Khaleesi’s Sprocket Refuses To Budge And Sylvie Gets A New Footpeg

This week, I attempted to get Khaleesi’s front sprocket off with an old o-ring chain between the sprockets. I couldn’t fit the chain fully, as it was a little shorter than the length needed.

I had discussed my suspicion that the o-ring chain wasn’t likely to fit with Khaleesi’s owner and we’d decided against opening the sealed bag for the replacement chain in case it turned out the rear tyre was too wide. This turned out to be a wise choice, as there was absolutely no clearance between the old o-ring chain and the tyre.

I had no luck whatsoever with getting the front sprocket off, even with the old chain on the sprockets and the rear brake applied as hard as I could manage. As I don’t own an impact wrench and I’m not sure about the extent of the damage indicated by the cracked outer side of the bolt hole for the left side engine cover I discovered last week, I’ve advised her owner that he’s better off taking her to a qualified motorcycle mechanic.

Sylvie’s rear footpeg was looking a bit bare, so I had been looking forward to receiving the replacement parts for it.

The parts arrived, so I unpacked them ready to fit on the footpeg.

I didn’t realise when I ordered them that I’d  missed the plate at the end closest to the bike. The pillion pegs don’t get much use at the moment anyway, so I’ll order one with my next parts order for her.

With the new rubber cover fitted, the footpeg should at least stay in the folded position a little better!

That’s all I had time for this week. It’s my baby daughter’s first birthday next week, so I may not have free time for bike work. If that turns out to be the case, I’ll see if I can write a post about the work I did on my compressor recently that I’d intended to cover in a bonus post I forgot to write.

 

 

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Swapping A Footpeg And Work On Khaleesi Continues

Since the replacement parts for Sylvie’s footpeg hadn’t arrived and I needed to keep riding Sylvie, I checked the pillion footpeg on the same side and found the parts were all the same. I decided to swap them over, so off they came!

I fitted the parts to the front footpeg and folded the rear one up and out of the way again. I’ll fit the new parts to the pillion peg when they arrive.

Khaleesi’s owner brought over the spare parts I’d been waiting for, so I unpacked the rag from the external shift mechanism and inspected the area where the replacement cover needs to go.

At first glance, everything looked ok.

I compared the old parts with their replacements.

On closer inspection, it looked like there was some minor damage to the engine casing I hadn’t previously noticed, but not enough for concern at this stage. I’ll make sure I let the owner know and re-check the bottom of the engine for evidence of oil leaks.

I started fitting the parts. I had put the new gasket in place before I realised that I needed to remove the front sprocket before the replacement cover place will go on.

This turned out to be somewhat more difficult than I’d expected as the engine turns over when I tried to unscrew the mounting nut, so I took a break for the evening and will consult the manual before giving it another go.

I will be fitting a new chain and sprockets on Khaleesi too – hopefully I’ll have an update on that next week!

If my replacement footpeg parts and bearing kit for Sylvie arrive next week, I may have a few busy weeks ahead…

Sylvie Loses A Footpeg Cover But Gets Some Other New Parts

This week, I noticed something amiss on Sylvie’s left footpeg. The rubber cover had come off completely and gone missing somewhere!

The right footpeg was normal, however.

I still need to order a replacement, as I had a busy week and haven’t got around to it yet. The replacement parts for the mudguard mount and handlebar bolt caps finally arrived though!

I started by removing the damaged and old parts from the mudguard mount.

 

I opened the packets and prepared the new parts

I fitted the replacement parts and tightened the bolts.

I then moved on to the handlebar mounting bolt caps. The original ones had been damaged after being removed and replaced multiple times.

I removed them a final time with the help of a small standard screwdriver.

The new caps compared with the old ones.

The new caps didn’t fit flush at first, as they needed more force when first fitted than I could manage with my bare hands.

A few taps with a wooden mallet later, they were quite snug in their new home.

Finally, I updated the task list for Sylvie.

 

I checked off the new tasks that were completed.

I realise later that I had forgotten to add the replacement footpeg cover, so I’ll be sure to add it over the next week!

I also go some work done on the compressor this week, so keep an eye out for a bonus post about that sometime soon!

The Very Strong Spring Is Stretched And Sylvie’s Stand Is Fitted

Last week, I had been beaten by a very strong spring and gave up trying to fit Sylvie’s centrestand on my own. This week I got some help, as recommended in the instructions for the identical stand I’d tried fitting on Jack before I sold him.

First up, I remembered that I hadn’t fitted the retaining washer and split pin to the stand axle, which should be fitted to ensure the stand stays on!

So I unwrapped the shiny new parts.

  

I then fitted them to the centrestand axle and the split pin was bent to keep everything in place.

 

After multiple attempts to pull the spring with a spring stretching tool from a trampoline, we hadn’t made any progress. My friend had tried applying some extra leverage to the spring stretching tool and it snapped in his hands!

After taking a break to apply a band-aid, my friend had a brainwave! There was an old guy-rope from a tent or tarpaulin in my carport, which he hooked into the spring. we put the hook from the large spring on the loop in the rope and ran the rope behind the rear sprocket and around the bottom of the the rear wheel hub. This gave enough leverage for him to stretch the spring by bracing against the rear wheel while I guided the hook of the spring over the slot on the centrestand.

Stretching the inner spring again was much easier.

Finally, Sylvie’s centrestand was fitted!

I’ll be stripping and rebuilding the carburetor next week, so hopefully Sylvie will be running again in time for me to ride her to work again when I return from parental leave.

A Stand For Sylvie With A Very Strong Spring

The springs for Sylvie’s centrestand arrived this week, so with all the pieces together I decided to try fitting the stand.

 

The stand itself needed a little assembly.

  

The rubber stopper was the first part I fitted.

 

Next I located the mounting point under the frame.

 

The mounting pin was the next part unpacked.

 

I greased the pin before pushing it through. It needed a little encouragement from my trusty rubber mallet.

  

Next I prepared the springs for mounting. The smaller spring goes inside the main spring.

  

Despite my best efforts,I couldn’t get the main spring to stretch enough to finish mounting the stand.

 

Rather than giving up completely, I decided to simply mount only the smaller spring and leave the stand in place for now. I packed everything else into a box until a friend is able to come over and help me mount the main spring later this week.

 

Hopefully I’ll have a longer update for you next week!

CB250RS Parts Transplant – A New Fuel Tap, A Name, Kick-Starting, And Packing Up Parts

Last week, my new fuel tap arrived!

While it fits perfectly, I didn’t fit the tank just yet, as I want to repaint it first.

I’ve also decided on a name for the resulting bike after the parts transplant.

As it contains parts from Eric and from Bruiser, I decided to smash the names together and came up with a few possibilities:

ERI-SER, BRU-RIC and ER-SER were all briefly considered before thought of ERIC-ER, as the bike’s working parts are more Eric than Bruiser.

This quickly became Erica, because the gender of inanimate objects is completely arbitrary anyway!

Heres a video of Erica’s first start after the surgery

After running Erica for a while, I decided to swap out the rear duck-tail fairing.

The original seat from Bruiser with the blue duck-tail fairing

Scarlet’s original duck-tail on Eric’s old seat.

I removed the very dodgy self-tapping wood screws I’d only ever intended to use temporarily on Eric’s seat

Bruiser’s old seat still had the original mounting screws, so off came the duck-tail.

Onto the better seat  and a close-up of the mounting screws.

A couple of vanity shots of Erica with the black tank still fitted until the blue one is repainted.

With the obligatory full shots of Erica out of the way, I stacked the spare mudguard and duck-tail fairing next to the very dented spare tank.

I decided the seat could go with them.

Looking at the frame, I decided there was still too much on it, so I set about stripping it down completely.

The ignition coil and High Tension lead were the first candidates.

The mounting posts shared with and the mounting plate for the Regulator/Rectifier were next.

The wiring loom and rear brake light switch followed soon after.

The gear shift lever and mounting pin came next.

At this point, I decided to start bagging things up and labelling them to prevent further damage and in case I decide to part them out.

I moved on to the wiring clips.

The kickstand seemed like the next logical step…

 

…until I realised I needed to take the mounting bracket for the footpeg off to remove it!

With suitable persuasion I was able to convince it, however!

I also removed the swingarm axle in the process, though.

Naturally, I removed the rear shocks and swingarm next.

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I replaced the axle in the swingarm so I wouldn’t lose any of the parts.

I noticed the rear brake stay bar was attached with a split pin and bolt at the swingarm end as well, so I removed it and put the bolt back through for safekeeping.

The cylinder head mounting plate and cable clip were next.

The right footpeg and bracket came off fairly easily.

I’m glad I was able to remove the final mounting bolt by hand, as I don’t have an allen wrench this big! It was about 8 mm.

The horn and throttle cable guide came off the front of the frame.

By this stage, I had just the front forks and main stand left to remove.

As I don’t yet own a 30 mm spanner or socket, the main stand was next to come off.
The spring came off very easily without a wheel in the way.

The split pin was easy to remove with a pair of pliers.

The stand itself wasn’t quite so easily removed from the frame!

I got it eventually though.

With the stand removed, I picked up the remainder of the frame.

I found a suitable space for it and put the wheels away behind it

I cleaned up the main stand and its spring with some degreaser and they came up pretty well!

Finally, I started Erica and rode her up the ramp into the shed before stuffing the parts box full and locking up the shed.

 

 

 

 

 

The Parts Transplant Continues – CB250RS Motor Replacement

After removing the motors from Bruiser and Eric, it was finally time to install the working motor in Bruiser’s old frame.

First I collected the bricks from around Eric’s stand, as I would need them for raising Bruiser’s frame.

 

I also needed to pick up the mufflers! I hung the right header pipe up next to the left one.

 

There was room for the left muffler there too.

I’ve ordered a right muffler but it most likely won’t arrive until next week.

Next I had to remove the seat, rear fairing and rear mudguard.

I found a safe spot for them on top of the shelves.

Next was the tank, so I could see what I was doing.

I put it on top of Sylvie’s old rear wheel  (I should probably either sell that or get a new tyre and keep it as a spare!)

With a bit more room to work around the frame, I scooted the motor into a better position and moved the bricks near the legs of the main stand.

 

After lifting the frame up and putting the main stand onto the bricks, I moved them back a bit so the motorbike lift would fit in better.

With the bike lift in place, I put the motor on it and raised the motor into the frame.

I gave the mounting bolts a good blast of WD40. Photos on the left are before, on the right is after.

It took a bit of effort but finally I was able to get all the mounting bolts back in.

I lowered the bike lift, took it out and removed the bricks from under the main stand.
A fair bit of oil came out considering none had come out when I drained the oil, so I mopped it up with an oily towel and put the oil tray back underneath.

I decided the sump plug should go back in next.

 

Next I reattached the gear shift lever.

Connected the High Tension lead from the ignition coil to the spark plug.

As there was no regulator/rectifier on the frame, I removed Eric’s

I mounted the regulator/rectifier and gave all the electrical connectors a thorough spray with electrical contact cleaner.

    

I’ll need to move the lights, switch blocks, speedo and tacho to the other bike, so I started by taking off the headlight. from the front of the housing.

Since the headlight was working when Eric was run last, I took lots of photos of how everything was connected before unplugging everything.

    

    

After removing the headlight housing, I disconnected the tacho and speedo cables and decided to call it a night.

  

  

Both Bruiser and Eric are now just half-bikes. I’ll need to stop thinking of them as separate bikes soon!

 

More on that next time!