New Helmet day!

Sorrento via White Lake & Balmoral, back to Blind Bay for supper with the family at Finz. Beautiful evening.

Let my buddy Dave take Charlie for a short rip. He was impressed with Charlie's acceleration and speed. I was all smiles the whole time.

Early morning cruise

Woke up early so went for a cruise. 

Lunch time rip

Back in the stable!

So happy to have Charlie back and running great with a fresh top-end.

Thanks to Mike Hubbard at Good Vibrations Mechanical.

Fun continues...

Charlie's in serious need of a top end rebuild. Not riding until this is all done :(

Dime City Cycles bar end mirrors arrived!

They end up making the handle bars look very wide but seem very functional; un-obstructed view behind me. All I mostly saw with the other mirrors was my arm. Might just keep the left side and maybe sell the other? We'll see.

Start Up

Ford Road

Build it and they will come!

Buddy that helped me get my motorbike licence years ago heard that I built a bike so he had to come for a rip with me. He rides an HD Electroglide.

And he got a shot of me riding Charlie

First commute to Work!

So my buddy came by last night with some mirrors to borrow until I receive the ones I have on order from DCC. This enabled me to ride my bike to work for the first time! It was scary as fuck but I made it!



Tin foil to prevent a minor leak from the oil filter gasket from dripping on the concrete. I have a new gasket and will replace it when I change the oil soon. 

WHOOHOO!!!

Got all the electrical figured out! (except for tachometer but that's ok)

And since I stole the power from the signal running lights to power my gauges back lighting, the respective gauge back light goes off when the blinker is activated (so I don't forget)!

The problem was the switch lever, it just needed to be bent a little to actually move the switch. D'OH for taking so long to tear apart the switch.

Also, the signal relay was connected the wrong way so when I actually got the switch fixed, the light just stayed on. Once I reversed the connectors, blinky blinky!

The last thing for this bike build to be complete - at least for the short-term - is to get some mirrors on the bike. So close!

Electrcal Fiddle Farting

Well, I've put over 30 km on the odometer driving around the neighborhood but I still don't have a functioning brake light, signal lights, or a mirror. I made progress last night and now have the rear tail light working and am very close to figuring out how to get the signal lights working. Part of the problem is that I've taken out the original gauge and indicator light cluster and I think this helped to close the circuit for the signal lights. Now that I know that brown is unswitched power, I will be able to splice into it to power the back lighting in my after market gauge cluster. Still outstanding is to figure out how to get the electric rpm gauge connected. The stock rpm gauge was mechanical.

I ordered some oval bar end mirrors from dime city yesterday so that issue is being dealt with!

First ride today!

It's Alive!

New carb boots arrived, waiting for flywheel puller for stator and pickup replacement...

It turns!

Grounding issues solved, no spark. Thought is that stator is shot. New used one possibly going in today. Ignore the tank, it's from the other bike. One of the carbs is also leaking.

Shiny new starter solenoid arrived yesterday!

Looking forward to hearing this bike turn over!


(photo credits: Back Alley Moto)

Updates

I've been receiving updates from Back Alley Moto.

So far he's:
-ordered a new solenoid
-filled the brake system with brake fluid and confirmed it's working (had the wrong size banjo bolt initially)
-installed the chain
-set up the rear brake
-cleaned the rust off the flywheel
-corrected some of the mistakes I made with the wire harness
-cleaned up electrical contacts on the wire harness
-cleaned up the ground points
-polished the starter

I'm bursting with excitement to finally ride this thing. It might be ready for a test ride in about 2 weeks! eeeeeek!


(photo credits:Back Alley Moto)

New lid!

Told a friend I was looking for a helmet and he came out with this and said it's mine. Wow! Thanks David Colombe!

Well, I made a deal with guy that will help me take the bike to the end and he'll take the other bike I just acquired in trade. The bike is now loaded and ready to take to Armstrong tomorrow evening.

Wire Harness all connected and.....no start

Well, finally got a few hours to work on the bike. Got the wire harness all connected. Head light works, horn works but nothing when I press the start button. Headlight goes dim, then nothing. Slightly anti-climatic evening...

Betsie paying off

Well tonight I realized just how essential it was for me to get the donor bike. I think I'll call her Betsie. I had the wire harness routed all wrong, I realized I was missing frame brackets on the top of the motor, I was missing the spring loaded lock levers for the seat, and I was missing several flange bolts and various screws throughout the bike, etc. Relieved and somewhat discouraged at the same time as I realize how much more I have to do. Think I may have to take the carbs back off to get the top engine mount brackets back on or at least one of the throttle cables....

Oh well, at least I have a good path forward now.

I just want to ride!

The Bike Shop!

New Donor and potential future project bike

Picked this up yesterday for $200 bucks!

New Brake line in and another missing piece of the motorcycle puzzle, the air cleaner lid.

bike gremlin

coming back together!...slowly

Parts!

Front Brakes

Finally got a chance to work on the front brakes. Piston is in rough shape. Likely have to replace it.

Removing the master cylinder piston was also a challenge. The circlip was rusted right in place.

Header pipes, Collector, Mufflers, rear wheel

Got to spent a bit of time with Charlie. Installed the collector, header pipes, and muffler. I used new copper crush rings and new exhaust gaskets for the collector. I also painted a few things (chain guard and inside of rear fender with POR15, collector shields with high temp engine enamel). Tried to start on the master cylinder rebuild but I couldn't even get the lever off so I sprayed it with penetrating lubricant and left it for now. Still have to drill some holes to mount the new mufflers.

New Oil Filter & Oil