Grinding, Drilling, and Welding

We didn't have a full 2 hours today as the students scheduled had to head to the rink for hockey practice.  However we made most of the afternoon, as we were able to work with some pneumatic tools to advance the project.
Last week saw us put together the rear tail light assembly, combining parts from pre 1977 and post 1977 models.  We hit a minor roadblock as the socket for the tailight bulb fouled on the mounting bracket.  Some short work with the die grinder solved that.  Thanks to Mr. Gugin for the use of the tool -- setting up, as well as lending the protective equipment!  The light now fits in the bracket so we will reassemble the parts to test fit next time.

Next we needed to drill holes to set nuts into the frame rail, in order to mount the aluminum battery tray/fuse holder/fender.  Mr. Sheppard had taken the cardboard cutout and fashioned an aluminum equivalent, which you can see on the edge of the workbench.  We need to drill...

Locate the nuts in the holes (shouldered nuts work great here...)

And then weld them in place.  Note that not a lot of filler is needed, as these really aren't load-bearing nuts.  The bolt on the left hand side was used to ensure the nut was square to the frame.  Once everything is cooled, we will remove the bolt, and then use a die to chase the threads to make sure they will work with the appropriate bolt.  Much better than aluminum riv-nuts, which are another option.

Finally, the boys get a look at the wiring diagram.  It looks complicated, but with some patience and trial and error, it will work.  Big thanks to xs650.com forum member "jayel" from Southwestern Iowa, who made the diagram for us to use.

Back at it

January has been a bit of a hit-and-miss month with the project, as many of the students are also involved with basketball and curling, both of which also fall on Tuesdays.  The start of Februrary sees these activities wrap up, so kids are become more available to continue working on the bike.

A bigger job for this session was stripping the wiring harness in order to start from scratch.  As mentioned previously, the entire bike will be re-wired, from scratch, mating 40-year old handlebar controls with a modern ignition system, regulator/rectifier, and blade fuses.  Took almost the entire session, but with patience, the harness was stripped and we should have enough wire (in the right colors) to connect all the component parts.

Part of what makes a Cafe bike "trick" is to create the clean look.  The advantage of our seat section is that some bulky parts, like the batter and other components, can be hidden under the seat hump.  First step is to trace... you can see the student in the background utilizing some scrap cardboard and a steady hand.

And then we cut!  This piece will be traced onto an aluminum sheet and cut out.  It will act as a inner fender, as well as allow a spot for the battery box to be mounted, and will also provide some "real estate" to mount the fuse box and perhaps the regulator/rectifier.

While this was going on, another student worked on the front end of the bike.  The top triple clamp needed to be removed and the new headlight ears installed onto the forks.  Once done, this allowed the front end to be finished up in terms of the front suspension.

Once done, we are mixing and matching some parts for the rear tailight.  We didn't finish it during this session (we need to modify a bracket), but we think we've come up with an acceptable way to mount the tailight to the bike.