Contents
Planning the Build
Before starting a project and spending money, I try to take an inventory of the bike’s condition and develop a plan and budget. Usually, for a bike this old, I can plan on replacing everything that’s rubber, all the control cables, and renew all the filters. Since my wife has owned this bike since 1978 when I bought it for her as a wedding present, I have a pretty good idea of how it has been maintained and any major problems. Overall, the bike is in good condition for its 40-year age and 97,500 miles.
Take Pictures Before and During Disassembly
I took a number of pictures to document the “before” condition and to help with an initial parts list for the project (below). I also removed the front fender, gas tank and seat to get a better look at the frame and chrome to better see the condition.
High Level Work Plan
Based on the inspection, this is the high-level work plan I came up with.
- Replace all rubber parts
- Remove all cables, tachometer and speedometer cables
- Remove fairing
- Remove tank, side covers and fenders
- Rebuild petcocks and polish
- Remove front wheel
- Clean and polish front wheel
- Grease front wheel bearings
- Inspect brake shoes, replace if necessary
- Rebuild front forks
- Replace steering head bearings
- Remove carburetors
- Rebuild carburetors, clean and polish
- Remove heads and cylinders, exhaust
- Clean and polish exhaust header
- Replace mufflers and cross over pipe
- Bead blast heads, cylinders, valve covers
- Rebuild heads with valves, seats, seals and springs
- Replace piston rings and hone cylinder
- Remove rear wheel
- Clean and polish rear wheel and hub
- Grease rear wheel bearings
- Inspect brake shoes, replace if needed
- Remove shocks
- Clean and polish shocks
- Remove battery box
- Remove turn signals
- Clean and polish turn signals
- Remove rear frame
- Remove rear drive
- Remove transmission and clean
- Grease drive shaft splines
- Remove engine and clean
- Remove all electrics
- Remove wiring harness
- Strip paint from frame, rear frame, rear drive, battery box, fairing bracket, handlebar controls
- Powder coat frame, rear frame, rear drive, battery box, fairing bracket, handle bar controls
- Strip faring paint, repair dings and replace chrome edging and windscreen gasket and wiring harness plug
- Strip paint from fenders, tank, side covers
- Paint fenders, tank, side covers, fairing
- Reassemble frame, wiring harness and electrics
- Mount engine and transmission in frame
- Reassemble rear frame
- Reassemble swing arm
- Reassemble shocks
- Reassemble battery box
- Reassemble cylinders and heads
- Reassemble carburetors
- Reassemble exhaust and mufflers
- reassemble handlebars and controls
- Replace all control cables, speedometer and tachometer cables
- Mount new tires and tubes
- Assemble fenders
- Replace battery
- Assemble wheels
- Assemble tank on frame
Before Pictures
Here’s some of the “before” pictures.
- Left Carburetor
- Right Carburetor and Drive Shaft Gunge
- Petcock Leaks
- Possible Points Seal Leak
- Push rod seal leaks
- 40 Year Old Foot Peg Rubber Shot
- Shot Foot Peg Rubber and Brake Pedal Rust
- Fork leaks and Top Clamp Gunge
- Front Hub and Fork Gunge
- Front Rim Grunge
- Windjammer II Painted to Match with Chips
- Faring Bracket and Frame Rust
- Tank Scratches and Dings
- Wrong Fork Boots & Frame Chips
- Front Fender Damage
- Front Fender Pin Stripe Detail
- Frame Tube Rust and Paint Dings
- Frame Rust, Dings and Clutch Cable
- Battery Box Corrosion
On your second picture showing the right carb I notice what appears to me to be the bolt holding the engine end of the battery ground is at right angles to the drive shaft. My experience is that this hollow bolt usually is parallel to the drive shaft and screws in from the rear forward. Is this a modification or was it factory assembled in the present position?
Hi Tom,
Good eye. The /5 and /6 locate that bolt differently. Here is the picture of the location on my /6, where it faces to the rear
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brook-reams/4446871360/
while on the /5 it faces outward.
Best.
Brook
The ground connection on your /6 is wrong. The cable should be attached to the transmission, not the frame. The special “hollow bolt” you mention is the ground connection, and also a breather for the transmission. It also holds in the speedometer cable.
Hi Garth,
Yes indeed. That’s not the standard location for the ground.
But, “any ground in a storm”. The bolt is about strong enough to hold the speedometer cable due to partial thread stripping. So, the frame had to do for now.
Thanks for taking a look.
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