governorsam Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 Slightly Bevel the end of the brushes that contact the commutator. Helps bedding in. did my apprenticeship on old British stuff, later on worked at allparts motorcycles in chch. done heaps of these. also make shure the brush moves freely in the holder. everthing you are doing look fine. another trick is to run the starter on jumper leads after you assemble it, and push the splined end into a piece of wood to load it up. Most sparkie shops I worked at had big chunks ground out of the broom handle from this. cheers. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
governorsam Posted November 6, 2023 Share Posted November 6, 2023 Stationary load test. then when it’s running, put the front wheel against the shed and load up the clutch. another stationary load test. if it dose a skid, all is well. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted November 7, 2023 Author Share Posted November 7, 2023 Yep had a win after a failure last night, assembled it after filing and shaping brushes, and applying power just made sparks, no rotation... I did bevel the commutator bars and filed one brush down a little more today, but suspected I was shorting out on the case after checking with a multimeter (hard to detect as series wound DC windings are so big there's practically zero ohms, all I could pick up was brush resistance). When it was apart I'd noticed the insulating washer was crushed and there was a bit of exposed copper near the edge at the field windings... Machined up a nylon insulator bush and added some hot glue heat shrink to exposed copper sections... And assembled motor ran strongly with 12V applied... Fitted to engine and bike winds over with good spark, could probably fuel up and start her but I'm a bit tired and likely to make mistakes. Will sleep on it and try tomorrow... 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted November 8, 2023 Author Share Posted November 8, 2023 Got her going, of a sort. Gave the starter a real good workout as fuel wasn't making it through, the brushes will be bedded in now anyway. Had it running by pouring fuel in the carb, so sat it on charge/let the starter cool down while I had a beer/dinner hoping things would free up after a soak. Went back and could smell fuel at carb and it burst into a stuttering sort of life. Accel pump doesn't seem to be working yet but it ran enough for a ride round the block to see how things were going. Issues to sort: Clutch is pretty heavy, much heavier than stock springs, and a bit of creep in gear. Have to check oil level in primary yet and will give clutch another adjustment. Not a biggy to change springs anyway if I need to. No lights, I knew the low beam had shaken itself out, but no hi beam either, so couldn't bring it to work today. No brakes - pretty normal. Have all the gear for a twin disc, Kawasaki caliper front end change but that's a next winter project. No brake lights, need to fix brake switch in place (a high tech hose clamp). I'm on curve #1 on electronic ignition (Ultima, a copy of Dyna 2000). No idea if this is right, can change this with dip switches, and will make a cable so I can tune via curvemaker software. Fuel, carb not right, hopefully soaking and natural ironhead shaking will free things up, otherwise it's a simple clean and fettle. I am using lawn mower fuel too though, fresh may help. Have kicked over but not started with kick yet, pretty sure it's set to fire after 3 revs to better suit electric starter, can change that to zero via software. Still a bit of smoke coming from cylinders, hoping it's paint curing, might still be oil leaks. Oil puking out of generator breather, but that's normal. Only roughly timed, when it's fuelling better will try adjusting. good tho... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 Good shit dude. Chalk that up as a win. Kickstarting these is fun. Its actually super easy once you dial in the technique. Mine starts 2nd kick after months of sitting. Its fun offering others to start it and watching them struggle as its such a different process from "normal" kickstart bikes. I see you're still running factory master cylinder. I just put a trademe chinese one on mine as it was always an absolute shit to bleed up. Bled up in seconds and has a had rock hard lever since. Too easy. Can get caliper rebuild kits and discs pretty cheap. BMI carts in the states has a lot of really cheap vintage harley parts. Shipping can be brutal, but even taking that into account, its still really cheap. You wouldn't want to sell your old clutch springs would you? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted November 8, 2023 Author Share Posted November 8, 2023 Yeah struggled to bleed it till I took the MC off and elevated it, been ok since, but ineffective for what is quite a big disc. Got FXR calipers on it, not OG ironhead so probably wrong size piston or something. Gets a WOF tho so will run it till I make the change. I bought Kawasaki 600 twin front end calipers as they are slim enough to fit, and a twin disc hub I'll lace up to the original Borrani alloy rim. Bought Buchanan spokes from US, sent hub over and they made spokes to suit (they didn't trust my measurements, prob cos in mm). Got discs too. biggest issue will be making adapter brackets for calipers, which is why I've put it off, plus will have to change handle controls to Kawasaki which will be a bit of a faff, but much better to use, and will get rid of shoddy HD switches. Look fwd to learning how to kick her over, can stand with full weight on it atm so can see how others will struggle. Pretty sure you just kick over slowly till on compression and swing through the arc. I've got a few kick only old brit bikes with advance/retard which makes it easier... I'll hang onto the old springs in the meantime till I see how things go, they actually worked fine but I wanted to try the fancy multi-spring setup. Bought heavy duty springs so might swap them to medium down the track if they prove too awkward... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted November 10, 2023 Author Share Posted November 10, 2023 Gave cleaning the carb a go last night, I knew the accel pump wasn't working so needed looked at, diaphragm looked ok... But other side showed some rusty debris, started cleaning it but ran out of carb clean so left it till today... Float and valve worked fine, checked main jet size while it was open, 165... Got into it early this morning, cleaned everything up with a toothbrush and good squirts of cleaner... And with fuel in the bowl pressing a small allen key in place of the operating rod gave a good squirt of fuel (better then pic illustrates, was a good gush, hit the wall of the shed). There's a ball in here that acts as a valve that I could hear moving after being cleaned, assume that had stuck... The accel pump rod was rusty so I cleaned it up and gave it a light coating of grease and refitted the rubber boot before assembly... It's a Keihin off an 86 FXR or similar, they have a reputation for being a bit sneezy, but it goes ok usually... And cleaned up back on bike, cleaned fuel filter too, and fuel flowed straight away which looked promising... And I oiled the air filter foam before putting it back on, just a little oil in a plastic bag worked in, and excess squeezed out... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Lord Gruntfuttock Posted November 10, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 10, 2023 And it made a huge difference, cranked into life almost immediately, and idled ok. A quick trip round the section showed the clutch needed sorting, re-adjusted it (a little more screwed in) and it acted far better, no more 'creeping' in gear. Still terrible of course by normal standards, but tolerable... So I took her for a ride... Spluttered a bit on a back road but flicking petcock to reserve fixed that, I'll fettle the lights and try to get her in for a WOF next week to make things legal'ish... 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted November 21, 2023 Author Share Posted November 21, 2023 Oh yeah nailed WOF and been using it. Electronic ignition is sooooo good after wobbly old points system. Seems to be going ok. The clutch is operating well but a bit stiff, it's usable but I cramped up holding it in at a roundabout in town so I've ordered new springs. The ones in it are heavy duty 68lbs and I've ordered 50lb ones. Slightly dubious as freight free from US, will see how it goes. And making progress on control swap. The old harley switchgear is garbage so I'm fitting Kawasaki units. Will mean a bit of wiring faff but I've found Sumitomo connectors on Ali that will plug straight in. Be interesting to see how new M/C will go with harley FXR caliper. Ultimately going twin disc with Kawasaki calipers but that's stage 2... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregT Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 Same size or fractionally smaller m/cyl will work. As example, twin 2 pot Brembos - the old 08 size caliper - stock use 15mm m/c, Race use 14mm is superb. More feel & power. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted November 21, 2023 Author Share Posted November 21, 2023 Yeah it's really wooden now, works but no feel. Can't find my notes but there's an optimum m/c to brake pad area ratio. Will improve with new m/c and be spot on with Kawasaki twin calipers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted November 22, 2023 Author Share Posted November 22, 2023 Made a start on swapping controls over, I like the industrial look of the existing setup, but the switches fail often, and the front brake is pretty useless... I'm waiting on connectors to arrive so didn't start on the wiring, but unclipped everything so I could see what I was dealing with, handlebar wiring is soldered directly to wiring loom... Started on clutch, was hoping it'd be easy but the cable ends are different and the Kawasaki adjusting nut socket is too small to fit the Harley cable end ferrule... So drilled out the adjusting nut another half mm, and machined down the cable end ferrule to fit... Machined down a brass bolt to fit the new clutch cable end fitting... And shown cleaned up after being drilled and chamfered. Also cut cable sheath back to suit new lever geometry... Splayed out wire ends, silver soldered in place and filed back to size... And lever works, still stiff but I'm waiting on new springs that should help with that... Switchgear loosely installed and worn old grip in place gives an idea how things will look... Happy with how things feel straddling the bike. Will do RHS next then wiring when bits have arrived... 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Lord Gruntfuttock Posted November 26, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 26, 2023 Got the other side done over the weekend. Started by drilling a locating hole in each bar for the Kawasaki switchgear... Not sure what ink the wrecker used, but it's good stuff, hard to remove the writing... Took tank off to fettle the new accelerator cable. had to drill out the ferrule holder on the carb to accept the new cable, and toyed with installing the return pull cable as well, but decided againt it, maybe in the future. Cut cable inner to length and soldered in a new brass lug, all works well... And installed new master cylinder, no dramas, bled things with m/c below the caliper and nice easy job, bleed screw wasn't stuck and the cheap SCA green Dot 4 fluid made it easy to see when new stuff came through... And I wasn't certain what size the new bore size was, but it was cast in as 5/8" on the Nissin m/c... And all in apart from wiring, fitted new Biltwell 7/8 Kung Fu grips, think it looks pretty good... I was going to wait for the connector plugs to arrive but it was a beautiful day so I made some temporary connections with strip connectors to check things work... And it works well, nice not having to worry when the switches will let me down next, and I find them easier to use. Took her for a few rides over the weekend, clutch is still too hard to use easily, but brakes feel better with a slightly different ratio. There is a slight oil leak that is nothing compared to the Exxon Valdez of old, but I'll wait till I've replaced the clutch springs and primary cover to look at that... Pretty pleased how things turned out though... 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted December 3, 2023 Author Share Posted December 3, 2023 Connectors arrived on Friday so thought I'd fix the temporary bodge I'd done to get things running. I set up outside cos it was better light... RHS done before it started raining so I called things off. Went with 6-pin Sumitomo sealed automotive connectors, part numbers 6189-6171 and 6180-6181 as Mr Kawasaki used these on the donor Ninja, so assumed they were decent quality... Was sunny today so set up again... Far more wires on this side so decided to use 2x 6-pin connectors. Looked at 12-13 pin connectors but they were pretty big physically, and I want to hide wiring as much as possible... Quite enjoyed these connectors, used the correct crimping tool after sliding on the blue seal first... And you just click them into the connectors in the right place, weather seal is obvious from this angle... And I'd slid on heat shrink tubing beforehand to tidy things up, didn't really want red but was only colour I had in this size... And tidied up with cable ties with headlamp screwed back on, pretty happy how things went, I'd use these connectors again... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 Found some low-res pics of build that may be of interest. Forks... Dropped around 8 inches from front end with new tubes and installed taper roller bearings and modified later model triple tree to suit... Seat... Cut the seat section out of a spares Honda to use, and as I didn't have a pipe bender the rear section was made up from a dump shop lawn mower handle... Made up an MDF seat and cut a generic glass seat hump to suit the lines of the tank... Added steel locator tabs, glassed the MDF, sanded back and painted before adding foam (with a cut-out to take a gel insert) and a smoothing layer before upholstery... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 Tank... I'd scored a Suzuki T500 tank cheaply, so gave it a spin full of brass nuts in a shonky setup to remove internal rust, worked mint... And brazed in a new petcock bung, capping the old hole with a frost plug from memory. Also brazed on the brass neck fitting for the monza-styled filler, and sealed it with a kit... Front hub... Was a bit crook so I spun up an alloy bearing retainer... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 Oil filter... These have a drop-in filter but I preferred spin-on types, so made up an adapter to bolt to an engine plate. Started with a chunk of 10mm plate and was pretty labour intensive with my limited tooling, came out good though... Misc... Fully rewired it, pulling cables through main spine of frame and mounting things to a stainless plate... Made a new instrument cluster plate out of stainless too... and cleaned up generator and starter motor etc... Everything is pretty much bolt-on so could be reverted to stock (unlikely), like the front tank mount bracket... Just thought I'd chuck these pics on so I don't lose them again, most were on photobucket so long gone... 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 I had not seen this project prior to today. It is sensationally cool and exactly what I would have built. So awesome. Congratulations on an amazing thing mate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted December 24, 2023 Share Posted December 24, 2023 Out of curiosity; what's the likely resale value of a machine like this? I am very out of touch with motorcycle values these days but I imagine there's a good market for a sorted HD cafe racer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted December 25, 2023 Author Share Posted December 25, 2023 Fuck knows. Just what someone would pay really. Just had a xmas lunch conversation with my brother about cafés being worth less than what the donor bike being tidied up would be worth now. Particularly 70s Hondas etc... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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