The next and final instalment of my bike build.
I wrote this for another forum and don't really have the time to redo any of it so please excuse my potty mouth if I've left any foul language in it.
First was the exhaust. After a brief discussion over at the Diesel Bike forum I found out that Diesels don't need as much silencing as a comparable petrol engine. So armed with this gem of knowledge I set about resuscitating The Sorties that got me pulled by the cops on their last outing. I think bought for a tenner about 18 years ago when I was on an XS250.
first was the flanges, using an old gasket as a template and a hole saw bought for about 50p from a carboot sale.
Then it was a rummage right to the bottom of the shed to find The Sorties. They are in a bit of a state but.....
Some soapy water and a scrubbing pad soon brings a glint back to them.
A ninety degree bend was cut in two to give two forty five degree bends that were then brazed together. I'm running real low on Mig gas and want to avoid buying more until after the bike is finished.
Cut short ready to fit the flange bits.
The finished exhaust and a handful of real exhaust fiberglass wadding I bought many moons ago for the GSX550 rat exhaust.
Pokeing it in with a Pokey Dokie!
The finished thing all ready to install on the bike.
You get rather a lot of wadding for your it for your money This has packed the GSX550 exhaust the Diesel ones and there is this much left over!
ALTERNATOR
I've been hoarding a spare Bandit 1200 alternator (Actually the same as a whole bunch of the larger GSX based engines) the alternator has a tapered shaft which holds a cush drive and gear for driving it. Rather than spending a whole lot of time on a lathe turning a tapered boss up I simply dismantled the cush drive and the pulley wheel from a car alternator slipped over the shoulder on it with minimal filing. The two were brazed together after which it can be easily bolted to the alternator shaft.
The tapered part fo the cush drive and the car alternator pulley.
The pulley filed out and placed in position on the cush drive bit.
Brazed together and cooling before I pick it up.
Bolted onto the tapered shaft of the alternator.
The position it will be fitted in. Opposite the starter motor in a futile attempt to balance the bike.
Mounted and adjustable. This is fully one way...
and this is fully the other way!
Now all I need is a belt to fit, This will wait until I can ride it to the Bearing & Pully shop so they can measure it themselves. I've had trouble specifying belts with them in the past.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeLQwl3zJ-s
Video of the smooooth adjustable action.
FRONT END
After abandoning the idea of building my own front suspension for the moment as the work and effort is worthy of a project of its own. So instead I will fit a Bandit 1200 front end as I have one on a dead bike. I've fitted new bearings to the BMW headstock and the Suzuki spindle is just as wrong as it could be so I heated up the ally bottom yolk and beat out the spindle so I could for a new one. I turned down some 25mm bright bar I already had and will hold it and the yolks together with a nut at each end. I'd prefer to use metric fine and also not use chunky nuts. After a lot of hunting about for cheap dies and nuts I chose to use M20 metric fine (1.5 pitch) because it...
A] Is the same thread as a VW car front hub nut and therefore cheap light weight nuts are available.
B] It is the same thread as electrical conduit trunking and therefore cheap dies are available.
Don't underestimate the cost of dies. If I went to a machine shop and bought a good quality M20 metric fine die it would be about £90 but a conduit die, Screwfix sell them for about a tenner but suspect the quality.
This is the blank spindle turned down from a piece of 25mm bright bar.
One end is shoulderd to take the top yolk and a nut.
The other end is turned to take a nut.
After going to the shed to cut the thread I realised I didn't have a die holder thingy so I made one with a bit of tube and some bar.
This took about 45 mins to make and worked very well.
After struggling to start the thread straight I simply popped my spirit bubble on the die and all went well after that.
The El Cheapo die was s**t, it cut the thread but only just and it lost cutting teeth as about 5 - 6 of them chipped off. I didn't enjoy using it at all as it felt like it was going to lock up and smash the whole time I was using it, but at least it did the job for £10
One thread cut.
Other thread cut.
GEARBOX FLANGE ALIGNMENT.
I've been putting this off for a bit because I have to completely dismantle the bike to get to the flywheel.
For this to work properly I need to get the engine shaft and the gearbox shaft aligned as best I can, preferably perfectly.
I've borrowed a friends magnetic surface gauge to help me. The magnet is stuck to the cast cylinder fins and the business end is on the inside of the flywheel centre bush I made.
Now in order to turn the engine with minimal force I took the rockers off and removed the push rods so I'm not having to compress the valve springs. I also inserted the bit of wood so the valves are kept open a bit and there is no compression.
The error is 0.006" or 0.15mm. I'm not happy but continue.
Inserting a length of 9mm ground bar the error is now 0.005" 0.13mm.
The gearbox slides over the 9mm bar and the flange is held down but not tightened so as the engine is rotated the surface gauge will indicate the error in alignment. It is unsurprisingly 0.005" out
Not happy with 0,005" I tok it all apart and back together about three times and after a bit of tapping with the rubber mallet I managed to get it so the surface gauge didn't flinch at all as the engine was rotated
You'll have t take my word on it that this is where the needle stayed!!
After this was achieved the bolts holding the flange plate to the bell housing were carefully nipped up tight.
After that the gearbox was removed to that locating holes and pins could be fitted.
These are the engineering pins and the hole they go in. They are tapered ones so I had to ream the 6mm hole out with the correct matching tapered reamer.
In it goes....
And tapped home with my smaller hammer = Everything in alignment again
I then had to reassemble the gearbox because I was suffering a severe case of lazy*****tus when I decided to mend it so I'd have a working spare on the shelf. This was about 5 years ago. The original fault that made me take it apart was a broken Shift Pawl Return Hair Pin Spring!!
GEARBITS
The foot lever is connected with two ball joint thingys like this one.
However I'm missing the 'ball' bit of the second one so a fix is needed.
After a bit of a rummage in the bits box I found a couple of grease nipples and the body of the nipple is almost exactly what I need.
The foot lever was then tapped out to M7 (Yep you read that right!)
In action and working!!
I also had to adjust and fit the break lever arm bits.
Making little fiddly bits like this adjustable cable end holder bit takes about an hour!
SIDE STAND
Next was a side stand. the wheels are on the bike and I need to move it about without having to chock it up on bricks every time. This is a spare stand from the sidecar project of yesteryear. (It can stand up by its self
)
LOOK! The bolt holding the stand on is a tad smaller then the hole in the mounting bracket cut from the bike frame so I could fit the diesel engine.
After another rummage in the gas fittings bits box I found this bit that looks like it may be brassy and useful.
It was then up into the attic to my epically s**t mini lathe for some rotating butchery.
More uber s**t lathe action. I am not cutting with a trowel I am using it as a shim
From another angle - Note the lay-shaft assembly.
The business end!
There we have it a sh**ty turned brass bit.
Does the job simply perfectly.
The bracket bit welded in place and the side stand assembled in place!
HEADLAMP
I was relying on the leftover Bandit 1200 headlamp and shell but when I went to mount it I saw that the reflector was shagged, The photo hides a lot but you see the orange tint which is the rust inside it
After a hard think I remembered I had a VW reflector left over from something else and probably only set me back a fiver or so.
It is the same diameter (almost) to the damaged one except for the mounting brackets.
The other mounting bracket.
Half a cup of tea later I decided to swap the brackets over. SO using some cunning and a pair of mole grips I removed the bracketry bits.
Then I marked out the mounting points and cleaned the paint back to the bare metal ready for fitting..
Using the welder on its lowest setting I welded the buggers on!
#
The brackets line up with the rest of the bits.
Finished. a completely refurbished headlamp.
Head lamp shell fitted and the main wires poked through ready to connect up.
FINISHED!!!!!!
The finished Bike ready for MOT.
VIDEO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MdpgARjh8M
It Failed the MOT on a few things but the main ones were,
A] Knackered rear disc, I didnt spot some rust pitting that almost caused the needle on the brakeometer in the test station to snap off.
B] Knackered pissing oil and 'riding low' rear shocks.
C] Cant turn the engine off without letting go of the bars ie Kill Switch inoperative, he dug his heals in over this one
So not serious just a pain and having to spend money on a rear disc
Kubota Z482 which is plodding on with unnerving reliability. Three years so far.
1900 Diesel Bike being rebuilt with better clutch control.
. Note the exhaust packing won't last with a diesel because it will clog with soot but then again diesel is much quieter to start with like you say so should be fine anywway.
