Come from the shadows - the Shadowfax restoration.

[Gosling1]

Go Phil !!!

I have exactly the same Magura clip-ons as those - Kent probably got his from The Stable back in 80/81 - that is where I got my set for the H2. They are still in use from time to time today, having never been down the road they are still 100% straight, and fit all 36mm forks from a few different Z models.....I have used these clip-ons on maybe 3 or 4 different bikes over the years ?? A true *period* part.....

This should be a great re-build to watch.......

[fezzick]

Yep, mine are 36mm and unmarked!

[fezzick]

Sorry, double post. Can mods delete this one, please?

[fezzick]

OK, I finished the chassis stripdown this morning. Since I'm not always great with putting things back together (I know), I decided to put all the small parts in ziplock bags and label them.
http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370913.JPG
Frame ready for sandblasting and powdercoating. Found a local company that will do the whole job for $180. I'm surprised at how robust it still is.
http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370910.JPG
Old Marzocchi shocks and other bits. Are these shocks rebuildable?
http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370912.JPG
Forks are ready to be rebuilt
http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370911.JPG
The swingarm has suffered from being abraded by the chain which has then allowed for the ingress of rust. Does anyone recognise the design, what bike it may have come off?
http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370907.JPG

[Gosling1]

Phil - looking good mate.

You can rebuild those Marzocchi shocks, but as much as it would be great to have these on the bike as they were in the period - honestly, they are crap. Much better off getting some YSS shocks I reckon, or even some trick Hagons from Moose Racing. If you really really really want those shocks re-built, they will need to go down to Ian Gowanloch - he should be able to sort them out.....

I am not sure about the swingarm at all - it looks like it could have been a home-made one. Lots of that going on in the late 70's / early 80's ........would Rick M recall who built it ? It shouldn't be too hard for any 1/2 decent engineering shop to knock up a replica - its a shame Col Linney (10/10ths Performance) has moved to Qld, because he would be all over something like this

[Kwakked Up]

Good luck with the build Fezz,

hours and hours of fun for the mildly insane

Will watch with interest.

[h.b.bear]

keep up the good work love watching someone else spend there hard earned cash

[fezzick]

The swingarm WAS a custom jobbie. Fabricated as a foreign order in the Nuclear Lab at the ANU! (same guy who made the triple clamps). So, yes, I'll have to find someone who can duplicate it, but I'll see if they can design it so that the bottom run of the chain doesn't grind the swingarm away which is what has been happening with the old one.

http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370907.JPG

The motor and smaller parts were stored in my shed and so are in pretty good shape. Here it is ready to go to the shop to be rebuilt.

http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370914.JPG

The wheels are DID alloys and the spokes will need to be de-rusted (possibly replaced). I have the brake torque arm and a Z1000 rear disk in the box and I'm tossing up about departing from originality and fitting them (the bike only ever had a drum brake on the rear)

http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370908.JPG

http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370909.JPG

[fezzick]

This morning I went down to Chris Dowde's workshop (just around the corner from my place) and took the swingarm with me. He's going to rebuild it. He reckons that the basic arm is OK, just the "wings" will need replacing, so that's another item ticked off. Getting rather excited, actually.

[Gosling1]

.....The swingarm WAS a custom jobbie. Fabricated as a foreign order in the Nuclear Lab at the ANU! (same guy who made the triple clamps)....

I think I know *exactly* who that was - Howard Wallace. He built a couple of shit-hot custom bikes back in Canberra during the 80's, and I am 99.9% sure that he used to work for the ANU in one of the physics labs......

Good to see that Chris will have a nudge at the swingarm mate - he knows his way around stuff like this. As far as the wheels go, I would spend the coin on having them totally re-spoked. There are a couple of places in Sydney that can do this.

Does the frame still have the rear m/c mounting holes in the frame ? You could bolt up the m/c if it does, but you will also need a hub from a 1977 Z1000A1 or 1978 Z1000A2 - these were spoked hubs with 4 bolt holes for the disc. I think Shadowfax used a z900 drum hub ?

[fezzick]

Yes, Gos, you are exactly correct. Convo with Rick confirms that it was Howard Wallace, the guy who built those 3 amazing Macintosh Suzuki replicas. Wheels will need "the treatment" I'm afraid. Rick says that, to get them onto the wider rim, the spokes had to be double crossed rather than the usual triple-crossed. I'll check about the m/c mounting holes, but I don't know. The bike started life as a wrecked Z1R so I'm not sure why the boys went for a drum brake. None of the drum brake hardware has survived, unfortunately. I think, in terms of originality, I'm going to have to re-instate the drum brake mechanism. Doesn't matter, really, I never use the rear brake anyway!!!!

[fezzick]

http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370956.JPG

Front and rear mudguard. The rear has been "bobbed" considerably, and it is in pretty poor shape, but I think I'll still use it because it IS original. The front is a home-made CB1100R replica one and should clean up and paint OK.

http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370955.JPG

The front wheel is OK, but the rust on the spokes is just surface stuff. I took some light emery to one just to see and it came up pretty good. All the same, I'm taking both of them to Chivos in Sydney just to make sure they're OK to be used.

http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370954.JPG

Rear wheel looks much better.

I've been reading up on how to disassemble the front forks. Looks pretty complicated with a special (or home-made) tool being required. I am afraid that the rust on the sliders may not be able to be removed so I might have to deviate from original and buy some new ones. I guess that is a small sacrifice, really.

[Gosling1]

OMFG !! Look at that rear tyre - a Bridgestone Mag Mopus !!!! fark me it must be almost 30 years old !!!

Phil - that photo of the front wheel - looks like Kent has used either a H2 or Z1 hub - it is a 6-bolt hub, not the later 4-bolt hub common to all the 900's and 1000's from 1976 onwards. What sort of condition are the disc rotors in ?

[fezzick]

Disk rotors are fine, just a bit of surface rust. Not surprised that H2 stuff was used, several of the team had had significant dealings with the H2 before the Shadowfax project was begun.

Front disks

http://www.halltech.com.au/forums/Shado ... 370908.JPG

[mike-s]

Front forks are easy to do, i literally did this three days ago.

preload the forks like so (link), this will give the internal valve the best chance of not from spinning like a top when you go to undo it.
Then apply a rattle gun like so to the socket (link)
voila! (link)

Went from spending ages arsing about trying to do it to taking 20 minutes to do including draining the oil once i had the right tools.