Natalie

My girl. First child. Born 9/13/13. Bliss. 

I'll kick start this soon!

Everything is just about buttoned up.  I just need to check/adjust the timing and put some gas in it.  Here are some recent pics.  I took the heat shields off to install the pipes and ... I kinda like the way it looks without the shields.  The front pipe has some bluing to it but the rear pipe has a nice golden color that I really like.  I don't really want to cover it back up.  Still, I may go with a wrap or something instead of the shields. 

Getting Closer

I just this morning torqued down the base nuts and head bolts.  I followed Wes's handy tech write up TO A TEE!  Check it out and get torqued - http://junkwithwheels.blogspot.com/2011/03/get-torqued.html

For the order of which bolt to torque when, I followed this http://knuckleheadtheology.blogspot.com/2007/01/shovel-head-gasket-tip.html

Also, if you don't feel like scribbling out the equation, here is a site that will do it for you.  http://www.freeinfostuff.com/TorqueExtension/TorqueExtension.htm

Progress

Had the jugs lightly hones and cleaned.  Painted them.  Had the pistons cleaned too.  New rings.  the slugs are 20 over. 

Gasket on the cam chest was leaking so I replaced it.  Also took a peak at the breather and it looked clean and clear.  I discovered that the previous owner installed an Andrew's A grind.

Cam chest back together.  I'm rebuilding my rocker boxes now and hopefully with have them attached to the heads very soon.

Approved!

My friend found this.

Inner Primary fixed!

I had a pretty bad hole worn in my inner primary starter housing from riding a lowered bike with a 24t front sprocket.  I tried patching it myself with some JB Weld and it just wasn't making me feel good.  So I sent it to a shovel friendly guy who welded it up like new.  Below are photos of my C.O.B. fix followed by photos of the proper fix. 

 See that crack!?

 This is how it is done!  Thanks to Jamie for his aluminum welding skills!

Pistons Off

 My wrist pins were so tight in the pistons that they wouldn't budge.  I took some threaded rod, some nuts, washers and two sockets and made a puller.  Like Jesse from Breaking Bad would say, "Yeah!  Science!"

This piston is a little scored.  And I canNOT get the one last blasted spiral lock out.  

Can of worms

So I started off just wanting to do the whole thing with the kicker bushing.  And that was a breeze.  Well, I didn't realize it was a breeze until I noticed that my battery wasn't charging and once tested, found out that my stator took a dump.  Aaaaand while I was scoping things out in preparation for taking off the primary, I noticed that the front head gasket was leaking.  And when I opened the top end up, saw some scored cylinders.  And now, well, it's almost all apart.  While I have all this going on, I figured I would replace the sprockets and chain too.  Oh, and also my fork seals are leaking.

When it rains it pours.



This crack in the case really bummed me out.  It's just the ridge for the o-ring which I hear is very common but still.  Ouch.

Getting this sprocket off was easier than expected.  Reverse thread.

OEM vs. Aftermarket Kicker Shaft

This is to clear up any confusion for those replacing their kicker shaft.  The confusion may occur if you are replacing an aftermarker kicker for another aftermarket kicker and are trying to properly line up the kicker gear.  The shop manual says to line the "notch" on the shaft to the 12 o'clock position and the post on the gear to the 7 o'clock position.  If you have a Chilton's manual, it was refer to the notch as a "flat".

Well, that's all well and good if you are using an OEM shaft that only has on notch on it.  But if you are using an aftermarket one, you'll see that the notch goes all the way around.  It is easy to think that they are referring to the notch that the spring goes into.  That's not the case but you CAN use that slit for the spring to properly line up your shaft and gear.

OEM notch or flat in 12 o'clock position:

OEM slit for spring when notch is in 12 o'clock position:

Notice that the slit is in the 5 o'clock position.  This is what you'll need to note when aligning the kicker gear on an aftermarket shaft.

Aftermarket shaft:

See how the notch goes all the way around?

Slit on aftermarket shaft in 5 o'clock position:

Shaft with gear lined up properly (using OEM to illustrate that the notch is at 12 while slit is at 5 and (when you turn it around to face you) the post on the gear is at the 7 o'clock position:

So in a nutshell, you should make sure that the slit on the aftermarket shaft is lined up and matches the position of the post on the gear.  Why?  Because if you don't, you won't get the proper return spring tension.  If you place that slit somewhere else, you could wind up (no pun intended) with not enough spring to return the kicker.

Strutless Rear Fender

I'm really into these lately.

What the...

Bet it handles great!

Yesterday was...

The first day of Spring.

If we're stuck in doors

May as well watch something...

1936 Royal Enfield

For sale near me.

Van Damage

Sad survivor found in San Francisco this past summer.  I hope that one day it is restored to it's original awesomeness.

V-Twin J-A-P?

Found at Rhinebeck Nationals this past year.

Apparently...

Andre the Giant STILL has a posse. 

On Deck Art Show

Benefit for the Saratoga Skate Park