evolution of a postie

I'll see how they go during the week and maybe play some more next weekend.

Well as I expected it's a little weird having the bars in front of the head-stem, but that's only really noticable at real slow speeds.
It's actually not too bad at higher speeds, though still a little different being so far over the front wheel.

Things need a bit more adjustment - brake is still a little too tight, and the throttle cable seems to need some adjustment as she revs at idle on full left lock - but I think I'll give it a bit more time to see if I like it. I'll still source a set of low bars anyway as I'm not sure I like the current look, but I'll have to worry about bruising my knees on the bar-ends then - have to see what I find.

Missus just called me too to say a package arrived at home - seems I've got my new shocks Putting them on will have to wait a couple of weeks though I think.

boo hiss, put em on now!!!

I might - depends on how much work I get done around the house this (long) weekend (yes another one).
I might not be able to hold out

Well, as per the other thread (viewtopic.php?f=13&t=25834), she has finally gone GREEN!

Yes, that's right, thanks to offers from RobRacer and Dave#3, plus some blood, sweat, swearing and tears, the little postie was stripped down last Saturday (by Dave#3 and I), cleaned and sanded, a couple of bits sprayed black, the rest beautifully painted by RobRacer during the week, and put back together again with kit-gloves today.
And doesn't she look awesome?!!!

Before I get into the details, many many many thanks go to Dave#3 for spending 2 Saturdays on this and providing the use of his garage and tools, and also many many many thanks go to RobRacer for taking the many hours needed to give all the bits a very professional looking paint job (which Dave and I took very good care of today I promise ).
Many thanks also to Cath for letting me steal Dave away for so long (particularly just before he heads OS )

Now to the meat and some pics.....

I didn't get to take any pics of the strip down and prep . It was a filthy job and I didn't want to put my filthy hands on my camera. There wasn't really much to particularly see though, except how small a pile of bits a complete bike can make
As Cath expected the stripdown and prep took a lot longer than we thought - I think it took about 2 hours to completely strip the bike, another couple to clean all the accumulated crap off the bits, and another couple to sand everything down for Rob

The highlights I think were the number of finger-tight or even missing bolts/nuts I'll definitely be taking better care of her now

Anyway's.... first some pics of the paint job, courtesy of Rob...



... and all very nicely packaged...



Some of you following this thread will also remember that I recently bought some replacement shocks from http://www.dratv.com, supposed to be 30-40% stiffer, and they're about 5mm longer - they seem to make a fair difference going by the test ride


Now some pics as she comes together...

Engine, forks, rear wheel and shocks are in place....

Looks like an actual bike now...

...and the other side...


So at this point she was all wired up and and ready for a test kick - you'll notice no plastics yet over the battery (on the right side) or up the centre stem. I tell you what - trying to get all those wiring looms/harnesses routed back the right way was a bitch (and still not quite right - see below).
Guess what! She started first go and and all the lights, horns and buzzers worked! LAUGHIN!
There was a small problem with the throttle as we'd attached it back to the carb the wrong way but Dave sorted that out and it was all good.

So then the battery cover goes on...


And then the crowning piece... the centre stem guard...


YES!
That's right!
As well as painting my baby green, Rob put together some stickers to go with it! AWESOME!


Well as you can tell I'm ecstatic.
This came out better than I ever thought it would, and while it took a lot more effort than I think I or Dave planned for I think the result is well worth it. We had to pull some things back apart and back together again a couple of times as we realised we forgot something, and there were some 'how the f$%k does this go together' moments, but we got through them

Now that I've ridden it a bit (back home) I think there are a couple of little things still to do - there's a least one rattle to track down, and I think I need to re-route the spark plug lead (which will be a bitch relating to the wiring hassles mentioned above) as it's currently rubbing against the exhaust.

But I'm really really REALLY happy with the result
Thanks again to both Dave#3 and RobRacer - you're both legends and I owe you a few PITS breakfasts.

I can't say yet when Kawonda will be out on the old road again yet - I need to build up a few browny points I think
I post up some pics Cath took soon.

Last edited by ty on Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.

So as I mentioned Cath took some real pics once we were done. It was getting late, so the light wasn't the best anymore, but I think these came out great


I look like a TOOL on this bike...








... yes, still looking like a tool...



... thanks Cath

Last edited by ty on Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Kawonda

What a team effort ...and well done guys! ... Thats a definate one off ya have now Tony

F'ken cool!!

So... what did Vic say when she saw it???

around her laughing she said 'it looks pretty'
and yes Richo - huge team effort.... KSRC is cool mmmk!

there's a least one rattle to track down

Well I didn't find anything loose or rattling - but I did find my swingarm nut missing
So maybe the rattle I heard was it coming loose.
Dunno exactly when that happened - but that was a shock.

A couple of trips out to Bunnings and then SuperCheap trying to find a nut that fit, and it's all good and torqued up proper (phew).

Surprise surprise - I wasn't able to wait even another month for some further changes.

I was in the city for an appointment during the week, and picked these up from MCAS...

At $20 a pair I thought I'd give them a go - no they're not LEDs. I didn't want to spend that much yet.

I'm of two minds about the results. I like the look at the front, but I think the rear needs longer stems.
They also blink faster than normal now - but some of that is due to me disabling/breaking the buzzer, not just the indicators.

Original front...

New front...


Original rear...

New rear...


As you can see they don't work so well on the back.
I'll give them some time and see what I think.
I wouldn't be surprised if they don't pass rego, but we'll see in a month or so.

The reason I actually got to do anything today (ie got permission), was that I'd finally gotten a new speedo cable that had to be fitted, and I really needed to fit the new cush drives that I forgot to bring with me last week when Dave#3 and I were putting it all back together.

So the speedo cable is fitted now.
And so are the new cush drives. Here's a couple of pics of old vs. new...


The old had been that bad since I got it around 2007 (2006? can't remember), and my mechanic had never seen any so screwed. That was about a year ago and he didn't have any spares in stock, and I never got around to ordering them until recently.
Who knows if it'll make a difference - but should be safer at least.

mate someone really needs to donate you a renthal bar!!!!

gumby190 has his old z750 bars for me - but I haven't been able to catch up with him yet.
Renthals are too expensive - I'd have to go a couple of months without spending anything to think they'd be worth it

You will probably have to get new needles that are adjustable for the carbie. (I doubt you can get a dynojet needle, but who knows)

I almost forgot to mention this....

When Dave and I were putting it back together, guess what he found out?
The carb needle is adjustable!!! or at least looks to be.
It has a C-clip, C-ring, whatever, and multiple notches in the needle for the clip.

So someday I'll try putting the pod back on and playing with the needle height.