Wrench'n Ride'n

Had some more photos of the DR sent to me.

Soon this Suzuki DR500 will be here. It will need a wee bit of assembly. The tank and tracker seat come with it. Exactly what I would have done to it anyway. How it went to the previous owner Daniel.  What Daniel has done so far. 

Fitted today 18 Dec 2016.

Now that's a headlight. 9" off an SR500.

Took Bender out for first dirt ride with me on board. Not since the 1980s have I taken a bike onto dirt roads. That front tyre needs to be more of an off road on. I had a ball exploring Ourimbah Creek road.

Big ugly crash bars fitted. All the crap I put on taken off. Plastic guards front and back. Just waiting on a set of MX bars and a 9 inch SR500 headlight coming in the mail.

3 Dec 2016. Full oil and oil filter change. Valvoline XLDPrem 20w-50. Highflow oil filter New DID 525VX 118ZB chain and new sprockets fitted.    

Refitted the LED running light. Made an eyebrow from old Honda plastic triple clamp cover. Looks more Benderish now.

In the pursuit of making Bender look even more Bender. Used a Yamaha XJ600 fairing frame. Kawasaki ZXR250 headlights Headlight mounting brackets. Cut and welded and they are on. Need to fine tune so they are not blinding possums in trees. Need to mount the LED light under the twin lights. Oh yeah fitted high front guard.

Maxim ammo box now fitted. A bit more Bender added.

Bender now has a bit of Mother Russia. In a sea of custom bikes that use 30cal and 50cal ammo boxes as panniers I use a WWII Maxim Machine Gun ammo box. This box came from Latvia and the eBay seller claims the items he sells come off WWII battlefields. Did it? I don't know. I don't care. Its super cool. Now to make some mounts for it.

Had my two mechanic mates Jason and Gray come around and have a look at why Pistoncino is not starting. In my ignorance of points I may have set them so they do not open. Jason fixed that and showed me how to set them. Cheers mate. Bike started and ran off a fuel bottle with clean fuel. Gray wants to take for ride. So we fuel up the so called clean fuel tank. Notice I said so called clean. She would idle just and then in gear and open the throttle dies. We worked out its not getting enough fuel under load. I pulled the carb off. Found the main jet blocked. Found the filter at the inlet to the carb has so many rust particles. The tank will now not be used till I get its inside treated with a tank liner. I turn my back for a few minutes and look what they did,  Gray aka "Legoman" with the fuel bottle around his neck.  I had missed this part to clean last time.

Great privilege to have Pete from Throttle Roll do a photo shot of my Transalp Bender and write up. Brilliant photos Pete. https://www.throttleroll.com/bender-1987-honda-xl600v-transalp/

Thanks to good mate Jason for showing me this video. I have never had to set the timing or points before. CDI in all my previous bikes kinda spoils ya. This video maybe for a twin but sure helped me get my head around this. So now i can get the timing right on the Gilera.

Went to Woolies to do shopping. Came home with 2 new sidecovers from Woolies. Bashing and cutting and they are fitted.

Love the elegance of an Italian single.

49 year old engine. No idea when the last time the tappets were checked. I wasted my time. They are perfect. Love that the tool kit that came with the bike has a tool for undoing the rocker cover bolts. Then I decided to clean the connectors to the coil. Now no spark. Maybe I broke a wire? Learning how to set points. I do love old school.

"Pistoncino" and "Bender"

Today I stripped the dellorto me8bs carbie.  For a 49 years of age it was very clean and no fuel varnish.  I have discovered that the choke slide is missing. The arm it attaches to is there. No lever.  The bike fires up first kick when cold. Fuel being supplied from a fuel bottle.  Fitted the cleaned out tank. Well I thought it was clean. Didn't that lead down a rabbit trail of other problems today.  Bike would not run well under load. Will if I just use a fuel bottle.  Stripped the fuel petcock. So much built up gunk. Can of carbie cleaner and got most of it out. Refit still wont run with throttle open. Check fuel flow. Next to none. Use the other petcock and there is fuel flow.  Then I stripped the banjo nut that holds the fuel outlet tube and the tread for this on the petcock. Wont tighten and hold fuel. Jump on eBay and order a new one. Yes you can for a 49 year old bike get new rep parts.  Now to wait the 3 weeks for it to ...

If I can treat the rust in the top of the tank I will use the original tank. I was able to get the old thick petrol vanish out of the tank. Boiling water with detergent and a Gerni. Bought a set of Biltwell Maynard Bars from http://mostynindustries.com.au/ New old set of coke bottle grips. Biltwell solo saddle. Its on 5 inch springs at the moment. Have got some 3 inch ones in the mail. Might try the 3's first to get the seat lower. Have to make sure the seat does not bottom out on the rear guard when I am bouncing on the seat. Hope to have this all dialed in and registered in the next 2 weeks.

Just some detail shots. Even had the original tools in the tool box.

"Pistoncino" runs and rides. Once I found the on/off switch hidden up near the horn she runs first kick. Does not blow smoke at all. Yay!  Private road with fuel bottle strapped to frame I saw just under 40mph on the speedo. Hitting rear brake makes it go up gears. Must remember gear pedal and brakes are on opposite sides compared to a Jap bike.

Old fuel smell. It is like roadkill smell. You never forget it and it satys with you for life. Cleaning the old fuel out of the tank this morning. It has coated the inside like varnish. Boiling water with detergent and a Gerni is doing the trick nicely.

Yep within 1/2 hour of it being here I am mocking up what it may end up looking like. Plans are for different handle bars. They are in the mail. Seat springs for the solos seat. In the mail. Nothing is set in stone yet.