Is It Possible To Fall In Love With An 900ss Ie Model?? (pic Heavy)

So the idea of letting the engine wait for pieces, and to start on the rest of the bike changed the dynamics of the build.. it meant I could attack multiple parts at the same time... a really good idea, except for the chaos in the workshop. If I do it again I would try to organise some storage racks for the walls as all the dismantled pieces end up in piles on the floor.

But, advancement seemed to speed up slightly!

I looked at using a hot air gun on the black plastics, the idea is that it brings the oils out of the plastic to the surface...restoring the glossy finish. I've already tried the back to black products on car bumpers, but the effect is always temporary.





It kinda worked, but the age of the pieces was still showing through.

So found a much better solution:



This stuff was perfect...really made the pieces look like new.

 

So with these products in hand... rattled (pun intended) through the black plastics...

(small dabs of filler to remove scratches on the mirrors...)

 

At the same-ish time rebuilt the starter motor...



And repainted it, more in-keeping with the new engine look...didn't want a black cylinder that doesn't fit the look of the engine (shiny silver!). I'm also going to add some protective film to the new paint...as the starter is right in the line for the road gravel rash fired up from the front wheel.

 

When I did start the bike up, right at the beginning after purchase it was running so badly.. Fuelling was bad... wait until we get to the fuel tank!! - at this point I hadn't started the fuelling system cleanup, but I had easy access to the injectors...as they were sitting in a pile.

So using a 9V battery to open the injector (you can hear an audible "click"), I squirted brake cleaner in reverse and then down the injector...you could actually see the shape of the cleaner coming out improving.

 

One of the things that was taking time (yes..yes...the reason the build is taking so long...honest ) was sourcing parts needed. As said elsewhere I have a small amount of Scottish blood...hence I'm tighter than a gnat's chuff So all parts sourced were second hand or unused second-hand... it definitely takes time to find the bits. Here in France Ebay is not really used, but www.leboncoin.fr is like a supercharged gumtree, it is almost part of French culture...everything, absolutely everything! gets resold there.

So slowly keeping one eye open in the evenings for all the odd bits...I managed to find pieces bargain priced:

An unused DID gold chain.




An unused alloy sprocket, 39 teeth not that easy to find tbh.



I may remove the anodising as the gold may not fit with what I have in mind, I'll see as we start the assembly. I have a definite idea in mind regarding colour for the bottom half of the bike.

And also a barely used shock, again the red spring will probably be changed.

 

I also scored a front mudguard, side fairings and right-hand nose fairing that had been broken when the bike fell over in the workshop before stripping had begun. (Darling wife knocked it over ) These will all need painting at some point! - As I have the compressor, I also sourced a pair of very expensive Pro paint guns for this purpose...it'll be a learning experience! (going to closely read @buzzer 's blog on this!!)

Oh, and a full set of new old stock indicators...three of the four on the bike were broken!

I'd been keeping a rough excel spreadsheet of parts purchase, mainly for the Stein Dinse engine part orders, but started to add all the cycle parts...and it was roughly at this point the cost of the parts purchased surpassed the initial cost of the bike! - Does that mean I've doubled it's value??

 

Decided to cleanup the brake calipers...again what a state.




A firm toothbrush and soaking in Alloy Wheel Cleaner does the trick...

 

Of course the rusty pinch bolts wouldn't do...but could I get them out...nope. I think 3 or 4 survived, and the rest were drilled.



And unfortunately new pinch bolts were expensive...

But the end results are good...



Edit: if anyone has the torque settings for these pinch bolts... it would be a help, they are not listed in the workshop manual.

 

A bit random, but I decided to investigate the tank, it had a small fuel weep, so I guessed it was rusted through.




It did look a right state inside:



But it did seem solid.

Anyone who has tried to refit the fuel cap mount and to compress the sealing gasket while tightening up the 8 grub screws knows what a pain it is...I amusingly found the right size allen key merrily rusting away in the bottom of the tank!




Also removed a fair amount of "debris". Putting on my Sherlock Deerstalker I'd say this could possibly have contributed to poor running on the initial startup...

 

For a slightly humorous tryout...

I made a plate that would seal the top cap hole.




Collected some chunky gravel from the garden to put inside...




Found some thick jumpers to wrap around the tank




And then chucked it in the cement mixer for half an hour... (actually carefully strapped it in place )

 

While it did improve things inside, it wasn't bare metal as I had hoped for...

So, I had a look on YouTube for rusty tank solutions...and decided to try electrolysis...all learning experiences

Sealed the bottom ports. (Hot glue gun)




The Anode (+) was a piece of clean steel that fizzed in very satisfactory way when put into the tank.





Left overnight...

While the Anode was definitely lifting the rust:



The results I'd seen on YouTube were not being achieved... The "Brick House Builds" channel had a video that showed the anode turning into a fat sausage of rust on removal and a tank that was perfect inside afterwards... I tried using hotter water, more Ph Up pool product...two batteries...but no joy.

I think now, having briefly tinkered with the Gateros Electroplating Kit, the process above probably requires that you don't use tap water, rather de-mineralised or de-ionised water.

In any case I have purchased 15 litres of vinegar for the next round with the tank.

Edit: On a positive note (see what I did there? ) the tank doesn't appear to have leaks from the seams or welds, I think the weep was from one of the rubber pipes connections.

 

So, I foolishly spent a Saturday using the DIY Aquablaster aka: Bob's Greatest Invention™ (seriously you'll see...so, so pleased with the results!)

And the nearest neighbour had some words to say... basically the noise from the 3 piston compressor running a fair bit was too much. The sound was bouncing off the garage wall into the back of his garden... (Weekends in France are respected to a certain degree regarding working and noise output - defo Sundays anyway!)

I did feel a bit deflated, as a lot of time and effort had gone into building the system, thought about building an acoustic box... lots of work...I could feel the gumption leaking out.

In the end as I just wanted to advance, I removed the 3 phase plug and moved the compressor to in front of the garage (opposite side from said neighbour).. the sound now dissipates into the bushes and trees in front of the house, and I can wheel the compressor back to it's original position for storage. Back in business!

So I had a look at what I could do with the cycle parts, the more I use Bob's Greatest Invention™ I think everything will go through it...including nuts and bolts prior to the electroplating process.

The triples came up like new:





If anyone is crazy enough to go down this route there is a definite technique to Aquablasting.. too close will obviously remove the oxidation, grime etc faster, but you end up with stripes that are "over polished". I found keeping the pistol ~6cm away from the work gives an even finish so you don't get bands of high polished areas contrasting with where you haven't been as precise. It does take time though...

 

I'd ordered a fork seal kit (and bushes as I was in there)... as I could see that the forks had a small weep:


( or depending on your point of view! )



But unbelievably the fork tubes and chrome on the stanchions was ok under the grime...


looking at this picture, maybe I should reduce my impressive collection of used engine oil?? -oh and don't judge the chaos in the workshop... it does get tidied up every now and again!

 

I'd never been inside a pair of forks before...Brad the bike boy's YouTube channel (and also his blog) are a great resource to get your knowledge up to speed.

Photographed everything in order whilst stripping...





And found clearly the source of the leaking seal:



Not sure if you can make it out, but there is no rubber left on one side of the seal!

 

Taped up the stanchions (just in case)... and ran the forks through Bob's Greatest Invention™

What a transformation...