nc31 project

[bludclot]

I went to fit the old exhaust to the yellow bike and it quickly became obvious that the foot peg hangers that I've had blasted were from a later model. Nobody told me on here! So I fitted my newly refurbished items to the yellow bike. The right hand pillion peg wouldn't move and I just caught the hanger while grinding it out so another has been ordered. Beware other restorers, pillion foot peg pins don't always come out easily.

Yellow bike now for sale, £750 takes it. Bargain!

[bludclot]

I finished exhaust polishing yesterday. For those that have not polished at home - it's an horrible task. Time consuming and filthy. I was covered in polishing compound from head to toe and sun burned too, not nice. I just have the end cap area to make good and it can be fitted.





The powder coated calipers arrived today. Quality appears to be very good indeed:



The remaining brake parts arrived yesterday so the re-assembly can begin.

The replacement right hand hanger arrived today as well. It's smelly (tobacco) and very dirty, not pleasant. I'll process this immediately...!

The shock supplier reported that the 'leaking' shock has been thoroughly tested by the manufacturer and that no fault could be found. Could it be that the last couple of transit oil drips from within the bump stop had dropped down on to the swing arm to make it look as though it was leaking? I conceded that this was the most likely explanation, despite it making me look a little foolish. Sometimes it's just a matter of holding up a hand and admitting being wrong.

To give some rough idea of costs for a project like this (I have 'restored' three other bikes, two cars and a van so far) as this bike seems about typical:

brake calipers - around £350
disks (bear in mind I have completed two sets) - around £300
forks - around £400
shocks £215
exhaust - depends upon what the yellow bike makes, yellow bike was £830
paint - around £350
tyres - around £150 (by memory)
chain and sprockets - around £120
other peoples fees (my trusted mechanic that helps me when I can't or can't be bothered) - around £300
sundries (bearings and the like) - around £200

I'm sure there's things I've forgotten, plus there's parts like clocks, headlight, braided brake lines etc. that I can't even begin to remember the cost of. And the occasional tool purchase and fluids/cleaners etc. So between £2.5-3k so far, not including the original purchase cost and the yellow donor bike.

[Patch29]

Looking good!!!

Sent from my E5333 using Tapatalk

[bludclot]

Ebay member pcd_uk2014 bid for won the yellow bike - and then didn't show up to buy it. I reported him to ebay in order to avoid paying a my final value fee and he responded by leaving me a negative feedback. (???) This is where ebay could improve somewhat in my opinion, it's too weighted towards buyers and protecting buyers. Sellers can have a rough time of it with no recourse. So I taxed and insured it and have been using it. It broke down on me fairly early on but some diagnosis revealed a non-charging system so a new battery (perhaps not necessary but gives peace of mind) and reg/rec later and it's been perfect. So much so that I don't really want to sell it now. I've started caring for it - regular cleaning is beginning to make it look better, a going over revealed under inflated tyres, low coolant level, weeping oil filter etc. etc., so I've given it a full and thorough service to rectify all the faults found so far. It's a nice little bike. I don't like that the seat that sends me towards the tank constantly, I'll have this re-shaped and re-covered in the coming weeks, and the brakes take too much effort for my liking - new lines, pads, piston seals and fluid I think.

[JulianBoolean]

I've got a reshaped but lower seat I'm not using

[royster81]

I try and avoid eBay if I can, I buy the odd bit but stay clear of selling anything on it.
Glad to hear the yellow bike is in use, shame about the little glitches but health to ride it and enjoy.

[bludclot]

Thank you Julian for the offer but seeing as I have two of everything now I won't need an extra seat for re-shaping. I'm tall so I'll have the yellow bike seat built up somewhat, the red bike seat can be used temporarily.

The foot peg hangers and pegs are now re-assembled:



Note new springs, swivel plates, pins, washers, cotter pins and rubbers, everything else has been bead and aqua blasted. The movement of the pegs is just so smooth! Brake and gear change foot levers are also in progress.

News on the front wheel is not so good however. When torquing the brake disk bolts one sheered in the wheel. Removal might be a challenge! I've ordered a set of titanium brake disk bolts which were not cheap, but hopefully stronger than 23 year old steel bolts that have been bead blasted clean.

[royster81]

Snapped bolts are a nightmare, I hope you get it sorted easily, keep the updates coming

[bludclot]

I started drilling the snapped bolt in the front wheel and it was going well until the second sized drill bit sheared leaving a good 10mm depth stuck inside. I started shattering out bits of the stuck bit but it will take time. Also the drill body went forward and damaged my paint finish when the bit sheared so all in all...

The yellow bike tyres don't match and the front doesn't hold air. Some guy in Kent was ebaying a job lot of left over parts from a bike that he broke a while ago so in the coming days I should have another pair of wheels and brake calipers and other assorted parts arriving. Assuming the wheels are straight I can paint, tyre and bearing them and change them on to the yellow bike without it being off the road. Same plan with the calipers.

The proviso for the above is money, I did have a large pile until last week when I invested the lot so spare money will have to be earned and saved again.

I made a small cosmetic change to the yellow bike - before:



and after:



cheap but effective. Also I believe that a reflector is a requirement to be road legal.

Here's the rear master cylinder assembly that I put together this afternoon:



Cylinder body blasted, stripped, cleaned and new rubbers inside, new springs and powder coated bracket and exhaust mount collar. Another assembly complete and ready to bolt back on and, as usual, wasn't cheap.

[royster81]

I
I made a small cosmetic change to the yellow bike - before:



and after:



cheap but effective. Also I believe that a reflector is a requirement to be road legal.

.

A little change like that makes such a big difference doesn't it.

I fitted a 9x5.5 to my bike as the 9x7 partially covered the reflector and I thought it looked naff.

Keep the updates on both bikes coming.