Flood Victim

Beautiful bike. I personally like the bit of pipe bluing on a blue bike, like my avatar. I tuned the carbs correctly, and never bothered to clean the pipes.
 
Thanks again for the compliments. The best part, as far as encouraging others was, it was all done in my garage except for the cylinder boring, the vapor blasting of the head and the pinstripes.

The pipes are as I received them. pre-blued. Tomorrow, after it's final-de-rusting is complete, the tank will be mounted permanently and filled with fuel and we'll see how willing it is to start after not running for 2 months.
 
I don't think I would put ATF in the gearbox, it's pretty thin. Go to NAPA and ask for an SKF 9815 seal. It will solve the kickstarter shaft leak. You have to remove the retaining ring to install it. Just a bit of heat and it will pop right out.
Doing this today. Everything's apart and now to heat the boss and pop he retainer out to replace the seal.
 
Fired up first kick after sitting in the cold for the past month. Rode up the road a piece and back to warm it up and clear the sump and then set the idle when I got back. Noticed a funny harmonic from the tank. May need to recheck the mounts and position.
 
New fork seals came in the mail today.
Which I finally finished installing today, along with some new brake pads. The front end feels wonderful on the road, but the brake's still kinda wooden. I guess a resleeve is all one can do without a different m/c.
 
Daily transportation to and from the Speedway for a couple of days when all the equipment stayed there. Minor idle and clutch adjustment came to mind riding in stoplight traffic.

Flood Victim
 
Got lots of looks, pics taken and comments. Best one: "What the hell's wrong with it, it doesn't leak oil?" :cool:
 
Seems like idle is hard to get right on a new rebuild. Maybe new engines build more heat throwing it off?
 
I'm not sure, h, but I just had the throttle cable off at the twistgrip to re-route a bit and it may have taken some tension off because the idle dropped below 1K and tends to falter if you don't obnoxiously blip the throttle at stoplights.

I have to say it's a Cadillac at cruising speeds when the iso's take over and that beautiful Norton peashooter song comes on. Between the smoothness, the US-spec bars practically in your lap and what must be the most comfy stock seat I've sat on, It's magic carpet ride.

It's just a few tweaks from being a real sweetheart.
 
danno your project was an inspiration to me when i built my red commando from rusted frame..it can be done
 
Yes I really lucked out in many respects considering the starting point. The chrome and the bottom end and gearbox were in much better shape than appearances would indicate and the bike was fairly complete and relatively unmolested (the blue silicone primary job being an exception). After all that i was just a matter of taking it completely apart and putting it back together, cleaning, painting and replacing gaskets, seals and unusably rusted bits.

Adjusted the clutch and idle yesterday to make it more user-friendly.
 
Seems like idle is hard to get right on a new rebuild. Maybe new engines build more heat throwing it off?
May be a little tight yet. It will be idling just fine at 1000 rpm and it'll make a little hiccup and then die. I currently have it set to about 1300, a little high and shaky, but I'll try setting it back down when it loosens up.
 
High compliments from Alan and Sam.
<--That is such a mix of different years, handmade parts (purists cringe!) etc. that I wanted to do a bone-stock restoration. Everything but the Boyer and the Stay-ups is pretty much how it left the factory.
 
Rode around a while yesterday and I think it's a spit-shine away from heading to the auction block. Starts first kick, idles at 900 rpm and runs and rides like a 46-year-old dream. All the lights and horn work, although I recently acquired a working Lucas horn to replace the auto parts store special I used to replace the sodden, rusty original horn.
 
Real nice. It may begin idling better if it believed you'd keep it forever.
 
Idle is as good as the SS clone which has sleeved throttles. I could idle it down to less than 900, but as soon as you pull in the clutch and put it in gear, it would die. Has to have a little flywheel to overcome trans/clutch friction.
 
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