R80/7 + a newb = a long road to cafe

sadly, no new parts that i can use yet. my SpeedBleeders showed up, but without the rest of the brake parts i can't do much with them.

but I did have some more fun progress:)

I dis-assembled the MC. it was kind of crapped up so I'm glad I have a rebuild kit coming.







I stripped the paint off it and cleaned the hell out of it. Also gave it a dip in Renner's ultrasonic cleaner I'm hoping he forgets that i have... Then i painted with some silver caliper paint.



I also finessed the powder coat on the subframe so i could get the seat hinges on, then mounted the subframe for kicks:)



I dropped my speedo off at Foreign Speedo here in San Diego on Friday, just to realize i wanted it to mock up a new mount. Enter Renner, stage right, to save the day. He had a busted up speedo that was perfect for me to use to mock-up. I played with the stock bracket, and it was almost do-able, but not quite so i made the ugliest test bracket imaginable.



it was never a permanent thing, but it would have been prettier if I hadn't busted my last bandsaw blade, and all my dremel bits were worn out... guess I'm going shopping tomorrow

mocked up it looks like:



when I make the bracket for real I may drop the instrument cluster down another 1/2 inch.

I've also got an idea for a fly screen



but I'm not sure how to mount it, or if i like it... we'll see.

lastly, I picked up some accent paint today kind of on a whim:) at the moment I've only painted the nuts/covers of the triple tree. I dig it:) I need to select some other small parts to do - suggestions?



and that was my Saturday. I hope everyone's weekend is going well:)

Spencer

looking good!
surprised with all your mods you arent going the acewell speedo route which seems quite popular. are you just lowering your speedo group?

flyscreen! yay! my terrible cheap version (which everyone hated) shot a nice blade of air directly into my neck. but your mockup would be awesome. i'm still obsessed with them.

as for your accent color? to be honest? lose it. once you get everyting put back together you are going to see a whole myriad of "accent colors" and i would fear the blue would just be a little too much. i mean you are already playing with fire and purists with the grey frame. haha. too many colors in the mix is a bad idea. but that just may be the many years of color theory i had to study in school talking. haha.

as always, do what you like. who gives a shit what anyone else says anyway.

also, hurry up and put that damn thing back together.

OTOH that blue pairs better with the gray frame than the orange tank ever will. (..much as I love that Tequila Sunrise)

good seeing the project coming along.
when do we get down with the meat & potatoes, nitty-gritty action i.e. engine end electrical :eek1<KNARY>

I really thought about the acewell, but it would have cost twice as much to do, and required some wiring changes, and honestly, i was never sold on the look. this way i don't have to change any wires, and save some money, and i prefer the look of the 2 face stock unit as long as I can mount it low enough.

the blue is staying the bike is far from a "pure" bike so i don't see that as a concern.

you're opinions on the color are well noted Meat and Potatoes soon I hope! engine won't go back in until the wheels are on, but i might tackle the pushrod tube seals soon...

</knary>

it's engine time.



I got a box of parts that included the long awaited pressure plate for my new clutch yesterday:) So i torqued down the new flywheel bolts and got to work on putting in the clutch!



the spring with a bit of grease on the perimeter and fingers as Clymers says.

Mike had lent me his clutch centering tool...





and Scott had lent me his 3 bolt clutch kit for installing/removing the clutch plate



Viola!



a tastefully installed clutch. Boom Baby! It was pretty easy, but I do have a concern that the centering tool is not terribly precise. Or I just don't know how to use it. I suppose I'll find out when I try to put the tranny in...

Also! After I was done I noticed some divits drilled into the pressure plate edge:



I didn't see anything in my manual about it, so I assume those are just for balancing? and it doesn't matter what their orientation is?

THEN! I was all set to do the pushrod tube seals! I had read up on it, was all ready to take apart a perfectly good engine, got the valve cover off...



And was immediately thwarted by my lack of a 15mm socket or wrench. sad face. I guess I'll try to pick some useful socket sizes up after work.

that's it for now... happy tuesday everyone:)
Spencer

Spencer,

The centering tool should be inserted into the splines before everything is tightened and torqued to get the components all aligned. Then just simply remove the tool. Now is the time to get this right to save yourself headaches when the time comes to mate the transmission to the engine.

Did you position the flywheel corrctly at TDC with the timing marks in the housing window? This would also be a good time to clean and paint the indented timing marks on the flywheel. I like to use a white enamel paint so the marks show up well during operation under a timing light.

That's how I used it, but the pin in the end of the tool doesn't have much to seat in the adjacent clutch piece so there was some wiggle to the centering - does that make sense?

Yes!:) TDC and painted timing marks:)

Don't overthink. If a centering tool is available I use it as a convenience; otherwise I've always just eyeballed it. There is enough elbow room in the way the transmission input shaft and the engine mounting studs fit to be forgiving. In an automobile clutch were there is a "pilot"/ball bearing in the center of the crankshaft that the input shaft must fit into with NO wiggle room and the clutch plate MUST be accurately centered.

Think of the BMW as a sophisticated tractor...

I once had the opportunity of putting together a Chrysler 440 engine in a big Chris Craft boat. I painted the bolts for this one color and the bolts for that another. I had gas lines red and water pumps blue. I thought it was a neat idea. it actually looked like shit. It's an are where less is more. Or so I learned.

understood:) I won't worry about it - unless I can't get the transmission in

with your avatar and your naysaying, I wonder if you are perpetually grumpy in all seriousness, I DO understand what you and apt13 are saying, and you very well may be right in the long run. But I'm going to keep the blue here and there on the bike - I think the finished product will look good...

Looking good

One small problem

you installed a non-lightened flywheel

That man in my avatar is Winston Churchill. He did look rather stern I guess. He was not a humorless person though and whether you realize it or not we owe our lives to this man and the men who believed him. Oh, that should be Sir Winston Churchill.

Sigh. You know what these comments do to me.

and a grumpy looking man he is! (actually, I'm well acquainted with Sir Winston Churchill - my family tree is extremely English and I'm distantly related to him)

I needed to kill some time...

















any comments? I of course don't really know what it is supposed to look like. i noticed that there was no gasket at the engine, and lots of blue threads of sealant. seems like a lot of carbon (?) build up to me, or is that normal? how do i clean that up?

I'm doing one at a time so I have an example for re-assembly:)

I think i'm headed over to Mike V's in a few minutes and we're going to start messing with wheel bearings...

Happy Friday everyone:)
Spencer

That is a pretty standard amount of carbon build up. Clean it before reassembly. Don't use sharp objects to scrape carbon.

It looks like the pushrod seals were installed with RTV. I had an engine like this once. Mine appeared that at some point the engine was taken apart and put back together and the person who did this did not buy a single new gasket. I can't explain these things. This is the way people repair their machines. I think they are stupid. It took several hours for me to clean all the RTV off the engine.

Curious what you guys think of Benthic's receding carbon build-up pattern on the top of his piston in the picture above.

I think this applies:

Though earlier compression and leakdown tests showed "ok" results, I'm thinking this would be a good time for new rings and a freshly honed cylinder.

34 year old moto with 30,000 showing on a non-functioning odometer... what have you got to lose?
ring job = better compression and less oil burning... think of the environment

+1. My first thought, too, seeing that piston crown.

Valves? Valve guides? (u.s.w.)...

PS-- ever seen a project Snowball like this one?

All the time. Most projects snowball. Can't get away from it.

I remember once I was a gonna change the push rod tube rubbers......