I Have Seen The Light…

…in the form of a Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welder, wielded by someone who knows how to use such a beast. 

Yesterday was a pleasant three hours tackling the seat fabrication mainly and adapting a throttle assembly.  Naively a couple of blogs ago I thought the finish line was within touching distance.  I liken this to the same way I find that it is the last mile to any unknown destination when using a Satnav that is the hardest to navigate; so it seems is completing a motorcycle.  To be fair, what I am learning now is that when deviating even a little from the original specification will no doubt require quite a bit of problem solving for the seemingly smallest of tasks.  Greater planning at the beginning of the next project, as there will be a next project, will hopefully be tackled with more forethought.

 

It was decided that in order to mount the original seat pan securely it would need a bracket to be welded to its underside for the most forward mount.  So a spare piece of flat bar that used to be the homemade regulator/rectifier bracket on this very bike was pressed into action as a seat mounting point.  Skilfully, my brother-in-law used the MIG welder to fill a previously drilled hole that was in the wrong place, so that a hole could be placed in the right place, allowing this bracket and therefore the seat to mount to the frame.  Welded to this were a couple of captive nuts for the locating bolts to attach from underneath the frame into the seat.  I describe this as I forgot to take photos of this bit but will post some next time.

 

…welding on the captive nuts.

 

…some grinding to prepare the seat to accept the newly made flat bracket.

Another bracket was formed to hang from under the rear of the seat that mounts the rear light…curiously not seen in this photo!

A new, supposedly ‘twin-pull’ RFX throttle assembly had to be modified as it was not a twin pull...it was a ‘push-pull’ type.  So another channel for the second throttle cable was formed in the assembly with an angle grinder making the cables both go in the same direction, transforming it into a ‘twin pull’.  As the assembly has the correct 90° bend in it, the cables will be routed correctly behind the headlight and along the main frame tube neatly.  The length of the plastic grip was also not long enough so the sealed end was cut off to all the throttle to meet up with the front master cylinder.

And just to be sure that the cable barrels/nipples I got last week, a quick solder proved they fit this throttle assembly just fine.

 

…and fitted securely in the throttle twist grip.  Brilliant.

So, what remains to do now?

• Clean out the carburettors , adjust their float levels and balance them if required.
• Clean out the remaining shot from the petrol tank when it was shot blasted.
• Use shorter fuel pipes from carburettors to the petrol tank taps, possibly with an additional set of glass fuel filters.
• Mount the rear seat to frame bracket with any welding if required.
• Continue with bleeding the front brakes.
• Put fluid into the rear brake system and bleed.
• Finalise the routing of throttle cables and ensure they work smoothly in the new assembly.
• Upholstering the seat is going to be left to a professional.
• Ministry of Transport Test!!!