Picked her up on CL. Wouldn't start when I picked it up. After some troubleshooting, found it was the plugs. Fired right up upon replacement. Has 55k on the clock, and although it may/may have not of needed it, I'm doing a top end refresh. Mostly for the experience. Plans are for a pretty simple build since this is my first go at this: top end rebuild, carb rebuild, pods if it'll behave w/ them, chop rear frame and install hoop, cafe seat (Tuffside), new gauges, new signals, new harness, relocate battery, drag bars, then either paint or powder-coat the frame/wheels. Previous owner did the drab green paint job. Actually did a decent job of it. While I wouldn't chose the color, I may just stick w/ it out of simplicity. Ideas/thoughts/suggestions welcome!
Here's what she looked like on purchase day.
The tear down process begins. Plan started simple: just remove the top bits, chop/weld hoop, reassemble and clean up elec.
Found some funky wiring - gonna need to do more clean up than expected
Labeling the wiring harness prior to pulling it out
Pre-frame chop
Chop and grind
The result
The roughed out look w/ the Tuffside seat pre-hoop install
Started w/ the idea of removing wheels to clean things up a bit. Forks were dirty so I figured it easiest just to remove them to clean up. Some whiskey and a cigar later, and this is what I ended up with.
And some more whiskey and cigars + guys night in the garage, and we're on to a full top end rebuild!
Now that I've opened that can of worms, I'm waiting for all the gaskets which have added up to more than the cost of the bike. Filling in the time w/ doing the frame modifications w/ the help of a good friend w/ welding experience
Hoop on!
Got the head mostly cleaned in anticipation of head gasket. What a PITA that was. Appreciate the forum tips for aiding in removal. Still have a bit more to go, but mostly done. Also doing some cleaning of the valves.
Next up is head reinstallation and full carb rebuild.
Here's what she looked like on purchase day.
The tear down process begins. Plan started simple: just remove the top bits, chop/weld hoop, reassemble and clean up elec.
Found some funky wiring - gonna need to do more clean up than expected
Labeling the wiring harness prior to pulling it out
Pre-frame chop
Chop and grind
The result
The roughed out look w/ the Tuffside seat pre-hoop install
Started w/ the idea of removing wheels to clean things up a bit. Forks were dirty so I figured it easiest just to remove them to clean up. Some whiskey and a cigar later, and this is what I ended up with.
And some more whiskey and cigars + guys night in the garage, and we're on to a full top end rebuild!
Now that I've opened that can of worms, I'm waiting for all the gaskets which have added up to more than the cost of the bike. Filling in the time w/ doing the frame modifications w/ the help of a good friend w/ welding experience
Hoop on!
Got the head mostly cleaned in anticipation of head gasket. What a PITA that was. Appreciate the forum tips for aiding in removal. Still have a bit more to go, but mostly done. Also doing some cleaning of the valves.
Next up is head reinstallation and full carb rebuild.