Topic: Seeley 519

[Retro Rocket]

Here's a nice front end for you Jag...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ceriani-Road-Racing-Forks-Vintage-Antique-Flattrack/151759934827?_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D333008%26algo%3DRIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131231133846%26meid%3D69de806fc7f34a6880f8364bd6305d40%26pid%3D100010%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D24%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D151757957626

[jaguar]

That is a nice set of forks!

[Roach Carver]

Ditto. I wanna buy them and I don't even need them

[slikwilli420]

Jag,  regarding the master cylinder. Not sure what your budget will withstand but nothing would look better than an AP Racing classic master.

[jaguar]

Not a huge update, but an update none the less.

Rebuild the GL forks.
Simple job and used all OEM seals.  Found that the forks have Progressive springs in them right now.  Plan still is to upgrade the internals, but that job will wait for now.

No real pictures of the messy fork seal job.

But here is a picture of rebuilt forks just sitting on the garage floor.
How exciting is this?


Just look at them!

All mounted up to the Lester wheel.


You can now shower me with posts about how killer the Seeley looks with the Lester wheels.


Just incase you didn’t know….I REALLY like the look of the Lester wheels.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

You can now shower me with posts about how killer the Seeley looks with the Lester wheels.


Just incase you didn’t know….I REALLY like the look of the Lester wheels.

You're preaching to the choir.  I love Lesters, too.   

[jaguar]

updates are a little out of order.


Went with the Avons.  I have run them before and liked them.  Also the price was right.  Ordered the 3.25x19 front and 4.00x18 rear.  They look a bit narrow on the bike, but I have not fully inflated them yet. 



Rear ready to be installed.


Front on the rim.


Rotors and everything mounted up.


Interesting that I had to run the CB750 front spacer and NOT the GL1000.  I’m talking about the small simple round one that goes on the opposite side of the speedo drive.  Everything else just bolted right up.

Slowing making progress.

[Roach Carver]

If your Lester's are like mine then they 1.85 wide which make for a narrow tire no matter what you do.

[jaguar]

So the left overs are going to be put to good use!

Plan is to sink the rolling frame in Lake George! 
It will go on a SCUBA training area.  Will join a single engine Piper, 19 foot boat and old Nissan. 
Gives divers something fun to look at or play with, and the fish LOVE to have a place to hide.

Stripped anything of value off of it.  Forks are rusty/bent.  No title on the frame.  So no loss.

So now back to the Seeley.
Found out that I had the wrong front axle with the forks.  There was a mid year change in 1977, so maybe that was where the mix up was.
Bought the right one on ebay for $11.

Can see that there is a small spacing difference. 

I am pleased to announce that the front end steering head bearing issue is now put to bed!
No crazy machining, no million dollar custom bearings.

So here is the roller in the cup that fits the frame.

Issue is that the ID was 1 inch.  I need 26mm

Got a roller with ID of 26mm, but it sits very high in the cup....so no dice.


But magically the roller from the AllBalls kit fits perfectly in the cup!  This also means that I could use those neat seals that come from AllBalls too.


So now the front end bolts up and moves perfectly.  Very happy to cross that off the list.
Will admit that I used the taller spacing on the bottom bearing, and probably could have used the shorter one, or none at all.  When the bike gets broken down to make it pretty I will address that.

For fun I mounted up a set of superbike bars that I had in the shop.  Looks a lot better then the low apes that I was using to move the bike around.
I know those bars were a sticking point for some...lol


Plan still is to find some used 37mm clip ons, so if anyone has some please let me know.

Also just leave this here as a tease.

[jaguar]

If your Lester's are like mine then they 1.85 wide which make for a narrow tire no matter what you do.

Yeah the Lesters seem to like a narrow tire.

[jaguar]

Though some help of some members I was able to talk with Colin Seeley about the bike and some of the history.  While not a windfall of information every little bike does help.  I happen to really enjoy the history of old bikes and to be able to speak with someone that had such an impact on the industry is very humbling.  It sounds sappy, but at the end of the day we are only stewards of these machines and I feel that it is important to gather as much information as possible and keep it with the bike.

It is known that the first six protoypes of the Seeley-Honda were built between May of 1975 and September of the same year.  The production run of 302 units started in October 1975.  Colin said that many of the bikes were sold into Germany.  Unsure as to why that was the case.  Maybe a racing series?

My bike was one of three that were delivered to David Ross of the American Ross-Seeley Racing Company.  They were based out of New Hampshire.  Funny that after all of these years the bike is still so close to where it started out.  Colin confirmed that some of the frames were sold with out the plating and instead used stove enamel.  I assume that is what my frame is. 

Apparently a few years back David Ross’s daughter reached out to Colin Seeley and they all meet up at the Goodwood, but no contact has been made in a while.  It seems that David Ross was a big Seeley racer and sort of a dealer.  I have started doing some research on him and would like to try and reach out to them.  Colin said that David was his first customer.  Do not know if he means for any bikes, or just the Honda.  From the little that I do know I have been able to find out the Ross had been involved in bringing these bikes to the states very early on.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

That's pretty amazing that you were able to speak with Colin himself. That bike is a little slice of motorcycle history.

[jaguar]

In keeping with the semi race idea of this bike, I thought that it would be fun to safety wire the bike as if it was being prepped for the track.  I have worked in aviation for a while so I am well versed in safety wire, and have spilled much blood to prove it.  Odd that I have never safety wired a bike before.

For those of you that do not know safety wire is a way to positively lock a nut, bolt, clip or anything else that you don’t want spinning off.  Idea is that the wire pulls the bolt tight and will not allow it to loosen do to time, vibration and just dumb luck.  Guys that run cars or bikes on the track know the list of things that must be wired in order to pass tech.  The following picture shows an example of how it looks.


If nothing else it is a visual check that someone took the time to work on a specific part on the bike.  For this build I hope it just adds an interesting detail.

Safety wiring is a skill that is not that hard to learn.  I would encourage more people to learn to do it.  Wire is easy to find.  You can twist the wire by hand, but there are special pliers that will twist the wire for you.  This normally leads to a more aesthetically pleasing job, and for those that do this for a living…..cuts down on time greatly.  Some will want to run out to your local Harbor Freight, but please don’t.  No need to go out and spend $150 on a Milbars either.  Fire up the Google and find a used set of Robinson’s Jet Twisters.  I happen to really love the M-84 model ones.  They are very well built, and will actually last for ever.  I freely admit that I am a tool whore and have spent far to much money on Snap-On trucks in my life.  But I do still firmly believe that it is worth the money to buy quality tools once.

Simple, and I guess pointless update.

Not a lot of work has been done on the Seeley because I keep dragging Nortons home…

[jaguar]

Well some parts started to stream in.
Very excited about some of them.
Also very happy to start checking whole jobs off of the list.

First "system" to be fully checked off will be the brakes.  I swapped to the GL1000 front end.
Replaced all the pistons, seals, dust boots, pads and bleeders.
Now the icing on the cake is some killer lines and a master from SlingShot Cycles.


Have used their lines on some of my other bikes.
Great product, service and prices. 

For the Seeley I wend with their new "black" lines.  With a quick glance they look almost stock, but they are braided.  I like this stealthy look.
Also ordered a new "retro" master.  Real quality item, not some Chinese made ebay junk.

This should give me the performance I am looking for.

Waiting on a few more parts in the mail right now.

Still plugging away.
Progress has been a little slow these last few weeks.
I am 100% to blame.  Been having to much fun with my other favorite hobby.
"Underwater Boat Racing"

 

[jaguar]

Some more parts have been showing up and still more in the mail.

Went with some Tommaselli clip ons.
Also bought a "tommaselli style" clutch lever.



Also some "Cerriani style" fork ears.





Next real issue I need to cross off the list is the exhaust.
Still have not found one.

[01Thomas]

Nice progress!

The rear of your fuel tank seems dented? If I am correct, how are you going to address that?

regards
Thomas

[jaguar]

Nice progress!

The rear of your fuel tank seems dented? If I am correct, how are you going to address that?

regards
Thomas

It is very dented.
Have not really worked on getting that corrected in any way yet.
Main focus has been getting it running and moving under it's own power.
After it is mechanically shaken down I can worry about dents, paint and such.

[slikwilli420]

Really great project overall. These are such great bikes and you have picked out some great parts to enhance what is already there.

If you are going with a non-stock top triple clamp, I would love to help you out with that.

[jaguar]

Some grips and a throttle.

[Roach Carver]

That looks like a guzzi throttle

[jaguar]

That looks like a guzzi throttle

Guzzi did use them.
But they also sold them as "aftermarket" parts.
Some Mini Bike guys love them.

[jaguar]

Its been a lot of fun getting so many packages!

Bought some Tarozzi rearsets. 
Have used them on other bikes and like them very much.  I will need to make some plates to get them to work on my frame.
I also assume I will need to mess around with linkages a bit.  Did buy a few different ones to start playing with though.

Think these shinny new parts will look funny agains the "patina" of the rest of the bike.
I hope that it does NOT motivate me to start making things look nice before it it running 100%.

Still more stuff is in route, and I hope next week to do some actual wrenching a have a meaningful update of the project because I sense some are bored following.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

You can always anodize them black or gun metal if they look too shiny.

[jaguar]

Small rant.....
So I ordered "37mm Headlight Mounts" 
I knew that they are the basic Cerriani knock offs that many places make.
Have seen the Emgo "kit" and didn't really want that.  I am not a fan of shims or Emgo.  Also the Emgo set up is marked as 35mm-39mm-41mm so they wouldn't work for me anyway.
Spent a little bit more money on the 37mm only ones.  The idea was that it was just what I wanted.

Well I get a Emgo kit in the box, and guess what.....they don't freaking fit!
Seller responded to me saying "use the shims"
Kinda pissed.
Paid more to get what I wanted, and got exactly what I didn't want.




Since the ears are not mounted I cant mount the bars and such.
Just mock up.
I think they will work very well.

[seanbarney41]

Jag, I am using those same crappy fork ears, at least for now, 'cus I already had 'em around.  No combination of shims will get them to fit 37mm.  I managed to "machine" the plastic with a roloc or a belt sander or something and got them to work...yes the shims look like #$%*.  Pic doesn't show it very well but its the only pic I have.
 DSCN0720 by Sean Barney, on Flickr