Hi Guys,
This is my first proper post on the forum so I'll introduce myself and the bike. I'll post the photos later.
Firstly this is my first bike and the only bike I've worked on so excuse the incompetence.
It was my fathers bike which was stored in the late 90's and hadn't been ran since, the chrome was rusty but the frame was solid and the engine was immaculate inside. So I thought I'd have a shot at semi restoring it to have it as my first bike.
I started by stripping, soaking and cleaning the carbs, this got the engine running, so I went about stripping the bike down so I could paint the frame.
I prepped the frame, removed rust and roughened the surface, then sprayed it with a couple black rattle cans. I then regreased the swing arm and put it back on.
Having looked at the price of rechroming stanchions against buying new ones I brought a pair of new stanchions and got the forks back on the bike with some heavier oil. The rear shocks were in a similar state so they also got replaced.
Then I went about replacing the wheel bearings and getting the wheels back on the frame.
I cleaned off the oxidation on the engine and opened the timing cover to have a look, took off the points and the atu, then when I put them back on, and gently tightened the bolt, bam, the end of the camshaft snapped. Ordered a new one from germany, and two weeks and £60 later I set about replacing this. The installation was easy and it went in a treat, little did I know, one of the chain tensioner blades had bent over time and wouldn't straighten up again, I don't realise this until later.
So then I set about getting the wiring harness on, the battery set up, the exhausts on and getting the bike running again but to no avail. Three carb cleaning sessions later and it was firing, so I dialed in the timing enough for it to run okay.
Then when running it, bang, and the engine dies, kick start has no resistance. So I take the engine back out, and the chains somehow snapped. Took the blades out, straightened the one that was bent, left it under pressure on the bench for a few days to see if it buckled again, it didnt, so it went back in, new chain on, and apart from messing with the timing that's where I am now.
The right cylinder fires beautifully, yet the left backfires when revving up, but sits happily with minimal backfiring, and when testing it in a field it seems to sometimes struggle to get over 2000 revs but then suddenly the power is back. So I think the left cylinder may have dropped out for a while then kicked back in.
I'm going to try advancing and retarding the timing again, and check for any air leaks from the filters (stock).
Any advice on (semi) restoring the bike would be much appreciated, and any major do's and dont's.
This is my first proper post on the forum so I'll introduce myself and the bike. I'll post the photos later.
Firstly this is my first bike and the only bike I've worked on so excuse the incompetence.
It was my fathers bike which was stored in the late 90's and hadn't been ran since, the chrome was rusty but the frame was solid and the engine was immaculate inside. So I thought I'd have a shot at semi restoring it to have it as my first bike.
I started by stripping, soaking and cleaning the carbs, this got the engine running, so I went about stripping the bike down so I could paint the frame.
I prepped the frame, removed rust and roughened the surface, then sprayed it with a couple black rattle cans. I then regreased the swing arm and put it back on.
Having looked at the price of rechroming stanchions against buying new ones I brought a pair of new stanchions and got the forks back on the bike with some heavier oil. The rear shocks were in a similar state so they also got replaced.
Then I went about replacing the wheel bearings and getting the wheels back on the frame.
I cleaned off the oxidation on the engine and opened the timing cover to have a look, took off the points and the atu, then when I put them back on, and gently tightened the bolt, bam, the end of the camshaft snapped. Ordered a new one from germany, and two weeks and £60 later I set about replacing this. The installation was easy and it went in a treat, little did I know, one of the chain tensioner blades had bent over time and wouldn't straighten up again, I don't realise this until later.
So then I set about getting the wiring harness on, the battery set up, the exhausts on and getting the bike running again but to no avail. Three carb cleaning sessions later and it was firing, so I dialed in the timing enough for it to run okay.
Then when running it, bang, and the engine dies, kick start has no resistance. So I take the engine back out, and the chains somehow snapped. Took the blades out, straightened the one that was bent, left it under pressure on the bench for a few days to see if it buckled again, it didnt, so it went back in, new chain on, and apart from messing with the timing that's where I am now.
The right cylinder fires beautifully, yet the left backfires when revving up, but sits happily with minimal backfiring, and when testing it in a field it seems to sometimes struggle to get over 2000 revs but then suddenly the power is back. So I think the left cylinder may have dropped out for a while then kicked back in.
I'm going to try advancing and retarding the timing again, and check for any air leaks from the filters (stock).
Any advice on (semi) restoring the bike would be much appreciated, and any major do's and dont's.
