Spent a good amount of time today banging out dents and straightening the rear fender. I didn’t have to take any rivets out but I did hammer out the hinge pin to help make some bends. In the end I think I got everything pretty straight.

I have been debating on what color to paint the bike for quite a wile now. My first thought was to do a fresh version of the blue on blue that my parents did in the 60’s. It was not even an option from the factory but I’m doing a rider restoration so if it’s not a factory option who cares. I am also pulled by black with the cream side tank panels. That one was factory optional. I also really like the red with the cream side tanks. Again a factory option. As I was breaking the bike down I found some evidence that the bike was originally red so the idea of putting it back to the way it was born got stuck in my mind. Well today wile I was banging out dents in the fenders I found 100% proof that the bike was red. The inside of the fenders were not really painted but rather just covered with overspray that did not adhere very well. I took a stiff bristled brush to it and uncovered lots of Indian red. So the bike made the decision for me. I’m going red. Now I just need to decide if I’m doing the cream side tanks. Though an all red with gold pinstripes sound good to.

After spending a few hours yeasterday getting the rims true I got the Dunlop k70’s mounted. I think they look really good.

I also spent some time today banging dents out of the fenders. The tip of the front fender was bent down on one side quite a bit. A little persuasion with the rubber mallet and sheet metal pliers and it’s back in shape. The rear fender is going to need a bit more work. It has a few dents and the hinge is off. I’m hoping I can bend it back but I may have to remove the rivets straighten everything and rivet it all back together.

Also I wanted to post another picture of the front hub. It was pointed out that the spokes were not sitting flush in my wheel truing pictures. Those pics were taken before I trued and set the offset of the hub. The spokes were only finger tight at that point also. Once up to tension they sat much better. Still not quite perfect but not to much different then the originals. Even they sat I little high every other. A few differences between the original spokes and reproduction ones. The very first bend i a little longer on the reproductions. This is what is causing them to sit a tad higher then the og. Also the originals had longer threads so there was more room for tightening though I didn’t need any extra threads with these wheels. All in all I am happy with these new spokes. I think they look amazing.

I am starting the mock-up. I know the bike took a spill that was bad enough to bend the handlebars and dent the fenders but I need to make sure the frame, fork and wheels line up nice and straight before I can worry about the fenders. So today I installed the brakes, front fork and wheels on the frame to check out the alignment.

I wasn’t happy with my home made washer for the front hub/brake plate matting so I ordered one from Granger. They stocked a thrust washer that was almost exactly what I needed. I only needed to open up the inner diameter by about a thousandth of an inch. Took all of 30 seconds with the dremal. 

Wile I was getting everything together UPS showed up with new rubber!  A pair of Dunlop k70’s. Can’t wait to get them mounted. 

Got everything together and it all ligned up great. Next will be to get the fenders back on to see what needs to be done there. They are both bent a bit but that is for another day. 

So I finished cleaning up the front leaf. I cut a new pin but instead of swaging it in I think I’m going to just lightly press fit it. The fork and bottom plate clamping the spring down should hold it all together. If it works it will make disassembling for lubricating a much easier process. Between the pin and 4 bolts that hold it down I think it should work but if the leafs start twisting outward I’ll have to rivet it together. We shall see but for now they are ready for primer and paint. 

So tonight I spent a couple hours working on the bike. Well actually making a tool to work on the bike. To assemble the front hub you need a very thin wrench to hold the lower nut wile you tighten the upper nut. This locks the bearing adjustment. I followed George Yarocki’s tips in the R&O manual and made a wrench from 16 gauge sheet metal. It worked great!  Also the front break plate is rubbing on the hub seal so I had to fabricate a washer to keep it only contacting the axle and axle nut.

Spent the afternoon working on the front spring. With these old leafs it’s pretty common for them to get painted as one piece. It happened with this one. When painted together it sticks the leaves together and the spring becomes for all intensive purposes one sold bar of metal loosing its spring. This one also had quite a bit of rust between the leafs making them stick. The solution is drilling out the pin that holds the assembly together and separate the leafs. Then you can clean them up paint them individually and reassemble with a layer of grease between them. So I started that procedure today. Got the leafs apart and started the cleanup.

 

Been spending the last week or so cleaning and painting parts. Again I ended up painting some of the parts that were originally nickel plated. They look good to me and I could always plate later if I decided to.

There are a bunch of parts that where chromed during the rebuild in the 60’s. Most of the chrome is not original but I was able to clean them up to the point where I’m going to use them as is. You can see in the pics that the chrome pitted quite allot during the bikes slumber. I was amazed at how well they cleaned up though. Not perfect but very usable. Hard to believe that’s the same part in the last two pictures.

The gas tank was in great shape but did have a leak along the seam for a bolt attachment point. Probably happened during the spill it took before being put in storage. I was originally going to do the soldering myself but decided to take it to a pro.  They are going to flush clean the tank and solder any leaks they find. I’m also going to have them line the gas tank for me.

 

 

I got the frame and parts back from the blaster and got them all primed

next step will be a mock up.  I want to get a rolling chassis so I can put the fenders on and get them lined up. The bike took a fall sometime in the 70’s and the fenders got a little tweaked. Nothing horrible but having the bike in just primer I won’t have to worry about scratching paint wile I do the straightening and body work.