Yes it's true. I took last Thursday and Friday off work, and I worked on it all day Thursday though Sunday.
A week and a half ago I started with this:
I decided to build the entire motor outside of the frame. Here you can see the cases are back together, barrels/pistons on (actually I didn't even remove them!), and clutch cover installed.
The head is reinstalled:
Look Ma, new cam chain!
:-D
I decided to nix the backlash retainer gears, as Bill Gately and his crew have. Removing them is supposed to free up a couple horsepower, and make the engine a little noisier. Cool.
You can see here where the backlash gear used to go:
Getting the motor in the frame:
I had to work on the bike by myself, so I wanted to be able to get the motor back in the frame without actually having to lift the motor, so I lowered the bike as much as I could by sliding the fork tubes up in the clamps. I first got the engine mounting bolt through the head, then used it as a fulcrum to lift the rear of the engine into place with my right hand, and using my left hand I slid the rear mounting bolt into place.
Here is the slammed suspension, and rear engine mount lined up. It was actually very easy to get the motor in, once I had all the mounts in the correct place. There are 2 plates at the rear just beneath the swingarm that gave me trouble. Once I had them installed correctly, all was well.
Next, I had to install the bottom frame rails. I couldn't use my craftsman jack because it would be in the way, and I couldn't leave the bike standing up on its own because the kickstand is on the lower frame rails. Mr Tiedown meet Mr Ceiling Joist. This was actually a really good way to work on the bike.
Here are the cams installed sans backlash gears:
Another pic of the bike (and the messy garage, sorry Ridge)
I had problems getting the starter to work, I'm not sure why.
I took it apart and reassembled it probably 10 times today, it finally worked and I stuck it back in the bike and it fired right up, first try, like nothing had ever happened.
It took me about 4 hours to rebuild the motor, probably another 2 to get it in the frame, and another 4-6 hours to get everything lined up/torqued, and all the other goodies like carbs, exhaust, swingarms, etc installed, then another 6 days to get the electric's working. Yay sucky electronic problems. I could have rebuilt the motor 5 times in the time it took me to get the starter working.
These are all the pics I have, but I'll take some more tomorrow. I haven't actually ridden the bike yet, only revved it in the garage. It was late, and loud! The Bub'd, 904cc'd, big valved, ported+polished bonnie is a mean machine.
More to follow. Soon. :-D
ha, HA! I'm happy as hell! This is better than the first day I got it. Would I do it again? You bet your ass I would! :-D
[ This message was edited by: sweatmachine on 2007-05-28 23:57 ]
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