Scheduling...

A scheduling issue means that we won't meet to work on the bike again until after the Christmas break.  Please check back in January for updates!

Good Progress

A productive session with the Kids' Cafe!

A step back as we had to secure the radiator overflow tank with a new top hat spacer and longer bolts...  We loosened off most of the mounting bolts, and tilted the frame back.  Job done.

Next it was time to properly secure the engine in the frame, as well as the shocks and swingarm.

At this point, it was time to mount the drive hub to the swingarm.  First we gave it a good clean with some varsol.  New grease and fresh gear oil will be added before it turns a wheel.

We also took the time to use the wire wheel to clean up the threads of the axles and various bits, nuts, and spacers.

That's a clean set of threads!

The rear wheel is on and secure!

We will only have one more Cafe Session before Christmas, but at this rate, the bike will be on its feet, and we'll start mounting the ancillaries, like brakes, radiator and fan, etc.

An update

I neglected to post of pic of "where we were at" after the first session.  All the mounting bolts are still "finger tight", as we have some adjustments to make before we tighten things down for good.  The frame color is a good choice, as it brings out the aluminum of the engine case and cylinder heads.  Swingarm fitted, with one shock in place to keep it steady.  Hope to get it on it's "feet" next week.

Delay

No bike club this week as we are waiting on parts.  Back to our regularly scheduled program next week.

Coming together

We are now into the reassembly phase.  Mr. S is now using his smartphone for photos, so the quality won't be as good, but we'll still document the project as it comes to completion.
The frame is now mounted on the engine, and Mr. S did some learning, as he'd never worked with a shaft-drive motorcycle before.  However, reading the instructions is always a good place to start, and the swingarm is now back on as well.  It won't be too long until the bike is back on its feet!  The triple clamps were also reassembled with new tapered steering stem bearings, which were re-packed with new grease.  Some extra grease-packing practice took place as well, as both sides of the swingarm pivot also have tapered roller bearings, albeit much smaller.

Finally back at it!

It's taken awhile, but the chassis parts are back from the powder coating shop and so we're ready to reassemble.  Just in time as the mild weather here in Manitoba is now over, and we can spend some time in the warm MCI shop finishing our bike.  After much consideration and many color submissions, we are going with a silver frame, and black swingarm and chassis parts.  Still need to decide on the body colour, but the consensus so far is red.  Still a ways away from that step.

The Award

A long time coming, but here is a short video of Mr. S accepting the Award at the International Motorcycle Springshow in Toronto.  Pretty amazing that he kept his comments down to a measly 2 minutes!

The sentiments are sincere, and once again I need to thank the crew at the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group for the award, as well as the Manitoba members who brought our little project to their attention.

The waiting is the hardest part...

We are now at the point where some waiting is required.  Shortly students will have the chance to submit designs for paint schemes for consideration.  Not sure how many options we'll get, which will have an impact on how we determine our final design.  The chassis parts need a bit more work, but that involves some welding, so Mr. S will take those pieces home to finish there.  When we have an idea of the frame and swingarm colors, they will go off to get sandblasted and powdercoated, so a reassembly can begin.

As a result, the updates to the blog might slow down somewhat in the next while.  Please stay tuned and check back when you can!

More cutting and grinding

Still more work on the frame removing the unnecessary tabs and brackets.

A few of the tabs were removed the last time the Kids Cafe met, but some jagged edges were still present.  We started off with some work using the grinding wheel...

And then switched to the cutting wheel to take off the big chunks.  The whole time we needed to be careful not to cut into the frame tube itself, or mar any of the nearby brackets we were going to use for the rebuild.

Not much for an hour's + work, but when it is all back together, painted, and finished, the frame will have a nice clean look.

Cutting and Grinding

With the bike completely disassembled, it was time to get out the angle grinder and remove the tabs and brackets we would no longer need on the frame.

We used the cutting blade first to remove the big pieces, careful not to cut into the frame itself.  While this was going on, Mr. S was fabricating a bracket for the rear brake light switch.

After the tabs were removed, the metal that remained needed to be ground off to make like it was never there in the first place.  This take time, patience, and a bit of finesse... we don't want to leave any evidence that the tab was there (like a ridge left over from the weld bead), but we also don't want to leave a depression or gouge in the tube either.

A great result.  After powdercoating, you won't be able to tell a bracket was welded there in the first place!

The results...  we still have a lot of metal we need to remove, but we've made a good start.

Bare Bones

The last Bike Club session was spent getting the bike down to the bare bones component parts.  The cosmetic refinishing will begin as soon as the last few tabs have either been removed, or in the case of the steering stop and brake stay tab, added.

The rear wheel came out fairly quickly, and while the front steering races were being removed, the springs were next.  The bearing races came out easily, and the good news is that new tapered steering stem bearings are available for this model.  Mr. S ordered a set on the weekend, from club sponsor TransCanada Motorsports (check 'em out on the right).

The last of the electrical components were removed, bagged, labelled and stored.  We want to make sure none of this stuff is lost or damaged while the bike is apart.

The brake stay components are removed.  We'll need to create a pile of things to be blasted and coated, and keep the rest boxed up and safe.  At this point we were on pace to get the final pieces off in the time allowed.  The only question mark was the swingarm and shaft drive.  Aside from the manual, Mr. S had no experience working with this type of drive system.  I guess everyone was going to learn something new in school today!

When in doubt, take a deep breath, and read the instructions.  The swingarm came off without too much drama, and the drive shaft slid out with ease.  Everything looks to be in great shape, so despite the age of the bike, it was obviously well lubricated with gear oil, and there was a pile of grease present in the swingarm.

We need to weld on a bracket for the brake light switch.  This pic will serve as a reminder as to where it needs to go on the frame.  We'll go about fabbing that bracket next week.

Job done!  Nothin' like getting your hands dirty!  Some time with the orange pumice soap, and the hands will be clean.  You need to leave a little under your fingernails, just to let people know you still spin wrenches, old school!

Deconstructin' things....

Anyone remember Maestro Fresh Wes?  Anyone?
OK.
With the bike running and all the electrical sorted, it's time to really tear things apart for the cosmetic refinishing.  Things moved along smoothly...

The start... exhaust first, with Mr. S scrambling to find some decent boxes for storage.

After 1 hour... had to get the manual out.  We were unsure exactly how the rear swingarm (with shaft drive) connected to the engine and frame.  Further, getting the engine out of the frame was not immediately apparent, so rather than guessing and hope for the best, we read the instructions.

Good thing we did... it was a two-person job, but it did eventually come apart.  We set the engine aside, up on blocks of wood, and called time at 2 hours.  Found some interesting things -- mismatched bolts, a variety of nuts, and loose front steering stem bearings.  Hopefully a tapered set is available.  Either way, the grease was more like mud, and had lost all lubricating properties sometime since 1979.

Next session we will finish the teardown, and start to itemize the parts for refinishing.  We need to modify the steering stops, and fit a bracket for the brake light actuator.  Both will require some welding, after paint removal.  The kids will need to start thinking about a paint scheme as well, one that begins with the frame and swingarm and goes from there.

Mr. Sheppard's Big Adventure

As was mentioned earlier, Mr. S got the chance to go to Toronto to the International Motorcycle Spring Show to accept an award for the Kids' Cafe in person.  The school division supported the trip financially, and I was able to make arrangements to go, along with my wife.
During the show I had a chance to oogle the new bikes, as well as talk to some fabricators and builders about the projects they had on display.  I could break the internet with all the photos I took, so I'll just post 1 here... my favourite...

A Norton 961 Cafe Racer.  This bike combines an old-school engine design (albeit with fuel injection and a modern engine management system), with more modern frame, wheels, brakes, and running gear.  You can order "bespoke" bikes direct from the factory in England, and in 4-6 weeks it will arrive at the dealer.  I sure liked the colour, and the idea behind the neo-retro machine.  The fact that it costs more than my last car, however, was not lost on me....  It's fun to dream, however.

The big moment... on Stage 1, host Peter Derry (to left), and CVMG member and magazine editor John Pepper present me with the plaque.  John said some kind words about our program, and I also got a chance to speak as well.  A few people came up and made some comments about the program afterwards.  John had also published a few photos and a write up in the March CVMG newsletter, which also spread the word a bit.  The Norton salesman above recognized me and had heard about the Kids Cafe... very cool!

Please click on the link to the right to learn more about the CVMG!

Back to Work

We spent some time yesterday working on the numberplate/headlight combination.

First we had to apply some masking tape to the carbon piece, to be sure when we marked our holes (using the aluminium template to the left), the pencil marks would show up.

Next we used the drill press to be sure the holes lined up (starting with pilot holes), and that the centre pilot hole for the hole saw was in the correct location.

Cutting more headlight brackets to mount the headlight on the numberplate.

The mock-up.  The headlight fits nicely in the numberplate.  We need to secure the brackets permanently, so the masking tape you see is in place to mark the holes on the backside of the numberplate.

As it stands, the numberplate itself is about 70% there.  We'll need to sand it down and wet-sand it prior to clear-coating it.  It might require a couple of coats to get a nice deep finish.

Exciting News!

Some thrilling and humbling news on the Kids Cafe front.  We're getting an award, and even better, Mr. S gets to go to Toronto to accept it (sorry kids!).  Here's the details, from the letter that was received at our end.

Via Email

17 February, 2015

Dear James Sheppard

                                                                             

It gives me great pleasure to inform you that you will be honoured with an Editor’s Choice Award (An EDDY) at the Toronto International Motorcycle SPRINGSHOW, which takes place on March 21 & 22, 2015 at the Toronto International Centre (6900 Airport Road).  Please consider this e-mail your official invitation to attend the Show and accept your Award.

The Editor’s Choice Awards were developed to recognize outstanding Canadian Motorcyclists as chosen by the editors of Canadian Motorcycle publications.  Your name was put forward by John Pepper of the CVMG, in recognition of The Kids’ Café Program.   We congratulate you on having been put forward as their choice for this prestigious Award.

The Awards Ceremony, hosted by emcee Pat Gonsalves, will take place on Saturday, March 21^st at 3pm on the entertainment stage in hall 1.  We have invited John, or a representative of the CVMG to make the presentation of the Award, and we hope you will be able to be in attendance to accept your EDDY from them.  There will be complementary passes for you and a guest at the entrance 2 pass gate.

We’d ask that you please RSVP to let us know if you’ll be attending.  If you are unable to attend please inform us if you will be sending someone to accept on your behalf.   You can call our office at (905)7710-0132 or email peter@motorcyclespringshow.com with your reply.

Further information about the SPRINGSHOW can be found at www.motorcyclespringshow.com.  Please do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions.

Once again, congratulations and we look forward to seeing you at the SPRINGSHOW, March 21^st

at the International Centre.

Peter Derry, Show Manager

So the flights have been booked, along with the hotel.  Not only do I get to oogle the new bikes for 2014, I get to represent our school division, our school, the students and the Kids' Cafe in the big smoke... and bring home an award.  Very cool.

If things work out as planned, we should get back to work on the bike on the 11th... basketball season ends tomorrow, and the kids will be freed up on Wednesday to continue the progress.

Nothing to see here...

Not much to report of late.  Conflicts with Mr. S's after-work responsibilities (meetings, field trips, etc), and basketball season has put a hold on things with the bike.  Basketball season wraps up in early March, so we will head back to the shop shortly thereafter!

No session this week as Mr. S in a Professional Development session Wednesday and Thursday.

We did a bit of work yesterday on fitting our custom numberplate/headlight idea.  We first needed to take some measurements, and then mark and drill the angle brackets.

Steady with the spring punch, pilot hole...

Aluminum can be tough to drill, due to its relative softness.  Push to hard with the press, and it will "bite" or wander off line.  Patience is required and the bit size needs to be stepped up slowly.

A too-small bit chuck was pressed into service by Mr. S, and when it was being tightened, it slipped...

Ooops.  Learn from your teacher, kids!

Once the first mounting holes were drilled, we refitted the brackets to the headlight ears.  We actually switched around the orientation, based on the narrowness of the forks, and the relative width of the numberplate.

With our carbon-fibre numberplate nearly ready, we wanted to make sure we didn't mess up with our measuring, and drill a hole in the wrong spot.  So the original aluminum "buck" was used as the template, with measured test holes drilled and labeled.  We now have a guide to where the mounting holes need to be drilled in the carbon piece (holes #3 on each side). And well check that for fitment,  Then we'll fit the 4 1/2" light, and then finally mount the headlight permanently.  The offset idea won't quite work as it will foul the mounting bracket.  Maybe the centre is the way to go...

Postponed

Evening forecast for road conditions is a bit dodgy... decided to postpone this session until next week.  Better to be safe than sorry.

It's alive!!!

After the holiday break, the Kids' Cafe reconvened this past Wednesday to continue work on the bike. As we had left it in December, it appeared the basically everything was in place for us to try to start it... the muffler was installed (but not properly bolted in place), the battery was hooked up, and the starter was in place, ready to turn the engine over.  All we needed is some fuel, and it should run...

Step one was to properly attach the muffler to the bike.  Cycleboyz had fabbed and welded the bracket, and earlier another group of students created a bracket strap to mount to the frame.

A double check of the fluids, and some gas added to the mix, and we thumbed the starter... the bike tried to run, but something wasn't right.  Both carbs were getting fuel, but the old "touch the cylinder" test showed that one jug was warm, and the other ice cold.  It was only running on 1 cylinder.



So we pulled the plug in the suspect cylinder, grounded it to the frame, and turned the engine over... no spark, but it actually started to run better!  The lack of compression with the removed plug allowed the bike to actually start and run... good ol' Honda!

We traced the wire from the suspect coil back into the harness, and sure enough, there was a lack of proper contact -- no circuit, no spark.  With time running out, we fabbed a new connector to the harness, reinstalled the tank and.... success!

With just a touch of the starter, the bike immediately fired on both cylinders and settled into a nice idle.  After untold years of sitting in a barn in Boissevain, we now have a running bike, with no leaks or white smoke.  A healthy engine is the heart of any project, and it looks like we've got a good 'un.

With a few more details to sort out, in the next while we will actually start the disassembly in order to get the frame and swingarm refinished and powder coated.