Topic: Project "Hard Luck - The Red Racer" - updated 07/30/2010 w/new project!!!

[KB02]

Progress pics:

The engine is coming apart. Here is a picture of Cylinders 1 and 2:


3 and 4


And here is the head:


There was some weird gel like substance around the rust on the valves on #1. I have no idea what it was. I was a little worried about #3, as when I took off the carbs, there was a lot of corrosion in the intake port. I looked in and there was a little bit of rusticle looking stuff coming down on the intake valve stem. But when I pulled it apart, #3 was the best looking cylinder of the bunch. You can actually still see (though not so well in the picture) the honing marks on the cylinder wall from the last person who was in there.

Okay - I left the motor to sit with the piston tops swimming in Kroil. If I can get it freed up, I should still be able to bore out the cylinders for a Big bore kit, right?

[seaweb11]

find any goldfish

[xtalon]

find any goldfish

HA!  More like barnacles!   

KB02, I have confidence you are going to get this girl running again!  I wish you luck and keep us updated of your progress.

--xTalon

[KB02]

Well,  I leave tomorrow morning to go to the Americade Rally in Lake George. (not bringing my CB... damned gas leak) We'll see what a weeks worth of soaking the pistons in Kroil does for freeing the engine. It has been sitting for the last couple of days and the oil in #3 has drained, but the other three are still little pools of oil in the cylinders (I'm not really worried about #3 anyway). And if that don't work, we're on to plan B... whatever that is... 

[KB02]

Well, after getting back from my week's vacation at the Americade rally (what a great time. I'll post some pics I took later), I tried once again to move the engine as it had been sitting with kroil in the cylinders all week long. Still nothing. Looks like I'm gong to have to pull the case apart and get to the crank shaft to get the jugs off. Then it will be time to pound the pistons out.

... wonder when I'll have time to get that done... First things first, though, I've got to find a new tank for my F...

[Magpie]

Been there, done that not long ago. Use a press to get the pistons out, it's much quicker and esasier. Don't forget to mark the rods which hole they came from.
Good luck,
Cliff.

[tinyrobot]

Nice K8, the motor on mine was good as new (22,000 miles ) bu tit came right back to life.  No where near yours though, good luck!!

[KB02]

Well, the jugs are off and three pistons are sitting on the floor next to them. #2 is being a bit picky on being relocated.

The rods are a bit rusty. Mostly just surface rust, but enough to make wonder about reusing them. There was also a little bit of surface rust on the crank, but I'm not really worried about that. One side of the clutch basket also has a bit of surface rust. Again, not really worried there, either.

Its looking like I could bore this thing out and use this engine (We'll see when I get #2 out), so, now I just have to decide what I'm going to do with it.

[KB02]

#2 has now been removed. It's new name is "Scrap Metal." I would say that the cylinders might be okay if they were just honed out. I think the best option, though, would be to throw an over bore kit into it and port the head.

[bryanj]

Overbore kit seems to be as cheap as an oversize set just a bit dearer on the machining

[KB02]

Here is a picture of Cylinders 1 and 2:                                                                And here is the head:

It's my birthday. 

Thought that I would drag this thread out of the moth balls and give some updates on my slow, but steady progress.
The head is almost done. The wonderful Mr. Mike Rieck sent me some progress pics. You can see the before's up above, here is the current:


The head is all sand blasted and ready to be bored out. I just need to get the overbore kit first (Christmas is coming...).


The carbs are still in a bit of a state of disassembly waiting waiting for a bit more cleaning. I'll probably run K&N pods and a four into one pipe (possibly a four into two), and with the over bore kit, too, I'll probably have to replace my slow jets, so I'm debating on whether to spend the time cleaning them out or not. I probably will anyway... knowing me. 


SO, here are my plans, as grand a delusional as they may be:
Go for the Cafe style.
Get the engine together. - Building a good, stout, street engine. I have no plans to race it.
 - Mike's wonderful work on the head.
 - Cycle-X 850 overbore kit
 - Proper cam to take advantage of both
 - Dyna Ignition.
 - Either Kerker or Benji pipes
Clean up and strengthen the frame.
 - Stiffen a few spots
 - Paint it a nice color - not sure what yet, but not black...
Updated suspension.
 - I want to get a more modern front end at the very least. And preferably a better swing arm as well.
 - Modern tires on modern rims (I know that people love spokes, but I prefer mags).
Decide on what Tank to use.
 - Could use the stock tank, but it would need work - fixing dents I don't wants - putting in ones I do...
Decide on a seat.
 - I have a spare seat for my Ducati Monster. I think it could look killer,
    but it would mean slight frame mods and tank mods to get it to fit.
 - Or I could build my own seat. Hey, I've done it before. 

Anyway, that's the update on my K8 build. I decided to call it "Project Parts-Bike." My wife says I can't call it that since I am not parting it out. But that's not entirely true. I currently have one of the foot pegs off the K8 on my F1, and I have plans for getting the front disk on the F1 as well as part of a dual disk set up (If I run a different front end, I won't need the disk for the K8 anyway).   

[cleveland]

SO, here are my plans, as grand a delusional as they may be:p

I feel that way every time I look at my second bike.    Keep the faith!

[andy750]

Looking good! Happy Birthday 

cheers
Andy

[KB02]

Looking good! Happy Birthday 

cheers
Andy

Thanks!

Yep, I cleaned out the slow jets. Couldn't leave well enough alone, I guess. 

I also did a little bit of painting. I decided to paint a few parts off the carbs. You know, just to set them off a little bit. I figured the large bracket that holds them together, the caps and bowls would be the easiest parts to paint. The engine will probably be blacked out too, so I figured I would assure that it got blacked out (stop me from changing my mind again) by starting in with some black.

Here are the parts drying:


Here is one of the carbs together to get a feel for how they will look. The pictures doesn't do it justice, really. It looks much better in person. Note the stainless steel, allen head fasteners:

[S-Dog]

The picture looks great.... Nothing like bringing a bike back from the dead.

[cleveland]

Looks real good! 

The chopper I pics up had the same paint job on the carbs.  They also painted the points cover, and a couple bits on the engine to pull it all together.

[russouno]

I did the same thing with all of my carb bowls on my K8... stainless allen..feel much better than the phillips head that were on there..

[KB02]

With the new Project Thread board, I figured I would drop a little update on my K8 project.

My biggest accomplishment at the moment: Paint.
Well... at least some of it.
I have painting on the engine side covers and what not. Actually, the only part of the engine that is not painted right now is the cases. I'm still waiting on getting those media blasted. Then they'll be painted red. Here's picture of what I've got so far:


The head and jugs have been painted as well, but they are at my machinist's (Dad's) house waiting for a little bit of work. He's holding them hostage, I think. He tells me I have to come down to see him to get the work done. It's a pretty good ploy on his part, and will work well when I actually find the time to go down there. 

Decisions that I have made:
 - Seat - I think that I am going to build my own seat. With some of the threads on this lately, it looks lke fun and I want to make a full fiberglass seat. Unlike my F1 where I used the stock seat pan, on the K8 I will do a fully fabricated fiberglass seat pan and rear hump. Right now I am planning on incorporating a molded in tail light, too. I think it will look pretty good.
 - Suspension - I am on the hunt for a late model nighthawk (91-04?) for a donor bike. Better suspension, but still incorporates the dual shocks and drum brake in the rear. Plus front end is better and has better brakes than stock. Slightly larger tires than a sports bike rim, but can still get a better selection of modern rubber on them.
 - Frame - The frame will be painted silver. I think it will be a good contrast to the engine, and will leave tank and seat color options more open. A black frame with a red and black engine just kind of doom it to being either a red or black bike.

Well, that's it for now. Progress continues to be slow, as do my finances. More updates to come (I hope to ride this bike before next winter... but we'll see... I'm trying to buy a house right now, too).

[LMAERO_396]

Red and Black are awesome colors    Looks great!

[Spikeybike]

i like how the case is black and the honda logo is red with black letters, nice touch .(i think i might have to steal that one)   sounds like your plans are finally coming together, love it when that happens.

A black frame with a red and black engine just kind of doom it to being either a red or black bike.

  i wasn't going to say it ,but the little devil on my shoulder just wont shut up so

"If you'd like i have plenty of leopard print left "      ok i'm done now

[KB02]

Hmmmm...   

[KB02]

The overbore Kit has arrived!!!  Now I can get the cylinders bored out and I'll be one step closer to getting this engine back together and running. This will definitely motivate me into getting the rest of the bike done An engine sitting without a bike to go into? come on...). I still see a long road ahead, but the pay out will be worth it in the end.

[Spikeybike]

 
"If you'd like i have plenty of leopard print left "      ok i'm done now

hope you weren't planning on holding me to that offer 

[KB02]

Nah. I think I'm good.    Looks like you'll need it more than me right now.

[KB02]

Not much progress to report. My father was going to do the boring of the jugs for me, but after looking at it he decided that he didn't feel equal to the task, mainly due to his shop not having, "...a positive enough boring bar," whatever that means (something I get, something I don't). There's an engine shop about an eighth of a mile from my house that will bore the jugs out for $53 per cylinder. The local bike shop uses them all the time. They will be getting my business, it's just an extra $200 I had been hoping not to have to pay.

Anyway, I placed all the parts together on my work bench to see how they look, and I think the top end is going to look good. The cases will be red once I get them back from the sand basting and get them painted, so I think the red valve caps will look great.