Project CB690 (KTM 690 engine in a CB550f frame)

[goodoltup]

General tidy up and fussing with harness continues. Almost done.

 

[goodoltup]

I have a plan to revise the engine breather port. Right now it just sticks straight up in the air, and the hose has to do a beg bend before it can go down to the breather filter located down by the centre stand. The plan is to use an M16 brass hose barb, lathe off the barb, and make a cap from 20mm OD brass rod. Then to lathe the threaded end off of another barb fitting, mill a corresponding hole in the cap, and silver solder the whole thing together. Should be a fun lathe/mill/ soldering project. I already did some silver soldering on the brake line and it came out great, so I'm looking forward to this one. Parts are on order.

 

[goodoltup]

The brass rod arrived before Xmas so I spent some time on Boxing Day making the cover part of the breather assembly. When the other bits arrive I'll mill the side hole and solder it all up.

 

[goodoltup]

Quick one, I made a custom length starter cable. Because it goes straight up, it needed a straight boot. I bought a new boot for a Coax SMA cable, it worked great.

 

[goodoltup]

Making a new chain guard. I decided the aluminium one looked too home made. I bought several cheap chain guards from China and tried them out, one of them fit pretty well but did need to be extended. So I chopped up a few and bolted them together, you can't really see the seam under the sidecover. I did some plastic welding trials by heating up an implement with a torch and melting the two pieces, that worked well and I'll do it in addition to the bolts. These things are NAFF. Really cheap quality. But with some finessing and paint they look good, and will disappear when it's all together.

 

[goodoltup]

I received the parts for the breather and started modding them. Cut down both of the M16 barbs as shown, and fit them to the already made cap. Mocked up on the engine.

 

[goodoltup]

Made a test piece to try out cutting the hole in the side of the cap. I used the mill attachment on the Clarke lathe, using successively larger drill bits then a boring bar to get to final dimension. Last picture shows the test parts assembled.

 

[goodoltup]

For real now, bored the hole in the cap. Very nice fit, very happy with that. Parts mocked up and looking almost exactly like the CAD model. I don't LOVE the breather hose in that location, but it has to go somewhere, and it does look better than the previous arrangement.

 

[goodoltup]

I silver soldered the test parts together. Wire brushing didn't work too well, but after a quick bead blast and some scotch bright it looks great. It looks really, really good. Very happy with how that turned out. I will bring this test piece to the chemist at work and have her nickel plate it, if it looks good I'll have the final part nickel plated as well. If not I'll paint it black.
Tomorrow the final part will get soldered up.

 

[goodoltup]

Mocked up the breather on the engine and indexed the threads to the outlet. Then silver soldered both bits on at the same time. Bead blasted it, more scotch bright, and wham-o, all done. Except for the final breather filter mounting and nickel plating.

 

[ridesolo]

Pretty nice!

 

[goodoltup]

Pretty nice!

Cheers! It's been a 7 year labour of love, and I'm almost finished.
Happy new year to you!

 

[goodoltup]

The vent cap has been nickel plated and installed. Despite indexing the threads, when it was fully tightened I wasn't happy with the outlet position so I quickly made a 2mm thick Aluminium washer to adjust the rotation. Very, very happy with how it came out.

 

[goodoltup]

The fuel pump has really inconvenient inlet and vent barb sizes, I think it's 11mm inlet and 9mm vent. I previously had used two different size fuel lines joined with a reducing barb, but did not like that at all. I decided to make new inlet and vent barbs and epoxy them into place. JB weld is evidently fuel proof, so I used that. The new inlet/vent ports were a very tight fit into the cover anyway, so the JB is just to seal the top.
I bought some brass tube and reducing barbs, turned the barbs down on the lathe, and silver-soldered them all together. One trial piece was made, but it was a little crooked so I started again.

 

[goodoltup]

Here is the cover, with sharpie marking the angle of the new ports. The cover is poke-yoke indexed to the body of the pump, but I wanted to rotate it for best fuel line routing, so had to cut the flange on the cover to re-index.
All JB welded and waiting for cure time now.
I had also originally crimped wires directly to the cover because I couldn't identify the connector, but now I know it's a Sumitomo HX 40 connector, and I've bought one. I dug out the siliconed in wires and exposed the original connector, it now waits for the new harness.

 

[goodoltup]

Finished refinishing the exhaust. I had hit it with a scotch bright wheel, but that left marks all over it. In the end I bead-blasted it then rubbed it with scotch-bright pads. It now has a kind of silver matte finish, as if spray painted. I don't really like it, but it's better than it was before, and I think it will yellow with exhaust heat.

 

[goodoltup]

Fender stays, I'm going to try and nickel plate them at work, too.

 

[Patineto]

I race the French Dakar three times but always DNF

The last time I was RUNNING MY 660 a SYBEL "Sidecar Motocross" Build 712cc engine with Velcomer top end (in Portugal, the best valve shop I know)

Ps: tune for gas economy since you feel every gallon


.but let me tell you..

"is no longer the ARROW, is the INDIAN" and no techology is going to fix my lack of skills

Enjoy the new toy

 

[doc_rot]

Finished refinishing the exhaust. I had hit it with a scotch bright wheel, but that left marks all over it. In the end I bead-blasted it then rubbed it with scotch-bright pads. It now has a kind of silver matte finish, as if spray painted. I don't really like it, but it's better than it was before, and I think it will yellow with exhaust heat.

if you want an even "brushed" finish ive had good luck using one of these belt adaptors for an angle grinder with a scotch bright belt. It wraps around the tube and leaves a really nice finish. looks factory.

Fit 5/8-11 Angle Grinder Pipe Tube Polishing Tool Belt Sander Attachment Bracket | eBay

Specifications: Material: Stainless Steel Aluminum Alloy,Guide Wheel: Plastic, Driving Wheel: Aluminum + Rubber Product Size:52*27.5*27cm/20.47*10.83*10.63in Package Size: 33*22*9cm Net Weight: 1.5kg Gross Weight: 1.75kg Suitable For 5 / 8-11 American Thread Angle Grinder(Angle Grinder Is Not...

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1-1/2 x 30Inch Non Woven Surface Conditioning Sanding Belts-Coarse, Medium, Fine | eBay

Sanding belt. Sanding disc. Materials: stainless steel, aluminum, alloy, wood, synthetic materials, etc. SATC is a professional manufacturer of abrasive tools since 1990. Size ï¼ 1-1/2" x 30". Resistance to clogging and good flexibility when polishing soft or oily materials.

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[Luugo86]

Some great progress man, I like the finish on the exhaust. Did you make the Fender Stays?