Hello kids!
It's been forever since my last update. My apologies... real life and classwork consumed me this past semester, and I didn't have anywhere near the free time I would have liked to spend on this project. That said, I did chip away at various items over the past 6 months and would like to share what I've done. Owing to the winter rains here in NorCal, I've moved everything that has been completed into the house... actually, into my bedroom to be exact. I've got the frame and its various components sitting on the floor. I suppose having it lying in the middle of my room makes me think about it each and every day... there is no "out of sight out of mind" for me!
So over the course of the last 6 months, I had a bunch of parts chromed and polished, the ignition coils assembled and mounted, fabricated a new mounting bracket out of aluminum to account for the shorter aftermarket coils, cleaned and "rebuilt" the seat lock assembly, and started assembling everything, as you'll see in the images below. I am having a problem now with rebuilding the front forks, so stay tuned to the end of this post for an inquiry that I have.
The chroming was done at
Brown's Plating in Kentucky. They did an absolutely fabulous job... just check out these parts:
They are a bit on the pricey side, but I am beyond satisfied with the results. Honestly, they turned out far better than I was even expecting. I recommend them highly if you're looking for a quality chrome job.
So on with the pics!
And now here's my latest problem: I'm trying to replace the fork seals, and clean/polish both portions of the outer fork housing (the steel tube and the aluminum assembly where the axle attaches). I cannot get the bolt that holds the damper in place to separate from the damper (the hex allen bolt). The two just turn and turn and turn together, and I cannot figure out a way to prevent that from happening. The manuals I have just say to leave the filler cap and fork springs in place, which will provide a downward force on the damper and thus allow the bolt to be removed; however, this does not appear to be the case. No amount of force that I've been able to muster in pushing down that spring will secure the damper and allow the bolt to be removed. Without that bolt coming out, I can't remove the damper, which means I can't remove the fork tubes, which means I can't replace the seals or start to clean and polish the parts. Damnit!
Here's the hex allen bolt I'm referring to:
Is there a special trick to getting this thing to come out? I see no means of holding the damper in place. Anyone have some advice or tips in getting past this problem?
