Hello From Melbourne (Kawasaki F11B)

[JADERD]

Quick update, spent most of yesterday ripping bike to bits, all went smoothly other than 2 breakages.

- one screw - bottom one on clutch casing near gear lever stripped.....all the screws seem to be a real soft compound i reckon ? Managed    to get it undone with some pliers no prob.

- Broke one of the oil lines reckon i hardly bumped it and it snapped, noticed in the picture i posted earlier in the thread that the same one was snapped in the pic i grabbed from some other forum....might be an easy common one to break ?.  I figure its prob a little hard to repair and costly so i think ill just buy another one as theres one on ebay although incl postage will cost around $75.00

everything else went well, majority of rubbers all still ok.

Also now that i have stripped it down im pretty certain i am not going to restore it to orig condition.....i think i have a mental problem that every car or piece of equipment i own i need to modify it and make it my own in some way, in regard to the bike it wont be any cutting or welding or anything, basically just the use of color will get it how i want it i think.

heres some pics

All the nuts and bolts, converting the tatty paper notes to stickers to go on top of box above item


Naked and nice


All parts fitted nicely


Made a quick wooden base to stop it rocking...sits pretty flat anyway


The broken line...i figured the plastic had broken but was actual metal...

[JADERD]

Long time no update,

been flat out the last two weeks.

i dropped the motorbike seat off at my uncles 2 weeks ago so it was there ready whenever we decided to do it.
Then got married, then a week in vanuatu and now back at work

Dropped into my uncles last night to pull seat apart, old cover was one he made 15+ yrs ago for dad.

45 minutes later we shared a beer with the completed seat, the man is a machine...40+ years motor trimming i guess makes most jobs quick and easy.

very happy with the result as its what i was hoping it would come out like.....uncle happened to have the pressed pattern vinyl laying around from doing bike seats back in 70's/80's.

[JADERD]

Spent an hour or two pulling rest of bike apart,

all came apart easy.

A few surprises, i had always figured the front forks were leaking oil as often there was slight oil and dust on the forks over the years.....once removed i slipped back the dust cover boot and pushed them in out out 50+ times even upside down with no leaking....could it be they were never leaking, or are fully out of oil ?  Should i just drop past a motorbike shop to get their opinion ? or does anyone know of any home tests? as i would rather not pull them apart if i dont need to.



did a quick sand (1200 grit) and then polish with drill of one rear shock...15 mins or so and started to look great, alot more time and they will be great.  They feel good shock condition wise so will use them until they die.

big difference from quick polish



so now all parts are removed and thinking about whether to DIY all sand blasting, sanding back and rattle can spraying or out source and do it all via powder coating, thing is i want this to be a budget resto, will see how i go.

[JADERD]

Spent a few hours yesterday playing around.

Have got back to bare metal some of the frame

sanded then polished up oil pump cover, will begin to do all the other cases soon, next will be the clutch cover as already off and in much need of a clean / sand / polish

investing in a crappy $30 240v power drill for getting frame back to bare metal, dont want to ruin my 18V lithium ion etc.

Also purchased an Ozito brand rotary tool includes accessories and 1m extension, cant fault it, at only $40 its a good $100 + cheaper than dremel equiv, only reason i bought ozito rotary tool is because i have used and abused my ozito drill and it never misses a beat 2 yrs on.

Also got a 350watt SCA 200mm bench grinder and added a 150mm calico wheel and polish compound which has worked a treat so far.

Seeing that im able to get things back to bare metal without too much difficulty just using wire wheel dont think ill bother PC, i should be able to get satisfactory results with rattle can job and save myself a fair bit of cash to put towards other parts for bike.

Sideburn mags arrived last week, some good reading and pics, and grabbed latest edition of VMX yesterday for more bedtime entertainment.

[JADERD]

27 parts should be ready for pickup from Sanblasting and PC 30 % gloss finish.


parts below that were dropped off  + kick stand & front fork covers / headlight bracket which im pretty sure i wont use as i ordered some black universal headlight brackets so i can leave the shiny top of front forks visible.







headlight brackets i bought look something like this



also looking at getting some smaller indicators that run 6v...have chatted with guy from this website
http://www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/goffyindicators.htm


regarding these indicators 2.5" long by 1 1/8th at widest....4 X incl postage from UK for around $80 aus. also found nicer ones i like that the guy can setup for around 25$ per indicator...anyone have anyother ideas ? must be 6V, smaller in size than stock and short stem as want to use the spare holes on headlight bracket above for the fronts and rears in normal mount positions just in closer to the rear tail.
 

[Canam370]

27 parts should be ready for pickup from Sanblasting and PC 30 % gloss finish.


parts below that were dropped off  + kick stand & front fork covers / headlight bracket which im pretty sure i wont use as i ordered some black universal headlight brackets so i can leave the shiny top of front forks visible.





headlight brackets i bought look something like this



also looking at getting some smaller indicators that run 6v...have chatted with guy from this website
http://www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/goffyindicators.htm


regarding these indicators 2.5" long by 1 1/8th at widest....4 X incl postage from UK for around $80 aus. also found nicer ones i like that the guy can setup for around 25$ per indicator...anyone have anyother ideas ? must be 6V, smaller in size than stock and short stem as want to use the spare holes on headlight bracket above for the fronts and rears in normal mount positions just in closer to the rear tail.
 




I have that style of indicator in alloy finish for $32 a pair if thats of interest. Cheapie chrome headlight mount brackets are $22. PM me. I'm in Melbourne.

[JADERD]

Spent a couple of hours today making some progress.

Through the week the hex bolts arrived and so did the headlight brackets so that was exciting, hex screws fit perfect and are specific for the F11B which makes life easy, cheap american dollar is a bonus in buying currently also as basically all parts are US located.





So today i had a go at one of the front forks, cleaned it down, went over it all by hand with 320 grit then 800 grit paper, then gave her a polish with drill attachment and then hand with microfibre cloth, result came out ok, i will go over it with some lighter grade paper ending in like a 1500 or something which should take out some slight swirls visible up close.  Vast improvement over the stock dirty look.




then cleaned the front guard and gave it a quick going over with some 320 grit, also cleaned the underside which is perfect paint wise (black) and wont need a respray which is great.  The rear tail though i might do top and bottom in the silver as the inner guard at rear protects most of it anyway.



All poweder coating is complete so i will prob get that first thing tomorrow morning....its great the place opens at 7am so doesnt effect getting to work ontime etc.

im enjoying the build throughly so far and not minding the fact it may be many months until able to be ridden......i need to get my license first anyway

[JADERD]

quick update, i picked up all my parts from the powder coater, very happy with the results esp the choice for satin (30%) gloss, its not too out there and saying look at me im shiny, but enough to show its all 100% perfect and new looking.

So frame and swingarm are living inside now out of the way due to space in garage and not wanting to knock them over onto concrete floor etc.

The rest are boxed up wrapped in towels awaiting reinstall in time.

Made one final purchase before stopping on the buying of bits and pieces for a while as i have ran out of cash the last of my "car/bike parts" cash stash has dwindled down so now i can only spend what I allow myself and the missus to have as our weekly "kitty" of cash whilst rest goes towards house / holiday savings.

Most of what i need to do now anyway just involves cleaning, cleaning, more cleaning  and sanding / painting / polishing of various parts which should take me the next few weekends of spare time.

Final part i did grab was a NOS original factory option classifies as the "offroad" optional front fork brace.  One came up on ebay, incl postage from US only $25 AU dollars so thought i would grab it as i like how it looks and should shine up ok.

[JADERD]

didnt get to touch the bike over the weekend as had wifes sisters 21st and mothers day on sunday where i cooked up a feast for the mother in law.


today was a successful day though...more cash spent lol.


my exhaust has surface rust all over it really and the rust in the u bend is all the way through producing a fair few pin holes which basically means the 180 degree bend needs replacing.


Contacted 3 motorcycle repair places in melb and they all told me the same place for exhaust repairs so must be the go to company.  Quoted $25 for the bend (obviously mandrel) which is fair then 2 hrs labour with bike to ensure pefrect fitment etc @ $75 an hour so $175 total


kept hunting on ebay and found the best condition stock exhaust yet and i won the bid with the only bid at $22 US dollars and $92 US for postage so around $110 AU dollars deliverd to my door


very happy, had a few email chats with the seller prior to bidding to gain postage cost, didnt expect to get it for 22$ which was a bonus. 


pics below....looks to me as if its  NOS been sitting in shed really as no dints scratches or rust at all!!!
Doesnt contain baffle though i have that already, looking forward to its arrival

[VMX247]

Great story Jaderd ...keep at it..
Cant wait to see it finished..
Your weaving some magic there.. ..Good for you !!
cheers A

[JADERD]

fork brace arrived yesterday, quite a nice little piece of kit, look forward to cleaning it up this weekend.

[JADERD]

Did a quick hour tonight in garage,

had a look at the gasket set i bought in nov 2008 to see if it was a full kit...which to my surprise it was which is great, i got it for $30 in 08.

took the right case off, everything looks so clean and new in there...the goodness of oil i guess.

will pull clutch apart as pretty sure plates are stuck as clutch wouldnt work when running......is there a way to check without undoing all the bolts etc ?

started degreasing the engine case.

might be a stupid question, i couldnt see in the workshop manual having a quick flick through, how do i remove the tacho cable fully out so that i can sand and polish easier ?

any info would be great

cheers

- yesterday my sticker arrived ready for tank.
- and also my off road brace arrive, gave it a quick 5 min polish with California custom polish  it came up pretty good from one once over....i think ill light sand it before next polish.

[JADERD]

Cheers for info mate, much appreciated.

as for tacho cable i really should have just though about it, ofcourse its the same as the instrument ent where the cable becomes square in shape and just pushed in, just need to spray a little WD40 in there to loosed it up and it slid straight out, made sanding and polishing case alot easier.

Sanded and polished rights case, came up ok, still not happy with it, i think i might go back at it with some 800 grit as there are still some "deeper" blemishes by the look, then hit it with some 1200 then polish and should get better result.

took left case off, cant believe how clean inside....from what i can see the electrical side of it seems clean and new looking so not sure ill bother getting a closer look at it at the moment.

Now im really contemplating as to whether i should take the head off etc...mainly for the purpose of painting, it would be alot easier and i could clean up the head studs better etc.

What are ppls thoughts....engine only has 9,000km on it, though im in no rush to get it back together (starting winter in oz so garage time is preferred over riding time) so maybe worth while pulling it down and inspecting / changing what needs to be.

Sprocket teeth appear to be fairly worn out, reccomend changing  ? or are they designed with the slight hook shape ? i didnt think they were.

Thanks in advance for any advice.... also anyone know what the scratches would be from on the points case cover if thats what its called & also the 3 drill holes that go in a few mm (havent looked in workshop manual yet, prob explained in there)

[oldfart]

Drill holes are there to balance it at factory.... ole mate

[Tex]

Looks like you're making good progress. Is the F11B gonna be a show bike, or is it going to get dirty? There's a vinduro at Tallarook at the end of the month... 

The sprockets should NOT have hooked teeth. That one looks pretty worn to me.

BTW, does your uncle still do motor trimming stuff?

Tex

PS. This thread probably needs to continue under Kawasaki now.