Got the parts back from the powdercoater today.







Seeing the outcome I`m really really glad I listened to you guys and went with the satin black, they could not look much better!

Started thinking that blue color is probly not that tight on that steering damper so I could probly polish it clear. Didn`t want that shade of blue on it in the first place but it was the best of the available options as it was the only damper I could find that was long enough. I also noticed one of the seals has started leaking so gotta rebuild it anyway... cheap china crap... It`s a pity the only options out there are either this 2c junk and the superpro 300+ eur ones...

 

Isn't that a HyperPro copy? If so, I'd try to order a HyperPro rebuild kit and use it. A LOT of car guys buy the cheap ebay adjustable FPRs, and then throw authentic rebuild kits in them so that they get the important part of the FPR without the entire cost.


Just a thought.


BTW, the cage looks great. It looks like a million bucks.

 

Not sure, most if not all Hyperpro dampers I found seems to have the external reservoir thingy beside the actual barrel. It's not exactly a hyper technical device, shouldn't be more than a few o-rings and the end seals that I'm fairly confident I can get from one of the bearing specialists downtown. Was just thinking what is the fluid inside it and what could I use to replace, fork oil? Wonder would ATF work cause I got that already, wouldn't
want to buy a liter bottle if I need around 50-60ml of it... another thing is the "bullseye" that connects the mount to the cage, there's no free play but it is fairly loose and I'm pretty sure the whole damper can and probly will rattle from side to side at idle. Gonna see if I could find either another stiffer one or figure out an alternative fixing method altogether.

 

ATF might qork, it just depends on what viscosity it calls for. I wouldn't know where to look except for asking an eBay seller.

 

Highly doubt they know either. Not a huge spending to just go buy a bottle of Valvoline 10w fork oil, costs 9,90 @Motonet. Whatever is there now is very lean and the shock itself isn't giving me much resistance at all so might be it wouldn't hurt to try something a bit stiffer. If it doesn't work I can just drain it and try something else. Probly gonna keep the shock at the lowest setting anyway as it's mainly there to sooth the front end when riding on gravel. Don't know for sure yet as I've never ridden a bike that has one, probly gonna experiment with it a little and see what feels the best.

 

The adapter for the koso temp gauge came today. Must say I was expecting a little better quality part... The adapter is for a 24mm hose, but the fittings are 28mm outer diameter plus the shoulder so it took a whole lotta cursing to get the fiber reinforced silicone hose to go over the shoulders. The center part itself is very poorly finished as you can see, the edges look like they've been just briefly brushed against a belt sander, nowhere close to being straight. Not to mention the whole part being a hulking lump of metal that catches the eye more than it's supposed to... Gonna keep it as is for the moment as no better parts have come past for the task but that will probably be one of the first parts to come back to for tidying once everything works and I can start concentrating on the petty details...

 

Continued with the exhaust manifold today, armed with a foam pad for the drill and a tube of Farécla.







After about 20-30 mins of vigorous buffing the foam pad gave up and the foam part ripped off the backplate. The G6 Farécla isn`t that coarse so it didn`t work as well as I was hoping so I used up teh remains of the white Didi tube show earlier, it seemed to "bite in" more rapidly but there wasn`t much at all left of it so didn`t get very far. Still not nearly done as specially the headers and the upper part that comes against the engine still needs more buffing but a good start if not else. Gotta go buy a tube of that Autosol stuff everyone keeps praising to get the job finished.



Also managed to clean up in the garage and lay some mats on the floor for sound insulation. Managed to open my mouth at the right time to the right person at work as I didn`t pay a penny for them, they do wonders to the problem of waking up the whole house by dropping a wrench to the floor while tinkering at night. Took the CBR out too and fired `er up, took a whole lotta cranking to get it going but once it did it ran pretty well. I let it idle in the yard for some time and turned it around in the driveway. Those road tires have absolutely zero grip on damp snow as I ended up pushing it up the hill back inside while having the first gear engaged, didn`t do much good at all.

 

Actually Matt, from the pictures the headers look pretty good

 

Language barrier By headers I meant the curvy cast parts that connect to the cylinder head, but I suppose the whole exhaust manifold is referred to as the header, not 100% on what word to use when talking about it...

 

Jeez I`m starting to think that the exhaust header has most probably NEVER been polished before... Spent another hour and a half in the garage again and still not finished...



This is what I started with today, armed with a tube of that Autosol chrome polish stuff I managed to find from the city earlier today. It`s not even that expensive costing 6,90 for a tube so it`s cheaper than for example Farécla. Although it`s not that big of a tube as I ended up using about 2/3 of it already. I took a sleeve off an old shirt of mine, soaked it wet, twisted damp, applied a healthy amount of Autosol on the pipe and started rubbing. And boy did I rub and yank and tug and...polish but got nowhere fast. At one point i was starting to lose faith already as nothing seemed to be happening no matter how much I rub it so I figured I`d try to add both Autosol and G6 Farécla to the rag and started to get some results.



I continued using both products with an occasional drop of water to keep the stuff working. I ended up rubbing the header for an hour and a half until my arms were starting to hurt so much I was forced to call it quits for today. I suppose it would be appropriate to say I was well and truly exhausted.







Crappy phone pics, get all shook up even if I use a support to shoot against... Still got a bum to pick with it but it`s getting there. The midpipe back from the collector polished with just a quick sweep, didn`t use much force with it at all but the downpipes OMFG... Lucky the oil cooler covers the dents in the curves pretty well, looks like someone has patched up some holes with "black" mig wire as the welds are rusting, but I don`t suppose it will be much of an issue... Next thing to buy would be a cloth wheel for the drill so I can get all the joints and stuff as the twisted rag method cannot get to any nooks.