Collected 1st December 2004                                                Cost £100 Stage one   Dismantling 1st Objective 1.        Start bike prior to stripping to access mechanical condition 2.        Check over to assess general condition. Saturday 4th December                3 hours                    Photos 1 - 10 The bike eventually started after changing spark plugs and a lot of coaxing. (Note: plugs are an unusual size - Bosch XR5DS recommended) The engine would not respond to throttle until running and then would not run below about 2000 rpm. After clearing there seem to be no excessive smoke or undue noises. The repeated turning of the engine seems to have caused a problem to the bendix, which has stopped engaging although the motor still turns. General condition was not as bad as first impressions indicate. There is slight damage to the n/s lower fairing panel and to the rear seat cowl above the brake light, but paintwork could be made respectable with a good polish and some touching up. All unpainted items are in need of a lot of cleaning especially the mill finish aluminium parts. The frame is in poor condition with most of the paint missing and large amounts of surface rust.                                         2nd Objective 1.        Dismantle bike as much as practical, need to exercise restraint to compromise between wanting to fully restore and keep within a tight budget. 2.        Dismantle and document areas needing attention in order to prioritise areas that may not need extensive work or will be to expensive 3.        Put aside items that need additional work as apposed to just cleaning. 6th & 7th December                        3.5 Hours                Photos 11 - 17 All fairing stripped including brackets - some fixings need attention before spraying / reassembling. Tank, side covers battery and instruments removed. Starter motor has been checked and the fault mentioned earlier seems to be the sprag clutch, but will need to be investigated as part of the engine rebuild. Access to the frame is very awkward and I may not have time to strip it bare to repaint, although if I don’t do it at this stage, it will take a lot more work later and I’ll wish I had done it properly.     11th December                        6 Hours                Photos 18 - 31 Decide to do the job properly - having got the bike cheap it is worth spending a bit to do it up. In order to strip the frame, all wiring was removed - there are several spare connectors but the wiring is not quite as bad as I first thought, there is a main loom, an engine loom and the instrument wiring, which is connected mainly via 2 block connectors. Engine loom routing needs to be in place before frame is repositioned. And other aspects of the wiring routing need to be considered on reassembly. Radiator was then removed and seat and rear cowl. After unbolting the 5 frame bolts ant the engine supported on stands, the frame and front wheel could be lifted off leaving the engine gearbox and shaftdrive with the back wheel. On reassembly it would be best to get back to this stage with the engine all set up and pre serviced, as access with the frame on is limited. There are several foam spacers that need positioning at various stages - if not fitted at the right time it could prove impossible to get them past other bits of equipment and frame. Once the frame was off the forks could be removed - the front brake pipes go through the headstock so had to be split.     12th December                        4 hours                Photos 32 Engine unit was now on a workmate, ready for attention. First I stripped the frame removing all brackets ID plate and Code sticker. All rubber grommets were also removed. The steering lock seems to be defective and was left in place. The front mounts have a rubber / steel bush which has also been left at this stage. There are some threads that will need attention but I will do that after powder coating as this will also clog up threads. The stand assembly was removed from the engine. The exhaust silencer has cracks around the collector box but would not come off; also the nuts holding the pipes to the engine had to be ground off and will need new studs. Despite this the exhaust system could not be removed from the engine. The swinging arm / shaft drive also proved difficult and were left with the gearbox at this stage. The gearbox was split from the engine and is now ready for stripping. 14th December                        3/4 hours         Exhaust still being stubborn so left at this stage. Removed cam cover and sump plug leaving oil to drain over night to compensate for the engine being cold. Cams and other parts indicate that the engine is in remarkably good condition internally - this is probably due to the mileage, although high, almost all done at motorway speeds so the hours the engine has been running is probably comparable with an engine that has done around 30k town miles. 15th December                        1 hours Still no luck with the exhaust system, which is delaying removing the head. However the right hand engine cover, which would effectively be the sump on a conventional engine, was removed. Both this and the cam cover are secured with bolts with rubber grommets and will not need replacing. The allen bolts securing the ignition censor cover and timing covers were also removed. These will need replacing and some have sheared so will need re- tapping. 19th December                        2 1/2 hours                Photos 33 - 34 Timing and ignition covers were removed and revealed some rust on the ignition pick up, this my be the main cause of the poor starting and not running at low revs and may need replacing if it cannot be cleaned. The exhaust was finally removed and it appears they were just tight in the head. All exposed areas of the engine continue to show very little wear but I will remove head and bottom end if only for peace of mind. The timing Chain has not yet been disturbed, as I want to check timing mark alignment prior to removing the head. I also need to check the valve clearances in order to check the shims needed (if any) this could be done with the head off provided I do not need to disturb the cams to remove it. I have also purchased a manual to provide data and technical help 21st  December                        1 1/2 hours                Photos 35 - 45 The Clutch has been removed as well as the timing gears and chain. Cam marks are small ‘v’ s in one of the holes and point to the top of the head when aligned. The crankshaft mark points down. The head was removed and showed no signs of gasket failure. Valve colour was ok and none were burnt. One piston was removed and both the bore and big end journal are in good condition, but the shells should be replaced and so should the rings.

The bike is now dismantled enough to start work on the individual components, which are listed as follows: - ·        Engine - bottom end ·        Engine - head ·        Gearbox and shaft ·        Frame ·        Forks and wheels ·        Electrical ·        Body work This part of the rebuild has taken 22.25 hours