!!! 1986 XL600R Adventure Bike Rebuild !!!

[VxZeroKnots]

Originally Posted by mcma111

If the bike never got wet or was parked outside then rust would be a non issue. Otherwise...

There is also quite a bit less humidity in Taos that there is in SF, that probably makes a difference. I had the pipe on my enduro bike wrapped for a year and when I took the wrap off to replace it because it had gotten so ratty there was no noticeable oxidation.

OP, I'd love to see some pictures of the tools and methods you are using on this bike, you obviously have some fabrication experience.

[crobox]

Originally Posted by VxZeroKnots

OP, I'd love to see some pictures of the tools and methods you are using on this bike, you obviously have some fabrication experience.

I guess you're requesting that of me...??

Sorry I am unfamiliar with "OP"...

HERE is a panorama of my shop that I took about a month ago. The main reason I took the picture was to illustrate what a mess my shop was, and how the bike was scattered in hundreds of pieces everywhere. The shop is usually cleaner; it's cleaner now; and the bike is much better organized now too.

You can zoom in on the picture and make out a lot of the tools. It is a fairly comprehensive fabrication and machine shop which I share with my partner. She is a blacksmith and metal artist too.

Cheers,
Christian

[VxZeroKnots]

Originally Posted by crobox

I guess you're requesting that of me...??

Sorry I am unfamiliar with "OP"...

HERE is a panorama of my shop that I took about a month ago. The main reason I took the picture was to illustrate what a mess my shop was, and how the bike was scattered in hundreds of pieces everywhere. The shop is usually cleaner; it's cleaner now; and the bike is much better organized now too.

You can zoom in on the picture and make out a lot of the tools. It is a fairly comprehensive fabrication and machine shop which I share with my partner. She is a blacksmith and metal artist too.

Cheers,
Christian

Yeah sorry, OP means "Original Poster" or "Original Post" depending on context. keep it coming!

Edit: Holy jealous, that is a well kitted shop, good for you! What is with the expansion chamber on your wood stove?

[MartiniUp]

Crobox, please be aware of the humor intended in my post. I have had an 86 and 87 XL600 and really am enjoying your thread.

[crobox]

Originally Posted by VxZeroKnots

Yeah sorry, OP means "Original Poster" or "Original Post" depending on context. keep it coming!

Edit: Holy jealous, that is a well kitted shop, good for you! What is with the expansion chamber on your wood stove?

I just copied a double-barrel design I'd seen elsewhere. The second chamber is to get more thermal radiation into the surrounding air from the hot gases before they are lost out of the chimney.

Thanks!

[crobox]

Originally Posted by MartiniUp

Crobox, please be aware of the humor intended in my post. I have had an 86 and 87 XL600 and really am enjoying your thread.

No worries... I was trying to be funny too! Thanks!

Now off to the shop to keep working....

[Zombie_Stomp]

Originally Posted by crobox

I wonder if the rust issue would be greatly ameliorated / eliminated by a nice high heat paint job under the wrap... That's what I've already got.
And also trying to keep the bike from getting wet.... ???

When this has come up before, the answer I heard was a nice thick layer of some kind of high-heat sealant on the outside of the wrap to keep moisture out.

[JimRidesThis]

Originally Posted by crobox

HERE is a panorama of my shop that I took about a month ago.

Hmmn. Now that is a workshop. It puts my puny little garage to shame. Still, at least I have a garage to work in, some don't even have that.

I'm loving the colour scheme, but I'm not sold on the exhaust wrap, it just seems like a style thing rather than having a practical benefit... but it's your bike and you should build what you want to. I think you'll do just that anyway

Interesting rebuild, Christian, I'm subscribed

[crobox]

So as I mentioned earlier, I really love to do the creative fabrication stuff, such as the rack. Also, I can't work on my rims right now (for reasons I will mention later... not too interesting anyway) and my cylinder head is not back from being worked on yet. So I really wanted to work on the rack... but the 3/4" OD stainless tube I ordered isn't here yet either. SO I decided to mock it up using 1/2" EMT (electrical metal tubing), which has an OD of about .710". Close enough. This allowed me to fabricate (for real, from stainless) some of the complicated brackets and the turn signal mounts. As I mentioned near the beginning of the thread, I am going to go with a minimalist inverted "L" pannier bracket, sort of like what you see on some BMWs. Here is how the mockup came along today:



And here it is with an orange Pelican case that I happened to have hanging around, taped into place: (Sorry this one is slightly out of focus... not up to my usual photographic standards...)



I have a few of these orange cases which I COULD use.... but I think I want a slightly bigger size case and also I think it's too much orange...

[crobox]

So speaking of which color of Pelican case to use for my panniers.... I cannot seem to decide so I will see what y'all think. Here are three options; orange, silver, and black. (Pelican cases aren't available in blue or white....)







OPINIONS??

[Zombie_Stomp]

Orange all the way, dude. Can't wait to take part in the sculpture.

[Moparmanpete]

Future Frequently Asked Question you might receive......

When did Honda and KTM make a bike?

What KTM parts are on that thing?

OR as the person stares at the the Honda tank badges and askes.................... Is that a KTM?







I still like the color scheme though

[joexr]

Silver.

[dirtyron]

looking good christian. been considering one of these myself.if only they kicked over as easily as an xr650r.

[crobox]

Of course it's gonna open a can of worms to solicit opinions on something like the color of the cases, cuz I will end up choosing one or the other and that won't be everyone's choice.

But I'm leaning away from orange. It's too much orange. I think orange works best as an accent color.

I'm leaning towards silver. There will be considerably more silver elsewhere in the bike that is not in this photoshop image, such as the cylinder and head, the entire exhaust (which I've already painted high-heat silver), the Supertrapp, the stainless cargo rack, and the fairing (which I am considering leaving partly raw aluminum), not to mention the rims, forks, swingarm, etc.

Here's another idea... silver cases with orange accents.....



Bla bla bla. Thinking about it too much.

Regarding the KTM comments... yeah. I will probably get that. Way back when I first started thinking of rebuilding this bike, a while before even starting this thread, I was thinking of all black and orange. A KTM XL600R. I'm glad I moved on from that idea!

Zombie Joel... check your PMs.

Cheers,
Christian