Finally got round to getting my Wakasaki Z900RS mot'd today. It was it's 3rd birthday on 4th Sept but with not feeling well and wet days, well it just got left. But today a telephone call to my local bike shop and 30 mins later I was sat in the sun waiting for my bike to be tested. Only 2,040 miles in three years, I only use it for short blasts. For touring and long days out I use my trusty Tracer.
I did have one other thought, @Mrs Visor. The simpler your paint job the easier it is to fix any chips, etc. that you might pick up. When I got a big rock chip in the front fender of my orange touring bike, I learned the hard way that that was a "special" color and not just A color. It was a base coat and a top coat. The base coat was named and readily available but the top coat seemed to be some sort of well-guarded secret. Fortunately my paint guy is fantastic and he was able to mix and blend and match my "Scorched Orange" paint perfectly. But that experience has changed my view of paint jobs that are complicated and super unique.
Good thought @Sandi T, I recall you mentioning that before. Definitely something to think about because it is stone chip - tastic round here .
Have a look on 'Tinterweb for PPF (paint protection film) for your blade Mrs V. As the name suggests it'll protect your new spangled paintwork from stone chips and scratches. I have some on the Tank of my Ditchpump which has matt paint and if it's put on correctly it's hard to spot. You might even becable to get a full kit, already cut to shape for all the bits that need protecting.
So I have finally decided on a similar colour red to that which the Fireblade is but a deep, glossy metallic and keeping the black fairing black. The black and silver decals will be replaced with paint with very glossy black and sparkly silver. So…my bike, but more “wow” factor. I am also going to have a small detail painted on the tail. I like this red and am just waiting to see whether the person who will be painting it can have that shade mixed.
I did an early morning ride to the office. This time the temperatures were more comfortable. 7 degrees celsius at 05:15.
On Saturday I did a 100 km ride at wonderful weather conditions. It had up to crazy 24 degrees Celsius.
A bit of spannering time recently on the Armstrong mt500 ready for winter. It had a substantial oil leak from the clutch casing and upon strip down it was very apparent why; gasket, what gasket? Someone prior had relied on what looks like red hermetite to effect a seal. More worrying was the wear marks in the clutch basket. The main cause of this was the basket wobbled despite being fastened on tightly. The centre has x2 needle roller bearings and these were obviously goosed. This inner sleeve took quite a while to remove as it was seized on and surrounded by a plastic oil pump gear and magnesium. I dressed the basket up, and according to the Army manual I have, there is quite a bit of spare "meat" for these such eventualities. Notice the wear taper on the groove depth in the picture below, due to the bearing wobble. All washed down with brake cleaner and compressed air. New bearings, seals, gaskets and plates. The little square in the picture below was made by myself some 40 years ago from flat stock, as part of my MOD apprenticeship, all filed true just using hand tools and then polished with emery
As part of my apprenticeship we made a square, pipe wrench, hacksaw, all sorts by hand. First job was a G clamp from a burned out U shaped bit of steel chipped to rough size using hammer and chisel then filed and scraped to be flat and square. There were hundreds of 16/17 year olds walkng around town with hammer rash over their knuckles for weeks!
Here you go @Dawsy here's another bit of my self made apprenticeship tool kit as part of our initial training. That square took weeks but as a government employee the training was more important than the cost. No machine tools, other than a pedestal drill, were allowed even though we were working right next to them. Marked out on a surface plate using a vernier height gauge and perussian blue. Drill the corners, then hacksaw near to the line ( many got scrapped by our group). Then the filing starts...... All under the watchful eye of our instructors and checked many times against master squares and a light gauge ( can't recall correct name, like a portable tv that shows a nice white light for checking gaps).
Yeah. Did all that too. Light box, marking paste and scrapers. It was Vickers training school in Barrow with a few hundred apprentices, some in the Engineering side and others on Shipbuilding. Good days.
We have trodden similar paths ....... Initially I was working for the MOD which later sold out and became Vickers around late 80's. Great times. £44 take home as a 16 year old .... kerrching
What a great shade of red, @Mrs Visor. The plan for your bike sounds stunning! Can't wait to see the finished product.
At the risk of derailing the thread, similar path for me too. 4yr MOD electronics apprenticeship in the Midlands, then a year as a technician before going to University for a Medical Electronics degree. Best training you could get; even had to do 6 months in the metal bashing workshop (and the mechanical apprentices vice versa). We had fully paid block release at the local technical college for our B&HTECs. I still have the skills and will be forever grateful for that training. Started on £28.00 per week! Within a month I had a bank account, a loan and a shiny new T reg. Suzuki 250X7. Living away from home in the apprentice hostel (now remodelled into luxury flats) which even had a motorcycle workshop because many of the apprentices and technicians living there. Did the ACU training at the local ACU approved bike training school and within 6 months had passed the ACU course and had my full licence. Great days.
There is a very short wait until the start of the new year for it to be done; I am really looking forward to it .
I used to get a lift on the back of a fellow apprentices X7 when my bike didn't work. If the X7 didn't work then we resorted to his Lambrett/Vespa 200 with a big carb that sprayed petrol over your foot on the overrun
I was working for a well known toilet roll manufacturer, you know the one with the puppies, training as a maintenance fitter but did the first year (81/82)in the Vickers training school. Can't remember my wages but it was more than the Vickers lads were on! I remember one week picking up my wage packet (them were't days!) with £231 in it. I was minted
Getting dirty mostly... Good fun though, and you gotta love the muffs, 6c in summer gloves and don't feel the cold.
