Man its hot

Thought I would take a few weeks off and finish off my rolling chassis however it has been too hot to do anything.  Last 2 days were 38 degrees Celsius and the forecast for today is also 38 degrees.  It was 35.4 at 10:00am this morning and the next few days even hotter.

PS. 100 degree Fahrenheit = 37.8 degrees Celsius

Satin Black Tank & Fender + Speedo

Painted my tank and front fender satin black on the weekend and fitted up my Drag Specialities speedo.

Brake caliper mock-up

Fitted up a 2-Piston Performance Machine caliper. Just needed to fit a few spacers behind the brake disc to give the caliper some clearance on the back so it was clear of the spokes.  Off to get some proper spacers machined up for it now rather than the flat washers I used for the trial fit up.

Front fender mock-up and controls all fitted

Springer all done....painted and fitted

More smoothing out the welds

Decided to smooth out all the welds on my Springer as wanted to go for a real old school look.

Before

After a few hours with round file, all done.

Springer has arrived

All the way from the good old USA, a custom made springer for my build with a brass upgrade.

Fitted up perfectly (sorry about the crappy picture...too much sunshine)

Big thanks to Chad Pearson from Pearson Customs, sent him all my measurements and fitted up perfectly.  Check out his website at www.pearsoncustoms.com

Bought a new welder today

XR750TT

Definitely not a bobber, but an awesome looking bike anyway.

Flywheel assembly all done

New Jims pinion and sprocket shafts fitted, new bearings and thrust washers, S&S Heavy Duty Rod Kit, balanced and trued.

ebay parts arrived

Re-furbished Zenith carby and brass air cleaner

Front wheel all done

Front bearings replaced, rim and spokes powder coated black, brass spoke nipples, home(shed) made truing stand, trued axially and radially.

 Here's a tip I learnt from someone about making it easier to install your tyre on the rim. Place your tube in your tyre, inflate it and leave it like this for awhile. Remove the tube and install the tyre on the rim.  The tube helps expand the tyre a bit which makes it easier to install.

 All done.

Rear brakes all set-up

Still been waiting for some parts, so knocked up a new brake rod (out of brass of course) and adjusted my rear brakes up.

Not much happenning....waiting for parts

 Waiting on a few parts before I can do much more:

- Thrust washers on order so I can complete the engine re-build

- Springer front end on order so I can finish the front end

- Front wheel bearings on order so I can finish the front wheel re-build

Decided to do a couple of small jobs:

- Fitted a Gorilla alarm

- Fitted up the kickstand (found some black hose...MADE IN USA)

 

Best way to get rid of chrome

Way too shiny

I am trying to have no chrome showing on my bike and a few guys on the XL Forum suggsted the following ways to get rid of chrome:

1. Take the parts to a chrome plating company and they'll strip them in the chroming bath by reversing the polarity. 

2. Leave it parked in the hood overnite...

3. Donate it to the poorest guy on the forum...

4. Use salt spray on the chrome

5. Scotchbrite pad over the whole thing and the paint

I have been using the following process and it has worked well so far on a lot chrome items, such as bolts, caps, brackets:

Step 1 - Buff with a Scotchbrite pad (medium) as this get rids of the shine and creates a profile 

Step 2 - Clean with some metho

Step 3 - Paint with an etch primer (3 light coats...1 hour in between coats)

Step 4 - Paint with satin black acrylic (3 light coats...10-15 minutes between coats)

Here is how my kickstand turned out.

Etch Primer Coat

 

 

All finished

I am going to add a short piece of black hydraulic hose over the bottom of the leg to protect the paint when the kickstand is down and also my frame when the kickstand is up.

Kustomtech hand controls

Did a bit of custom work to my Kustomtech hand controls, dulled down the brass so it has a satin finish and also painted all the aluminium satin black.

Oil tank fitted plus a few other items

Painted my oil tank, added some pinstriping and brass fitting plus a few other items:

- Oil filter

- Solo bag

- and a brass hammer

Hidden wiring

Finished off my rear end wiring, all nicely hidden up inside the rear fender.

How to remove front wheel bearing outer races

Was trying to change out the front wheel bearings and the outer races were stuck hard.  Couldn't tap them out from the back and didn't have a suitable puller.

A few of the guys on the XL Forum however came up with the idea of running a bead of weld on the faces.  This not only puts a bit of heat into the process, when they cool down they contract a bit and then with a bit of persuasion they fell out real easy.
 

Added some pinstriping

I know it is a decal, however looks bloody great.

Rear end all back together

Bolted everything back together and set-up all the wiring.  Onto the front end now.