92 Refresh

[datel]

Being all gung ho when I tore the bike down, I failed to read everyone's counsel to loosen the top cap on the forks while they were still attached to the bike.  After many fruitless attempts I finally just put them back into the triple clamp temporarily then clamped the assembly into my workmate. 
Once I did that it was a piece of cake.   

I think that is the first time I ever used the ½ inch socket handle in my set for anything other than a hammer.  God bless Craftsman!

[datel]

Forks are one of the areas I'm not so sure about.  I have no idea what to expect. 
The bike's forks leaked from the day I got it.  It sat for a long time in the garage.  Looks like some pits of rust grew on the dry forks and trashed the seals when I started riding again.

Not sure what happened here but the dust seal is dinged up pretty badly.  Why do they cost $17?


That is all the fluid that was in the tubes.  The left side was completely dry. 




I know, I know . . . I've read the posts and seen the pics but I I wasn't prepared to see the actual size of the springs that I've been depending on all this time.  I'm surprise they hold anything up. 
I'm no engineer so I really shouldn't have an opinion but for some reason they just look . . .  weak ! 

I already have a fresh set of fork seals.  I'm going to go ahead and order some progressive springs.  Best price I could find was $58.95 + shipping at http://www.phatperformanceparts.com/ 

I checked out Amazon and found that they have them available with "free" two day shipping for $70. I get 5% back on amazon purchases so I'll probably order them from there. 

Seems like a lot for a set of springs but the racetechs were twice that.  Unless anyone has a better idea I'll just shut up and go with it.

Anyone have a better idea?

[jcube_04]

This is an awesome project. Unfortunately I have no know how yet but from reading projects like this, it'll be only a matter of time....good job!

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

[datel]

Much praise to the BeerGarden for the $5 tool idea for disassembly of the forks.   It worked great.
http://beergarage.com/GSForks.aspx

[datel]

Ok, I'm back.  I know it's been awhile but I've started again.   Muggs' son, Matt moved back into the area and got me motivated to get back to it.   He has an old 450 he's making into a cafe' job. You can see pieces of it in some of the photos.    Anyway, the garage is getting crowded so I need to get mine out of there.   

Paint, redux:
When reassembling I found out how not scratch-resistant the HVT paint is.  I decided to pull the bike back apart and repaint.  This time I used SEM- Hot Rod Black.  It a poly urethane on a epoxy primer. 


This is going to sound really lazy but I have to tell everyone in the world about the Preval sprayer.  I don't have paint equipment or the location to do a lot of painting so I bought one of these sprayers for $4.87 at home depot.  Refills were $3.87 each and painted the HOT ROD BLACK.  I needed four propellant refills.  Amazing!

The person who came up with this little sprayer idea is a genius.  Thanks to Patty at 66autocolor.com for the idea. 

[datel]

I fouled up the VIN Tag when I re-stripped the paint.   When the tape came off, the top surface of the tag started coming with it. 



I'll figure out some way to clean it and make it pretty again but for now I'll just cover it to keep it from getting worse.  The Satin black looks great though and the poly is very tough.

[Snake2715]

At first I am like who bumped this old topic.. then I realized its the original poster.

I wasnt around here when you started but good job, keep us updated.


How much time in the prep and frame painting do you think you have into that portion? (not stripping to frame, etc)

[datel]

Thanks for the encouragement Snake.   

It's funny that you asked about the amount of time because it seems like it takes forever to do anything.  That is really just a function of finding a few consecutive hours to do things then clearing out the location to get it done. 

Truth be told, it took about 4 or 5 hours to take the bike apart (the first time) to the point where I had the frame, swingarm and the suspension bits separated.   Two more to mask.   I had quite a bit of surface rust so I then had to do quite a bit of sanding and some wire brush work.  that was easily six hours with hand tools and a sander.   It may have been overkill but I have no idea how effective the primer / sealer step is so I just got rid of all of it.   

Then it was the SEM Epoxy primer over everything, followed by the SEM Hot Rod Black.  By the way.  That is pretty nasty stuff.  It sticks like crazy to everything so make sure you pay attention to overspray. 

[Snake2715]

You have the prep work done, but have you thought about a soda blaster at all? Its not as harmful as a sand blaster and can be done right in the open (mask still needed of course).

[datel]

 I finally got around to fixing the broken exhaust bolt. 


I tried using heat, PBBlaster and a pair of vise grips to no avail.  Then I tried to drill it and use an extractor . . . still no luck.  The steel bolt was fused fast.  That's when I set the engine aside and worked on other things. 

Ignoring a problem almost always makes it go away . . . right?


Finally, a year later, I just had to drill out the bolt and repair the threads.  I bought a Helicoil M8 thread repair kit on Amazon for $18 and a 21/64 drill bit.   Once again, thanks to some generous soul posting video on YouTube I was confident enough to attempt it myself. 



The hardest part was making sure the drill was straight when expanding the hole.    For a visual guide, I put a bolt in the opposing hole and tried my best to match the angle.   It's not perfect but it worked fine.

You'll notice some tape on the drill bit I used.   Drilling the aluminum block is easy enough.  In fact, after drilling the hardened steel bolt, it's a little too easy so to avoid going deeper than necessary I marked the depth of the hole I needed with some tape on the drill bit. 

After the hole was drilled and cleaned, I used the tap that came with the helicoil kit to create new threads.   If you try this yourself, get some Tap Magic cutting oil or equivalent.  That really makes a big difference.  The threads are cut with much less force and shavings stay in the grooves of the tap for the most part. 

After tapping the hole, I removed the tap completely, blew the hole out with air then ran the tap through a couple more times gently.  When done the tap moved pretty easily in the new threads.  If you do this procedure, be careful not to apply a lot of pressure in this step.  You aren't trying to cut on the second pass.  The point is just to clean the hole and prep for the insert.  If you need to apply pressure then you better back off. 

For whatever reason, the helicoil insert tool I had was buggered up so it didn't spin the coil into the new threads properly.  I wasted a couple coils sorting out the problem.   I guess that's why a dozen come in the kit.  Once again, Muggs comes through and rescues me.  A quick repair with a grinding wheel and it was better than new.  Quote of the day. . .  "He may not be a genius but he's pretty **** smart!"

Anyway, it finally worked.  And if I had paid better attention, it probably would have worked the first time.   Oh well!, That's how we learn. 



Now it's ready for the exhaust.

[datel]

Now that the header bolt was fixed and I had a friend nearby, I went ahead and put the engine back in the frame.    I'm sure there is a mechanic somewhere who knows the secrets to maneuvering the engine into the frame with grace and dignity . . . but it ain't me.  We finally were able to hoist it into position and now it's just a matter of bolting everything in place and cleaning.   



Just a thought: I love the look of the bike with the motor in place and  the frame rail off.  Reminds me of some of the Italian bikes that use the engine as a stressed member.  Maybe, I'll look for one of those next. 

The black frame and white wheels look kinda cool too.  Maybe I'll leave it that way. 

The engine side covers are a little roached up.  I'm going to have to deal with those someday. 

[Golly]

oh man..... that black frame looks really nice, a satin finish looks awesome!!! now you have thrown my choices out hahhaha. 

[datel]

Thanks Golly.  Anxious to see what you come up with.   

Next up is exhaust and bars.

[datel]

Time for Pipes:
Other than a slightly disfigured flange left over from some overzealous wrenching, there was no big problem with the pipes.  Some surface rust but nothing serious. 

To get rid of the rust, I wanted to try using the electrolysis method I've seen on several videos.   Its pretty simple really.    I put the pipes in a bath of borax and water then attached the positive lead from my battery charger to a piece of steel rebar (anode) and the negative to the pipes (cathode).   You can see the set up here (The overturned chair in the back is complements of Hurricane Sandy).



Surprisingly it worked pretty well.  For the part that was submerged.



In the end, this turned out to not be the most practical approach to rust removal but it was a very good science project and "teaching moment" to discuss at the dinner table.   I hadn't balanced a chemical equation or talked about Michael Faraday  since freshman chemistry.

To finish the job, I bought an inexpensive sand blasting kit from harbor freight for $20 and a bag of playsand at Home Depot for $3.


Hooked up to my home air compressor, I was able to blast the pipes clean.   Wish I had a photo of that but I didn't have my camera at the time.   I had a little trouble with clogging due to humidity and moisture in the sand but it worked great when it worked.  Please, if you try this, use a mask and eye protection.  Use it in a place away from anything you care about   It makes a mess. 

I finished with three or four coats of Rustoleum high-temp grill paint. That was a tip from John on GStwins.com.   He says it's durable.  I'm taking his word for it.  I didn't cure it yet.  I'll let the bike do that when it is fired up next time. 

They look good.  With the bolt hole repaired they went on without a problem.



It's not difficult to remove the pipes if I need to do them again, so I'm happy with them for now.

[jacob92icu]

When that Rustoleum stuff wears out you should try black stove polish. I have seen a few exhausts with that and it looks amazing and lasts a lot longer than the high temp paint.

The frame is looking clean man, keep it up. Cant wait to see it with the plastics back on. Will look brand new. Just throw a 2k clear on the OEM colors and shiZam!

[datel]

Great idea about the Stove Black, Jacob!  I should have asked for opinions before I started.   Anyway, Exhaust should be easy to deal with later if necessary.   

Thanks,  I held the plastics up to the frame and it does look good.   Here's a preview:




I'm going to paint the grab bar and the front fender black but the sides and tank I'm going to leave alone.  I like the idea of putting clear coat on to freshen them up.    Thanks.

[datel]

Handlebars/Grips

I wanted chrome handlebars and an upright riding position so I bought some Bikemaster Daytona bars on amazon along with some new pro-grips. 

Turns out the Daytonas are pretty close in shape to the originals.  I should have thought this purchase through better, however.   These were inexpensive bars and maybe that's why they seem a little lightweight compared to the stock bars.  I hope they hold up.    The aftermarket bars also don't have the threaded connector to attach the stock bar end weights.   I can sort that out later so I'll go ahead with them. 


Installing them was easier than I expected. It was just a matter of lining them up and drilling a couple holes.   I don't know who this fat guy is but He's sitting on my bike. 


The switch housings have a small stud in them to help anchor them to the bars.  I drilled 11/64 inch holes 6 ½ inches from the ends to accept the studs.     I wrapped little painter's tape around the area before drilling in order to get a good mark and to keep the drill bit from wandering.   

Throttle, Clutch / brake handles and switch housings went on without any trouble.   I'll hold off on the grips until I'm closer to the end.     



If nothing else, it's way easier to move the bike around the garage now.

[jacob92icu]

Man that's looking neat. It's so awesome to see OEM paint jobs still holding up.

[cbrfxr67]

Great build,...really enjoying the read and pics!  Fabnastic! 

[datel]

Wiring Harness Saga
I'm not sure why a relatively intelligent guy with a good job and solid homelife struggles with things so trivial but . . .  Oh my Gosh!  Look at all the connectors and routing details.   

I'm not catholic and I really don't pay attention to Eastern faiths but this feels like penance for some un-confessed sin or karma's revenge for dissing motorcycle deities. 

It's probably just my short attention span . . .  My wife blames video games.   

I figured this part would be easy.  Everything is color coded and most connectors only have one mate, Right?  . . . wrong!  Waiting a year to get back to this was a big mistake.   An even bigger mistake was not marking anything.   The routing diagram I have and the Black and White photos in the Clymer manual helped a little.   What I really needed was to see what the inside of the light bucket was supposed to look like. 

Kerry to the rescue this time.   Years ago, Kerry posted an article about installing a 5 way sensor that was wired into the ignition circuit . . . Great read!    http://www.bbburma.net/HowTo/TimeVoltageTempGauge_Install/

In that write up is a wonderful photo of the light bucket from one of his GSs.  Thanks Kerry!   I used that and the wiring diagram in the Clymer book as the guides and everything started to come together. 

Some tips: 

First:  Pay attention to the way the main harness is routed between the frame and forks. I created a problem early by mis-routing.  Because of that, I had the main harness entering the light bucket incorrectly.  Turning the bars put strain on the harness (That's bad!).  Now it's right.   


Second: When you consider the wiring harness and electrical as one thing it will overwhelm.   Break it down into small chunks.   A wise man once told me to just take it a system at a time, pay attention to how things are grounded and eventually you will get it.  I hate to admit it but I have found that to be correct.  As a companion to this tip: Don't ignore the wiring diagram.   Once you acclimate yourself to it, it stops looking like spaghetti and starts to be a very useful tool.

Third: Take some breaks.  Shoot a few hoops, gab with a friend over the fence then come back with a fresh perspective.   

Lastly: Make sure you have good lighting in your workspace.  I can't emphasize enough how much of a difference this makes.   Muggs' garage is well equipped but still it has its dark spots.   The other day, I pulled my head lamp out of my camping gear and started using it to see what I was doing.  That was a game-changer!