Cases are now bead blasted so assembly can start as soon as I get the plating back… I did debate Cerakote, but decided to leave them bare as I am going to polish the outer cases. I did buy some new bead, they came up really nice! I have also taken the wheels in for powder coating and the frame and swinging arm for dipping to remove the paint. I think it would have been OK to allow the stripper to go inside, but as the fuel is in the frame, and the oil tank is the swinging arm I played safe and blanked everything off… that took ages as there are some strange threads in places! I did use the apprentice to do some of the bead blasting but the hourly rate was far to high and she takes long breaks…
all the parts are back from plating… another superb job! I love to visit this company… they are easy to deal with and SO helpful. There were some really small parts in this batch and I said I was worried that they would fall out ot the drum… The guy took me into the factory and showed me just how small the holes in the drum were, which took away my concern. However, the smell of hydrochloric acid was overpowering! they have a flat fee per barrel… so one bolt, or 100KG is the same very reasonable price! I went for silver this time instead of gold…
The engine is starting to go back together… all I have replaced is gaskets and seals as everything is in superb condition as you would expect from low miles and a good service history, I did take the heads apart and grind in the valves and replace the stem oil seals, its all very nice in there. One nice touch is the stem oil seals came with a nice little seal protector to slide on the valve to protect the seal as it goes over the collet lands. I really need to slow down... this is supposed to be a winter project! However, the garage is my happy place... its difficult to keep out of there now riding season is reduced, although the weather has been kind this year and I went for a ride the other day... Another potential project bike came up the other day but I am definitely at capacity! something needs to be sold before anything else comes...
I always tend to have some around! I hate putting stuff out… in particular powder coating. I have had some SHOCKING jobs come back over the years… Then I found a company that were very good, and used to do a 50 mile round trip to take stuff in… But then their quality went downhill, and the timescales to get things done went silly… So when I came to get these wheels coated I hunted around for a company to do it, and ended up at City Wheel Refurbishers in Birmingham… Not only were they cheap (£30 a wheel) , but the finish is superb! They also dipped and lightly blasted the frame and swinging arm for me which is also a superb job! So much so I will be taking a few more parts over in the next few days…! I have assembled the wheels with new bearings, the plated bolts and also 6 new springs which sit under the radial discs. I had to destroy the old ones to get them out… Last update for a little while... we are off on a family holiday this weekend to celebrate a big birthday.... I will be 70 :tsk
Engine build is finished... Not a bad engine to build when you compare it to a Ducati! I wanted to mount the exhaust underneath as per the original, however the support bracket was all wrong for the round silencer I had made… I drew up a new bracket in CAD and sent it to the water jet cutter who cut it out of some 30mm alloy plate. I added some ears so the band does not slip off. not sure if I will use a 45 or 90 exit pipe yet… I then put the Buell logo and name on by gently blasting the polished stainless through the stencil's at low pressure with some fine media. They actually look really good and its quite durable! I also added the British Standard number for road going silencers... who will know
While the plater does a great job, there are still some items I prefer to do myself with one of the plating kits. Wheel spindles and oil pipes where you only want to plate the ends are a good example. Zinc plating kits are very good providing you follow the instructions and prepare the parts well. To keep the solution moving I submerge one of those small solar fountain pumps off Ebay for around £6… I did wonder if the solution would affect it after a while, but it has lasted years!
It’s gonna looked great all screwed back together, Buzzer. My mates Dad has one and I’ve hankered for one for years. It pulled the trigger yet (don’t have the funds at present )
When I bought the tube framed version the middle of last year, I did wonder how I would get on with it... Well, its been the bike of choice all this year! I have just loved the handling, the brakes, the wall of torque with that motor... its brilliant! I am hoping this one will be as good! here's a short video! https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4P54Br5NHyk
Next job has been replacing the fork seals and dust covers. Not a bad job to do, just needed to make a couple of tools, one to compress the spring and another to slide under the nut so it can be undone. I already had some suitable nylon split drifts to tap the seal home without damage. It really is necessary to have a proper tool for this of they just leak if you use a punch... A few years ago my mate tried three times to cure his leaking forks... he was blaming poor quality seals... in the end I went to help and saw he was using some thin plastic tube around the stanchion, which was damaging the lip on the seal!
This was a time consuming and fiddly job… I have used air dry Cerakote a few times now, but on this one I decided to try the H series oven cure which uses a catalyst. I blasted all the parts as normal and then sprayed them with my new Air Brush… although its one of the cheap copies its brilliant! The mixing ratio is critical, so I had to buy some scales that go down to a 10th of a gram! They have a calculator on their resource base to calculate it accurately Then into the oven for a couple of hours… It really is like a factory finish! She did come back to find them in the oven... but sometimes it’s easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission!
Last update for a while so we can get some winter sun! The bike ran when I got it, but as it had stood 10 years I decided to replace the fuel pump as its not that easy to change once the bike is together, plus they are a bit prone. Also a good opportunity to replace the fuel filters… I was going to leave the exhaust until later, but then I realised that you have to take the frame off to get the headers off! I therefor altered the headers to meet the new silencer which took a few hours to get the bends just right and sweep nicely. I will leave the tail pipe until its on its wheels here are the hydraulics all built up
