No worries, it certainly looks like its just a dust seal... as for taping to the damper....I suspect that you may be correct!!!

 

My insurance is up on my Bandit in the next few days which I've owned for 1 1/2 years. I want to sell it and buy something like a CBR 600 F which I really like. My mate has one which I've ridden and I like it, really I want something more sporty with fairing, but it is also an older model so I can do maintenance stuff on it fairly easily. Also would need to be similar in terms of the bike as the insurance rockets up after this. So what other bikes are there similar to this bike?

 

Sadly, this project is over for me. My garage went up in flames two weeks ago, and that garage held all my plastics, the seat, and the tank.

I do have the frame and engine and everything else, but given the difficulty I had just sourcing side maintenance covers - which I had not been successful in doing since I got the bike - I think the likelihood of me restoring it to close to original is nil.

I thank everyone here for all the help I’ve gotten here. This is a great community.

Here is a picture of the garage on fire as we waited for the fire department.

 

After all of the work you've put into it that's a real bastard, I feel for you.

The only consolation is the amount of learning you've done and, hopefully, fun you've had doing it.

 

Thank you @Ed Harris . I did really learn a lot from this project and that was the entire purpose of buying the bike. Before I bought it, I didn't know the first thing about carbs, for instance; after a while I could tear mine down and put it back together again like it was nothing. The pride I had when that bike first started up after cleaning and reassembling the carbs - priceless.

I'm just bummed because mine had *just* about everything I needed to bring it back to stock, which I was really looking forward to doing.

 

So sorry to hear about your fire, what a kick in the nuts.
Hopefully will not put you off from doing something different with the metal bits of your project bike and / or another one.
Keep your chin up and onto the next one.

 

Hopefully the parts will be able to help some other person put together their 600F. I thought briefly about doing the street fighter thing but not sure.

 

That is too bad friend. It's gotta be tough to see your work get destroyed like that. Don't let it knock the wind completely out of your sails. Take a bit and catch your breath. Take it from there.

 

Came back to see if maybe someone was selling plastics. I also need a seat, exhaust and fuel tank.

In another thread @rockpool asked how the fire started.

The guy who came to inspect it wrote it down as "undetermined cause". I don't know what happened. Fire chief said this stuff happens all the time in the area (cottage country).

I had been doing some spring cleaning in our cottage garage, had put back most of the stuff including 3 dirt bikes and a bunch of lawn care equipment (chainsaws, mowers, string trimmers, etc). My road bike was still outside.

Went to talk to my neighbour. Heard something that sounded like backfiring; took a look around and saw nothing interesting - those sounds aren't uncommon in cottage country. A minute or two later, I was aware of a loud crackling sound. It was eerily loud, took another look around and saw some boards that were up against the garage on fire.

Neighbour and I ran over with household fire extinguishers but they were useless. My wife had locked me out of the house by accident so I couldn't get inside to turn on the exterior water. Neighbour's kid ran into the garage - I thought he was crazy but he grabbed a dirt bike and pulled it out. My neighbour and I looked at each other and then ran in to get the other two. At this point one whole side of the building was in flames. We got them a safe distance away, I tried to run in to get some other stuff but it was too hot then. A few minutes later you could hear explosions inside as one or another gas powered tool ignited.

If I had parked my road bike, with my keys inside the house, I would have lost it and the three dirt bikes behind it because the steering-locksd bike would have blocked the dirt bikes.. That would have been extra painful as I would have had to pay deductibles 4 separate deductibles on them as they are insured separately. So we were lucky in that regards.

As it was, I lost a ton of stuff. After itemizing everything at replacement value, contents alone came to 6 figures. Not sure I understand why but even though we were insured for replacement value, insurance company is trying to depreciate payout at 50%. Doesn't sound like "replacement value" to me, and the adjuster even told me - even if something was used, they'd pay me for what it would cost to replace with an equivalent.

Still can't bring myself to parting out or selling what I have, but I know chances of me getting to stock are pretty low without spending a lot.