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The Haynes manual has come through the post at work and it's not helping my 50:50 mindset about stripping the engine down. I'm massively on the fence as to whether to give it some love, or whether to leave it well alone as it starts and runs...head definitely says latter, heart/desire for experience says former.

 

Thank you both. I’ve fallen off the fence onto the ‘head’ side!

 

Can ya tell what it is yet? Shout out to Classic Bike Shop for the superb delivery time and style.

Back in the shed tonight as it's been cleared

 

Reposting as I couldn't muck around with the photos.

It’s been a while... spent a few days in France driving tractors with the boy (photo attached). Had a major fail just before going away as the swing arm bolt through had seized to the point that I couldn’t remove it. Many old threads on the Yammy forum suggest this is a common occurrence, despite the grease port, so ended up having to grind it the whole thing off, sacrificing the swing arm itself. Chalks a bit more on the budget but hey ho, that’s what contingencies are for eh?

Which means that we’re now on to the exciting stuff. The frame is completely disassembled and tonight I started de-lugging it. Going to finish off grinding this smooth over the weekend as I think I woke the boy by making too much noise .

I’ve ordered a rear loop which I’m hoping will arrive for a mini welding session on Friday evening with a good friend of mine, then it’s off to the powder coaters. I did have a mad eBay flurry at 3am and bought some wet and dry pads and a sanding pad to fit a drill. Having had a go tonight it is not worth my time. It’s gonna be £80ish quid I’ll have to fork out but I’ve already sold some redundant parts which are making back some of my costs so far.

I’ll try and upload some photos from my phone (hasn’t worked before), if not I’ll do it tomorrow!

 

So, with a full Heath Robinson set up my good friend and I started on the rear loop and engine mount repair over the weekend. When I went to see the bike before buying it there was a minor rattle around the top of the engine, which I was worried was play/an issue in the head. Luckily I found this was actually due to two of the engine stays being cracked, with the noise being the broken parts knocking against their former associates. We fabricated and welded them in place. Not the prettiest welds but they'll dress back no problem.

After many hours of staring at various different finishes, I've finally committed to a style decision too and start spraying things matte black. I think it's in the blood from the Street Twin but I can't put the can down! Forks and frame are going to be matte with fenders and wheels to follow suit, as well as the silencer. Tank is going to be a graphite blue colour with everything else silver.

A few snaps for you all, plus a stop motion of me grinding away...

 

1 1/2 cans of primer and 1 can of paint later and...it's...BLACK.

The swing-arm is painted up too, so just the yoke parts left to spray and then I can start reassembling. Think I've (finally) decided on the tank colour as well...

https://www.riolettcustomaerosols.co.uk/products/ral-5023-aerosol-spray-paint/