JC's Restoration Thread

[Cammie]

Please give us an update when you get a chance Jeff.

[JC]

Well... 

We have the bike completely stripped of the frame.   The frame and swingarm have been separated, and they (as well as the footpeg brackets, triple clamps, center stand, and kick stand) will be going in for powdercoat on Tuesday.   The hardest part of this was getting the swingarm and steering head bearings out.  The swingarm bearing required some creativity by hammering ratchet heads to pop them out.  The steering head bearing required a carbide cutting bit and a dremel and a lot of time. Yikes!

Lately we've spent a lot of time with cosmetics.   Grease is being chemically and physically blasted away (Spray, let sit, hammer it with high pressure water).  That's how we cleaned the frame, swingarm, chain guard, and other misc bits.   There is literally 1/4 inch of grime in some places, and that's a difficult task.

We painted middles of the front rotors today. We used a gloss black engine enamel paint, followed by engine enamel clear.  This should be strong enough to endure most nonsense being kicked off the road.  It turned out extremely well!!  We liked the way it looked so much that we will be using it for other misc parts, such as the footpegs etc.  Most notably, we're going to polish the rims and then use that paint for the inset.  Lots of work ahead here.

In addition to slowly cleaning the grime from the engine itself, we've also been working on cleaning up the shiny bits.   The handlebars were stripped of the awful paint the previous owner put on and the chain guard was cleaned and polished (The chrome has some pitting but from a few feet away it looks great!)   

I've also begun the first foray into polishing the aluminum engine covers.   Here is the before and after of my sprocket cover!



The entire process went 400 grit wetsand, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, polish, white rouge.  It was very time consuming   


Some of the black plastic was faded, so instead of finding a temporary "dressing" I discovered a product called "forever black" which is actually a plastic dye meant for bumper trim.  I'm stoked how this came out too.   Here's a pic displaying one piece done versus its friends:


There is still plenty to go.  On the cosmetic side most things needs to be cleaned and dyed, or painted, or polished,  or replaced!  But we're slowly getting there.   Mechanically, we still need to replace the front springs, buy new rear shocks, clean out the rats nest of electical wiring, solve the carb / cylinder problem, etc etc etc.


PAINT!  We have decided to go with the dark silver as seen in the other thread.  Cam I'll need to speak with you sometime in the next few weeks to get everything down to you.  We still need to figure out how to find the paint code (no idea at all on how to do this).   Will do more research.



Anyway, sorry for the novel, there's lots going on right now!

[JC]

Since I haven't updated this thread in over 5 months I thought I should post that the bike is completely back together (has been since Christmas) and I am in the final stages of tuning.   I took the bike for a first ride (only 1/2 a mile) on Sunday evening and the thing is going to haul ass.   It has scary acceleration for a bike that old and heavy.

Pictures to be posted once it's completely finished.   The final list of items is as follows:

1. Complete tuning / rejetting carbs
2. Replace fork seal and springs
3. Verify charging system operating correctly. If not diagnose problem (Stator, rectifier/regulator)
4. Rebleed front brakes (Stopping was iffy)
5. Reattach emblems to side panels


So exciting

[aprilmaybe]

Thats cool! That ride had to be incredibly satisfying.

cant wait to see pics.

[pshaw118]

it's about time. 

[JC]

Yeah I know right?  Hey at least it will done in less than a year.  I think I got it in the beginning of April.

I can't wait to synch the carbs this weekend and open it up on the long uphill climb behind my house

[pshaw118]

just let me know when you wanna go for a ride.  I'm seriously contemplating buying a small (500cc or less) cruiser.  It would make a nice bike to go camping on.

[JC]

Cool Pat!  I will.   just remember the thing with cruisers... most (all?) modern cruisers are vtwin engines, and they tend to be heavier, so 500cc won't get nearly the action your 600 I-4 does.

Not that an 1100 I-4 CC is required.  Apparently the 16 valve 1100cc engine in my gs1100 is one of the most frequently used engines in drag racing, even today.   

[aprilmaybe]

just let me know when you wanna go for a ride.  I'm seriously contemplating buying a small (500cc or less) cruiser.  It would make a nice bike to go camping on.

Take a look at the Vulcan 500. Its light, nimble and uses the Ninja 500 motor.

[pshaw118]

April, the vulcan looks way cool.  I actually checked them out when I got home from Meat Day 1.  If I can find one on the cheap, we got ourselves a winner there.

Jeff, don't make us wait too long to see that beast on a ride. 

[JC]

Wow.... so it's still not done.

Things took a serious turn for the slow after I moved to the Marina.  I don't have anywhere to really park and work on it so it had to stay in Burbank, but I can give this update:

Cosmetically it is finished.  Cam's beautiful prep work led to an excellent paint job that really lights up in the sunshine.   It really is a beautiful looking bike.    It still hasnt ridden for more than a few miles at a time, but it starts right up and sounds great up the rev range until around 7k-8k when it starts popping.  not sure what's causing it, but wont be able to know for sure until I can really feel it out.  That's been delayed primarily because of the brakes.

The brakes were spongy enough to be disconcerting, so all test rides ceased until I got it sorted out.  I purchased all new front brake lines and a new piston for the master cylinder.   Part delays from Suzuki cost me a month there, and then having to order the specialty tool to swap the pistons took cost me another 2 weeks.  I also had to devote time to trying to fix a small oil leak from the stator cover.

Electrically everything seems to be checking out.  Consecutive reading with a multimeter on two different occassions checked out, and it started right up after having sat for over a month without the tender.  It was a good sign.


Other than the brakes I have two remaining concerns... one is that I'm going to return to find the gas tank leaking into the carbs, and down into the pistons and oil resevoir.  This can happen if the petcock isn't working correctly.  I found the tank empty last time, so I filled it half up and we'll see when I get back to Burbank.   The second is the fork springs and fork seals.   I've basically said to hell with this, and another local GS guy is going to help me do it when I get it back to the Marina (EST as soon as brakes are done).

I've realized it's never TRULY going to be finished... its the nature of old bikes.  But I hope to have it road ready by the end of this next weekend (pending receipt of stickers from the DMV).    Forks will be top of the agenda, then I'm taking it by marina suzuki for a final shake down inspection, and maybe some advice regarding the top end pop.

[JC]

Electrical - Still OK
Petcock - No signs of continuing problems
Oil Leak - Fixed
Front Brakes - Lines replaced, Master Cyliner rebuilt, rebled.  As good as theyre going to get I fear. (Just have a bit more play before stiffening up than I'd prefer)

The bike is in the Marina, where it was prompty met with a light rain storm (In July... who knew?)   A couple spots of flash rust that I'll need to clean off and then spray with clear coat to protect it.  I rode it home the weekend before last; it handled the 30 mile commute beautifully.   There are a couple of spots in the carbs that need to be adjusted (Mostly at the 4-5k rpm range) but she handles up to 9k without a problem.


To be done:

1. Replace fork springs and seals.   The fork seal was visibly seeping on the ride home. I was very careful.
2. Apply coat of good wax to protect Cam's (and Mike's) beautiful paint work
3. Take pictures and post them to the internet
4. RIDE IT!

[aprilmaybe]

Yeah!

We want pictures damnit!!!!
 

[rwalterk]

Seriously dude, post some pics and bring that beast out for a ride!  We haven't seen you for a while.  Jerk.   

[JC]

Ask and you shall receive!   Theyre not quite glamour pics, but theyll suffice for now