A bit of "dirty work"

The new Dime City Cycles muffler fit quite snugly onto the MAC header... to snugly, in fact.  One of the necessary jobs was to remove the surface coating from the header (some sort of black, super-hard paint) to see if this would be enough to allow the muffler to slide one.  First step is to remove the headers...

Like a lot of these rebuild/restore projects, parts need to be installed and removed several times during the build.  I've lost count regarding the exhaust system!

We borrowed an angle grinder with an abrasive wire wheel to remove the header coating.  Even with this tool, it took quite some time to get paint off.  We will need to wait to see if this is sufficient to install the muffler... while this was going on, Cycleboyz were doing their usual tig-welding magic on the muffler.  Being built in stainless, a muffler mount needed to be welded to the body of the muffler for us to fabricate a mount.  As usual, their workmanship was stellar and they didn't charge us anything.  Thanks yet again, guys!

There is still some work to do regarding the wiring system.  Now that all the indicators work, headlight, tail light, etc.... we are getting some sort of short somewhere that is blowing fuses!  Looks like we need to tear into the wiring harness to find the culprit.  It will give us a chance to review the original schematic to search for faults.

More Progress

A few more pics as the bike continues to develop...

 It still looks disorganized, but the wiring does work as it should.  We still need to properly trim the aluminum seat pan... it has just been rough-cut for now.

Tail light and turn signal bracket loosely mounted.  Licence plate will go underneath the tail light, acting as a pseudo-fender, and will be illuminated by a clear window in the bottom of the tail light.

Front end.  We will be removing the "gaiter" style fork boots and running with a traditional setup.  With the lowered front end, they are too long and sit distorted on the forks.  This will allow a clearer view of the front turn signals as well.  These still need to be wired in, along with the rear brake pedal, and perhaps a neutral light if we can find a suitable light.

Back at It

Now that school is back in full swing, the TCS Kids' Cafe is back working on the XS650.  Over the course of the summer while the bike was hanging out in Mr. Sheppard's garage, a few templates were made in order to accommodate the frame modifications, as well as mount the rear taillight and turn signals.  Starting with cardboard first, the goal of this session was to create the finished pieces out of aluminum.

Using the cardboard piece as a guide, we began measuring cut, fold, and drill marks in the aluminum.

During the course of this process, we used some of our mental math skills, and discussed the relative ease of working with the metric system.  "Half of 40mm", is far easier to calculate in our head compared to "half of 1 and 5/8 inches"!

 Starting with pilot holes, the students drilled out the various mounting points for the tail light brackets, frame mounts, and turn signals.

We also discussed how it is far easier to mark, punch, and drill holes (pilot holes or finished holes) on a piece you are working on prior to final finishing or bending.

The aluminum sheet we used for the battery and fuse box mount was a bit thicker than the taillight bracket -- like most shears, the material is cut by stepping down on a foot bar to operate the cutting edge.  The students needed a bit of "help" from Mr. Sheppard... both girls were too light to cut the material!

The tail light bracket on left, with the cardboard template on the right.  The larger "keyhole" needs to be finished later; the wiring for the tail light passes through the material at that point.

One hour's work:  the tail light bracket is 90% complete, and the battery bracket has been roughly cut out.  Final finishing will be done once it is test- mounted to the frame.  Note the cardboard template... irrefutable proof that Mr. Sheppard (occasionally) eats Froot Loops.

Some pictures...

This is an example of the great work Cycleboyz did over the summer. You can't tell, but there is a weld joint there somewhere -- it has just been grinded down smooth.

You can see the shape of the extended loop, which follows the curve of the fibreglass seat.

One possible solution to the DOT-legal tail light quandry.  The rear light is mounted independently from the seat, to the frame loop itself. White cardboard template is for a mockup proof of concept.  Aluminum will be used for the final step.  Licence plate hung below, and turn signals mounted to the side tabs.

View from the rear.  Square light looks pretty good, perhaps round would be better?

Mr. Sheppard welded a steel tube with a nut welded to the end, to mount the tail light and licence/turnsignal bracket.  Wires should be able to be tucked away out of sight.

The bike will be heading back to the MCI shops shortly.  A few tabs needed to be welded on -- one for the rear brake light switch, and one for the rear brake pedal return spring.

September Startup

I'll be adding some pictures shortly of some of the work that was performed over the summer break.  The rear seat loop had to be finished.  Mr. Sheppard tack-welded the old loop into place, to test the concept.  The bike was dropped off at Cycleboyz (check out the link to the right) for "proper" welding.  The frame needed to be sleeved, with a rosette weld and seam welds holding the loop on... and that was after custom-bending the 7/8" tubing to match the seat hump.  As usual, the workmanship was impeccable, and once again, Cycleboyz donated their time and material to the project.  An amazing group of people!!!

Speaking of donations, Mr. Sheppard got an email from Dime City Cycles.  A real groovy bunch of folks who have been building Cafe Racers for years, and have been featured on "Cafe Racer TV".  Jason Paul Michaels from Dime City has agreed to supply us with a stainless steel reverse megaphone muffler, and is throwing in some other stuff -- t-shirts, stickers, and a banner -- for the Kids Cafe Crew.  Awesome.  Check out Dime City Cycles at:  http://www.dimecitycycles.com/.  We'll add a permanent link to their page and online shop to the right.

Pictures to come shortly!

Summer Break

Due to the busy nature of June, we've decided to stop the work on the bike in order to allow students to focus on final assessments and projects.  For the summer, the Cafe bike will be heading back to Mr. Sheppard's garage for storage.  During the summer break, a bit of work will need to be performed... now that its running, the focus will be on finishing the safety requirements to allow it to be certified for the road, and some professional welding work is required for the rear frame loop.  For both, the bike will spend a short holiday at Cycleboyz in Brandon for the welding, and while there Mr. S will grab a copy of a MB road safety form.  Knowing what is expected ahead of time will prevent unforseen issues coming up when it is ready to go on the road.

Our timeline has changed, obviously.  For those that are following, it makes sense to take another school year to properly finish the bike and turn out the best project we can.  As such, the 2013-14 school year will be spent finishing up the cosmetic elements of the bike (which can be tremendously time consuming), having it ready to roll and raffle in the Spring of 2014.

Check back periodically over the summer, as when the specialized work is completed, updates will be posted.

See you all "full time" in the fall!

It's Alive!

Over the course of the last few weeks, it became apparent that less and less was standing in our way of getting the bike actually up and running.  This past Tuesday approached with only a wee bit wiring to finish, and some oil to be added to the engine.  A fuel and a spark and by all accounts, it should go...

Step one was finishing off the wiring.  With adding fuel to the mix, we didn't want any exposed wires causing a short or a spark.  Heat shrink connectors are a wonderful thing...

A final check of connectors, some fuel added to the tank (the kids did a great job rebuilding the petcocks as there were no leaks!).  And we gave it a few kicks, hoping for the best.  To our enjoyment (and with some surprise) the bike fired up.  However a noticeable leak presented itself behind the oil filter cover.  The bike was shut off and the issue addressed.  We fired up the camera for start #2, and trained it on the suspect cover to detect any leaks.  The (second) moment of truth...




It is alive!  Nice to know that at least it runs.  While there still is a weep, and a million things left to do before it can be raffled off, this is a huge step forward for us!