S.O.A. - ish

Putting aside the possibility that I will be considered a wannabe, I've just ordered a handlebar fairing to complete the stuff I need for my front end.
The look I'm going to end up with will be along the lines of some of the dynas on the TV "biker soap" Sons of Anarchy which, if you have watched any of it, you will realise has little to do with motorcycles. Yes, the series are about the exploits of a California-based MC but apart from using their bikes to go from one murder to another and the odd glimpse of an old Harley in the club-house it may just as well be about a bunch of mafiosa or any other rebel gang.

Anyway, nonsense apart, the look of the bikes with the high t-bars is just what I've been heading for. The fairing is just another step on that route. I've ordered the fairing now as I will need to get custom brackets made up to fit it and I may as well get that done when the yokes are being fabricated.

That just means that I'll need to delay the carb conversion until I have a bit more spare cash. Though I may be able to afford it sooner as all I need is an air cleaner and a suitable manifold. If I keep the EFI going for this summer I may look at fitting the V&H pipes anyway. I'm not too sure if I'll be able to run them with the stock air cleaner or if I will have to look out for a cleaner which will switch between the EFI unit and the carb with the use of an adapter.

extra spending

I need to take some time to sit down and work out what I need to put on my shopping list.
Things keep coming into my head and then slipping out again, only to suddenly pop back to mind again. Usually sometime in the middle of the night when something has woken me up and I'm lying trying to get back to sleep. So often, I think of things in the wee small hours that soon get forgotten again, so I'm sure there must be quite a lot that I should be putting on this list.
Among those are a manifold for the carburettor. I knew when I bought the carb that I'd need to buy a manifold but somehow that got forgotten. I've done a bit of research and it seems that the EVO one will fit the twin cam so I'll order one of those as soon as I can afford the £70 or so.
I've got a feeling that I will put off the EFI conversion until the end of this year's riding season and concentrate on doing the front end. It's probably still worth buying stuff just now if I can get them pre VAT increase prices and leave them on the shelf until needed.
Most of the bits I need for that I've already bought. All I really need is to get the bits down to Area 51 as I'm sure they'll be able to supply any other small bits and pieces when they're manufacturing the yokes. The biggest expense (apart from the yokes) will be stainless brake lines and I can't order them until I know the measurements.

more steps

The paint for the calipers came on Saturday so Sunday was spent painting them.

That went quite well. The gloss went on easily and two coats have covered it. They're not smooth as I was painting over the matte finish which was rough to start with but to be honest I doubt if even rubbing them down to the bare metal would have resulted in a completely flat finish as the castings on brakes aren't usually a highly polished finish anyway.
They are glossy enough to contrast with the satin finish on the fork lowers.

I also received my V&H exhausts this morning. As soon as I opened them I realised I've still to buy blanking plugs for the oxygen sensors. Not a big deal or delay as they are now going to sit on the shelf in the garage. I've decided not to start any more changes until I've got all the bits I need. Rather than fit the shortshots to the fuel injected engine then have to remove them again to get rid of the EFI, I'll wait until I'm ready to fit the carb. That entails buying a tank for a carb model as I really don't want to convert my stock tank and then run it with the fuel pump still fitted. It will be more straightforward fitting a tank with a fuel tap, a length of fuel pipe and that's it. No having to fit adapters for the tap, blanking plugs or removing the internal piping. My mind has shifted once more on the instruments. I was going to buy a tank with a dash mounting and use the stock speedo in the standard position. Now I'm swinging to the position that it will look better with a smooth tank top and a handlebar mounted speedo. Bit more complicated when it comes to wiring but I feel it will be worth the extra effort.

There's also another reason I'm delaying the carb work. I may have to deliver the bike to the shop when I go ahead with the new front end. If I have to ride it there at least putting back together what I've got now will be just an hour or two's work. If I start pulling the fuel injection off them I'm committed to doing it all before I ride again.

To be honest, if I can't afford all the bits I'll ride the bike with the engine in its stock set-up rather than lose riding months this summer.

finished forks

I got out to the garage this afternoon and did the finishing touches on the fork re-build. I managed to work out the order and orientation of the seals, spring clips and dust seals by googling and then finding pictures. The bit I wasn't sure about was the dust seal as I wasn't sure if the spring washer on that should be visible or beneath the seal. Once I had tapped the seals right down inside the lower leg it all became a bit more obvious. At first the seals were sitting level with the top of the fork lower but a bit of "hard" tapping got them seated correctly.
Once they were filled to the correct level (got a litre left as I had to guess how much to buy. It's difficult finding anywhere which gives a quantity for the fork oil on Harleys!) and the top nut screwed and torqued I fitted them into the yokes (more to keep them secure than anything else), I tried fitting the brake calipers and I'm sure that they are going to work together.

HD dealerships and parts catalogues all say that you have to use the correct parts for the year and model when fitting spares but as many of the parts are the same size they seem to be more interchangeable than the MoCo admits. This front end is from 4 different models and everything should go together with very little engineering needed. All I reckon will be needed to be made are spacers for the brake rotors and a wheel spindle. That's because I'm looking to do an extra wide set of yokes and the spacers are to accommodate that.

As soon as I get the caliper paint through I can get them painted. Then all I need to do is take the lot along to Area 51 to see what they can do. In the meantime I can start to measure up and order the front stainless brake lines.

another step

Got the forks almost back together.
It was so dark outside today that I couldn't see a thing in the garage, so I had to bring all the bits into the house. I got most of it back together but left off filling them with oil. Knowing my track record with things like that I really didn't want my carpets soaked in fork oil so I'll leave the filling until I get a day with better visibility. All that's needing done is the oil and then get it all torqued up.
As I can't really finish them off before the caliper paint arrives and I get them painted to fit then a further delay wont be too drastic.
Then I will need to make time to get the lot along to Area 51 to get their advice on yokes.
I e-mailed about the V&H exhausts I ordered and got a reply back that they hadn't them in stock and had meant to get in touch to tell me that and that they could order them now. So much for trying to beat the VAT increase. I just sent the order off to another supplier.
It's all about customer care!

new year

It's the 1st January and a Happy New Year to all.
I spent some dead time yesterday cleaning the calipers and decided to paint them so to do that I ordered some gloss black engine/caliper paint. I've decided to do them gloss as a contrast to the satin of the fork lowers. Hopefully, the paint wont take too long to come as I can't do much else to the brakes before I paint them. I am getting impatient as I want to see how they go back together with the new seals and pistons in.
I'm pretty sure that I can use the DOT 4 fluid (which is what is in the rear brake), although the master cylinder says DOT 5 on the top. It's brand new so there will be no problem with mixing two grades of fluid. Things will be a lot more straightforward if I'm using the same fluid all round.
I quite fancy getting an engraved billet cover anyway. Arlen Ness do a cool one.

Being a non-drinker, Hogmanay here in Scotland isn't quite the same as it used to be. I no longer spend the 1st of January in bed nursing a hangover, so I am going to be at a loose end most of the day.
Maybe I'll get out to the garage and start the re-build on the forks.