A bit of a break

Spring break is next week, but we've just heard from Celtic Machining that our caliper bracket is ready to be picked up.  Now that is is completed, the front end of the bike is "done", and the reassembly can continue again in April.  Can't thank Gavin and the crew enough... once again, they are donating their time to the project... Mr. S had the billet alloy material, but the technical expertise, and of course, machining equipment was lacking.  We'll be sure to post some pics when we can.  Our new goal is to have the bike completed before the end of the school year, so ticket sales can start in earnest during the 2014 riding season.  Stay tuned!  You can see the services Celtic provides on the right...

More Progress... engine is in!

At the end of the last session we realized that while we kept the upper shock mount threads clear of powder coat, the mounting bosses ended up with a thick layer -- this needed to be removed so we could mount the rear shocks.  Some emery paper borrowed from the MCI shop, and the paint was removed to allow shock mounting.

The next step was to actually lever the engine into the frame.  This is not easy, and if there was one thing we learned from watching the bike build shows on TV, it was to try to protect the frame from the very heavy and awkward engine.  Some masking tape did the trick.  We did have two small nicks, and of course, if we could do it again, we would have manoeuvred the engine in slightly differently.  That's learning though, right?

Closer inspection of some of the engine bolts revealed a bit of corrosion, so only two were put in place temporarily -- the others would be cleaned with a wire wheel and refinished, and then installed.

We ended the session by fitting the shocks, rear wheel, and the new foot peg assembly.  The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that the rear shock on this side needs to be flipped so that the remote reservoir is facing to the rear of the machine.

Raffle Prep

We are still months away from actually opening the raffle for the cafe project, but we've spent some time mocking up the raffle tickets.  We've purchased a lottery licence from the Town of Minnedosa, and will begin selling tickets in the latter part of this school year.  We are still under a ton of snow, and the bike isn't finished yet, so we should hold off somewhat.  We are only selling 500 tickets, so the chances of winning are better than most draws!

The Rebuild Begins

PowderFX Custom Coatings in Winnipeg came through for us, and combined an incredibly quick turn-around with some awesome work.  Mr. S was in the big city for a 2 day conference, and dropped the sandblasted parts off Thursday afternoon, and then loaded them in his car Friday for the trip home!  Big thanks go out to Rob, who also donated the work to our project.  The link to his website is on the right... be sure to check it out, and give him a call for your powder coating needs!
This is how things sat at the start of our most recent rebuild session.

New bronze swing arm bushings installed.  Thankfully PowderFX had the proper plugs to prevent any powder from getting "inside" the pivot shaft.  Removing powder coat from bearing or contact surfaces is very difficult and time-consuming... however these popped in quite easily.

Rebuilt foot pegs.  New rubber bushings for the frame mount, and new rubber footpads.  The rivet removed by students earlier has been replaced with a nice nickel-plated m8 Allen bolt, with a nylon lock nut on the other end.  Brake stay rod can be seen to the right.

Where we left it...  next step before mounting shocks or the front forks is to carefully install the engine into the frame.  Need to make sure that we don't chip, gouge, or scratch the nice red powder coat on install.  You can see the upper bearing race installed... we need to check in with Celtic Machining to see if they have had a chance to complete the front brake caliper bracket...