I bought this bike 10 days ago as my first foray into the world of Airheads
I'm no stranger to full rebuilds but have mainly done 650 Rotax singles , flying bricks and and oil heads
The bike was exactly as described and was in running order but no MOT and had to be jumped to start as it had no battery
Genuine UK bike with matching numbers currently sat with 61K miles on the clock and a very comprehensive and well documented service history
Bike had been in regular use until it was laid up from 2008-2015 and then had seen some light usage from 2015- 2019 and then not used since
Once in the garage the strip down began , all of the panels off , tank off , pannier rails removed
A raft of non OEM wiring and some Ring car fog lights headed for the bin
The rear subframe , stands , air box , top cover , crash bars and rocker covers had all been recently powder coated and were as new
The carbs looked very much the worse for wear and were removed and fully stripped ready for cleaning
The Fournales air shock was removed ready to fit a new Wilbers shock
Once the final drive was off the first real issue was a leaking input seal - final drive was sent to Mikeyboy to work his magic
With the swinging arm off the new drive shaft was evident as noted in the service history
Gearbox out and the clutch was very corroded and was a pig to remove
Friction plate was glazed and the pressure plate and cover plate scored - full new OEM/Sachs clutch ordered
New rear main crank seal ordered plus all new seals for the gearbox
Next issue was a oil leak from the oil pump cover , on inspection the oil pump was in excellent order with all of the clearances well within spec so just a new seal and bolts required
Oil pan removed and short oil pipe swapped out for a long one ready to fit the oil cooler
Oil in sump was clean with no debris so just needs cleaning and re-fitting along with a new sump spacer
Carbs aqua blasted along with front cover and sump and carb overhaul kit bought ready for rebuild
At Mikeyboys advice i dropped off the heads and barrels and removed the pistons and bearing shells for a bit of an inspection - all good so just re-assembled with new gaskets and bolts
I intend at some point to get Mikeyboy to do a full engine and gearbox rebuild on this so I was just checking there were no major issues
Front fork seals were leaking and head bearings were notchy so off with the forks and in with the welder on the old head bearing seats to remove them
Fork legs powder coated whilst I had them off along with the upper protector bars
Brake caliper removed and rebuilt along with a new EBC disk as the original was as thin as a pringle crisp and was rattling on its mount bobbins
Old rubber brake line ditched and replaced with a braided brake line
New head bearings fitted along with wheel bearings and bike about ready to start rebuilding
A kitchen table full of purchases ready to fit plus more parts on the way
Not bad for 10 days part time spannering
Work continues tomorrow......
I'm no stranger to full rebuilds but have mainly done 650 Rotax singles , flying bricks and and oil heads
The bike was exactly as described and was in running order but no MOT and had to be jumped to start as it had no battery
Genuine UK bike with matching numbers currently sat with 61K miles on the clock and a very comprehensive and well documented service history
Bike had been in regular use until it was laid up from 2008-2015 and then had seen some light usage from 2015- 2019 and then not used since
Once in the garage the strip down began , all of the panels off , tank off , pannier rails removed
A raft of non OEM wiring and some Ring car fog lights headed for the bin
The rear subframe , stands , air box , top cover , crash bars and rocker covers had all been recently powder coated and were as new
The carbs looked very much the worse for wear and were removed and fully stripped ready for cleaning
The Fournales air shock was removed ready to fit a new Wilbers shock
Once the final drive was off the first real issue was a leaking input seal - final drive was sent to Mikeyboy to work his magic
With the swinging arm off the new drive shaft was evident as noted in the service history
Gearbox out and the clutch was very corroded and was a pig to remove
Friction plate was glazed and the pressure plate and cover plate scored - full new OEM/Sachs clutch ordered
New rear main crank seal ordered plus all new seals for the gearbox
Next issue was a oil leak from the oil pump cover , on inspection the oil pump was in excellent order with all of the clearances well within spec so just a new seal and bolts required
Oil pan removed and short oil pipe swapped out for a long one ready to fit the oil cooler
Oil in sump was clean with no debris so just needs cleaning and re-fitting along with a new sump spacer
Carbs aqua blasted along with front cover and sump and carb overhaul kit bought ready for rebuild
At Mikeyboys advice i dropped off the heads and barrels and removed the pistons and bearing shells for a bit of an inspection - all good so just re-assembled with new gaskets and bolts
I intend at some point to get Mikeyboy to do a full engine and gearbox rebuild on this so I was just checking there were no major issues
Front fork seals were leaking and head bearings were notchy so off with the forks and in with the welder on the old head bearing seats to remove them
Fork legs powder coated whilst I had them off along with the upper protector bars
Brake caliper removed and rebuilt along with a new EBC disk as the original was as thin as a pringle crisp and was rattling on its mount bobbins
Old rubber brake line ditched and replaced with a braided brake line
New head bearings fitted along with wheel bearings and bike about ready to start rebuilding
A kitchen table full of purchases ready to fit plus more parts on the way
Not bad for 10 days part time spannering
Work continues tomorrow......
