Hell yeah! New carbs. One of the first items I sold off the engine were the Amal carbs. I knew I did not want those leaky bastards on any bike I owned. So, with a little patience and a lot of interweb searching I found a set of 34mm Mikuni's. They have all new internals and K&N filters. Should make that engine run nice and they're much easier to tune than the originals. Plus jets, needles, etc are readily available if needed.

Got the cam bushings and cams installed. Now I need to move some bearings and races over from the existing cases to the new cases. Once that is done I can assemble the low end and maybe even the top end on my own. I'm leaving the goddamn transmission to the shop. As far as I can tell you need 3 hands with 8 fingers on each to properly install it. Plus, the shop may be able to start the engine and tune on their bench. That would move things ahead quite a bit. 

Parts!

Ordered some new parts to move things along on the Triumph last week. They include; new cam bushings so I can get the engine put back together,  14", yes, 14" ape hanger handlebars and some head stays so the engine doesn't shake loose from the frame. This bike is going to be small with a looong reach. with the 4" risers that will give 18" of rise. See what I did there with math? That coupled with the super low seat hight, 24" give or take, and the forward controls will give a nice stretched out ride to a freakishly tall friend. I may not be able to test ride it, I'm just a little fella.

Found a great vintage Triumph shop up here that can help if I get stuck with anything. If things go well I should be able to bring the frame to the welder towards the end of February and have it rolling with engine in by March. I think I need the world's coolest sissy bar before that though. Hint to someone who may be reading this blog... We could also drink some beers and sit in the garage and stare at it for a while. That's always fun.

Other things that have popped up -

Need new front brake shoes for the mini spool hub.

Need to build new long cables for the brake, clutch, and throttle.

New tires are a must. Old ones are hard as a rock.

Need custom spacers for the triple tree.

Need to build new brake and shifter hardware for the forward controls.

Lots of work to be done but should go a little faster after I get over the hump (engine).

No pics this time, not much new to see. Still a pile of parts that need assembly.

Triumph Engine Rebuild

Here you go Mark. One stop for the progress of the your chopper. Here are some pice of the engine, I worked on it a bit this morning. I'm going to need to have some work done on it by others this week. There was a crack in the transmission case that I didn't feel comfortable having repaired so I got some different cases for it. I need to take them in to get new cam bushings and have them matched. When that's done I can get the majority of it back together. Then it's back to the shop for transmission installation. It's not easy cramming all those gears into that space and they do it all the time, it won't take them long at all and the indexing will be spot on. The transmission is new, the '72 triumph 5 speeds had an exploding gear feature, the new one does not have that.

This blog should get a little more exciting after the engine is done and we start welding stuff to the frame and making it look like a chopper again. speaking of the frame and such. I've found some 16" bars for you, I've got some 1" risers that will pair up with them well. I have some forward controls laying around too, we'll use those. That'll give you a nice stretched out ride. It will be right hand shift and left brake. Don't get them mixed up! In Wisconsin you need turn signals so I'll be installing some bar end signals I found they used to put on old BMWs. The seat is a piece of butt shaped metal with a piece of leather on it. No frills but cool as hell. It'll have no battery, there is a large capacitor in the ignition that will provide enough power for everything as long as it's running. That does add 2 kicks to your pre flight to charge the cap though. Small price to pay for being cool. For tins I have an original '66 tank(cost = 1 arm + 1 leg) with center rib and a matching fender I had made. Should look sweet. The tank was modified in the 70's with a badass tiny scoop on the left side. Not sure what that was all about. Good drugs maybe. I think that will be going away. 

Crank shaft and rods with new bearings. Ready to install.

 New cases, ready to take to the shop for matching and new bushings.

 Old case with cam gears, removed them today.

 Well used vintage shop manual for reference.

Long time no...

...anything really. It's been a rough year, lots of change, not much got done. I'm just now starting to get out in the garage again. It will be nice to get some of the projects out and about. First up, Wife's Aprilia Scarabeo 150. We purchased this a while back with a blown engine. I got to the assembly piont and found out the cylinder I received was for a smaller engine. It was used, and it came from Italy, so I'll chalk that up to a learning experience. But, the engine fairy sent a gently(hopefully) used power plant to eBay. I was fortunate enough to be the high bidder. Surprisingly, there were 2 of us who needed this engine, but I guess I needed it more.

Last weekend, after wiring up new lights for the shop and starting up the kerosene heater I assembled the rear half of the scooter. I ordered a used exhaust system today and after that comes in I should be able to join the 2 halves. Then on to the conglomeration of hoses and wiring. Should be running before long. Will be a fun spring for Wife.

I've got some other things on tap. Friend's Honda CB450 that needs to be finished for the new riding season and the mother of all projects. The Goddamn Triumph.

Coffee Run 11/7/2010

Trumpet

Baking the paint and the after pic. Now I'll have to polish the other engine parts. Almost turned out too good. It's pretty close to being done current pics to come. Need a small spot welded inside the transmission side of the case and then it'll go back together. Once the engine is done the project should go pretty fast. Been on the back burner too long. Excited to get going on this one again.

Blast from the past.

Saw this gem down at the coffee shop. Fella rides the hell out of this thing. Nice.

Been a while...

New tank and seat. Back to the 4-1 exhaust. Running great, lot's o fun.

Changes

The Kawasaki is history. Replaced with a Yamaha FZ1.

Chopper has been reworked. 2" over forks, stock rake, 21" front wheel.

Pic of the shop and chopper progress

Doesn't look like anything has happened but there's been a lot of engine work and frame cutting and sanding. Good times...

Pics of the Bikes

Here are pics of 2 of the 4 bikes I own posted for all to see. The 3rd is the Triumph listed earlier in the blog and the 4th one not pictured is a late 60's Jawa Californian that is on the back burner.

1974 Honda CB750

1992 Kawasaki ZX1100

Vote Quimby!

Fixin'

So the Ninja's fixed, turns out both rear motor mount bolts were broke. No idea how that could've happened. Took a trip up north on it with Craig the day after I replaced the bolts and it worked like a champ. Weather was cold and rainy though.

The Honda is running great after the valve adjustment (maybe it's first) and the short crossover pipes installed. Put them back on after scraping the 4 into 1 on the pavement whenever I made a right turn. Ground clearance obviously was not a high priority in the 70's. It also has turn signals due to a request from the fiance.

The Triumph has made the trip from Kato to the big city. Not under it's own power, in pieces in the back of the jeep. But it's here and my garage has a brand new kerosene heater and kick ass rolling toolbox, full of tools even. So expect progress reports, pics from the trip and evolution of the chopper and Honda and other useless info.

Disabled Ninja

So Sunday I'm working on the Honda and I look over at the ol Ninja ZX11 and notice a bolt is sticking out of the frame about 6 inches. Long story short, bike is stripped down to the frame and parts are on the way. Looking at it now, things could've gotten a little hairy on the next ride if it wasn't discovered.

Success!

Rode the CB750 from Mankato to Hopkins and nothing vibrated off or blew up. Good news, good news. I'll snap some pics tonight to document the cosmetic transformation that will happen over the next few months. Suspension still needs help too. That became glaringly apparent on the 1 1/2 hour ride. Bouncy bouncy!

CB750

This cycle is so ugly I haven't bothered to take a pic of it yet. Wheels and suspension have been done and this weekend the engine gets tuned. It's also getting a new exhaust system to replace the shorty crossovers it has now. They are just too obnoxious for townhome living in the burbs. I'm going to be in enough trouble when the Triumph gets rolling with straight pipes.

1st mockup

New tank and some light framework. Found out the forks are toast by this time. Also, replacing the tranny. Needs lots of work but things are looking up for the old girl.

Poor thing...

Blurry bad pic taken in a cold garage sometime in January. This is how I received it. So many bad things had been done to her. Welds looked like someone threw molten metal in their general direction. Fringes on the hand grips(shudder). All bolts that could be loose were. The tank looked like in was used in a jr. high basketball game, after I tried sanding off the paint, which turned into bondo, which turned into LOTS of bondo. Motor mounts? Don't even ask...

Hello

This is not only a post saying hello but also a test of the brand new blog. I'll be using this to post pics and progress reports on my two vintage motorcycles. A 1974 Honda CB750 and a 1972 Triumph Bonneville Chopper. Hence the name... Money Pit.