Crossed-up
Pangaman
A couple of updates.
Firstly the sump plug. Yes, it started it's life with a 10mm hex but it was butchered (to be fair the bronze it's made of is very soft) until it was an 11! I bodged the thing out and brazed a great big nut onto it. If anyone ever needs an 11mm Allen key, give me a shout.
I'm not one to post a detailed blow-by-blow restoration thread but there are a few things to share.
I didn't want to do much before I got the papers. This turned out to be a bit of a mission and for a while I was scared that I'd been taken for a ride. But all is well now and I'm in possession of the reg. certificate and the yellow form signed by the previous owner.
In the meantime I started stripping the motor to see what its condition is like and where the noises were coming from. I was pretty sure the camchain would be toast and I was right! It was almost possible to take it off the top sprocket without loosening the sprocket from the camshaft. Obviously there would be some collateral damage but I needed to get the flywheel off to see. The puller is available for $40 plus, so I cast about for a cheaper alternative. Eventually I had a friend at work turn me a nut to fit the 35 X 1.5mm thread on the flywheel and with a three-legged puller I managed to crack the flywheel loose. It came off like a rifle shot. I was sure I'd broken something, but all was well. There was less damage caused by the camchain than I expected. The sliders are good. Only the reed valve took a hammering, and it's relatively cheap to replace.
I noticed there was no spring on the decompressor. There is one shown in the catalogue. There's a bit of wear on the end of the shaft. I wonder if this is because it's not being held completely out of the way when the motor is running at very low revs? I reckon I'd better buy the spring and figure out how it works when I get it. Your advice here would be appreciated. I come from a car background and decompressors are new to me.
I think I'll replace the camshaft bearings while everything's apart, as well as the seal on the waterpump shaft which looks pretty gummed up.
I have to buy all the gaskets because someone had glued the old ones with some amazingly strong grey goop which caused the gaskets to break despite my most careful efforts. Scraping the surfaces clean is a bit of a mission. In places this stuff is nearly as hard as the aluminium.
The bike pleases me in the attention to detail I find - in the quality and thought that went into it's making. I very much look forward to riding it.
Firstly the sump plug. Yes, it started it's life with a 10mm hex but it was butchered (to be fair the bronze it's made of is very soft) until it was an 11! I bodged the thing out and brazed a great big nut onto it. If anyone ever needs an 11mm Allen key, give me a shout.
I'm not one to post a detailed blow-by-blow restoration thread but there are a few things to share.
I didn't want to do much before I got the papers. This turned out to be a bit of a mission and for a while I was scared that I'd been taken for a ride. But all is well now and I'm in possession of the reg. certificate and the yellow form signed by the previous owner.
In the meantime I started stripping the motor to see what its condition is like and where the noises were coming from. I was pretty sure the camchain would be toast and I was right! It was almost possible to take it off the top sprocket without loosening the sprocket from the camshaft. Obviously there would be some collateral damage but I needed to get the flywheel off to see. The puller is available for $40 plus, so I cast about for a cheaper alternative. Eventually I had a friend at work turn me a nut to fit the 35 X 1.5mm thread on the flywheel and with a three-legged puller I managed to crack the flywheel loose. It came off like a rifle shot. I was sure I'd broken something, but all was well. There was less damage caused by the camchain than I expected. The sliders are good. Only the reed valve took a hammering, and it's relatively cheap to replace.
I noticed there was no spring on the decompressor. There is one shown in the catalogue. There's a bit of wear on the end of the shaft. I wonder if this is because it's not being held completely out of the way when the motor is running at very low revs? I reckon I'd better buy the spring and figure out how it works when I get it. Your advice here would be appreciated. I come from a car background and decompressors are new to me.
I think I'll replace the camshaft bearings while everything's apart, as well as the seal on the waterpump shaft which looks pretty gummed up.
I have to buy all the gaskets because someone had glued the old ones with some amazingly strong grey goop which caused the gaskets to break despite my most careful efforts. Scraping the surfaces clean is a bit of a mission. In places this stuff is nearly as hard as the aluminium.
The bike pleases me in the attention to detail I find - in the quality and thought that went into it's making. I very much look forward to riding it.
