struggle, the Japs in their wisdom use 10mm bolts, but the holes into which they fit are nearly 11mm, put the two lower bolts in place then you have to jiggle the motor around to get the upper bolts through the upper mounts.  Probably easy for an able bodied person, unfortunately, RA has robbed me of my strength and much of the use of my hands, had to get the wife to help.  I did make a stand to sit the frame on utilising the centre stand mounts, works well stopping the frame from wobbling around.


----------



## th62

I managed to get the bike up onto the bench using a very technologically advanced method: Around 90 paving stones stacked on top of each other. I lifted one end, While the wife slid a few paving stones in then lifted the other end so she could slide a few more pavers in at the other end. Lifted it up one paver height at a time until we got to the right height then slid it across onto the bench. Wife got a little worried at times, the higher we got, the more wobbly it got. But we got there in the end. Helps if the wife is a good sport. I welded a frame mount together from 32mm tube and fitted that first to save some paint and keep it from rocking around all over the place. It bolts onto the frame using the centre stand mounts. Now I can start on an exhaust.


----------



## Boswell

th62 said:


> I managed to get the bike up onto the bench using a very technologically advanced method


Very effective and available tech.  Reminds me of when my wife and I were building our first house. We needed to lift 3 24' home made beams (3 x 2x12 with 3/4 plywood in between) from the ground up to the top of the concrete piers. We used a very similar process. Took a long time but was effective.


----------



## Winegrower

You guys are pretty amazing.   It took me three weeks to oil the forks and rebuild the front calipers.  Decided i would never mess with forks again.  Honda ST1100.


----------



## pontiac428

Winegrower said:


> You guys are pretty amazing.   It took me three weeks to oil the forks and rebuild the front calipers.  Decided i would never mess with forks again.  Honda ST1100.


Fear not the oil nor the shim stack; for it is the key to a good ride.  And remember, what seals ye, heals ye.


----------



## GunsOfNavarone

Metric bikes! nice...
Been working on a hardtail chop/complete rebuild....every nut/bolt/gasket/bearing.... I'll have about 4 times in it over what its worth! I guess that's the appealing part of using a Harley...will have value by the finish line.


----------



## th62

It's a long road, but I'm getting there, ever so slowly.  I mocked up an exhaust to get the angles right, tomorrow I'll get the local muffler shop to replicate the top and bottom angles then weld them together.  Looking at it now, it doesn't look too back with the squared bends.  Bet you can't spot the tiny LED rear indicators!  Very unobtrusive.  Still a way to go:  Mudguards, battery box, air filter, electrics, exhaust, upper engine mounts.


----------



## th62

Couple of top end mounts made today, just have to polish them and turn up some spacers.  Exhaust was a no go today, none of the exhaust shops I went to do mandrel bends.  Got an address to try tomorrow.  Crossed fingers, otherwise it's an ugly exhaust system!


----------



## th62

Polished the upper engine brackets and spun up some spacers for them.  Also shaped an exhaust clamp which I can't polish yet as I'm modifying the polisher stand.  Waiting on the exhausts at the present time, probably another week or so.


----------



## hotrats

TH62, Great looking work you've done! I've been thinking about a project bike for occupying my time - and had just about settled on a Yamaha X650 - like you, because of the cost. I've always had HD's, or had 1 Triumph, would like to go that route, but the costs... Guess I need to do some searching.


----------



## th62

An R65 or a CX500 were also on my list for a project bike.  The TX650 came up first so I grabbed it.  Another would be a GS750, a good bike.


----------



## th62

New, revamped polishing and sharpening stations.  Polisher is GMF, bought in 1976, now that's good service.  Be interesting to see if the Abbot and Ashby grinder lasts as long as the GMF grinder has, no matter, I'll be long gone.


----------



## th62

After making a few different style exhaust brackets, I've decided on these four bolt ally/steel exhaust brackets.  A real job bending the 50/3mm steel to shape, ally was easy by comparison.  Should get the pipes late thiS week then I can weld some mounting plates to the rear of the steel brackets, paint them and polish the ally.


----------



## th62

Picked up the exhausts yesterday, unfortunately, not a good job:  Angles were out, left and right sides slightly different.   Annoying considering it took him four weeks to bend them up.   So, on to the bandsaw, cut the pipes into three pieces and welded them back together.  Not much I can do about the angle not following the downtube angle, but I cut and welded the lower tube so it followed the ground, didn't like it so cut and welded again with just a slight upsweep.  Lower section on the right is only tacked, should  be able to finish them off tomorrow, then finish off the brackets, form the ally  clamps and polish them up.  Happy with the outcome.


----------



## Rogbo

Nice job Th62, on all counts! I'm in a lot of the same boat, I road an old Shovelhead Harley for 30 years, a one bike man. I largely improved my machinist skills to make parts for the old bike. Then Rheumatoid Arthritis, I can't even pull the clutch lever anymore, let alone move it down the road. I bought a KZ400 last year to go through, I'll probably never register it, but it's fun to work on. And it keeps my mind going and body moving.


----------



## th62

Pipes, brackets and clamps all done. Slapped some paint on and bolted them up. An absolute nightmare grinding, filing and smoothing all the pipe bender marks off, these pipe benders make such a mess of the pipe. Then there was Cutting and then welding the sections together, round tube right? Nope, not very round at all, get one side lined up nice and flat and another section doesn't quite line up. Not far out, but enough to notice. Lots of bashing and grinding and filing.

The top bend was such that the downpipe was to match the angle of the frame downtubes, that didn't happen, exhaust shop got that wrong. Not much I could do about that, but probably not that noticeable unless you get on your hands and knees to line the tubes and pipes up. The lower bend was way out, pipe was meant to run parallel to the ground. So, I cut the pipe further along and angled it up so it was parallel, didn't like that, so cut and welded again with a slight upsweep. That then threw the lower bracket angle out, once again, cut and reweld. All good in the end. I got the angles absolutely spot on, so both brackets are identical.

The top clamps were turned on a lathe using a four jaw to get the large central hole lined up. Managed to get them spot on, just using a punch mark and a dead centre. The lower brackets have very tight bends to get the bolts as close to the pipe as possible. Ally was easy, but the 50x3mm steel was a little more difficult, first bending in the bar bender, then bashing them in a vice.

I'd like to know why, when forming circles, or half circles in this case, PI is always incorrect by a couple of mm. Pi says these half brackets needed to both be 65.155mm long, including the right angle bends at each end. Now that is for the two halves to meet. I ended up making them 67.5 long including bends and that left a gap of 1mm once clamped together, which is what I was after.

I've done a lot of these type clamps over the years, Pi is always out, but it does give a ballpark length.


----------



## th62

Due to lack of interest there will be no more progress reports on the build.


----------



## Grey

I had one of these back in 84.  Always bought handle bars by the pair.  I think I might have liked beer back then.  Keep the rubber side down.


----------



## Grey

th62 said:


> Due to lack of interest there will be no more progress reports on the build.


I am sure there is interest.  I just happen to see this myself.  I post for myself and if it helps someone down the line then it is a benefit.  No way I can match at the shop level what some of these guys (and gals?) can pull off.  Think I am joking just have a look at my belt sander.


----------



## th62

Since a couple are interested, Just a quick update:  painted tank, front guard and headlight and made up a couple of headlight brackets.  Paintwork yet to be polished, also have a couple of 650 stickers I'm thinking of applying to the tank.  Not sure about them, don't want to draw attention away from the engine.  If anyone is interested I can post some pictures and write a 'how to' narrative on making the headlight brackets.


----------



## th62

Finally finished off the forks today, right side needed a final polish.  These pics show how not to remove fork seals.  Some people shouldn't be allowed near bikes, gouging the fork legs like that to get  a seal out is criminal..
The damage is actually worse than the pictures show, both legs have deep gouge mark inside and outside the seal housings, one was cracked, but despite blasting the area and using a loupe I couldn't find it.  I thought about cutting the top section down to the level of the top of the seal, then turning up an aluminium sleeve with a circlip groove and shrinking it over the seal housing, but, the seals were a damn tight fit and no more aluminium broke off  the top.  I might still remove the top section down to the level of the seal as the circlip really isn't needed, so tight is the seal fit.   The stanchions have a bit of rust on them, hence the gaiters, but, I think the forks look better with them.


----------



## th62

> I had another shot at the left side engine cover. No matter how much I polished it before, the aluminium appeared stained. I've tried a nylon fibre wheel before with no luck, so this time I scrubbed it down with wet and dry then polished it, Still the same. It appears there is a fault in the aluminium, I must have scrubbed the aluminium down by at least half a mm, all to no avail. Still nice and shiny, but the staining is really annoying me. Strangely enough, whilst the other aluminium on the bike was in terrible condition, badly pitted and oxidised, nowhere else is staining a problem. It's only in sections rather than the entire cover. Nothing more I can do, so I'll have to hunt around for another cover. Japanese metals have always been of bad quality, too much junk in the casting I'd guess.









 Attached Thumbnails


----------



## Grey

I am getting a very nostalgic feeling with this bike.  Looks nice, especially that engine.  I just love the UJM style.


----------



## DavidR8

I’m definitely interested in your project!


----------



## jonesn7

Cast aluminum just doesn't polish up like billet. Some things only get so shiney.


----------



## th62

No, disagree.  Cast ally can be made to shine as good as billet, may take a little longer and a different approach.  Proof is in the pudding, look at the finish on the cast ally on the bike.


----------



## th62

This afternoon I taught myself to mig aluminium.   The key was finding the right volts,  wire feed,  stick out, speed and watching the heat build up,  that had me stumped for a bit, wondered why each successive run was worse than the last - heat build up!.   Oh,  a steady hand also helps,  but that's beyond this old codger now,  hence the wobbly runs.  Excellent penetration too, after welding an external edge joint, I ground it down flat then belted the hell out of it trying to separate the joint.  Not too bad for an hour or so practice.  A whole new world of aluminium fabricating has opened up now,  should have taught myself to weld aluminium year's ago.  Talk about messy though, splatter everywhere.  And I burnt the crap out of my arm from flash, the flash is 10 times brighter than when welding steel.


----------



## Downunder Bob

Amazing work especially considering the hand. I'd like to teach myself to MiG weld Al. but so far no luck.

Your project shows some very special skills. I like your home made manometer for tuning, I never used one, always tuned by ear, only on cars in those days. Didn't get into bikes until much later. 

The polishing job reminds me of when I did a similar job on my 1993 HD FXR. The motor had busted a crankpin so while the motor was out being rebuilt I set about polishing all the polished Al bits. This was around 2007-8, it was a huge job, but finally got it done I also had the tank and guards etc repainted at the same time. 

Finally the bike was all reassembled, just like a new one. It actually went really well. A couple of years later I bought a new 2010 Road King, and sold the FXR to of all people a Ducati guy. He later told me that he had ridden it to the super bikes at Philip Island, and he now preferred it to his Ducati.

I'm still have the Road King, although it now has 3 wheels courtesy of motor trike conversions.

Keep up the good work, and keep posting

BTW I also live in Adelaide.


----------



## Grey

You probably know this but I didn't see it mentioned.  The primary "trick" to welding aluminum is, wait for it, material prep and cleanliness.  Yes heat buildup happens fast with aluminum, but you can't imagine how much cleanliness means.  A little film of oxization builds up fast with aluminum.  Clean up the particles and oils with acetone.  FYI which you may already know, stay away from brake/carb cleaners.  Their is an ingredient that used to be used and can be found in some formulas, that is triggered by the temperature in combination with the UV light.  It essentially creates the same phosgene gas that was used in WWI.  I don't trust anything from China due to their process handling, and QA, so I don't even keep it in the same area as where I weld.  

While I am thinking about safety, welding in shorts and flip flops?  I see that on vids and always wonder.  I have burnt holes in my cloaths, don't need a zipper on one pair of pants.  Burnt through the top of my steel toe shoes, synthetic sneaker style, and through the sock.  This little piggie went WEEE WEEE OWUHH.  I now put my full leather steel toe boots on if I even contemplate welding that work session.  It always seems that I start with "I am only going to do this little seam."  Kind of like most car accidents happen within two miles of the home.  I am not griping, just don't want to see you stalling your project due to an injury.


----------



## th62

Yep, I wear shorts, short sleeve shirts, crocks and no gloves.  Been welding for 55 years, now in my 70th year, never wrapped myself in cotton wool and still have all my  toes, all my fingers, all my skin and good eyesight.  That pretty well sums it up.

When I started work in a metal fabrication business in the mid 60s, there was no PPE: no glasses, no gloves, we all wore shorts and short sleeve shirts, about the only nod to safety was boots, not steel caps either as I don't think they were even available then. And we only wore boots because they lasted longer than tennis shoes. Wrap yourselves up in cotton wool all you like, I'll keep going as I have for the last 55 years.

When I served in the RAAF as a police dog handler there was no PPE then either, no earmuffs on the range, no full padded suit when being attacked, just a padded arm protector and some fancy foot and arm work.  Over the years I had half my left tit ripped off, 15 stitches worth, still have the scar 45 years on. I had a 50c size chunk ripped out of my arm, and later on spent two weeks wrapped in bandages from shoulder to finger tip on both arms after being mauled, and you know what, I still went to work, still trained dogs, still got bitten and still have all my fingers toes and skin. And most importantly, I have no regrets!


----------



## Downunder Bob

Different places had different rules I started my apprenticeship in Jan 1961, they had very strict rules about safety clothing. The apprentices, the tradesmen, and all the production line workers, all had to wear mostly combination overalls, some jobs like welding required leather apron, hard boots leather gauntlet type gloves. within a few months of starting all the presses wee fitted with safety gates etc  It was a very safe place to work back in that era. It was a non union shop, and yet nearly all of us got well over award pay. It was a good and happy place to work.

I still mostly follow those rules I don't use leather except for gloves, but I do wear sturdy shoes, denim jeans. and  denim shirt plus leather gloves. and of course auto helmet/


----------



## th62

Good for you!


----------



## Grey

I am just thankful that the next generation of machinists, carpenters, fabricators, and welders are being trained to protect themselves from injury and long term buld up of carcinogens.  Guess it is just playing the odds as to the degree of what injuries are sustained when performing operations that have a high risk associated to them.  Just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should do something.  As dinosaurs, we should help to promote better processes rather than defend our archaic ways.  Good for you that you still have all your limbs at least.  I'll leave my injuries for the stupid stunts I pull.  And god knows I pull some daisies.


----------



## th62

I don't preach.  Perhaps you shouldn't either.

Anyway, that's the end of my posts here, the fwits are invading.


----------



## Rc4man

Don't know if it's been mentioned but there is a very good forum for the XS650


----------



## vincent52100

th62 said:


> New project, a bike with a motor this time, I’ve been working on this for a while so done quite a bit so far.  It’s been 20 years since I sat or worked on a bike, last one was a Triumph Bonny, they just cost too much these days so I settled for a 74 TX650 wreck and boy did it turn out to be a wreck.  I have psoriatic arthritis so I’ve largely lost the use of my hands but I manage a few hours work on it every day.  I’ll never be able to ride it thanks to the PsA so this will be a long term project: Every nut, bolt spoke, piece of steel was rusted through. Inspection also revealed the chain had come off at same stage, as well as removing the top section of the crankcase as in the picture, it also tore the top section of the gearbox drum shifter bearing housing off. After tearing the engine apart I sent off for a second hand set of crankcase.
> 
> The bike came with an extra set of carbs, mag wheels and a pair of spoked wheels and a box of assorted bits and pieces.  While I was waiting for the cases, I cut the rusted spokes off the wheels, stuck the hubs on the lathe, trued up the castings and then polished them using cloth wheels and progressively finer compounds.  The rims, which were badly damaged from tyre irons and badly pitted from oxidisation, were repaired, ground and polished.  While on a polishing kick I also polished the top triple tree, lower fork sliders, brake backing plate, brake fluid distributor, brake master cylinr and also bead blasted the switches and polished them up.  Polishing on the buffer machine really hurts my hands so I have to loop a roop around my neck, tie it to the item to be polished to support it and then polish.  It took quite a while to do the polishing as I could only manage an hour or under each day, any more and I’d be laid up recouperating for a few days.  A very painful job for me, polishing.  Some pics of the journey:


Great project! I really sympathize with with your PsA. It’s hell when you want so bad to do something you know how to do and your body lets you down. I refuse to say “never”. We don’t know how much time we have but I’ve decided that every day is the start to the rest of my life. Please hang in there. Remember, tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life.


----------



## kenrams

th62 said:


> New project, a bike with a motor this time, I’ve been working on this for a while so done quite a bit so far.  It’s been 20 years since I sat or worked on a bike, last one was a Triumph Bonny, they just cost too much these days so I settled for a 74 TX650 wreck and boy did it turn out to be a wreck.  I have psoriatic arthritis so I’ve largely lost the use of my hands but I manage a few hours work on it every day.  I’ll never be able to ride it thanks to the PsA so this will be a long term project: Every nut, bolt spoke, piece of steel was rusted through. Inspection also revealed the chain had come off at same stage, as well as removing the top section of the crankcase as in the picture, it also tore the top section of the gearbox drum shifter bearing housing off. After tearing the engine apart I sent off for a second hand set of crankcase.
> 
> The bike came with an extra set of carbs, mag wheels and a pair of spoked wheels and a box of assorted bits and pieces.  While I was waiting for the cases, I cut the rusted spokes off the wheels, stuck the hubs on the lathe, trued up the castings and then polished them using cloth wheels and progressively finer compounds.  The rims, which were badly damaged from tyre irons and badly pitted from oxidisation, were repaired, ground and polished.  While on a polishing kick I also polished the top triple tree, lower fork sliders, brake backing plate, brake fluid distributor, brake master cylinr and also bead blasted the switches and polished them up.  Polishing on the buffer machine really hurts my hands so I have to loop a roop around my neck, tie it to the item to be polished to support it and then polish.  It took quite a while to do the polishing as I could only manage an hour or under each day, any more and I’d be laid up recouperating for a few days.  A very painful job for me, polishing.  Some pics of the journey:


You are an inspiration, Sir! Motorcycle restoration is a long and tedious process and most people give up after they realize the work involved. Not you!

 I had one of those yams back in the day and absolutely loved it. My older brother had many Triumphs but I much preferred the reliability and engineering of the 650. Best of luck going forward.


----------



## th62

So, finished machining the second manifold, managed to get the second one identical to the first, well not quite, the second one is 0.02mm longer, but i can live with that. i also turned up a couple of brass spigots, drilled the manifolds and pushed the spigots into place, then polished the second one and bolted them in place. you'll notice the spigots for the balance pipe is tucked up out of the way, bit of a bugger attaching syncing hoses to it, but i didn't want the balance tube seen. urned out quite good, the adjustment cable sits around 10mm behing the tap, so plenty of room to get a spanner in there for syncing. Outlet on the tap now faces forward so it's a bit of a trek to the carb inlets, and damn, the left side carb has the inlet on the same side as the right hand carb, so it's seen. so much for left and right hand carbs.

The carbs have to be supported at the rear via rubbers for vibration. I'll make a two piece polished ally clamp to clamp onto the main frame downtube and go from there.


----------



## th62

As you are probably aware, when fuel runs low in bike tanks, due to the tunnel one carb can run dry, BS carbs overcome that problem by linking the carbs via a short hose between them. I run VM carbs on the TX so there is no fuel link. Previously I had a jumble of hoses and T piece barbs linking the petcocks, but that was just so untidy, so today I made a fuel distributor. Not quite finished yet: I still have to drill the linking gallery through so the petcocks are linked, but, I don't have a 4.5mm drill long enough, so I'll have to drill from both sides and blank one side off with a screw and copper washer, then punch in three brass barbs, clean it up a little, round off the edges and polish it.


The distributor mounts underneath the front lip of the ally battery carrier I made some time ago.. A tube from each petcock attaches to the two inner barbs via a small filter, fuel line links the two outer barbs to the carbs.


I was going to make one with integral sintered bronze filters, but the unit would have been LARGE , so I decided to go with the two inline filters.


The left side works well, plenty of room for the hoses and filter as the carb hose attaches to the side of the distributor, but the right side is a little crowded as the fuel inlet on the carb is on the same side as the left hand carb, I may have to make another just a few mm wider.

I'm going into hospital today for five days, that'll be followed by about of month sitting on my bum, so it'll have to wait a while before I can finish it off.


----------



## Steve-F

th62 said:


> New project, a bike with a motor this time, I’ve been working on this for a while so done quite a bit so far.  It’s been 20 years since I sat or worked on a bike, last one was a Triumph Bonny, they just cost too much these days so I settled for a 74 TX650 wreck and boy did it turn out to be a wreck.  I have psoriatic arthritis so I’ve largely lost the use of my hands but I manage a few hours work on it every day.  I’ll never be able to ride it thanks to the PsA so this will be a long term project: Every nut, bolt spoke, piece of steel was rusted through. Inspection also revealed the chain had come off at same stage, as well as removing the top section of the crankcase as in the picture, it also tore the top section of the gearbox drum shifter bearing housing off. After tearing the engine apart I sent off for a second hand set of crankcase.
> 
> The bike came with an extra set of carbs, mag wheels and a pair of spoked wheels and a box of assorted bits and pieces.  While I was waiting for the cases, I cut the rusted spokes off the wheels, stuck the hubs on the lathe, trued up the castings and then polished them using cloth wheels and progressively finer compounds.  The rims, which were badly damaged from tyre irons and badly pitted from oxidisation, were repaired, ground and polished.  While on a polishing kick I also polished the top triple tree, lower fork sliders, brake backing plate, brake fluid distributor, brake master cylinr and also bead blasted the switches and polished them up.  Polishing on the buffer machine really hurts my hands so I have to loop a roop around my neck, tie it to the item to be polished to support it and then polish.  It took quite a while to do the polishing as I could only manage an hour or under each day, any more and I’d be laid up recouperating for a few days.  A very painful job for me, polishing.  Some pics of the journey:


GREAT job polishing!!! What is your recipe as I'm about to do the same to my 1965 Norton and could use some tips please


----------



## Bone Head

Good luck with the hospital


















1


----------



## jonesn7

When you return to the shop (soon, I hope), just something to have in mind; have found that drill press on high speed with buffing wheel allows some parts/areas to be polished with less stress on the body/hands/etc.


----------



## madmikesmech

Nice work! I too enjoy working on bikes!!


----------

