For want of a nail... the kingdom was lost

Well the engine is going together swimmingly. I found the Yamabond #4 in El Paso. Yamabond #4 is required to seal the two engine casings. The new shift forks set in fine and the engine turns smoothly. Everything seems to have gone well... sometimes do to operator error, it went well twice. oops

Things have been on hold for the last week while I wait for eight circlips that hold the pistons on to the rod. I am told that they are kind of important, so I ordered new ones. I have decided not to replace the piston rings. I have heard convincing arguments on either side, and since they seem to be in good condition, I am going to skip the $260 expense and leave the current ones in. 

We pick up the circlips on Saturday and the engine should be complete by Monday evening! Of course that is barring any unforeseen issues. Once it is together, I still have to work on the carbs and timing and see if there are any issues with the electrical etc. But, I am really looking forward to seeing the engine back in the bike.

The re-Paint

In my infinite wisdom, I decided that the flames on the tank needed a white pinstripe to make them pop... didn't like it. Apparently pin striping is a little harder than it looks online.

So I sanded my mistakes away, and repainted the tank. Fortunately it looks better now than it did before.

On our last trip to El Paso, I was able to pick up some Yamabond #4 and bolted the two engine cases together! Now I just need to finish up the rest of the engine, install it, work on the timing and sync the carbs, kick all of the gremlins out of the electrical system and a few other things that I haven't read about yet... and I will be good to go!!

Wiring Harness has been tamed

Anyone who has ever torn into an XS1100 will tell you that the electrical system is a jumbled mess of many many wires. I have been afraid of messing with the harness because it has so many arms with multiple connectors and wires attached. I looks like the remains of some cyborg sea monster hanging from the rafters in my garage.

We yesterday I brought it out, set it on the bike and in under two hours I had it back in place. I haven't hooked up the battery or the head and tail lights, so I don't know if it works yet, but, the connector are connected and those that aren't are ready to meet their match when I get the engine and lights in place.

I found one of the two headlights that I am going to us at Harbor Freight in Tucson over spring break. I ordered the other online, but I wouldn't recommend using their online ordering system. Have a friend in a town with a Harbor Freight buy what you need and ship it to you.

As soon as I am able to get the battery and lights installed, I will post photos.

Paint issues

The day we left for California over spring break to attend the Game Developers Conference and take the kids to Disneyland, I received a call telling me that the engine casing had been bead blasted with plastic beads and was ready to be picked up.

So I haven't had much of a chance to work on the bike.

This last weekend however, I did get the chance to clean and paint the calipers and reassemble the front brakes. They look nice, though I think I should have taken more photos of the bike as I disassembled it.

I did sand through a part of the silver flames and had to touch it up before I can clear coat the tank.

I still have to clean a billion tiny plastic beads from the engine casing, and figure out how to make the wire harness work. but all in all it looks like the light at the end of the tunnel may not be a train.

Too fast for an engine

Here it is, minus a few key parts, but it rolls!

Sarah came out and looked at it concernedly. I asked what she thought and she informed me that it had no engine. I told her that with a bike this fast, the engine just slows you down. I am a little concerned that she didn't see anything wrong with the handlebars.

I am going to have a new solo seat built. That is the plan, unless the quote comes back with too many zeros behind it. I am going to leave the sissy bar off. Kerri doesn't want to ride with me and there isn't anyone else I want hanging on to me.

When I get the engine back, it will be painted black and should look nice in the aluminum colored frame. I am both anxious and scared about the engine. Lets hope I can get it running.

Is it hot in here...

I have already painted the frame an aluminum color and was beginning to regret. The tank was a cast iron color with a tinge of yellow in it. (Wasn't fond of the yellow cast). So in a flash of inspiration, I thought I would add aluminum colored flames to bring the colors together. I washed the tank and using 2" masking tape, I overlapped the tape on a sheet of wax paper. Then using an Xacto, I cut out the tribal flame shape I had printed on a sheet of paper and taped underneath the wax paper. I then removed the parts I wanted painted and pealed the masking tape pattern off of the wax paper and attached it to the tank. I have a few minor bleeds that I will fix with a brush after it cures and I wet sand it with 2000 grit sandpaper. A few coats of clear coat and a lot of polishing and I should be good to go!

I didn't like how the flames ended, so after I very carefully removed the masking tape, I shot a few rows of the cast iron color to the front so that the flames show more gradually from the front. 

Here is the tank on the bike. Not mounted, just set there to appease my impatience. The rear calipers are just sitting in place as well.

Slowly, slowly, slowly.

Painted wheels

In keeping with my last post, here is the progress on the wheels. I am using Duplicolor wheel paint, which they say has good staying power. I half expect the entire paint job to crack and flake of on my first ride. Kind of like a cartoon... vroom, bump, poof. We shall see.

Here is the front wheel already painted and dry. It took a can and a half for the one tire. The rear tire has been sandblasted to get ride of what was left of the clear coat and road grime. I still need to wash it to get rid of the sand.

Here is the rear wheel taped up. I used a coffee can to cover the bolts in the center while I was spraying. The rubber repels the sand, so you don't need to tape the tire when you are sandblasting. You do need to tape the valve stem though.

I still need to clean the tires, but I will wait a week or two before attempting to use any chemicals on the paint. Apparently the best tire cleaner is engine degreaser and elbow grease. I don't know if I am brave enough to try that.

That's the ticket

I have been unsure about the direction to take this bike since I dismantled it. There are a lot of really cool mods to the XS11 out there. The ones I like most turn the seat into a solo and drop the rear of the bike so that the fender is just an inch off of the tire. The negative to this is that it lowers the seat, which is currently at a nice height for my inseam. The second is that it effectively turns the bike into a hardtail. Which is a little too unforgiving on the ol' spinal column.

Recently though I found a bike that I really like and am working towards. I wont be doing to fancy flames and I like the idea of dual four inch headlamps, but the black wheels, shorter bars and bags on the back look pretty nice. 

Now I just need the engine casing back from Carriaga Machine where they are cleaning years of soot and a lot of road grime off so that I can paint it black and assemble it.

Paint

Here are some shots of the tank, frame and side covers. My mom brought down a few boxes of toys she found in the attic of the house I grew up in. This first photos is one of the first paint jobs I did. Matchbox cars with model paint.

Here is the frame which has about five cans of Aluminum color engine paint and two cans of clear coat on it. I added the horns and reflectors just to see how it would look when assembled.

The side covers, with a bunch of color coats, just as many clear coats and about five minutes of some very light rubbing with 2000 grit sand paper. The sanding dulls the clear coat out a bit which was kind of scary, but worth it as you can see in the next photo.

The side covers with two tons of wax and buffing. You can see the reflection of the wall and the the TV in upper part of the covers.

First shot of the tank, about 24 hours after the final clear coat went on.

Another shot of the tank with about thirty very light coats of color engine paint and another 15 or so of clear engine paint. I hope that using engine paint will help protect it from the errant fuel spill. I like the reflection, this shot was before the paint has cured for a week. I will wet sand lightly it with a 2000 grit paper before rubbing it with rubbing compound and then giving it 10 to 20 coats of polish and wax. I am hoping to be able to see a clear reflection by the time I am done.

Rust, Electrolysis and Paint

When I took this bike apart, I couldn't have imagined the amount of rust that had collected on the components of this bike. (Maybe it's because this is my first mechanical endeavor). Most of it has been surface, but the battery box was a little more than surface. 

I found an article about electrolysis and thought I would give it a shot. It worked wonders. Here is a picture and a movie. You can see bubbles from the reaction in the movie. It was a simple process, I took two old iron bolts and attached them to the positive clamp of a car battery charger, the negative clamp went on the piece to be cleaned. I dropped them both in a vat of water and baking soda (1 gal to 1 TBSP) and made sure they weren't touching. Start the flow of electricity at the 2AMP setting and wait a few hours. Voila!

Here is the setup. It is important to keep the area well ventilated, because the reaction gives of hydrogen which is just a wee bit explosive.

This is cool! I turned up the Amperage for the video, but I would not recommend it. If left that way for too long, the paint kind of bubbles off. I am not too sure that it is very good for the metal either. I am going to paint this with undercoating paint if I can find it in an Aluminum or light grey color.

Where did all this grime come from?

Judging from the amount of grease, grime and road tar I have removed from the verious parts of my bike parts over the last few days, I have to assume that the roads are much dirtier than they look.

Here is the final drive, after a good bit of scrubbing. Still have a lot to go.

I have been cleaning, primering and painting bits and piece of the bike and hope to have the pistons honed and in spec this coming weekend. 

The Clutch cover, painted with high telp (1300F) flat black

This is the first color piece, I am using an CAST IRON color of ceramic engine paint with the same type of clear coat. It has a slight yellow tint when it cures, but it is not too bad.

I am going to paint the entire engine a flat black and sand the fins back the the aluminum. Should look pretty cool. Picks to follow.

Progress?

I am finding out that owning and rebuilding a thirty year old bike has it's draw backs.

Apparently no bike shop in their right mind will work on a 1980 era bike. This creates problems when you need to hone cylinders and check parts for spec. I was getting pretty discouraged about finding someone when by chance today I did finally find a machinist who will help me get this thing in order. 

I have the frame painted (Duplicolor, aluminum colored engine paint) and after letting the paint cure for a week, I will be ready to add the clear coat to it. It looks nice, if I do say so myself.

The tank has been Bondo'd and primered and then Bondo'd and primered and sanded and primered and sanded again etc. But it is ready for paint soon, maybe this weekend. I plan to paint it a gun stock grey using engine paint so as to keep the gas from destroying it as fast. (Again, photos to follow).

If the machine shop guy works out, I should have this bike back up and running in a month or two

Day Four (ish)

As you may have guessed the day s are not running sequentially.

Oh well. If I can live with it, so can you.

After much pulling, lifting and pushing, I removed the engine. I might add that the engine is rather heavy. Without the engine, I can lift the bike up and pull it around the garage. (Note: I cannot lift the entire bike (still 300lbs)). I can grab the back end and pivot it easily around the shop, which I could not do with the engine installed. 

This week is Thanksgiving week, and so I hope to have the dismantle totally complete including the engine and frame.

Much of the painting I will complete myself with rattle cans and such, but for the frame, I am going to let a local paint shop powercoat it. I have not decided what to do with the tank, I may try that myself.

Day Three

Last night about six o'clock, I set at it again. Removed the clutch cover and released the clutch cable from the arm. Removed the rear mounting bolt, before which I had to secure bolts under the engine so that it would not fall out.

Then I set to work removing the fuse plate and detaching the myriad of electrical cables. Also pulled the front and rear fenders.

Day Two

Well, it's Sunday which is a day of rest here in the Christensen household. I went out to the garage for a little bit, but wasn't ready to tackle a huge task, so I removed the exhaust. This involved removing the right rear foot peg bracket, bolts on the left foot peg bracket and the eight hex nuts that held the four pipes to the front of the engine casing. In addition, I pulled the air filter box, removing the air filter, which will need to be replaced and detaching the air tube. 

I will take photos tomorrow, when I pick up the camera from the office.

Day One

So yesterday, in the midst of a very busy semester, I took a few hours on Saturday and began.

Very fun stuff, but simple. I am glad it starts off simple.

The gas tank is off as well as the seat. Removed the battery (Sounds obvious, but this is my first time round the block) Detached, labeled and bagged the horns (labeling and bagging everything).

Then I drained the oil from under the front of the bike, the middle and the rear. replaced the drain bolts and cleaned and labeled the oil filter cover. 

That was it for day one. Next comes the exhaust and what ever else is next.

And so it begins

I am currently cleaning space out in the garage so that I can layout the parts to my 1980 Yamaha xs1100 Special. I bought it in August and have ridden it around this fall, but an oil leak and years of dirt, oil and road grim have taken their toll on the bike.

The plan is to strip the bike down, clean it up, bead blast it, paint it from the frame up and reassemble it. It is a daunting task and frankly, I am a bit nervous to start my first rebuild. But I have experience to gain and around $2000 to lose. So here we go.

Woohoo!