The frame is now recoated, RAL 3020, Traffic Red. A bit brighter than I had really wanted but as I'll get the rest of the paintwork to match it should all look the same.
I had it coated by a firm in Kilmarnock, most of it is OK but they promised to press out the swingarm bearings and never bothered, instead powdercoating them in place and affecting the finish around the bearing by allowing the grease to run out and spoil the finish, Sloppy work but it wont be seen when the swingarm is refitted thankfully, I'll need to take it to a local bikeshop who'll press out the old bearings and refit the shiny new bronze ones I have bought.

The seal kits for the carbs have arrived and I'll wait until I have cleaned the carb bodies up properly before reassembling them, I may yet have to send them away to get this done properly.

The first of the forks is now disassembled, I puzzled awhile over the circlips holding the seals in place as there seemed no obvious way to get them out, but when the grime was wiped away I noticed one end was tapered out and the other tapered into the fork bottoms, a small screwdriver was then used to catch one end and lever it inwards and upwards slightly which gave me enough purchase to remove it completely.
 I'll make a start on stripping the horrible red paint first but both slider legs will need rechromed which is a real pain, it explains how they were both leaking though.
As with may of these little jobs, its only when you start them you find your missing a little tool to make it a straightforward task, in this case a 12mm allan key to undo the top fork bolt.

Gubbins

A Dellorto VHBZ 25BS carburettor

Pretty much all the seals are past it and will need replaced.
A new seal kit is ordered and I'll fit them after I clean all the little bits. The internal components don't look too bad actually, I think I'll have a trickier task getting the outside of it clean.
The throttle stop screw was 2 full turns and one eighth turn out from fully in.

After a week of blow torching and hammering I've decided to take the frame into Carrick Engineering in Prestwick, for a modest amount they'll remove the broken bolt and sleeve using acetylene torches and brute force meaning I can then strip the frame and feel like I'm starting to something constructive rather than destructive.

Recognising I don't have the appropriate tools to do these jobs is something that I'll realise quicker in the future though half the fun is in trying yourself.
At least its not occupying all of my time now and I'll start with stripping the powdercoat first.
I'll fire up the blowtorch and hope it doesn't rain all weekend.The other alternative is traditional paint stripper which is fairly ineffective against powdercoat so I'm told or gasket stripper which is fierce but quite nasty stuff to work with.

The bearing cups are off and I removed the steering lock, annoyingly the little lock cover you can see in the previous pictures went flying into space when I hammered it off, I then wasted the best part of an hour looking for it before resigning myself to making another one from brass sheet.
I was all ready to drill out the lock and just quickly checked a website for info on the exact drilling point to avoid the hardened tumblers inside when I noticed 'the quick way'- number 3 on here-
http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/lock/index.htm
14 seconds later the lock was out.

Just as one sheared bolt is fixed another two come along to try my patience, I think I'll grind off the captive nuts on this though and get new ones tacked on in the same position.

I have found that you can get clamp that encircles the pipe with a captive bolt attached and that may be an easier option meaning I just need to grind of the broken bolts and clean up any remaining weld.

The first shiny thing arrives

A new set of exhaust nuts came through the post surprisingly quickly from Italy.
It's the first thing I've 'fixed', only the rest of the bike to go now.

I've also decided to attempt a repair on the tank badges and side panel logos, these were very tatty and I would normally just replace them, however, they are an eye watering £58 per pair for each badge, that's £116 for four bits of plastic.

I have cleaned them and rebuilt the broken piece using parts of a sprue holding a model kit.
This may not work or look convincing when finished as I haven't yet found a decent coating to replicate the chrome but it's worth a try just due to the costs of the replacement parts.

Frame is nearly apart, only a couple of bearing holders and the centrestand to come off, the pivot nut on the stand sheared so I'm not sure how to tackle that yet.

I'm sure the bearing cups just push out but I'll check that before bashing away with a mallet first.

The engine is now out and on a bench, a juggling act involving a car jack and short length of wood to manoeuvre the engine out through the right side of the frame, once it had released itself from the rear mounts it was a relatively straightforward task, it's not heavy just awkward.

Surprisingly light though it will need a clean, the flywheel nut has been cracked, I'll do the belt change and that side of things later, I'll also need to sort the clutch side where a little oil leak had started to show, that'll need the clutch out first, all in due course though.

The rolling frame was then rolled out.

I then power washed the frame to get the worst of the greasy grime from it and will tackle the swing arm and forks next. It'll all get recoated in time but cleaning it now makes handling it a lot easier in the meantime.

Wheels are now at the side awaiting further attention.

The flywheel nut is undone.

Not an easy one man job I have to admit, thats why I asked for help holding the flywheel while the nut was
undone with a breaker bar!
A simple yet irritating job thats awkward if your on your own.

That gunky covered thing in the sprocket well appears to be fibreglass, probably put there as a bodge it fix when the chain snapped, quite what it was meant to achieve there I'm not sure, the only benefit would appear to be muck proofing the cam belt and generator..
I can either extend the metal separator on the crankcase to cover the gap or I can rebuild it with a chemical metal compound, neither will prevent damage if the chain were to break again but it may keep the grime out of the generator area a bit more effectively than loosely packed fibreglass matt held in with congealed chain lube.

Mundane tasks chip away at the whole thing in small chunks, the right crankcase cover was unbolted and the chain was split and removed. My first half hearted attempt to get the flywheel off didn't work, I'll need to wait until I have more time and room to move as the working area is quite cramped and awkward when the bike is fully back in the garage. This weekend I'll be able to get it out a few feet meaning I can get a decent purchase on the flywheel holder while undoing the central nut without trying to balance over a couple of kids bikes.

There was an odd piece of debris(or so I thought around the front sprocket, I pulled it out with pliers, it may be plastic or light alloy I haven't bothered to clean it to find out. but looking at where it came from around the sprocket Looked a bit odd to me, so after a cursory wipe with a paraffin coated rag I notice the castings were rough in a couple of places.

Definitely broken, I've seen this on Ducatis before and its a sure sign to me that the chain has snapped on this bike at some stage in the past, it will have bunched around the sprocket breaking the metal at the front and will have whipped up breaking it directly above the sprocket. On an air cooled Ducati like mine that would have burst the crankcase but fortunately it seems less terminal here. You can get strips of steel that bolt on as protection on the Ducatis but they have convenient bolt holes in that location to attach it to, I think I'll just have to live with this.
Interesting evidence of the bikes history.

The stubborn exhaust nut is finally off.
I tried, releasing fluid, a special spanner, a blowtorch, but finally it got down to brute force and ignorance.
A rummage in dad's old toolchest revealed a couple of old heavy caulking tools,similar to heavy blunt chisels and with a glove under it to protect the alloy in case I slipped I then battered the nut with the hammer and chisel combo until it was off.
The nut is now junk, I did try the other nut in the port working it back and forwards to try and clean up the threads in the alloy cylinder head and it has made a visible difference in the definition of the threads in the port, I revisit this sometime later when its all going back together .

Here are the old nuts the stiff one is the one on the right.

New castle nuts are now on the shopping list.
From here:-
http://www.morinispecial.it/joomla/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=168

I also tried a quick wipe over of the wiring with a paraffin soaked rag and it was like moving from B&W movies to technicolour is one wipe, gone is years of sticky grime. I'll do it more thoroughly in the next few days.

A week or so spent pulling bits off the bike has resulted in this.

The next stage would be to remove the engine from the frame but until I can remove that header pipe that'll have to wait.
There's a castellated nut made from relatively soft bronze holding the header pipe to the cylinder head and it wont move, even with a specialist spanner bought specifically for this job. I've just tried Plusgas penetrating fluid on it and will persevere for a bit but if it doesn't look like there's any progress there then it may have to be partly destroyed to get it off.
I've found a firm in Italy that sells new ones at about £40 for a pair.

I'm still trying to work out which version of the wiring I have, not helped by it all being so coated in grime that most of the wires are just shades of black. A bit of cleaning there may make it clearer.
At least some of the components like the coils and reg/rec box look new, so someone has rewired part of it in the near past.

I've decided that after I get the existing powdercoat removed from the frame I wont be redoing it, I think paint will give me a nicer finish,if not as durable. I may or may not do this myself. I think it ought to be black too.
The wheels will definitely need repainted, I'll probably get them done in a paint shop. 'Skoda Donington grey' is the paint colour that matches the original colour so I'm told.

The engine number appeared out of the muck on the back of the crankcase, apparently put there by the importer as the factory didn't bother to stamp them and it's a legal requirement in the UK.

The tape around the headlight was holding it together as I suspected, however it wasn't as bad as it could have been, the only things missing were two small nuts and bolts. I cobbled some together for the moment and will fix it properly in due course.

Moto Morini 350 Strada

A new project, tatty but it runs and stops.

I've recently acquired a 1980 350 Strada and am doing that chin stroking exercise that accompanies a 'new' bike where I'm trying to assess what I actually have in front of me.

Most of it is obvious cosmetic stuff, while tatty it seems mechanically sound and in due course I'll get round to all of it hopefully.
Registered in Feb 1980 I suspect its a bit earlier with its 'A' marked engine and wheels marked '1978' and while I can see where the frame numbers are the paint makes them illegible so I'm just going on the V5 for the moment, it also assigns an engine number but I cant see that so maybe am looking in the wrong place.

Paintwork, the frame is decidedly orange compared to the tank and side panels, it may well be the original colour as there's a grubby made in Italy sticker under the headstock. I'm debating whether or not to repaint the whole thing (tank and side panels need it really)or leave the frame as is, wheels will need recoated too

The headlight switch has gone, it still work if I push it with a screwdriver but I'll need to find another switch assembly.

I suspect the tape around the headlight bezel is for more than waterproofing, haven't had a look yet so don't know whats in there, if it's anything like my Ducatis light there may be a mess of springs in there(or not).

Indicators probably disappeared years ago, I'll consider them in due course.
I do have a replacement belt, marked 'MEGADYNE ISORAN 124L 811' ,I don't know if this is suitable, the previous owner seemed to think so but I may just get another on from a known supplier.
I suspect the front cylinder has been replaced at sometime as its black and the rest of the engine is silver(well under the muck it is), the engine has a charming film of oil across the bottom of the case, its source will be more obvious when its cleaned but if there's a 'usual suspect' I'd like to know.

I'll look around for tyre recommendations, the ones fitted seem fine but as far as I can tell from '1902' they were made in the nineteenth week of 2002 so may be past their best.

The lauded electric fuel tap seems to have been replaced by a standard fuel tap, I wonder if you still get the oe ones?
It has two fuel taps and two chokes???

While that braided brake line is OK it's too long, and I can tell from the inside of the disc that the inner pad isn't making much contact so those'll need cleaned properly.

Those completely legal exhausts are louder than the aftermarket exhausts on my Ducati.

Dropping the headlight,clocks and fairing on a Ducati Monster

Dropping the headlight,clocks and fairing on a Monster

Fitting clip ons to a monster is a common mod and helps to improve the feel at the front of the bike, more importantly...they look really cool!! While not the hardest task in the world they'll tax your patience trying to fit all the hoses and cables back into a much tighter space. This sometimes leaves the clocks and headlight looking a bit awkward in relation to everything and lowering those brings a much sleeker and more purposeful look. I used an aftermarket top yolk but this process is the same with the standard one.

This isn't the easiest way to drop your headlight,but, but this way you can keep the nose fairing as an option and I think is more elegant as it looks almost stock even when inspected quite closely. I wanted the dropped look for the front after I fitted clip ons and think it makes the whole bike look meaner and more streamlined.
Here's a picture of the OE top yoke ready for removal, note the small nylon plugs at the bottom, you'll need those, they just pull off.They're held on with roll pins and you need to get those out if you intend to use the OE yoke,if you use an aftermarket one, like I did, just leave them there in the old yoke.

I started with a spare U-bracket that supports the headlight, just in case I messed it up.
I cut through the welds holding the bracket to the u frame and slid them down the frame a bit to where I though was an OK position (about an inch or so I think-I didn't measure it,but when looking at the photo the sensor frame holding the brackets makes a good estimate of how much lower the modified one is, as the steel frame is bolted to both side brackets and then slid down until it touches the top of the U bracket tube), I then had them re welded locally by a specialist alloy welder,didn't have to be too neat as its not seen, the U frame itself was then cut shorter by the width of the clocks at their mounting point,all the fittings then go straight back on normally.
In the first photo of the U-bracket you can see how much lower the fairing bracket on the right is from stock one on the left,ignore the steel sensor frame as it was being used to hold the brackets in position.

I had to use machine screws to secure the clocks as I couldn't find hex bolts or allen bolts long(7cm ) and narrow enough, these can be hidden anyway using black plastic screw caps, these then screw through the yolk,then a plumbers washer means you wont have to trim the clocks plastic to get it flush with the bottom side of the top yolk, a bit of plastic tubing around the protuding screw also helped secure the clocks.
Then I refitted the OE nylon plugs over the machine screw and secured them against the clocks with small nyloc nut (this isn't really needed other than to stop the plugs falling off while you position everything). You can keep the sensor frame if you want but you dont need it,just mount the air sensor somewhere convenient instead, I zip tied it to another wire.
The shortened U frame will slip over the bottom of the screw and when pushed up be secured by the original nylon plugs above it and be attached normally at the bottom.
I didnt photograph this bit but have included a drawing of how the lot fitted back together.

I put it all back together to make sure I had no problems and then a while later pulled it apart and powdercoated the whole assembly black.

The biggest problems are accommodating the hoses and wires as the space behind the light is very tight indeed, I found that the OE brake hoses are too long and the double banjo bolt on the brake fouls the repositioned bracket, there is no right or wrong way to do this, if it all goes back together with no snags or fouling then thats a bonus but be prepared for this bit to seriously try your patience while you find out what works and what doesn't. I had to use a different brake hose and banjo bolt set up but as I had replaced my OE calipers and discs this was no problem for me, I doubt whether the original line would fit the new set up with any elegance and would suggest a new one would be needed.

I might do a few small adjustment to free up some space but it all seems to work in the meantime.

Coring an Ducati monster S2R exhaust

Coring an S*R exhaust

I did this because I really liked the shape of the original exhausts and none of the aftermarket ones look as good in my opinion.
Its also turned out to be much cheaper,though obviously more work than a commercially available set of cans.If you fancy a go then I recommend getting a spare set like I did,that way if you mess up you can hide the lot and swear blind you meant to do that in the first place.
S2R and S4R cans are identical and interchangable.

Hope its of use to anyone who fancies doing the same.
The tools I used werent particularly special but the first thing you'll need is a dremel style mini drill possibly with a flexible extension,with a small enough cutting wheel to fit into the exhaust outlet,as this is the only way into the cans.I used a hacksaw to cut through the internals,I've since bought a cheap angle grinder/cutter and wished I'd bought it sooner as the metal is quite hard.

This is the first steps in getting access to a set of S*R exhaust cans
If you look inside the exhaust exit you'll be able to see a weld,I cut just inside this.

I spent a while trying to make sure the cut was all the way through with the cutter disc breaking regularly.Your almost working by feel as you cant see into the pipe while your cutting,I ended up making duplicate cuts because of this.

A bit of brute force was needed here,I realised I had actually cut through the steel and it only needed persuading to get it out,if you insert a bar or old screwdriver into the cut and lever it around,the cap will move.Just 'walk' it out.

You can see the stump I removed and into the body of the can,you can just about see the bracket securing the end cap to the internals.
Thats the bit I found hard to visualise from the outside.

Slightly clearer here

After the brackets are cut (and I nearly put the cutting wheel through the whole end cap..whoops!)
Note the dust underneath,there was a lot of this and I should have worn a dustmask
the end easily pulls off

A whack with a rubber mallet while holding the sleeve loosened things up a bit

Actually this took me by surprise,the sleeve is only cosmetic!!

I had to stop at this stage because I couldnt find any goggles and the sparks from the cutter were flying every where.When I restarted( a month later) I tried to drill out the end tube first,more to find out what was there than any great plan.You can see the result further down,not worth the effort,just cut it!

The two cans differ slightly insofar as the top one has nuts to secure the external heatshield with bolts,I chose to keep these and ended up cutting away most of the metal around them leaving a strip of steel from the base with the bolt holes on it.This doesnt hold any weight and what I left was quite flimsy but was simply to keep the bolt holes in position when I replaced the alloy sleeve.
You could also just cut them away and attach the bolts directly to the sleeve,if you do this I'd also seal them with silicon sealant.

This is the top can.A straight cut through the top of the internal box will open it up,I did this with a hacksaw but have since bought a cheap angle grinder/cutter which would have been much easier and quicker

This is what you'll see,that bolt is for securing the heatshield

Note you can see all the way through now,this is what most of the US conversions are like,I on the other hand, had a different plan.

This is the remains of the bottom cans baffles,its whats inside each of the exhaust cans.I originally tried to drill onto the end of the can but gave up and cut it at the edge,you can still see the lip attached to the end of the internal pipe.

Heres the whole bottom can, this was the exploratory one for me,I dont recommend cutting it up like this as its more work than you need,but I wanted to know how the can was constructed and took it a little at a time.
Cut just above the support boltholes and you'll be left with the base section on the left here,thats all you need to do for the bottom can.

Heres a view down the stump of the lower can resting on its baffle,notice the two bolts protruding internally, thats what mounts it to the support and the frame....you'll want to keep those on both cans.You'll notice the internal pipe is not central,this became a problem when I tried to secure the new pipe and I ended up cutting this further down until the new one fitted almost centrally on both pipes

Just placed the endcaps back on the sleeves here, you can see the cut metal inside this would be hidden by soot if it was run like this but I thought it was messy looking and after trying it like this on the bike I found it was also a bit too loud for me too.This is what most US conversions are.

I've missed a bit out here,I forgot to photograph it, so have drawn a diagram of the whole thing.
I drilled four holes through the endcaps and alloy sleeves to take securing rivets,these were quite small and are only to secure the outlet cap from blowing off,alloy rivets are fine and it'll mean I can get them out easily for when I get round to colouring the sleeves black like I first intended.
Basically I then got two lengths of perforated tubing and cut them to length,I then cut a few slots into the ends of the tubings to enable me to bend it out slightly to nest over the endcaps inside edge.

I wrapped as much exhaust packing material around it as I could while allowing me to slip the sleeve back into place,I used the mounting bolts to hold it all in place while I positioned the endcaps.The outlet caps needed a firm push and some minor fiddling to ensure the perforated tubing nested correctly,once the first pop rivet was in it was a bit easier to do the rest.I also put a little sealant around the endcaps helps keep it from blowing.
A few pop rivets later and I mounted it all back onto the bike.


It now sound like a Ducati should,if this would be the only modification then you may get away with running it without any need to alter the fuelling etc., but I've also replaced the catylitic convertor AND put in an open airbox with a DP filter so mine need adjusted as it will run lean otherwise.

Here they are a few years later , with no problems, you can see straight through the top can here,also sitting beside it is a piece of the perforated tube used to rebuild the insides.

A short soundclip of the Keihan conti replica endcans fitted to my Sportclassic 1000S