The Man From The Ministry…He Say 'Yes'.

The bike has now received a 'Pass' of the Ministry of Transport Test and is considered safe to be on the road now that the weeping oil seal has been fixed.  I take responsibility for that failure point as I had 'butchered' the two oil seals when I re-assembled the forks quite some months ago now.  Lesson learnt…I need a proper bearing driver set rather than use a similar sized socket!  Anyway, fork oil seals replaced and no more leaks.

The P-clips arrived in M10 form so I could mount them on the lower yoke pinch bolts.  They are just perfect for moving the braided brake hoses away from the fork legs which was the other failure point.  And with all that done she was given a 'Pass' certificate for one year. 

The Red Bull can went the way of the bin and in its place went an un-required Brembo brake reservoir with a single side exit which was perfect for the job.  A little hole was drilled in it to release pressure and vapours.  This is only a temporary measure as the home-made oil catch tank has its vent to atmosphere at the bottom which means fluid is going to come out of it…it should be at the top.  I shall have to try and locate a properly fabricated one to fit in the very small gap I have.

 

This is the first bike I have ridden since 2006 when I sold my Ducati 748.  The first few miles I felt quite vulnerable but I think that was as much to do with riding a bike that I don't know and the thought at the back of my head that I actually built it and not renowned for my practical skills!!  Or common sense as I ran out of petrol on the way back…thankfully half a mile from my brother in law, who once again has been a diamond bringing me out a few litres of fuel.  I shall now experience range anxiety for the rest of my life!!

At the weekend my 11 year old daughter helped turn the tip we call a garage into a useable storage space…

…all it was missing was the Guzzi.

All that remains now is to source someone to make up the seat that I would like.  I am planning to visit someone tomorrow about this.  There is also a little intermittent problem related to the wiring whereby the lights/horn stop working…so I will attempt to trace that in due course.  And then that will be that.  Another project is being considered along different lines, perhaps a GPZ900R or 1100 Zephyr that might attempt to replicate the artworks that AC Sanctuary produce or maybe a late 80's early 90's icon such as a FZR1000, CBR600 or a 250 stroker if such a thing exists at reasonable money.

So all being well the next blog will be the last one with all the little paint jobs tidied up, a spit and polish and a lovely new seat.

Warps, Weeps and Wing Mirrors.

Before today's scheduled MOT test some bits of the bike needed to be sorted out.  Firstly, it was discovered that a brand new front brake disc was warped that the previous owner of the bike had fitted it.  How it became warped is unknown as it had not been used in anger, but it was definitely warped.  This was discovered when on a short shakedown test the front brake worked fine the first time it was used but then the lever came back to the bars the next time it was pulled.  The warped disc was pushing the pistons back into the caliper as might be experienced with a 'tank slapper', requiring the lever to be pumped again rapidly before the front brakes became effective again.  The bullet was bit and a new brake disc rotor was bought.  So out came the front wheel again and the disc replaced.

Once replaced the braking was sharp and progressive as it ought to be, enough to warrant another test ride by my insured brother-in-law. 

So that was the warp done.

The wing mirrors, or more accurately the bar end mirror, was dealt with last week.  The quality of the Halcyon mirror and its assembly was really good but it was fractionally larger than the internal diameter of the clip ons I am using.  After a fruitless attempt at reaming out the clip on a little attention was turned to filing down the assembly of the mirror…

   …first by attaching the assembly to a regular drill and using emery cloth against it.  This was tediously long but effective, however metal files were eventually utilised!

  Either a small bar end weight will be used the on the other bar or the matching mirror I have sitting in the garage!  Not sure yet.  So that's the wing mirrors done.

And so to the weep.  The offside front fork seal was ever so slightly weeping when the bike was tethered down to the trailer when it was first taken around to my brother-in-laws garage.  Due to the pressure exerted to compress the forks fully by the ratchet straps we though that was a one off cause but then it was noticed again yesterday.  Given that the fork oil is purely for lubrication of the damper rod and spring assembly in the slider and not at all used for the purposes of damping it was a considered risk putting the bike through the MOT.

So today at 1300 the bike was ridden up to the scheduled MOT testing station and the bike put through its paces.  And the man authorised by the Ministry of Transport, he say…"Nice, but failed".  Oh.  Although I was nervous for the MOT test I felt that it may fail on that fork seal, which it did.  The only other points of failure were the braided brake hoses requiring securing so as not to rub against the fork stanchion.  I had some P-clips for this very job but they were too small so decided to still go ahead with the MOT test. 

 

Although not a failure point the MOT tester stated that the speedo cable needed to be further away from the stanchion.  It is held in place by a metal clip which would only require bending 90 degrees to enable the cable to be moved away from the fork.  P-clips are being ordered tonight.  It was also suggested to me that a more robust oil breather catch can should be employed rather than the empty can of Red Bull!!!  So I shall be trying to locate one of those tonight also.

  

Thankfully we already had a brand new spare set of fork oil seals handy so that job will be completed very shortly and that will be the weep done.  And when all of those jobs are complete the bike will be put to the MOT test within the next 10 days or so, then it will be time to commission a lovely leather seat and she will be finally finished which will spell the end of this almost three years long blog.