Euro Version
As well as my Lechien tribute bike, i decided to put together a white Euro version model. This bike was to be my practice, bush hack but the old girl needed an overhaul first so i started stripping it down. It is only getting the basics but is a great project and is coming along nicely. Bike was fully stripped down and inspected. All the usual stuff was there... damaged frame, worn parts, wrong engine cases, worn suspension, knackered plastics and airbox etc...
I started with the frame. Welded the damage and sent off for blast and powder coat. The plastics were not worth fixing so, DC side covers, OEM front guard, Maier rear guard, airbox from Ebay and only the front number plate kept for reconditioning. The shrouds were ditched and i will be reconditioning my US ones for this bike.
I replace the bars, polished and painted the triple clamps and rebuilt the forks with new seals and fresh oil. The rear shock was an Ebay item that had been rebuilt. I just painted the spring and polished it all up. All bearings and linkages greased, swingarm polished and new chain guides fitted. I have fitted wider pegs, new fork boots and had the seat recovered. All bolts are either polished up or replaced.
I started with the frame. Welded the damage and sent off for blast and powder coat. The plastics were not worth fixing so, DC side covers, OEM front guard, Maier rear guard, airbox from Ebay and only the front number plate kept for reconditioning. The shrouds were ditched and i will be reconditioning my US ones for this bike.
I replace the bars, polished and painted the triple clamps and rebuilt the forks with new seals and fresh oil. The rear shock was an Ebay item that had been rebuilt. I just painted the spring and polished it all up. All bearings and linkages greased, swingarm polished and new chain guides fitted. I have fitted wider pegs, new fork boots and had the seat recovered. All bolts are either polished up or replaced.
I wanted to re-anodize the wheels in gold but it was too expensive and probably would not come out too good. I decided to go with black powder coating as it was very cheap and i could get my frame and hubs done at the same time. The hubs and rims worked out at $10 each. I laced it all together with new OEM spokes, but have kept my original spokes for future electro plating. I have put a tutorial up on this site to explain how to rebuild conical hubs. The wheels were then fitted with new rim tapes, rim locks, heavy duty tubes and new tyres. For the rear, i have fitted a new Pirelli 100/100/18 Scorpion Xtra X. These seem to be a long lasting all round tyre. I have also fitted a new JT 50T rear sprocket to match the other wheel set.
All the electrics were cleaned and remounted. The kill switch was mounted back on the bars and all wires tidied up with cable ties. The radiators were cleaned and repainted and then mounted with race washers and new bolts. The air deflectors were missing when i purchased the bike so i sourced some more and have mounted them on the rads with new hardware. I have also fitted an hour meter that has a rpm function. I have now ordered some new red silicone radiator hoses from GPI for the bike. The plastics were cleaned up and remounted. I used an orbital sander with 80 grit to start and worked my way up to hand sanding using 1500 wet and dry. The tank decals are MXM. The shrouds and tank got a good application of Plastic Renew which really brightened them up.
A lot of work went into finishing the bikes off. The white K got another K expansion chamber and a modified K muffler with an L tip so that it is repackable. The governors needed modifying so that the power valves were in the correct range for adjustment. This was accomplished by moving a 1mm shim from one side of the governor stack to the other and worked perfectly. The engine rebuild on the white K went smoothly with a rebuilt crank, all new seals, new mains etc.. The US model now has the Gorr cylinder and Wossner piston fitted while the Euro K has the standard cylinder with 58mm Wiseco piston. The carb was cleaned and adjusted and a standard BR9ES plug used. Euro timing was set to 1.88 BTDC.
After cylinder swaps and rebuilds, both bikes started within 4 kicks and run and idle perfectly.
After cylinder swaps and rebuilds, both bikes started within 4 kicks and run and idle perfectly.