Ontic's 1981 R80G/S build-up thread

[Sibbo]

Hans, it would be my pleasure ! Lovely job on the pegs mate ...Tilly came with a set of Pivot Pegz and as you say the grip is great, particularly when the pegs are covered in mud ! Frankly they're good on the road too.

[ontic]

Cheers Peter,
Yeah, I really like the look and function of the pivot pegs- I just couldn't justify the cost of them (there has been enough justifying the cost of expensive things already and probably a bit more to go yet). I haven't seen any affordable second hand pivot pegs going around- and oz ebay tells me $240 a set new I wish they came with my bike like yours did! Long ago I resigned myself to the fact that this build was going to be very expensive, and it has been, but where and when I can I simply have to avoid big costs like that.

I just looked through my emails to see what I payed for my White Brothers ones. US$35. Then some postage (in a big box with other things) That's a bit more sensible isn't it! They came from a yz450f.
They may not pivot, but with the raised center ridge your foot can pivot a little on them- there is quite a range of positions and 'feels' that you can rest your feet on them which will be nice for those all-day rides- they grip standing straight on them and you have angles leaning forward and backward that grip as well... actually they grip full stop- I put my bare foot on them in the shed and it felt like an open sharks mouth

From looking at photos it looks like my pegs might have ended up at around the same height and position as the pivot pegs do-
Just for curiosities sake could you tell me if your pivot pegs are 'spring over' or 'spring under'- I've seen both in images and haven't been able to tell what the G/S ones are. Coverting mine from spring under to spring over was about the only 'free' lowering effect I could easily see (without making a new bolt on lowering bracket)
here are both examples of pivot pegs


Finally,
because I won't be getting much else done today (maybe tomorrow)
I'll just leak a (reposted) parts photo- (I've got a lot more of this stuff banked up for rainy days when the going is slow)
nice new Slavens custom wound .60 Kg springs for my new front end.

[Sibbo]

Hans, I'll take a photo or 2 tomorrow and post them . I can't answer any questions about them at all ....I just put my feet on them and ride . You're right about the pivoting , I don't think it's necessary .The teeth stick to you boots no matter what and the pivoting action is minimal anyway .Compared to rubbers they are brilliant but they take a little bit of getting used to.You come up to a stop and LIFT your foot off the peg, not slide it sideways of the rubber. It caused a minor panic at the first set of lights when my foot wouldn't slide sideways and off to the ground .... I remembered why it was glued down just in time.

[Rucksta]

Sibbo, attack the teeth with an angle grinder until they are just right.
For me that's just blunt enough to twist my right foot to reach the brake without lifting.
On the left I just do the outside teeth so I can tilt my foot to the side and slide it off the peg to foot at the lights.

Ontic, the spring over is low position spring under is high position.
The sleeve that takes the frame mounting bolt knocks out and can be inserted from the other side to make the adjustment.

[SOLO LOBO]

Tasty treats...

[Sibbo]

Originally Posted by Rucksta

Sibbo, attack the teeth with an angle grinder until they are just right.
For me that's just blunt enough to twist my right foot to reach the brake without lifting.
On the left I just do the outside teeth so I can tilt my foot to the side and slide it off the peg to foot at the lights.

Ontic, the spring over is low position spring under is high position.
The sleeve that takes the frame mounting bolt knocks out and can be inserted from the other side to make the adjustment.

Yeah I did that , gently with a flap sander .I only got caught the first time and really they aren't that sharp now. It was just the different between them and the rubber ...it's very noticeable !

[ontic]

Cheers peter, being aware of the grippy pegs sounds like precisely the kind of thing that I would need to be careful of.
I rekon every time I've borrowed a push-bike with these sorts of pedals I have had at least a few panic moments if not out right tumbles

Sounds like some manipulation is in order on the teeth once the test-riding starts.

Originally Posted by Rucksta

Sibbo, attack the teeth with an angle grinder until they are just right.
For me that's just blunt enough to twist my right foot to reach the brake without lifting.
On the left I just do the outside teeth so I can tilt my foot to the side and slide it off the peg to foot at the lights.

Ontic, the spring over is low position spring under is high position.
The sleeve that takes the frame mounting bolt knocks out and can be inserted from the other side to make the adjustment.

Thanks for the pivot pegs explanation- that makes sense and is a pretty cool feature. My changes are a little more permanent than that.

Originally Posted by SOLO LOBO

Tasty treats...

thanks mate,
I'm looking forward to helping make a bit of space in your shed soon

After a little more fetttling of the pegs I'll be firing up the TIG again today (just starting the day a little late with some coffee right now).
I've got a heap more of that hydraulic tube to either finish the rear luggage rack I've started or make a whole new one from scratch.

[Sibbo]

Here's a couple of photos ...note well used ST to which things are bolted .The sure is nothing like a photo of your own bike to make you realise a bit of cosmetic makeover is needed ! She's a bit rough around the edges but she runs sweetly !

[ontic]

Thanks Peter,
hey, you should try digital point-and-shoot flash photography at night if you want to see unflattering photography- actually, if you've been reading my thread then that is most of what you've seen

So it seems that your pegs are in the spring under configuration.
From what Ruckster has said you could flip that to spring over and thus lower them a little if that interests you.

btw. I've got to strip the old powdercoat off my white brothers pegs. They are a burned up mess after the welding. I'm thinking I'll try soaking them in some 'brush restorer'- a tin of just about the nastiest hardcore solvent/stripper type stuff I've ever come across. Any other suggestions for removing powdercoat?


P.S. I'm on a break from the shed. I'm trying to figure out how to finish this rear luggage rack and incorporate a new indicator mount- I'm thinking of going with a vertical set-up like you've done. Did you have any issues with road worthy with your indicators like that? How does the light spread compared to in the horizontal position, as the lens appears set up to spread the light horizontally and turning them on their side will also turn the spread of light to the vertical...?

[Sibbo]

Originally Posted by ontic

Thanks Peter,
hey, you should try digital point-and-shoot flash photography at night if you want to see unflattering photography- actually, if you've been reading my thread then that is most of what you've seen

So it seems that your pegs are in the spring under configuration.
From what Ruckster has said you could flip that to spring over and thus lower them a little if that interests you.

btw. I've got to strip the old powdercoat off my white brothers pegs. They are a burned up mess after the welding. I'm thinking I'll try soaking them in some 'brush restorer'- a tin of just about the nastiest hardcore solvent/stripper type stuff I've ever come across. Any other suggestions for removing powdercoat?

More heat ? Powder coat is a plastic film isn't it ? So maybe treat it like oil based paint . The welding stuffed it so maybe more heat ?

P.S. I'm on a break from the shed. I'm trying to figure out how to finish this rear luggage rack and incorporate a new indicator mount- I'm thinking of going with a vertical set-up like you've done. Did you have any issues with road worthy with your indicators like that? How does the light spread compared to in the horizontal position, as the lens appears set up to spread the light horizontally and turning them on their side will also turn the spread of light to the vertical...?

Gawd ! There's a question .You are much more thoughtful than me Hans ! I mounted mine vertically cos it was the only way they would fit ! There is one disadvantage, the rear luggage rack is now on the same level as my rolled up tent if strapped on the back where I would prefer it ,it obscures the indicators. That's a bugger and means the tent has to go on the inside of the vertical and shorter stuff outside. It's what I got for having big panniers but it's worth it for the Mermite cases ...I really like them , they're well made, water and dust proof and hold a heap of gear. I tend to just leave them on now to hold my wet weathers and the occasional shopping.

Rego ? No mention was made .The mounts look fairly well made so maybe the inspector thought they were a standard option ?

I'll leave the Pegz were they are , the PO set the riding position up well as he was my size (except for a slightly bent handle bar which I'm currently ignoring !).

[davorallyfan]

I could not justify the cost of pivot pegs. I widened the stockies.

[ontic]

Nice pegs Davo, looks even cheaper than mine
Before I bought these white brothers pegs i considered flipping the stock ones, swapping left for right, and welding on a new grip ring like you've done. I think this could have worked and would have lowered them a little.

The mozzies beat me out of the shed. Horrible things.

I got the rear rack pretty much finished. Small progress today.
I had to redo the right hand tab on the pannier frame (so that I could get a socket onto the bolt head- previously I couldn't on this side and had to use a spanner which would have done my head in long term) and then tweak and re-bend the whole thing a lot to change the angle of the 'tray' on the back. Then in the welding process, with the movement, and because this last peice is the joining one between other stuff I have made- it all required a bit of massaging to get it to bolt up together. There is now only a little bit of tension in the frame and it is not too hard to actually put this all together.

The rear luggage rack tray is now a lot flatter and lines up better with the line of the sub-frame

here is is now,


kinda blurry without flash... lets try the flash


yikes see what I mean about bringing out the grime.

now playing with the indicator positions,
at the moment this is seeming like a solution to me so I'd welcome some critique/feedback.
Just to show what else will be on there the white carboard is an exact template of a victorian numberplate. Not sure where I'll put the annoying registration sticker.
The indicators are just taped in place right now- I'd weld on a simple bracket to bolt them to on those new luggage rack verticals.
Does it look wrong? Too close together?









What I like about it is it keeps them out of the way of the rear luggage rack so that luggage on top won't obscure them and it also keeps them within the inside line of the pannier frames. They are also quite protected in there and not likely to get damaged in a tip over.
Negatives, well, they are on their side and they are very close together and to the brake light. I'm not actually too worried about legal or road worthy issues as I could simply put them it the correct position for the road worthy and I highly doubt any one would hassle me for them after that- my concern is more about making sure they actually work well and are properly visible... and I don't want them to look too goofy

Thoughts?


finally, is this kickstarter in the right position or do I have one of the ones that are out too far?

[Sibbo]

A really neat idea Hans ... nice and protected, if you think they're visible enough all is well .I think it's a good idea and might have a look at mine to do the same. I think if an indicator is flashing it warns of a turn and needn't be out wide .A couple of cm isn't going to make much diff anyway.

The luggage rack is good , pretty low and compact . I'm going to build a complete unit with the GS single seat and carrier all in one so I can take it off and use the double seat at the click of a button .

[ontic]

Time for an update,


Yesterday I visited a friends workshop/studio to do a little metalwork- he's a jewler by trade but general metal-wizard by passion. I wanted to change my rebound and compression adjusters on my new forks from a slot headed screwdriver adjuster to a on-the-fly adjustable-by-hand knob. Not that I want to be able to adjust it while actually moving- more that I want to be able to just pull over and tweak it around a lot to get to know different settings for different situations without carrying a screw driver in my pocket (and then struggling to actually reach the screw heads under the handlebars.
Anyway, I had a few ideas a while ago and scrounged some parts from my local metal recyclers.

Here are the adjusters before altering


and here are some of the bits of metal I got to play with for metal stock (from old medical gas fittings of some kind.


anyway, short story,
a bit of this



before silver-solder brazing



after brazing (these feel really really strong).



on a curious note the rebound adjuster that I suspected may have had a very fine coat of glue of some sort on it, does appear to have had something as it has blackened with the heat- looks like I'm going to have to figure than one out and probably glue it back in.


Not Pictured, I also got a proper nice hardened steel spacer/sleeve turned up for my brake caliper system (to replace the bodged up ones I had a few pages back).


So,
time to put them in the forks
everything works as it should pulling the cap off and on,
the nob slides onto the extended adjuster and is fixed by a grub screw.



Here is the knob at the end of the clicks as far as it can go down


and fully up




next on the agenda is to do some knurling on these knobs- they are OK to grip as they are, but knurling of some sort would be nicer. I am just hesitant to do it by hand as I will no doubt make a mess of it.
Suggestions for a good way to Knurl these would be welcome. If worst comes to worst then I'll be hitting them with the files

When I got home from my friends workshop, there was some mail arrived for me- Finally!!!

Thanks for the airmail newsletter Solo, a nice surprise.



I feel like I need to say that this Scotts/Ohlins damper I got at a lovely cheap bargain price on US ebay. US$122.50 to be exact. It is a bit scratched on the front, which conveniently gets covered by the handlebar when reversed on the submount, but it seems to work as it should. It is a slightly older one that has the 'Ohlins' on the back (now the front being submounted).
The BRP submount I scored on Oz ebay a while ago- again for cheap. miraculously it was the exact model that Rdubb specified for his triple clamps.


Many thanks to HPMguy for figuring out exactly what I needed to mount this sucker up- it has worked like a charm. The little arm puller thing was great too. I've mounted up the damper at the moment, but obviously it will be coming straight off again once it is time for testing the front end as the damper will only confuse things- plus I'll be changing the oil in this damper.

So, with a bit of work I got the new front end on today. I haven't done any of the details, all I've done is throw the new springs in and bolt everything up to see how it fits.
I haven't set the height/travel of the forks, other than sinking them in the triples a little bit, so they are too high at the moment.
While wrestling the mess of old controls and wires and whatnot I got the new brembo master cylinder on and hooked up to the brembo caliper on the 320mm rotor and bled the system. Pretty soon I had brakes. REAL BEAKES
I could figure out no simple way to get the controls actually working yet for a test ride, so all I could do was push it around and roll down hills and test it that way. At the fastest (very slow) speed I could push it to the brakes very easily lock up that knobby tire on rough bitumen. My bodged up caliper brackets are showing no signs of flexing or moving, and all up I don't think brakes are going to be a problem.

My .60kg custom springs from Jeff Slavens are feeling pretty damn good- not too hard at all- however I have no idea how much oil is in the forks- there is some but I'm pretty sure not enough.
I was however getting a fair bit of stiction, until I finally figured out that I was missing a small spacer for the wheel. With that spacer now in the stiction is gone and the front end is feeling very nice- can't wait to try it with the motor running


A few shots,



Progress has been slow, but speeding up a little bit now. The next and final package from the US will (hopefully) have enough stuff for me to get the bike running with the new front end (different throttle and clutch, /5 switchgear, etc).
There is a ton of stuff to work out regarding this front end swap- I'm barely even started really, I just had to slap it all together for some immediate satisfaction
The Damper plugging and playing was a great relief- the forks, the triples, the damper and tower, everything seems to work with no interference.
The ergonomics of this bike for me are now getting a lot better for me.



Getting there... or somewhere.

[SOLO LOBO]

Beautiful work and a great solution! so how does a guy on the other side of the world get a set os these bits to modify his WP adjusters?

Perhaps you should run a batch off, and do a group buy to the US guys with WP 50mm's... I'd be happy to distribute 'em from this side