The Three Amigos....

...or, rust never sleeps.

The Three Amigos

So let's see.... before the musical intermission we left off at trying out various tanks and such. And we started a 'to-do' list....which just keeps growing. First thing was to tear it all down. This is where my three friends above came into play. You may have noticed that this bike has got some rust. It was ridden in all weathers and a lot of times didn't benefit from even a tarp thrown over it as it's been outdoors most of it's life...at least with me as the owner. I bought it from a guy who said it was his wife's bike which she hardly ever rode. It had spent it's early life parked in a nice garage. 'Old Orange' as this bike was to become known as, has not had an easy life with me. For a good portion of it's time, it was my back-up/loaner dirt bike, and as such it was treated very roughly. This will explain some damage I discovered late today.

So yesterday at about 6 in the evening the demo began...errr the dismantling began....slides please...

6:00 in the evening saturday, got a few hours of light left in the day...

Off with the pipes, where I discover this...didn't leak so I never really noticed it was missing. Have to dig a stud up...or heaven forbid get down to the shop and buy one (I'm frugal I tell you...)

The 'universal' motorcycle stand.  Sadly 15 feet away in the carport buried under stuff is a beautiful  Pnuematic motorcycle bench/lift...sigh, that's another 'to-do' list... And come to think of it, about a mile and a half away is an equally beautiful manual stand...that's been parked under my buddie's BMW R-90 for....well awhile...

Carbs off

Eeek! Wiring. (note to self...find or fabricate new ground lead to replace corroded out lead)

Shorty 'Dirtbike chain gaurd...(Note to self modify or fabricate a suitable street unit)

Exhibit A....The 'Titty Grip'

That's what we called them in high school, old farts still call them that. 

The mighty 26 BHP mill is out, thank goodness it only weighs half of what a 750 four weighs...

Note to Norman<--------don't know if your CL has these. A funny flat sided washer to prevent over tightening of triple tree bolts. Iain can probably tell you if your CL's run these.

A shot of said funny washer...

Looking like a chopper...off with the forks...

By 8:00 it was down to this point, and the sun was starting to set. 2 hours, not bad considering I was taking pics and looking for tools...as a mechanic with air tools it was probably a 45 minute job...but who's in a rush theses days...not me. 

and everything fit in this little box...not really...

So Sunday comes and my plans were to derust and prepare the frame for paint. With the help of the three Amigos I was able to remove the swingarm which had gotten a bit rusty. Surprisingly the bushings and spindle look like all they will need is a clean up and fresh grease. I was expecting them to be in bad shape. Took the forks apart to the point where they can be taken further apart for inspection and seal replacement.

Captain, we have a crack in the mainframe...

In the cold harsh light of day, what at first glance looked like a scratch in the paint, on closer examination turned out to be a pretty sizable crack. Welding repair needed here, and I'll probably reinforce this area a bit. On my other SL 350, (Old Blue) my friends and I managed to break the lower mounts of the frame and engine cases with the harsh treatment both these bikes received. This bike has been involved in a car vs. 3/4 ton van collision as well, so I'm not surprised to find this...

Ealier this week I came up with a solution for running those K and N air filters.

Some scrap ABS plastic...

And 6 dollars worth of home center plumbing parts yielded...

A neat mounting system for the filters, which looks like it would fit under stick side covers.

Next time we feature frame repairs, and 'rattle can' custom painting, which will have to be after this current rainy spell we are having here.