Thanks :). That;'s the kind of tips is was looking for. I'm going to have a closer look at this CB next Thursday.
And that's the bike I mostly use these days. Like it a lot, but it's not as good as the BMW. Not even close. But the BMW needs some TLC. As we speak the tank is drying up after a very thorough tank cure treatment, I am going to change the battery box, improve the framebraces and I still want the front to go lower. I Have a triple tree and I know I can machine it to become the top plate, enabling me to slide the forks trough. For this I have to make it thinner. I seem to remember to have read somewhere that it is not a save thing to do. Can somebody please confirm or deny?
Do you mean you have the bottom of a standard BMW triple tree which you wish to machine as a slide-through top? I know that it has been done, it would be easy enough to bore the holes for the sliders, but the machining would be more elaborate for the center/bearing carrier. I don't understand the "thinner"...? There are also two aftermarket top plates of which I am aware. The one from CC Products is still available, but does not offer a slide through, but it sure looks like that could be easily done: Link to CC Products page for the clamp (two types availabel, for all R-bikes except the R65) The other possibility is to find a Toaster Tan clamp, they were made in a way that could be slid-through. The page is here, but it is my understanding that these are no longer being made?
Toaster tan did his last run in 2010. The product is amazing! I love mine, it's a noticeable different in handling, and yeah, you can actually slide the fork tubes through if you're like. I see them pop up on ebay every blue moon...if you're lucky, he may still have some in stock for order. Highly recommend them.
Thanks! Would love to have one of those, but there's no budget for it. And I indeed did mean the bottom of the triple tree. I will have to make it thinner because the stem isn't long enough to keep it stock. I can get the machining done for free, so that helps a lot :)
I had to walk for the first time last sunday.... I had given the poly tank another layer of tank cure in the hope that it would seal the tank. I did it very, very thoroughly, but... It dissolved and clogged up my petcock and fuel filters. I will be going for a 'new' tank, probably, this one is beyond saving. I also want to pull the cylinders, I thought a cylinder foot gasket was necessary, but apparently not, so I want to remove those (and I want a closer look at the heads, since I think it's noisy, even for an airhead). I read somewhere (and here comes the question) that it is pretty easy to replace the crank case bearings when you've pulled the cylinders. Is it really? Can't really find anything about how to do that. If anybody has a photo log of how to do that or knows where I can find it, you'd make me a happy man.
Time for an update, no? The gas tank of the BMW really was beyond repair and I have not been able to find a similar tank for the price I was willing to pay, so I went for the easy way out: a BMW tank. I meant to do that as a temporary solution, but I found one with such great patina, that I am very inclined to make it a permanent solution. Used the BMW a lot since then, loved every second of it. Especially the night rides back home after working on the Virago will stay with me for a while. Oh, and chicks digg it But I still hesitated quite a lot this year when I walked into the shed where the Beemer sleeps. I also finished my CB project and although it is not nearly as exciting to ride, it is such a pleasant bike that it is hard to choose: So both bikes got used a lot this year, the CB still is being used a lot (too much rain now for the BMW with it's velocity stacks). I mentioned a Virago build earlier in this post. I built that bike together with a friend of mine. Purely for the fun of building. We finished it a few weeks ago. And the next project bike is already waiting A Yamaha SR500. (sorry for the large amount of photos in this post)
Updates on this thread are mandatory and expected. As always, love the photography. Go collect some more future updates!
And I'll be watching the next one closely as I happen to have my own SR500! Unfortunately (or not) its too clean to hack up. I am aware of quite a few aftermarket parts providers out there so let me know if I can point you in any general direction.
I really don't know where the fork brace came from, it was on the bike when I bought it. SOrry. The SR500 is going to be interesting. The engine is supposed to be reconditioned a few miles ago, but it produces HUGE smoke screens. I reckon it will use about a liter of oil every 30 to 60 miles. So something ain't right But we knew that when we bought it.
This is my latest project bike. A 'barn find' in a guys garage and almost completely stock and unmolested. Just got it on rubber and registered. I have been mighty tempted to café this bike.... but think I'm going to ride it a bit and ponder the cosmic wrath I might provoke should I venture down that rabbit hole. I found the sweet spot between 7,000 - 9,000 rpm the thing HOWLS from 6 carbs sucking air.
I've seen a few of the 6 cylinder Jap bikes in germany. Man do they sound good!! Nothing beats the sound of an inline 6, car or motorbike.
