September 2, 2009

New (old) exhaust and rear shocks

There is a steady stream of vintage parts arriving on our front doorstep. The FedEx truck is a regular sight at our house. Most of these are used parts that I've bought online at eBay or special-interest websites. The challenge is finding the nicest-condition parts and getting them for a decent price. There is very little new stock for 1965 bikes outside of maintenance items (gaskets, piston rings, and filters).

The two latest deliveries were for a complete exhaust system and a set of rear shock absorbers. When I took the exhaust off back in June, it had rusted through in many spots. I found a much nicer exhaust system that includes both the exhaust pipe itself plus the chrome heat shield that protects the riders' legs. The heat shields are in great shape. The pipe has some surface rust but should clean up by hand without too much trouble. Here are the old and new side-by-side:

The rear shocks were an even better find. The rust on the original shocks is quite deep and they may have been a total loss, though the plastic covers are in great shape. I found a pair of replacements that look darned close to new! I'll clean up the orange plastic covers from the old shocks and put them on the newer ones.

August 10, 2009

Rear shocks, swingarm, and wiring harness removed. The frame is bare!

The disassembly of the motorcycle is complete, and the frame is bare.
Tonight I removed the rear shock absorbers, the swingarm, and the
wiring harness. Aside from the engine, there aren't major constituent
pieces to disassemble and rebuild (except to clean them). While I
still don't spend nearly as much time as I'd like to on this project,
it's neat to have reached this milestone because it means the nature
of the work changes dramatically.

The first big change is that it's time to get the primary metal body
pieces refinished. Surprisingly, there are only 5: the frame, gas
tank, front forks, rear swingarm, and front fender (not pictured):

For this refinishing, I have to rely on the expertise of friends and
family for referrals to metal shops. This also means that my answer
of, "It doesn't cost anything to disassemble an old motorcycle," that
I have been using with my wife will no longer work. While those parts
are out getting refinished, I'll begin rebuilding the engine itself:

The last time I rebuilt an engine from the piston rings up was in the
8th grade. I have no ideal how long this will take me, but I have
fresh rings, gaskets, points, and seals. I'm just missing some of the
major parts for the carburetor which I hope to find online.

After all of this work, I've managed to take something that at least
looked like a motorcycle and turn it into this wheelbarrow full of old
parts and a few new items recently delivered to the house:

Here's the last set of disassembly documentation photos to assist in
the eventual reassembly.

Click here to download:

Rear_shocks_swingarm_and_wirin.zip (3692 KB)

June 23, 2009

Front end is disassembled

Tonight I hit an interesting milestone: the front end of the bike is completely disassembled. I removed it from the frame last week and tonight I got the wheel and tire removed from the front axle, front shocks pulled from the forks, and the brake housings torn down. I should have pressure washed the bike before I started this, but I was worried about damaging it more. So the progress has been filthy.

I think I can save the wheel hubs; they're actually in pretty good shape. I have had no luck finding any replacement wheels, but a these ones are definitely shot. I was really hoping to avoid lacing my own wheels for a few reasons: First, I've never done it before and wheels are a critical component on any vehicle. Second, the outfit that sells the kits is a Taiwanese operation that ships rim and spoke kits as "AWESOME! EXCELLENT!" I just don't know if I want anyone riding around on wheels assembled from those kids. We'll see.

With tonight's progress, I have two more body parts ready to go out for sandblasting, powder-coating, and paint: the front forks and the fender (once I buy a replacement fender, since this one is beyond repair):