1967/1969 Bonnie Rebuild Desert Sled Project - Any Advice

I’m working on my fork rebuild, needing to replace most everything. I have a spring question however. I understand the Yellow/Green painted springs are the heavy duty springs, and the Yellow/Blue painted are the standard springs. It looks like the springs from my fork are ? Green/Red? - or ?Green/Yellow? - or ?Green/Orange? I’m wondering if anyone can identify these? Thanks.

 

I kind of think so also. I was planning to put in the stronger springs when I rebuilt them and thought this would have had the standard springs. Since these are 30-40 years old, I suppose I should replace them with the same - or I see that there are some progressive springs out there too. I was just wanting a bit more stiffness up front than normal.

 

Another fork question: My forks are pretty beat up. I need to replace the stanchions, dust excluder nuts, shuttle valves, restrictors, bearings, etc. Pretty much everything is corroded in some way except for the triple trees, damper, lower members and a few other bits. So looking at buying replacement/rebuild parts for these major items I find I am going to spend quite a lot to re-build these. I’m wondering if there is any alternative to this? Like some other fork types that might fit these triple trees or what? Or looking for another fork that I would have to rebuild - but of course it would have to have a lot more good parts. Thanks for any advice.

 

Forks, well thanks to both of you darkman and speedrattle. The more I look at this the more I will likely just get the parts I need for what I have. I like the idea of perhaps putting on a different front end, but at this stage that would likely be way out of my ability to fuss with all that would take. Forty plus years of corrosion - I suppose it could be worse!

 

Super cool! Why not? Thanks for the encouragement! Love the photo of your bike.

 

Taking a closer look at my forks I believe the PO of whoever built the forks last did not assembly them properly. My forks have the shuttle valve H2154, and restrictor. But the restrictor in my forks looks like the restrictor from 1967, part no H1499. From the parts catalog the H1499 looks a lot bigger than the restrictor from the 1969 parts catalog, part no H2090. The older restrictor does not even fit into the shuttle valve. Anyway, just another of the items that reveals this bike was likely put together without a lot of care.

 

Fork rebuild question. I am getting parts to rebuild my forks. I am pretty sure these forks are from 1969. The lower member drain plug from these forks are in the first photo. When looking for new drain plugs I see the plug for 1969 as in the second photo (screen capture). I’m just wondering if considering the drain plug type that came out of my forks, could it be they are from a different year than 1969? Thanks.

 

I’m getting to the point where I need to get some new shocks. As this is a scrambler type of build, I wondering if there might be some recommendations from the forum. I’ve looked at several types: Koni dial a rides, Girling type 13.4”, Hagon premium shocks. The Hagons are more than twice as much as the the others. I’d appreciate any advice on the matter. Thanks!

 

Thanks darkman. The shocks on the bike are shot and badly rusted. Do you have any advice on length? That is can one vary this a bit and get a bit more travel than stock? Or does this mess up the handling and geometry? Thanks again.

 

Got it, probably won't be doing much jumping these days! I'll shop around.

 

How free should the crank run when assembled? So I’ve got my cases together and am wondering how free the crank should be moving? I’ve hear that it is good if when assembled, and the rods are at their lowest point, they should be able to rise themselves due to the weight of the flywheel. Mine don’t at this point. The crank and rods feel smooth and uniform when I run the crank around, however I do need to manipulate it myself by pushing the rods around the crank. I’d appreciate any comments on this in case I need to take it apart again. Thanks!!