Finally started tearing the bike down yesterday... only six months after I should have.
Finally FINISHED tearing the bike down Saturday... only four months after I should have.
This weekend I did manage to get a substantial amount done to the frame. Kickstand has been relocated forward a few inches so that it is in a more natural and sturdier placement, but still clears the exhaust.
I decided to relocate the key-switch from the left side to the right side of the neck. Originally, I wanted to be able to engage the starter with the key while turning the throttle at the same time (anticipating hard starting conditions). However, this engine starts almost immediately every time and I have eliminated the starter. What it doesn't like to do is find neutral easily at a stop. So, instead of holding in the clutch and playing with the shifter for 5 minutes in front of the gas pumps, I will be able to hold in the clutch and just shut it off. It drops in with no problem when not running. I will be doing the clutch basket modification described in Hondaman's book, as I think this is insufficient oiling to the clutch.
Filling in the old key-switch hole on the left side was easy thanks to a tech article I read. Basically, if you have a large hole to weld up and you don't want to weld a backing strip behind it, you place a piece of aluminum or brass behind the hole and use that for a backing as you weld your hole. The weld will not stick to the aluminum or brass but still fills in nicely!
I still have to fab some brackets for passenger pegs, remove the drum-brake stay, and just do general clean-up on the frame before it's sent off for sand-blasting.
Hopefully my next update is much sooner than four months from now. Thanks for staying interested!
