Engine needs a refresh - make that a big bore!

[Syscrush]

Pipe has been cleaned up and ceramic coated, glamour shots to follow soon.

Don't feel bad, just tell me how awesome the newly-coated pipe looks!

[Jeff Bennetts]

Looks great, you can clean up the the exhaust stud nuts by using acorn nuts, they will tighten fully without any extra washers, you can get them in chrome, stainless, exc, exc.

I bet you can't wait to get on that thing, it's supposed to get warm again. next week.

Thanks Jeff! I am dying to get out riding again, so is my wife.

My first thought on fasteners was acorn nuts, too, and I do think that they'd look good. Ideally, I'd like something understated that doesn't draw attention, like this:



But there's an unthreaded part of the shaft protruding through the exhaust flange, which requires some kind of separate or integrated spacer. I don't know if this interference was there before as the mechanic who did the disassembly left the shop before reassembly started this year. It could be because the aftermarket flange is thinner than stock, or some effect of the head work on the fitment of the exhaust studs - or even both.

What I think I'll do is get some black metric coupling nuts and drill out the threads a bit on one side - just enough to clear the unthreaded part of the stud that's proud of the flange. It should look tidy and uncluttered, fit correctly, and be easy to do. From the outside, it would just look like this:



We'll see. In any case, it's down to some pretty small details now. :)

Either of those black fasteners would look great, another idea would be to thread the studs the couple mm's you need for the acorns to bottom.

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Phil did you get them coated at Fireball near Orangeville?
What finish and colour is that?

[Syscrush]

Phil did you get them coated at Fireball near Orangeville?
What finish and colour is that?

I went to someone closer - Brightside Coating in Toronto.

I got a word of mouth referral, and when I called and asked to talk to a customer who had had similar work done (especially the pistons) for a similar engine, he put me in touch with a guy who builds race engines for air-cooled Porsches. I went with Brightside on the strength of that reference.

I am pleased with the quality of the work, and the way Mike does business. The one caveat is that this is a side business he does evenings and weekends - if you have ANY kind of deadline, it's not gonna work.

I was a bit apprehensive about the dry film lubricant coating on the piston skirt, as it is supposed to be applied so thin that it's not accounted for in fitting the pistons to the bore. If it goes on too thick, you have interference and wear - I have heard horror stories from people who ended up having to sand off the coating in order to fit the pistons to the cylinders. Mine went in without issue, which was a big relief.

If you can wait for your parts, then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him - especially for people in the east end of Toronto.


As for the color and finish - it's ceramic coating. Unfortunately, I didn't take notes and don't remember the name of the color - it's not quite a flat black, I think it's a satin black. I've asked Mike if he knows and will update when I hear back.

[Mouse]

Pipe has been cleaned up and ceramic coated, glamour shots to follow soon.

Don't feel bad, just tell me how awesome the newly-coated pipe looks!

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Phil, i remember reading good things about Brightside on GTAM but that was in regards to powder-coating.
Looking forward to follow-up reports on the ceramic exhaust after a couple months of riding.

[Syscrush]

Phil, i remember reading good things about Brightside on GTAM but that was in regards to powder-coating.
Looking forward to follow-up reports on the ceramic exhaust after a couple months of riding.

He does ceramic, too, but most of the regular joe business is powder. The ceramic is more for racers and engine builders, and that is done mostly for automotive. This might have been his first motorcycle work, other than some Harley exhausts.

[Syscrush]

Phil, i remember reading good things about Brightside on GTAM but that was in regards to powder-coating.
Looking forward to follow-up reports on the ceramic exhaust after a couple months of riding.

The coating was Cerakote Glacier Black.

I'll bring it to St. C so you can have a look for yourself. For real this time!

[Syscrush]

There's trouble with this wacky "inverter" component that comes with the Speedhut gauges to drive the lighting. I don't get it, 12V LEDs are cheap and plentiful, why would they use something different that requires a driver? In any case, it looks to be of very robust construction and should last 50 years, but mine is pooched. Calling Speedhut tomorrow to find out about a replacement.

[Syscrush]

There's trouble with this wacky "inverter" component that comes with the Speedhut gauges to drive the lighting. I don't get it, 12V LEDs are cheap and plentiful, why would they use something different that requires a driver? In any case, it looks to be of very robust construction and should last 50 years, but mine is pooched. Calling Speedhut tomorrow to find out about a replacement.

I just got off the phone with Speedhut - the inverter is an actual DC-AC inverter that outputs about 100VAC stepped up from the bike's 12V system. This voltage is required to drive the gauge face lighting, which is electroluminescent. The needle is lit by LED and can take 12VDC. This explains why they use this external inverter - and EL lighting looks great on gauge faces as it's a very smooth and even glow with no hotspots. The tech on the phone told me that they're trying to develop an LED-only solution to eliminate the inverter, but they're not satisfied with the results so far.

Service on the phone was excellent - when I told him it was dying he said "is it melting on ya?" - and when I said yes, he just confirmed my address to send out a replacement by DHL today.

The leaking from the A/N fitting was resolved with a bit of tightening, which was a relief. The t-stat, lines, and fittings are all holding oil just fine now.

Other items that remain to get this work all wrapped up: replace the fasteners on the exhaust, locate or replace the mounting strap for the muffler, and a bit of work on the carbs. The #3 carb float bowl is leaking gasoline, so it's coming off & apart. Also, the carbs need a sync, and the idle hangs a bit when snapping the throttle shut (which as I understand it could be a symptom of poor sync, or maybe a vacuum leak).

Once those things are sorted out and the new inverter is in my hands, the bike goes back together and I break in that sweet new engine!

[Syscrush]

Service on the phone was excellent - when I told him it was dying he said "is it melting on ya?" - and when I said yes, he just confirmed my address to send out a replacement by DHL today.

And it arrived yesterday. I'm running it out to the shop this afternoon.

[Syscrush]

Carbs are fixed up and reinstalled. Jetting is not quite right, but that will be taken care of during the dyno tune. I am expecting the bike to be ready for pickup by the end of this week. Once it's back in my possession, I'll book the time for dyno tune. I'm a bit apprehensive about how long the wait for that might be given that we'll be into racing season soon, and that is a big part of the dyno guy's business.

[Syscrush]

I pick the bike up from Cyclewerx tomorrow morning, and run it out to Brooklin Cycle Racing for dyno time on Monday. Brooklin is a big center for Canadian SBK racing, they do tuning and also logistics and support for the series and for the manufacturer's factory test ride events. Zaid (the tuner) says that the big rush for the racing season starts in about 2 weeks, so I'm not part of a big backlog.

[Syscrush]

Picked up yesterday, did a break-in ride today. More details later, but here's a teaser...


Assembled and in the sun for the first time in 16 months.

[wyly]

no doubt it's gotta feel good to get back in the saddle and ride her...