From twisted to twisties

If you may remember a while back I had a problem my swing arm spindle not lining up with the bushings and as it turned out the swing are was twisted as you can see in the shot.

I took it to "The Frame Man" in Sacramento to have it straightened. He said bring the frame in too and he checked it out and it was twisted too by about a 1/4".
Doesn't sound like much but it was. I should have took pics of the back side of the primary as it showed the swing arm end cap and chain were cutting into it.
Now there is a nice gap like it should have. I painted all the black parts and started assy.


I started by doing both isos by clamping them in the vice and shimming as necessary.
So much easier this way.


After getting them dialed in and installed I started on the swing arm Keigler mod.
They sent me the spindle with the flats and I noticed the flats are not parallel with the locking bolt.


I drilled the cradle accordingly.
As I made up the collars by drilling for the locking screws and then I siliconed the half with the SHCS to prevent the oil from leaking out.
You can't just drilled the cradle and expect it to hold oil


I took the spindle lock bolt and drilled straight thru it and installed a brass nipple so it can be oiled easier
I stole this trick from someone on this site but tweaked it a little. I don't remember who but thanx for the idea.

I used JB Kwik to glue it in.


After it was all installed I routed the hose up to the oil tank cap. No clamp was needed as the nipple has a sharp barb on it., then plugged the other end


I then removed the Zerk from the spindle cover and filled the spindle until it flowed out.



I completely went thru the trans replacing everything with new and good spec'ed out parts.
New clutch center and bearings, bushings, seals as well as discs and a added metal plate to bring my stack to the right height. The clutch pull is so nice, 2 fingers.
Did the rear brakes, drum, chain, front sprocket and chain.
Rebuilt the master cyl until I can afford to do the upgrade. Painted the rotor center with that hammer paint.
It's amazing how much that improves the look of the metal.

Thanx to Jim Comstock for loaning me this tool.


For the tank I used some pipe insulation on the back bone for support. Perfect.


I rubber mounted the bottom of the oil tank.

I bought a set of JS Motorsports carbs and they fit and run great.


After it was all said and done and the weather cleared I took her out.
This bike has never handled, idled, looked and felt like this before.
The frame is so straight and the swing arm is so straight and play free that putting the axle on is no longer a feat all in it's own.
This bike was so sensitive to any line in the road. Now no matter what grooves or seams in the road it just doesn't feel them.
It handles like it is on rails. Doing the frame straightning and swing arm mod was the most singular improvement I had made.
The gear box shifts so smooth. When I put it into first it doesn't make a sound.
Neutral is so sweet. No more clutch drag.
The JS carb transformed the engine. It took some learning to start from cold but now I have it down to 1 or 2 kicks.
It Idles right out of the gate. Never did before. And smooth right thru traffic.
I'm not big on red lining but on the freeway at 70 to 80 it just flies.

All thats left to do is the Lansdowne damper mod and bushings, resleeve the master cyl. and new shocks.
Maybe a Corbin seat too.

With all these things I did to this bike and all the help from all of you, I just want to say thanx.
I couldn't have done this if it wasn't for this site and the great people who have helped me from all around the world.

Guido

Nice. I know you were excited to get it going but do you have a picture of the complete bike?

Really nice work!

Do you have engine oil or the heavier 140 in your plastic line to the swing arm spindle?

It has always bothered me that those two little holes in the spindle are only about 1/16, seems quite difficult
for oil to actually get down those holes to lubricate such a small amount of actual movement in there.

In fact, I have always thought that perhaps a much lighter weight lube might be better, like motor oil to get down those little holes.

Curious if you are running a dry belt primary?

I have had my JS carbs for two years now and I find that I have to open the throttle even with the chokes up
on a cold motor start, and also open throttle when starting warn, mine sure need to draw some gas to get going.

About wore me down just reading all the details attended too. See if there is some tendency to drift to L hands off too. I did the hose/resivoir mod in '03 but gave up on it in '04 as with all the xtra oil over head it just leaked out faster to its natural residual wet inside. With the straigthened chassis it should stay oil tighter down there too. I find a well fettered Cdo is about the easiest cycle to operate over the wisdest range of riding.

Great to see you're back on the road. It's a nice feeling to have a running bike again.

Here's the completed bike. Nothing special, just fairly stock.
It's dirty right now as I have been riding the crap out of it in the hills.
I'm thinking of getting a vanity plate that say's "PATINA" as it has plenty of that in just the right places.
I still have to do the paint on my other tank and side covers.



It has been running for the past week or so but am just getting to posting it. The first ride I went up to Lake Berryessa and I was really diggin' it. Nice curves there.
I got up to the lake when I heard this banging from the primary. Thinking the worst I pulled over to fine that the stupid stock horn had got tangled in the chain.
There is no cell reception and no one would stop to help.
I made it to this store at the lake where you can launch your boat and there was some guy and his wife wiping down their boat.
I asked him if he had a lug wrench I could use to pry the horn out of the way and he said he didn't have one, sorry. It was a nice new Ford 4x4. I knew he had one.
Anyway, the store was closed but there was someone inside and they called their maintanance man come up with a pry bar.
I was back on the road in minutes.
Here's the piece of crap horn.



I ended up going to a wrecker and pulling one off a chevy. It is much smaller and fits right in between the cradle.
This horn is made by Fiamm and it is loud plus it weighs about 1/4 since it is made out of plastic.
I always hated the stock horn.

The oil I use in the swing arm is 140 wt.
I does leak out at the inner oring seals. I'm thinking maybe pressing the bushings in a little tighter toward the cradle and shimming behind the seal collars to take up the slack.
As far as the 1/16" hole in the spindle goes, oil being like it is, no matter how thick, will find it's way to the bushings. I'm running a chain in the primary.
Brent, recognize the exhaust nut and chain guard?

They look like they belong there. Hopefully my title gets straightened out soon so I can have one Norton with a chain guard

Isn't it great when stuff comes together and works. I'm hoping my few improvements this winter are good too. Glad it's working out for you.

Dave
69S

What kind of mufflers are you running? Dunstall? If you ever want to take a 2 day loop of the coast, the Red Bluff,Fortuna, Clearlake, to Williams is great. I know where all the speed traps are

rpatton said:

What kind of mufflers are you running? Dunstall? If you ever want to take a 2 day loop of the coast, the Red Bluff,Fortuna, Clearlake, to Williams is great. I know where all the speed traps are

Click to expand...

Those are Dunstall decibles and one has a rattle. Possibly a baffle. Hell, they're over 30 years old.
Whats that in human years?.
Thats a nice ride. I like it up there. My seat is original too. Kills my @$$ after about a couple of hrs of riding.
I'm gonna get a Corbin seat so that may be better.
Who alls going?

I have one decible that the inner baffle tube weld broke. One of these days i"m going to finish getting my micro watercooled tig torch setup and fix it.