Lacing a Rim Like a Pro (sort of)

A nice piece done by Etsy:

In a crowded Philadelphia garage, Adam Cramer revives vintage motorcycles and the American tradition of grease-stained self-reliance.

How to make those old valve covers look like new again

When sanding, keep in mind that you can always start at a lower or higher grit depending on the level of scratches that are already on the surface of the metal. Likewise don't be afraid to try out different buffing compounds on the wheel.

Engine Nearing a Final Finish

I would be lying if I said that having children doesn't affect your project. After being blessed with the birth of my son, he and my wife literally became my only priority during late Oct early Nov. I am happy to say he is a total joy and I'm glad that we've had him (and they'll always be a priority).

With that said, the wife finally let me get back into my garage. With my testosterone and sleep running on low I took another crack at completing this engine. I've learned a lot so far, and typically what takes a normal person 1 hour to accomplish, takes me two LOL! So far so good though.

Another 650???

I couldn't resist myself. A co-worker pointed out this 1975 XS650 in poor shape on craigslist. For two hundred dollars I couldn't say no. Of course it wasn't running when I purchased it. But a little time spent on it over the weekend and she was running in no time. It still needs more attention, but now its got a new lease on life. The instrument cluster will need some work since its a jumble of wires right now. Headlight and turn signals will also have to be checked out as those don't work either.

Anyway here's a shot of ugly betty in the driveway.

Someone was hardcore and put the 10" mini-ape handlebars on lol. I think someone also removed the baffles in the exhaust because she has a rough sound to her.

Here's a vid of me kicking her over:

The Engine is coming along

Have a look at the video. I was able to install the cylinders and the lower half of the top end over the weekend.

Fun With Digital Calipers and a Burned Out Clutch

While I'm waiting for a set of piston rings I decided to examine the clutch and kick starter. Lets just say I had a lot better luck with the kick start assembly than I did with the clutch.

The kick start assembly is fairly basic with the shaft, washer assembly, main gears, and return spring. There are some other parts in there that I wont go into detail about but luckily the previous owner did not disassemble the shaft assembly itself so reassembly was fairly simple.

The return spring sits approx half way on the shaft and needs to be "wound" during assembly. I found some material on an xs forum where someone used a zip tie to rotate the spring around and wind it up. I used the same method but substituted with a piece of rope.Installation was a breeze it took maybe 2 attempts and 20min of my time.

Disassembling the clutch wasn't something I wanted to do, but it was necessary to inspect the clutch plates and check for wear.

Upon inspection with my digital calipers I realized I'm outside the tolerance for operation. Have a look below:

The accepted tolerance for clutch plates are in the range of 3.5mm to 3.1mm only a 0.122 difference
 and my plates are averaging 2.85 (not good). Somebody was riding this clutch hard...

Had some time tonight to work a little on the pistons. From the image you can see the cleaned version on the left and the uncleaned on the right. Why am I doing this?? Would you use a dirty mop to clean your floor? NO of course not, that's why these pistons need to be clean so they can perform at their maximum potential! I will inspect the rings and their gap and clearance in the cylinders after they are cleaned. From my measurements I can determine whether to replace the rings or use the stock set.

I don't have access to a ultrasonic cleaner or a parts cleaner, so I am using Simple Green. Its a great method for cleaning carbon deposits from the head of the piston, have a look:

Lower Engine Success

Assembling the lower half of the engine went well. I used a liquid gasket that sealed the two halves together and using a torque wrench I was able to maintain the factory 14 ft lbs of torque per bolt. Have a peek at the video I explain a little more there:

Moving on up indeed. Next step will be to hone the cylinders, clean the pistons, and continue working up the engine.

Bobber Inspiration

I have decided exactly how my bike will look from my vast knowledge of motorcycle styles and designs (sarcasm). But mostly from perusing the internet for hours upon hours drooling at other project bikes. Here are a few xs650s that I find very well made and rather good looking to boot:

Obviously I'm a fan of all of these bikes, but I'll let you in on my personal tastes. I'm planning on (trying) the 10" mini apes (handle bars). It gives the bike a much straighter stance and leads the eye from the top of the bars down to the rear wheel. I'm also hot to trot on fat white wall tires and a Harley style sportster gas tank. The original tank is simply to elongated and wide. As far as the front end goes I will have to stick with the stock forks as most aftermarket front ends are simply to costly.

My personal favorite:

Lower Engine Case Wrap Up

All of the lower engine case mechanics have been transferred over to the (good) case. I go into a little more detail on what was done in this video:

Here is a completed closeup view of the side of the shifting mechanism:

Exploded view of the shifter shaft assembly:

Next step will be to use liquid gasket to seal both halves of the engine case together. I will be picking up a torque wrench or rent one depending on the price. I need this wrench for torquing all case bolts to 14ft lbs of pressure to ensure a proper seal. Stand by for case assembly. :)

Engine Prep

 Shot of the Geerage. The wife let me buy a harbor freight engine stand w00t


Found out that the original engine was chipped where the two halves of the lower case came together =/
Alas I have a second case that was included in the purchase =D

 You can see the chip here (It was significant enough to cause probable oil leakage from the case)

Here is the new case being preped for paint

Painted up

Transferring  the crank and trans gears and seals to the new case was interesting but not as hard as I had anticipated, only took approx. 1hr. Oil filter/cover, shift shaft, and shifter were transferred.

Old case is pictured on the left, new (silver) on the right.

Shot of the crankshaft.

Rear Wheel Polished and Laced Up!

 The rear hub was cleaned with a steel brush and sanded down with 150 grit all the way to 400 grit wet. On the left is the dirty rear hub on the right is the sanded hub cover.

 Final polish buffing wheel with a ultra fine compound

Final rim/wheel polished and laced. Lacing took about 2 hrs after the third attempt.

Will still need to remove the original bearings and replace with new. Grease and add new rubber bearing seals, and true the rim before mounting.

Basket Case!

Shopped and shopped craigslist for a cheap but popular model motorcycle to restore and chop into a gritty and mean looking bobber. I eventually stumbled upon this 1982 Yamaha xs650 Heritage Special basket case for $500. The bike is all there. Lucky for me the previous owner was diligent about labeling every part and component so I'm hoping re-assembly will go smoothly.

 here's what she'd look like all together: