Sunday polishing

Got motivated enough to get a bit of work done today, first time for a while I've been able to. As a bit of an update, the following bits and pieces have been done over the past while since the last update (most of which was done today):

-Carburettors are finished. Except for the stupid little springs and ball bearings which retain the choke rod are missing. Could be fun finding those, but I guess once the garage is a bit tidier they'll turn up.

-Polished up the fork legs. Look a hell of a lot better now.

-Painted up the lower fork bracket and re-packed the bearings with grease, installed it to the frame.

I recently received a pair of brake rotors to replace the front pair, and the rear rotor will be replaced by one of the better rotor which I already have. Thats about all for now, if I've forgotten anything, it'll be posted later on.

Until next update.
-Hobbsy

Sleep is only optional anyway.

Well, here it is, 1.12am and I can't sleep. Well, with things going around here how they are, who could blame me. But I digress. The motorcycle, right.
This week has been fair for progress. Things have finally started rolling a little, seeing as I pretty much now have all the parts I'm going to need to complete this bike. Except for the exhaust, for one. So, the basic run down on what got done is as follows:
-Reassembled the bottom end of the motor. Took two attempts, as I had to do the crankcase joining twice. Dont ask, it just makes me feel stupid. (See if you can find what I forgot in the first photo that made me reseparate the crankcase.)
-Reassembled brake calipers. Now the discs are the only bit of braking to look into. Might see if I can get the discs re-surfaced.

-Completed the carburettor re-building, except for the polishing of the No. 4 carburettor top. Will only take half an hour or so. All the fibre washers and float needles came in (finally).


Basically, the next move is either start on the frame rebuilding, or continue with the motor. But seeing as the motor is heavy as to lift by myself, it's probably wiser to get a rolling frame ready for engine implanting. Will probably look into the fuel petcocks at some point soon too. I can only imagine how big a mess they're going to be. Hopefully will get away with not having to order bits.

Wheels will require stripping and repainting at some point. Will definately be easier out of frame, so that might be the next move. See how the mood is this week as to whether that gets started.

Well, thats basically it in a nutshell for now. I realise I've been slack with this, but keep in mind I've been away for 3 weeks. But its all good now. Well, I'm going to bed now. Much tiredness. Few pictures added for viewing pleasure. Cheers.

Catch you next update.
-Hobbsy

Ah... Little break back there...

Holy crap, it was April last time I updated this? Pretty damn slack of me. But, I got in and did a little more this week, since I got back from Darwin on the weekend after 3 weeks up there. Brake calipers are completed, except for the pads which I'll still have to order.
I sound like a broken record, but the engine is going to start assembly this week. Even though most of the gaskets are on backorder, I at least have all the bearings I need now.
I'm kinda tired, so this is going to be a short update, even after so long. Will do a better one another day with a full update of progress.
See you next update.
-Hobbsy

Putting off what has been done already

Well, I should have posted this about a week or so ago, but once again it just kept getting put off. Meanwhile, a bit more got done, so this is really more of an update this way. Bit more substance, or something.
The frame came back from Inverell a week and a bit ago, all repaired and painted. Came up good, I'm happy with it. Disassembled the brake calipers as well, just need to track down seal kits for them and re-paint.
The engine crankcase got split this week too, after a bit of drama (and profanities...).
I really hate it when Torx head bolts (or star head bolts, whatever) decide they dont want to play the loosening off game. Things get messy, as the picture below shows. Luckily, a drill and set of screw extractors came to the rescue without things getting out of hand.
Made a little more progress with the 3rd carburettor, but I think I'll just get everything I need to re-assemble the engine and concentrate on that. Will probably reuse the main crankshaft bearings, they look really good. Pistons as well, probably. Just need rings. Other than that, just a few oil seals are going to be required, and everything should go back in place. After the innards of the engine are cleaned out of all the dirt etc that got into it during disassembly.
Well, thats about it for now. I think this could be called progress, slow as it is.

Until next update.
Cheers.
-Hobbsy

Detachable frame...

Finally, I got around to getting the frame away from the rear wheel. Was going to do it by unbolting the swingarm from the frame, but due to not having a 27mm socket when I needed one, I went a different way about it. Same end result though.
Will be loading the frame onto a mate's ute to take back to Inverell this weekend. Must try and get it sandblasted, welded and painted if possible this weekend. Being a 4 day weekend, I reckon it's doable. Even if I do tend to slack off.

In a sense, it could be said I made it half-way through this project, seeing as the bike is completely disassembled. Maybe thats just an overly optimistic way of looking at it too... Something tells me the next half is going to be the hard part.

Cheers.
-Hobbsy

Cleaning and continuation

Brake lines came back from the workshop yesterday, came up pretty good. Pricey, but what isn't nowadays? Now the lines are done I'll get started on the calipers. With any luck the insides of them will be in good nick.
Getting back into finishing the carburettors, on to No.3 carby. Will order the float valve needles and seats probably next week, so should have the carbs done so they can go in.
Next weekend being Easter, I'll be taking the frame back to Inverell to get sandblasted and fixed up. Once I get that done, it'll be a whole lot easier to get started with putting things back on.
Last thing, finally got around to sorting out the garage. I can walk around without taking out my shins now. A few photos posted up too.






Cheers.
-Hobbsy

Wow, an update.

I just realised it's actually been more than a month since I've actually updated anything here. But to make it even worse, it's because I've been slack up to the point I haven't done anything since the last post either. Just been waiting for the right motivation I suppose.
Finished removing brake lines this afternoon, and took them around to the brake and clutch place down the road to get them re-made into stainless braided lines. They should be back tomorrow.
I've now gotten the mindset that it's time to get back to getting everything ready for re-assembly. Will have to look into perhaps getting the fenders re-chromed. The engine is ready to have the crankcase split, so there's a job for this week / weekend.
Plenty to do, and I wont get it done by sitting back. Time to get back to work I suppose.

Cheers.
-Hobbsy

Night work

I know I said in the last blog that the frame would have everything off it on the weekend, but it turns out I find it hard to keep deadlines with myself on this. A swap meet in Toowoomba ensured that. I also find it hard to get motivated when I'm working night shift at work, the daytime seems like a better time to arse about and do nothing. Must try and remedy that.
Just a quick bit of pottering about, and without pictures, since the batteries for my camera sacrificed themselves for a Lego bulldozer. Dont ask...
The triple tree and forks have finally come away from the frame, leaving only the swingarm to get off, but since I lack the socket to do it with (I swear I need to go and buy some tools...) it'll have to wait until I can get one from someone.
Also started stripping the carbies properly, and I'll be waiting until the re-build kits turn up for them. Which means I'd better get in and order them too... damn.
See you next update.

Cheers,
-Hobbsy

Engine removal

Finally got the engine removed today, although the task was made a little harder by the cylinders not wanting to play the game. Before the block was lugged out of frame, I removed the cylinders, and the pistons, for making the weight a little more manageable. Not sure if I'll be re-using the pistons, that can wait for a little while until I sort out the bottom end stuff.
Haven't split the crank-case yet, will probably do that next weekend, or during the week if I manage to wake up during the day before work.
It's a good thing I got my hands on some plastic small containers for bolts and nuts, otherwise there would be stuff everywhere, which makes the reassembly a pain.
Also took off the front calipers, rear brake cylinder, the oil cooler and the front indicators. Everything seems to be in good condition so far, apart from plating and paintwork containing more rust than coating. It'll all clean up alright though.
If I work at it, the swingarm and front forks should be off the frame next weekend, so it'll be ready to cart back to Inverell for sandblasting and painting, along with the rest of the things that will need it.
See you next update.

Cheers,
-Hobbsy

Small hiatus

Well, after a week of having not posted anything, the fact that I can get lazy has shown. But I won't use the fact I've been sleeping during the day and working nightshifts as an excuse. Nope, not me. But anyway, a long weekend is a good opportunity, I figure.
Did a bit of stuff during the week, which mainly consisted of making a makeshift centre stand, since mine is about as helpful as a black snake at a barbecue. See photo. Actually works quite well, as long as you don't lean on the bike too much.
Started the removal of the engine from the frame today, got as far as the cylinder head being off, will finish up tomorrow. Everything as far as top end wise seems to be in pretty good nick, no worn down camshafts or metal flying around. Piston crowns and chambers are a little carbonised, but what 27 year old engine doesn't have a bit of character?
Will have to look into getting the head cleaned up, sort that out after disassembly is finished. Posted a few photos too.
See you next update. (Should be tomorrow)

Cheers.
-Hobbsy

Surface Finishing

Thought I'd get a bit of the painting of little stuff started today, so I started by dismantling the instrument cluster, including the instrument covers. Sanded those down, and got rid of the rust from them, and painted the metal bits with black gloss paint. Came up pretty good actually.

On an unrelated note, I remembered how expensive motorbike batteries are today. $145 for a battery to go into my Yamaha FJ1200, after the one in it decided to collapse. Expensive...

I found that the speedo on the instrument cluster has the odometer reset knob broken off. I have both pieces, but I'm not sure how well a good glue is going to hold it. Don't really want to dismantle the speedo to get the knob out completely, I think it'll be more trouble than it's worth. I'll see how it goes.
A little weekend work done today. I'll have to make a habit of it.
See you next update.

Cheers.
-Hobbsy

Electrical removal

Just a quick one today (believe me, there'll be a lot of quick ones during this), pulled out the wiring loom and electricals from the frame, only electrical thing left is the front indicators. Also pulled the rear guard, exhausts and centre stand (before it decided to fall off itself).
Told ya it'd be quick. See you next update.

Cheers,
-Hobbsy

Blood, sweat and tears

Damn, it's been hot today.

I got around to removing a fair amount of components from the bike. Since one of the first orders of business here is to get the frame fixed up and re-painted, everything else has to come off. Makes sense, really.
You might notice I said the frame needs 'fixing up'. Well, this is because the metal where the centre stand welds to the frame has ripped away, which explains why the centre stand doesnt really work the way it should. I'm pretty sure a good welding up will fix the problem. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I've put a photo of the nice crack/gaping hole below.

I think I found the most roundabout way of removing the battery from a bike, too. Since the bike came with no keys, the left side-cover which the battery is supposed to slide out from is kind of locked in place. The screws to take the lock from the frame were sitting under the battery holder. So, in order to get the battery holder off, the battery had to come out. Of course, the right hand side has a bunch of other stuff in the way, so I ended up having to remove the carburettors and the air-box in order to get the battery to come away. Admittedly, all this stuff had to come off anyway, but it would have been nice to take it off later on. I also managed to jam a nice sharp bracket into the start of my thumb-nail while getting to the battery, so the blood and swearing were a good addition to the day.

Still havent found any broken pieces either (except for the whole centre stand thing), which is a plus. The more bits I can keep and use now, the less time and money I'm gonna have to spend later trying to track down things which were busted.
Must find a locksmith this week, try and get some keys made up for this thing. Might just make life easier.

Back to work this week, progress may be a little slow... don't judge me just because I'm a lazy bugger. See you next update.

Cheers,
-Hobbsy

Dismantling starts

A little bit of work has been done this afternoon, just around dismantling the instruments, handlebars and headlight assembly. At this stage I can't find a great deal of actual broken things which will need replacing, although I can see a lot of sanding and painting coming up.

One thing I'll need to check out is the tacho, since it's displaying 1000RPM all the time. Probably the hairspring tension inside the instrument itself, but I'm really not too sure at the moment.
Wiring all seems to be in good order, even if a lot of terminals were corroded. But then just about everything on it is rusted. I've never loved my can of WD-40 so much.
Catch you next update.

Cheers.
-Hobbsy

First photos posted

Just a quick update. Pinched some batteries for the camera (housemate is having trouble with the TV at the moment...) and uploaded some shots for you to be amused at. Hopefully in a few months these pictures won't look so depressing.

A few things:
Yes, that is a large hole in the bottom of the exhaust. Yes, that is a fair amount of rust. But where's the fun in a bike without problems?
I've actually had the bike a week or so, I only just brought it back to Brisbane the other day. Pulled the carburettors down in Inverell, which was an experience, should have taken some photos. Nothing moved inside them, they were completely siezed up. Nothing a day of stripping them down and cleaning didn't fix.
On the plus side, when a battery is put in, the bike starts, and has a wonderful idle. Not sure if I'll re-build the engine or not, see how things pan out.
First things first, time to start pulling the bike down so everything can be painted/plated. See you next update.

Cheers,
-Hobbsy

It begins...

Well, I finally took some advice from someone, and decided I'd better actually make a record of the project I decided to take on this time, so everyone can see just how disorganised I can be at times.
This is a blog of the restoration of a 1981 Yamaha XS1100 motorcycle, which I picked up on Ebay for $1700. (Please, after you've seen the photos, don't laugh too hard. It's bad enough thinking how much more I'm gonna have spent by the end of this...)

The idea of this project is to completely dismantle the bike, and rebuild it bringing it back to relatively close to original condition, or as close as my budget will allow me to do.
It's really only going to be worked on during weekends or in my time off, so if this blog isn't updated in a while, it's not that I'm being lazy with the blog (but it could be), I probably just haven't gotten anything done. I'll try to keep this updated as much as I can, even if only just to remind me of what I've gotten done and have to do.

I unloaded the bike a couple of days ago, and it's now sitting in my garage. Unfortunately my camera has flat batteries, so I'll have to post some photos in a little while.
I suppose this first post is more of a formality than anything. See you in the next update.

Cheers.
-Hobbsy