A Cowasarky

No time like the present, unloaded the bike this morning I was too knackered to do it last night.

Had a look over it on the bench and thought I'd make a start.



Off with the usual shite. Tank has suffered some rust at the bottom end, but not bad enough to cause any issues, it can be sorted now and just as well.
Rest of the paintwork is in very good nick, there are some "drop" scratches on the right-hand-side on the fairing, the front mudguard has been repaired as it cracked in a few places (he did have a bit of a do with a car on it, was a glancing blow off the nearside of the car, came to a stop then fell over with it) no damage other than those few little marks/scratches.

Most of the mess on the bike is mold as it happens which was a promising sign as none of it is permanent.

A few hours in and the coolant drained, oil drained, rad off, oil cooler off, exhaust off, carbs off, then I whipped the clutch out as it was locked on.

Brakes still work, not seized but I'm going to take them apart and sort them out this time around, undecided whether to paint the callipers again or not.




Carbs, apart, there wasn't much in them either, just some red sand as expected.

.

Judging by the majority of the bike and its 22k miles, it has lead a very pampered life. The front of the engine is very clean, but the oil cooler has suffered a fair bit of corrosion on the backside but still looks solid, so may just need a good clean up and repaint. Many of the fittings have varying degree of corrosion all of which can be sorted and painted as all are still sound.




As far as the engine is concerned, I couldn't see as much as I'd like to have with the borescope, as the spark plug holes are so small I could only see the piston crowns, and through the open inlet valves. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, so judging by the rest of the bike we'll have to assume the engine is as sweet as a nut. It does turn over by hand freely enough without any unusual noises/scrapes or anything. The rest of the inside is as you'd expect clean and very clean.

Without running it, I'd say that is a great result so far.

Lovely that! Bloody low mileage. Bootiful!

Ha ha.

Come and get it then, it'll all go in an artic.


There's too much gear in it now, bike stuff, car stuff, work stuff, I'm constantly moving shite around to work in it.

I do kind of have it how I like it now, it works for me just a bit cold all year round which is nice in the summer, but fooking baltic in the winter.

The bonus of it being sold cold of absolutely no condensation, nothing rots or rusts, just bloody cold so I just think....

Can't wait till its fired up

No pics today, as I was doing some really messy jobs so didn't want to cover my phone in shit.

Clutch back in, both gasket surfaces cleaned up, now awaiting gasket.

I did the unthinkable to day, I sandblasted the oil cooler. Plugged the inlets up then wrapped a load of tape around them, turned the pressure down on me regulator, and gently blasted all the shit out the fins. Wasn't sure how well it would come out, but it did a fairly good job. Painted it up again, pleased with it as it turned out much better than before. Some of the fins have rotted away and others a re damaged, but with a repaint it'll last for years.

Also sorted out a couple of the oil lines, brass wheeled them, then repainted. They also came up well and should keep any further rust at bay for years,

Cleaned the rad, blasted and repainted the exhaust collar clamps as they were also rusty. All have been painted with VHT paint, so once it gets hot it should cure nicely.

Plan next:  As soon as the parts arrive, I'll put the clutch and pick-up cover back on, plugs back in, finish cleaning out the carbs then bung them back on.
Finish off the oil lines, then I can stick the exhaust back on, rad and oil cooler too.

I'm hoping that come the weekend I should be able to fire it up, the  I can look at the brakes or back end/shock linkage.

I aim to have this bike finished by the end of April, ready for the shit summer. ha ha.

As it got the derestricted carb tops