GaJet: Hoping that it doesn't come to that, and that the stud can still be removed. Going to let my partner look at it when he comes back next week - he's better with the stick welder than I. If he doesn't feel confident we'll truck it to a machine shop and let them remove it.
Brown Bomber: Yeah I think that'll be not so bad, it's a pretty minor ding and it should be easy to build up, then sand down to level.
Check out this
great shot of the evil buggers, including
one of the 2 corroded ones where you can see a blue-green shiny metal on the base....copper-based anti-seize maybe? My favourite part of getting them out was the "GASP" as the vacuum behind the stud broke, and a really foul sulphurous smell permeated the workshop. EEW!
Now for the big news:
I GOT THE CRANKCASE APART! WOO! Full gallery here. Remember folks, this is the
first time I've ever worked on an engine, so this is pretty magical of a moment for me. Getting the crankcase apart actually wasn't all that bad.
Pro tip: Once all the bolts are out, a chunk of wood and a hammer are your friend. I wedged the wood inside the clutch case (but not on the basket!) and gave a gentle tap. Then I went to the other side and did the same thing with the opening for the alternator. I also used the rear and front mounting bolts to get good motion from all 3 sides. Bit by bit it gave way, quite a bit more reasonably than it took to get the cylinders off.
Before the reveal, first a bit of backstory: the previous owner had mentioned that his son had taken a fall on the bike, at speed (on the 401, for you Canadians). Apparently he'd installed the clip in the master chain the wrong way and the chain came off at about 100kph. He kept the bike under control, mostly, but eventually went down on the left side. The highway bars he'd installed took the brunt of it, and there's a bit of scuffing on the alternator. He showed me where there'd been damage to the front sprocket cover, and how it'd been mended with (yeah) JB Weld. I rode the bike a bunch before buying it for $750; it seemed fine to me. THe battery was mostly dead from having been in storage for a number of years, but she kick started fine.
So there's two bits of damage I found that gave me pause. The first is on the points and the spark plug advancer. It looks like there are
two tabs that snapped off, that I guess at one point
held the advancer to the main drive. I'm guessing that friction alone was keeping it working. Going to have to decide what to do here - build back up the bits that held it together, or find a new advancer/points mechanism.
The other bit is
behind all that JB Weld, just rear of the front sprocket. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Note I never experienced any oil leakage from here, and it IS the top crankcase...but it's still gut-wrenchingly awful to see. My partner also thinks he can repair this by gouging out a bit more to get more surface area, then filling, then filing to finish.
First peek inside the crankcase
Auugh!
Gruuuugh!
Suggestions welcome!
