Dan's NC30

[iDemonix]

Got a new screen brace, it's a chinese replica jobby. The fit is 'ok', doesn't have the loom hangers or breather holder - so I'll be on the look out for another or finding someone who could maybe repair my old one.

In recent news for those of you who care; the bike just got through its MOT, although it needs footpegs if I have a rear seat, didn't know that, so got a set coming from Billings on here :) Also where my rear suspension joins on to the (dog bone?) triangle bit at the bottom, it can move from side to side a tiny bit, so apparently the bushings have gone. Got a mate who's going to sort that out, also need some new front brake pads, so the plan for the next month;

- New front brake pads
- New rear suspension bottom bushing
- Add pillion pegs

In september I'll be going back to University meaning she'll be garaged for months at a time, so will probably drop the oil and filter and put a new one in (maybe a new air filter + plugs too) when I get back in December.

[iDemonix]

It's been a while; 9 months and 6 days to be precise.

For those who didn't see the post in V4 - Workshop, the gearbox has lost 3rd gear. God knows what's happened to it. I was travelling at an alright pace, went to overtake, kicked up in to 3rd and just got nothing, something has bent or worn in the gearbox. After getting a couple of quotes about £400 - £500 for a gearbox strip down and rebuild, I figured 'fuck that' and next weekend I should be taking delivery of a new engine from Graeme France!

For those who didn't see the post in General - I put my hand through a table saw and almost lost a thumb, so can't do much heavy lifting, this is causing me problems...

With the engine coming, and me not being able to ride a bike for at least 2 months due to the injury, I've got some time to do a bit of work to the bike, I just don't have the money as I'm also trying to get a classic mini to a running state! Ideally, there are three big jobs and three minor jobs that would sort this bike out good and proper:

Major:
1. Engine change
2. New rear shock
3. Full exhaust system

Minor:
1. New tyres
2. Fork rebuild
3. Carb strip, clean and rebuild (and cammo's 2.5mm drill bit method)

It'd be a pain to swap the engine and fit the old exhaust, to then buy a full system in 6-12 months time, so I don't know what to do.

Do I do an engine swap now and clean the carbs, then rebuild and do the other bits as I can afford them? Or do I wait until I can afford everything (many moons away) and do it all in one foul swoop?

Money is an evil factor in all rebuilds...

[iDemonix]

It's been a while again; 3 months and 7 days this time!

So, I've been recovering from my hand injury and now all is well, been riding again, ignoring the lack of 3rd gear. Graeme France has delivered me a new engine but since my mini has had about 1 month of welding and a few weeks of painting done, I haven't started as I want at least one vehicle to work! The mini is now on the road again, probably shouldn't be, but it is!

Just been to a trackday and if my 3rd gear was working I could of had my first trackday with my mates, but I had to stand and watch. Pissed me off so it's egged me on, going to start stripping the bike tonight.

So far I've got a new Tyga exhaust system with a maggot can (won't be staying for long, funds will eventually buy me a 450mm Carbon Oval) and I'm awaiting a bag of shims from Drunkn Munky so I can get the new motor all sorted. It needs a stator/generator out the old engine, valve clearances, new plugs, oil filter and air filter - a good £100 worth there! About £130 when you add in the new oil + coolant required, and you can add £210 for the BT090's it'll be getting next week!

Right, off to shower, then the plan for the night is to

- re-arrange the garage to give me some space
- drain oil
- drain coolant
- remove fairings
- remove battery
- remove tank

If anyone can think of any jobs worth doing whilst I'm doing the engine swap let me know. I'll be giving her a full service and valve clearances too, if anyone thinks of anything cheap to do that's best done with the engine out the frame, let me know sharpish!

[bikemonkey]

I'd give everything you can reach a good clean

[iDemonix]

Decided to give my updates some structure, going to have a "Garage before", "Work done" and "Garage after" theme.

Garage before:





Started stripping the fairings off, found 2p in the bellypan, god knows where that came from! After I got the fairings off (excluding nose cone), my mate came round to see the pics I took of him at today's track day, so didn't get much done. Went back down when he left and drained the oil and coolant, left them to completely drain overnight. I know I didn't have to drain the oil, but every KG lighter the better for getting it out on my own, I'll probably top it back up with cheap oil once it's left to stand.

So now it's drained and fairings are off I have no choice but to crack on, cornered myself, this is the only way progress will happen!

Going to order plugs, air and oil filter tonight, hopefully munky has mailed me the bag of shims and that'll arrive soon, then I can really get going.

Jobs for the next night I'm free:

- Remove nose cone, mirrors + wind brace
- Remove tank
- Remove radiators
- Remove coolant hoses
- Disconnect choke, clutch etc

I'm going to wipe my SLR and start trying to take a load of photos as I go for reference. There are holes on the new engine I don't even know what they're for, I really am just guessing my way along (albeit with the HBOL and service manual).

Garage after:

[jetblack]

As stated before matey i'm in beeston so please give me a shout if you want a hand with any of this.

[iDemonix]

Much appreciated :) I should be ok, but good to know local hands are available!

I really must invest in an Abba stand after seeing my friends bike on his today.

[jetblack]

Anytime. Got stands and tools too so let me know if you get stuck for anything. I fancy a bit of spannering...

[iDemonix]

Well, got a couple of hours in the garage last night and this is now how she stands:





Getting the carbs off was a new and interesting experience for me - I can see that being an absolute nightmare when it comes to putting it back together. I've made two other threads for help - I have a spinning bolt that won't let the infill panel be removed, and turns out my radiator cap is ok but the expansion tank tube had a split in it, so I don't know whether to replace the pipe or remove the expansion tank all together and do the HRC overflow mod.

Hopefully going to spend the afternoon carrying on, I need to go borrow a wall drive socket off a mechanic I know as a bolt holding the exhaust on is rounded and won't budge.

Stuff done yesterday:

- Lower rad off
- Nose cone, wind brace off
- Tank off
- Airbox off
- Carbs off
- Exhaust front down pipes off
- Battery off
- Put a few loom brackets off the old engine on to the new

Connected the battery directly to the radiator fan and it spun right up, I'm sure it's never worked though so maybe the thermostatic switch that controls it isn't functioning properly. I'll test that at a later date.

Saying that, the overheating is probably thanks to a ditched lower rad and the top one has seen better days!





And here's a comparison of systems:



Still to do today:

- Get exhaust off (need a walldrive socket)
- Remove stator and flywheel from curent engine, fit to new
- Remove thermostat housing and coolant hoses
- Fit carb rubber to new engine
- Bag of shims arrived but micrometer isn't working, need to fix that and do valve clearances on new lump
- Remove upper rad

Since the carbs are out, I might toy with the idea of setting the float height and balancing them with a drill bit?

[iDemonix]

Well the exhaust is off, thermostat is off and upper rad is off, although the upper rad may need replacing due to a snapped expansion tank outlet.

Since the upper rad needs replacing and the tyres need replacing, I'm tempted to just go whole hog, leave the bike off the road for a month and get EVERYTHING done, but I really can't afford it at the moment, but it would be easier to do it all in one go. Will have to mull it over for a few days.

I also noticed my current chain guard has interacted with the chain at some point and has a nice big chunk missing, so that needs replacing too. I've got a new (2nd hand) swingarm hanging from the wall, if I remove the wheels, I might as well put that on the bike as it has new bearings in it and the current swingarm is covered in grazes and has a big gouge for some reason.

I'm not sure how to support the bike though with no wheels and no swingarm, I only have a rear paddock stand, axel stands and a jack, no abba or headstock stand and can't afford them. Also my footpegs fold up so can't put stands under them.