Paint!

 Huge kudos, thanks, gratitude, etc, etc. to M&M Autobody in Minnedosa.  They prepped and painted the tank and tail for our cafe project.  I'll let the pics speak for themselves!

Until the chassis is totally complete, we'll keep these safe in Mr. Sheppard's office...

The tank... that's some real paint "depth" there!

The matching seat.  With the red and black frame and swingarm, it should look great!

More progress

Front brakes bled.  Lever still feels slightly "mushy" at the bar, although it does "stop" in its travel.  Might leave it for a bit and see if there are any stubborn bubbles left in the system.  Still am confident of a 100% improvement in braking power.

Headers were also wrapped to get the proper hot rod "period" look for the bike.  Actually ran out of a 50' length, but Mr. S had some left over at home from another project.  When we fire it up again, it will likely smoke like crazy (as noted on the instructions) as the oils burn off.

The stainless reverse megaphone muffler installed.  Still a few wiring connections to tidy up, and the rear wheel is off to Transcanada Motorsports to get a new rear tube fitted... it appears to have a slow leak somewhere, and the valve stem is not the culprit.  Must be a hole or pinched somewhere in the tube.

Two steps forward...

Our latest Cafe session brought us closer to completion overall, but a slight hiccup presented itself as well.

A few new parts were necessary to complete the upgraded front brake system.  New brake pads were required, and Transcanada Motorsport got them in for us, and also gave us a discount on the parts.  Here a student figures out how the pads fit into the calipers.  As they are from another machine, there was no manual handy.  A bit of trial and error, and they were installed in the calipers.  These calipers have been sitting for quite some time, after they were rebuilt last school year.



The wiring harness was also fitted and finalized, so the last step was mounting the ground straps.

 Powdercoating is a very thick, durable finish, so in order to get a proper ground, some of the finish has to be removed to allow the wires to make good contact.  A dremel tool and a deft hand sees that just the necessary amount is removed.








Another "new" part gets fitted... the stainless front fender was one of the first purchases, and is now one of the last items installed.  It is a universal design, so a keen eye is needed to make sure it sits properly above the front wheel; not too high, not too low, and "balanced" from front to back.  Note the headlight is now installed after the wiring connections for the electrical system checked out.





While this was going on, Mr. S was preparing to install the new drive chain (thanks Vortex!).  However, it became apparent that there was an issue with the gear selection.  The transmission "fell" out of neutral, and manipulating the shift lever got no results.  After referring to the manual, some more intense surgery was required.  By now it was past 5:30pm, so the student had to leave.  Left to his own devices, Mr. S took off the right hand side cover (after draining the oil).  Sure enough, the selector lever had slipped out of place.  Why?  Because of a 90 cent part!  The "shift shaft retainer clip" had not been installed.  This tiny piece keeps the shift shaft and selector lever in place to turn the gear selector drum.  Once it was re-fitted, everything went back together as it should.  And after checking an online catalogue, it does indeed cost under $1.00.  Glad we found this out now, rather than while it was rolling down the highway!