David Ty Cae
Registered user
Hello All
I am a "diyer" and have decided to rebuild my GS which had been looking a little tatty and with around 80k on the clock was I feel going to start letting me down in a big and expensive way. My rear wheel would also not revolve backwards so some inspections were necessary
I am happy to post details of my mechanical adventures to include photos so as to share the journey - if any one is interested. As well as looking on line (eg Chris Harris & Boxer 2 valve videos) I also refer to Haynes, Clymer and when my concentration permits, Snowbums articles.
Other than reference to these resources, accumulated knowledge through rebuilding my R100rt (which I have owned for the last 16 years and love) and rebuilding and converting an r65 in to a bobber, I have no other experience. Accordingly, I don't expect this journey to be entirely straight forward and I am happy to share my mistakes as well as my successes in the hope that sharing my frustration may at the least be a little cathartic if not informative. As I have no formal training please do not rely on any thing I may do as indicative of how you should approach your own repairs.
The story so far is that the bike has been fully stripped, the frame powder coated and I have painted (with hammerite smooth coat) the triple trees and fork bottoms. I have also:
1. Replaced the steering head bearings
2. Polished the front wheel
3. Replaced the front disc with a Siebenrock 320mm disc
4. Replaced the brake pads -note I have not rebuilt the caliper as I rebuilt it about 6 months ago.
5. Rebuilt the forks - all seals replaced, new stanchions and new gaiters.
Things I have learnt:
a) The bearing races are difficult to remove - when I replaced them on the swing arm of my rt, I welded a bead around the race which forced the race to contract. The races then just fell out. On the triple trees, I used a cycleworks puller -really the only bit I needed was the split washer as once it expanded I could drift them out.
b) I replaced the bearing on the lower yoke by putting the lower yoke in to the freezer for a few hours and then heated the bearing with a butane torch. The bearing just slid right on and did not need to be struck (never a good idea to hit bearings). I greased the bearing when it was still hot which really helped to get the grease in to all the individual rollers. Please note that I adopted this procedure having watched one of Chris Harris' videos which are extremely useful.
c) Hammerite smooth looks the business - when several coats are sprayed on. It is hard to distinguish from the powder coated parts. It obviously doesn't wear quite as well and of course an appropriate primer must be used when spraying on to alloys.
d) to get the fork gaiters on, soak the bottom end in very hot water -also I noted there was a hole in the top of the gaiter (to allow air to escape when the fork is compressed) but none at the bottom. Should water ingress it would therefore have no means to escape. I blocked the top hole with black gasket sealant and used a hot drill bit to put new holes in the bottom of the gaiters - I guess this means some dirt might get in but that is how the original gaiters were set up and I never had a fork seal fail nor had the lower ends of the original fork stanchions suffered any corrosion.
I am not sure how to safely upload photos from my computer but would like to know how to do so, so I can post photos of the project as its going along. I see the post image icon but it refers to a url link so am not sure with me not being too computer literate.
Cheers for now
David
I am a "diyer" and have decided to rebuild my GS which had been looking a little tatty and with around 80k on the clock was I feel going to start letting me down in a big and expensive way. My rear wheel would also not revolve backwards so some inspections were necessary
I am happy to post details of my mechanical adventures to include photos so as to share the journey - if any one is interested. As well as looking on line (eg Chris Harris & Boxer 2 valve videos) I also refer to Haynes, Clymer and when my concentration permits, Snowbums articles.
Other than reference to these resources, accumulated knowledge through rebuilding my R100rt (which I have owned for the last 16 years and love) and rebuilding and converting an r65 in to a bobber, I have no other experience. Accordingly, I don't expect this journey to be entirely straight forward and I am happy to share my mistakes as well as my successes in the hope that sharing my frustration may at the least be a little cathartic if not informative. As I have no formal training please do not rely on any thing I may do as indicative of how you should approach your own repairs.
The story so far is that the bike has been fully stripped, the frame powder coated and I have painted (with hammerite smooth coat) the triple trees and fork bottoms. I have also:
1. Replaced the steering head bearings
2. Polished the front wheel
3. Replaced the front disc with a Siebenrock 320mm disc
4. Replaced the brake pads -note I have not rebuilt the caliper as I rebuilt it about 6 months ago.
5. Rebuilt the forks - all seals replaced, new stanchions and new gaiters.
Things I have learnt:
a) The bearing races are difficult to remove - when I replaced them on the swing arm of my rt, I welded a bead around the race which forced the race to contract. The races then just fell out. On the triple trees, I used a cycleworks puller -really the only bit I needed was the split washer as once it expanded I could drift them out.
b) I replaced the bearing on the lower yoke by putting the lower yoke in to the freezer for a few hours and then heated the bearing with a butane torch. The bearing just slid right on and did not need to be struck (never a good idea to hit bearings). I greased the bearing when it was still hot which really helped to get the grease in to all the individual rollers. Please note that I adopted this procedure having watched one of Chris Harris' videos which are extremely useful.
c) Hammerite smooth looks the business - when several coats are sprayed on. It is hard to distinguish from the powder coated parts. It obviously doesn't wear quite as well and of course an appropriate primer must be used when spraying on to alloys.
d) to get the fork gaiters on, soak the bottom end in very hot water -also I noted there was a hole in the top of the gaiter (to allow air to escape when the fork is compressed) but none at the bottom. Should water ingress it would therefore have no means to escape. I blocked the top hole with black gasket sealant and used a hot drill bit to put new holes in the bottom of the gaiters - I guess this means some dirt might get in but that is how the original gaiters were set up and I never had a fork seal fail nor had the lower ends of the original fork stanchions suffered any corrosion.
I am not sure how to safely upload photos from my computer but would like to know how to do so, so I can post photos of the project as its going along. I see the post image icon but it refers to a url link so am not sure with me not being too computer literate.
Cheers for now
David