Down under, an idiot and a 400F

They are Chinese shocks and come from China not France (I know, I bought single spring from same guy)
Look through build thread, I think around page 5 or 6
BTW, dual springs just reduce spring rate
 
crazypj said:
Mount it diagonally across corner of bench for polishing, you need the clearance.
Can you remove the guards? 'open' wheels will also make life easier

One step ahead of you there PJ (first time for everything ;)):

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Gets reasonable clearance with buffing wheels on:

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How is it best to mount buffing wheels? Mine are 2 different hole sizes, one fits perfectly on the wide part but the old washers are too wide apart for the buffing wheels. One wheel came with metal inserts but it's difficult to make sure the hole is properly centered as it only fits on thr thin part and is a bit too but for it:

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Hi Neevo - You might want to pick up a buff spindle for your grinder - it's tapered to a point and allows the buff to be easily mounted. A range of sizes too.

Leigh
 
Kwality said:
Hi Neevo - You might want to pick up a buff spindle for your grinder - it's tapered to a point and allows the buff to be easily mounted. A range of sizes too.

Leigh

Thought so. I have both 5/8 and 1/2" buffing wheels and I suspect my thread on my grinder is 1/2".

If I get a 1/2" tapered spindle will it go larger than 5/8" so I can mount those too?
 
Haven't had the time to get on here, did you manage I get the bolt out or a new leg? If not I can give it a go for you. Weld on another bolt and then turn it out
 
Ianmallee said:
Haven't had the time to get on here, did you manage I get the bolt out or a new leg? If not I can give it a go for you. Weld on another bolt and then turn it out

New leg.
 
Had a crack at some polishing today... turns out I suck balls at it ;)

The parts were shinier but the reflection was not great. I think I was loading waaaaay too much compound on the wheel as it was leaving a greasy mess all over the part. Oh well it's a learning curve.

Running the buffer in 1 direction is impossible too, plus getting into recesses etc with an 8" buffing wheel is impossible.

Might need to practice a bit this weekend.
 
Use more compound to remove compound.
In my experience, wheels need a bit of conditioning and use before they work properly
If you can see any 'white' cotton on 'face you need more compo and more 'heat' into the wheels to get waxes to melt in (I don't know if it's theoretically 'correct' but, it works for me)
Load wheel little and often, single 'wipe' of compo is usually enough after initial 'loading'
You need a reasonable finish (about 400 grit) before starting polishing
Start with black and work down to finer (red/brown is usually enough)
One thing I do, ignore advice about separate wheels for different colour compo until your finishing (only need one 'soft' un-stitched finishing wheel)
If your using black, it may be too dry, stick some brown compo on wheel and keep going, swapping between black/red as needed
BTW, metal should get warm/hot.
I always wear two pairs of gloves, cotton over mechanics and keep them in storage box with compounds (mops get hung on the wall)
DON'T wear headphones or even have radio/music on when polishing, you need to be aware where your hands are and any/all edges that could catch on mop
Only use lower portion of mop (four o'clock or seven o'clock positions), if anything catches, let it go (don't put your fingers in any holes or where they could get trapped)
You'll develop your own technique eventually
 
crazypj said:
Only use lower portion of mop (four o'clock or seven o'clock positions), if anything catches, let it go (don't put your fingers in any holes or where they could get trapped)
You'll develop your own technique eventually

THIS ^^^^^
 
Thanks PJ. I was pretty close to what you were saying, I read your polishing posts a few times. I am using the lower part of the wheel too however I suspect the wheels are getting better, maybe they weren't loaded with enough compound. I had a second try last night and the black emery seemed to be polishing the part on its own.

All parts were sanded with 120 to get deep gouges out, 180, then wet 400 and 600, all by hand (now with blisters).
 
Ah except for the warm hot bit. I was trying to keep the metal cold. I will get some more heat into the parts too.
 
So looking forward to a weekend polishing. Needless to say there is plenty of room for improvement as I don't quite have my technique down. Here is my last efforts:

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The brake arm I had another go at tonight and it's getting much better:

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Plenty more on the menu this weekend:

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Found more fixes too. Looks like something has punched through the clutch case cover. Anyone got thoughts on what would cause this?

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Looks like the outside is domed due to the force behind it. Has been TIG welded back up, not particularly well. This will be tidied up.
 
Not common but I've seen it before.
Someone didn't torque the primary drive bolt, it backed out and hit cover
It may be the wrong bolt as it's still rubbing by the look of it
 
crazypj said:
Not common but I've seen it before.
Someone didn't torque the primary drive bolt, it backed out and hit cover
It may be the wrong bolt as it's still rubbing by the look of it

Thought it would be that. I will double check the bolt.

Also need some polishing advice. I am wet sanding up to 600 grit, then I move on to buffing. Emery first, then the brown one (tripoli?). I already have a great shine at this stage (not total mirror but close). I am pretty happy where it is there but I am going on to the next stage... white rouge.

This is where it goes wrong and not sure why. The white makes all my shiny parts go all hazy. What am I doing wrong? I thought the white would really make it shine?
 
The white polish is used on a loose buffing wheel. The prior rough buffing is done on a tight knitted buffing wheel.
 
Using the emery on a tight sewn wheel, brown in a loose sewn wheel and white on a loose seen wheel with the stitching removed.

Maybe I will go back to the brown and leave it there. Certainly shiny enough for me.
 
It's a personal preference. Me, I like it more satin. Too much shine is too blingy and might as well be chrome. On a stock bike, most of us are trying to remove the chrome! Plus, the shinier it is, the harder it is to keep it that way. I want a badass bike, not a pretty trailer queen. Funny thing is, my 15 year feels the same way for his cb100! I repeat, it's a personal preference.
 
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