Having rebuilt the motor we can now move
on to the frame. We basically need to sort out the front
and rear suspension and all the bearing wheels etc...
Bouncing back
We're taking a chance that the rear shocks
are useable - they still have good compression
and damping, although we won't know for sure
until we use the bike. Sadly they aren't rebuilable,
so if they are shot we'll be forking out for
some new ones.
We stripped the swing arm and
checked that the bushes (which are plastic) were
in good condition, they could be upgraded to needle
rollers. Note also the rubber chain slider that
has to be fitted to the arm before it is fitted
to the bike - failing to fit this will reck the
swing arm and the chain...
The head bearings were in good
shape, although they are only ball bearings and
could be upgraded to tapered roller bearings when
they need replacing. The basic steering assembly
bolts up, make sure that the groove in the stem
lines up with the bolt hole on the clamp
The frame itself was in good
shape, with no visible cracks and it looks straight
(alot of frames are abused and the back end can
get bent out of shape). Having fitted the headstock
we checked that it rotated freely before fitting
the top yoke.
The front forks were in very
good shape - shows the benefits of gaiters - with
no leaking from the seals and perfect chrome on
the stanchions. All we did was drain out the old
fork oil and pop in some new stuff, when we test
the bike we'll know what the ideal oil height
is for overweight and talentless pilots.
Suspension is
a tricky business to get right, although its all back together
we won't know until we test it what the results are. We are
sure though that by fitting the old shocks it will give us
an ideal excuse when we finish last (or don't finish at all).
Parts list & Costs