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251LC
Dec 11, 2019 12:39:33 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Dec 11, 2019 12:39:33 GMT 1
Is something slightly twisted in there? Alex Its an LC... probably been crashed more than a few times lol Seriously tho, yeah im sure it is. its not terrible and most of its come out with adjusting the bolts, a bit late to fix a twisted rear end of the frame now anyway and its not that far out etc. The tank isnt OEM, its a modern (Taiwanese) tank painted in Japan... I dunno what I'll do about that yet....
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Deleted
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251LC
Dec 11, 2019 14:25:08 GMT 1
Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2019 14:25:08 GMT 1
I'd leave the tank Jon, from what you've said about NSW painters its going to cost you at least a leg to get it right, and no you can't have mine
With the twist is it possible to wrap copious quantities of rags around the frame and put a bar in there and massage it back to being closer?
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251LC
Dec 12, 2019 0:57:49 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Dec 12, 2019 0:57:49 GMT 1
You may well be right Howard, I'll ask around but I could just be daubing some toyota touch up on it at this rate :/
Honestly the twist looks terrible in the pic, its really not that bad IRL, especially with everything aligned better on the bolts.
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Post by JonW on Dec 19, 2019 5:02:02 GMT 1
So, while I consider my options make some tough decisions re. the bodywork I thought I ought to attend to the very leaky fork seal... Hmm... I always say that the quickest way to restore or build a great bike is to check and restore every single part. I know that people disagree and say that touching every bit means that it takes longer, but trust me on this; it takes much longer to go back and sort stuff out that you passed over or assumed (the old ‘ass of u n me’ thing for sure) was ok. Plus waiting for parts when you want to keep going sucks, especially when you live in a part of the world where parts always have to come from abroad and that takes week. Anyway, I can prove this for you... I’m back taking these forks off yet again and sorting them out properly this time. No more trusting other people of components I’ve not personally worked on. Capital Full stop! (Remember I’d already removed these once to do work on them after initial fitting) I also figured these would come apart no problem. They were quite nice forks and were bought as ‘good runners’. I decided I’d just pull the and refurbish the fork lowers using my new method of holding the back of the bike down while on the center stand and removing the brake calipers and wheel etc. Easy enough to do and keeps the headlight and other stuff in line as you don one leg at a time and allows my Goki tops to remain intact as removing the legs means partly dismantling the tops or withdrawing them through the top triples, which means removing the bars... and also covers everything in drips of oil (ask me how I know that lol). Swings and roundabouts etc. The first sign of trouble was that the bottom bolt on the first leg was very tight. My 105NM small SP Tools electric rattle gun couldn’t shift it. I moved to my larger Aldi (rebadged Einhell unit) with 350NM and that took some time to shift it as well. Hmm... These should not be that tight, ever! I moved to the other side and the same thing happened only the bolt was no match for the Aldi gun and tore the Hex hole round. I tried the old star bit dodge and that did the same. That meant the leg had to come off for surgery – just what I was hoping to avoid. In the end I had to drill the head of the bolt off. So now im a bolt down and have dismantled more than I hoped to... Delightful. Next I pulled out the polished lower legs that I was going to use with new DU bushes I made and lo n behold I noticed that some rock ape (me maybe?) had scored the surface the seal sits in removing the seals. Well that not going to actually seal now is it?! I could seal them in but Ive other lowers to it was back to the old bottoms... In fact at this point I pulled out all my fork parts in the hope of finding something useable, especially the now missing bolt. When that didn’t work I dismantled the last full set of LC forks I had as spares and canibalised them for this job, including using the lower legs as they already have new fork seals in them and the all important bolt. What I did find was these dampers. These have had one side of the through holes brazed up. These were the ones that the guy had in the forks with the Goki tops. Correct me if I’m wrong but the goki tops use air to add preload and help top the fork out ready for static sag. Air in forks compresses at a variable rate as the pressure increases and this is a sharp curve. Modem forks tart at zero pressure, these just help that along by adding 5psi to start with. So the compression is altered as the air presure is higher than it would be with no air, same curve, just earlier on it. This would all be fine if the air didn’t heat up in use making the fork harder. No wonder we stopped using air in forks... Probably its not that back for normal road jaunts but awful on the track etc. Of course Goki probbaly didn’t care about any of that when they made their kits in the 80s, they were just copying what all the big fork designers were doing and offering it for the older fork types as an accessory for those who wanted the latest tech... So how useful these Goki tops are and how quick air bleeds out anyway are the issues I guess. The blanking off of some of the damper holes I believe means slower flow so harder compression unless these are where the rebound happens? Does anyone know. These could be horrible forks when done lol. Perhaps slower rebound stops the forks being jittery due to the air in them? Hmm... So, this is all back on the bike with new oil in then and I am done, right? No... In the detail checking of all my fork legs I found that this bike has the best stanchions that I own. So what trashed the seal? Well it was these small blisters: Obviously stone chip and rust damage. So... What to do? I trawled the net and spoke to local chromers and the best value fork legs landed in Aus are from Webike so I ordered one up. Should be here in the new year. So yes one leg has to come off yet again.... The joys! In the end in order to keep going on other projects I put the warty fork leg in the bike and gently rolled it into the line up to await further work when the fork leg lands.
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251LC
Dec 20, 2019 0:52:17 GMT 1
Post by donkeychomp on Dec 20, 2019 0:52:17 GMT 1
Well that's a right pain in the arse!
Alex
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251LC
Dec 20, 2019 15:20:15 GMT 1
via mobile
Post by midlifecrisisrd on Dec 20, 2019 15:20:15 GMT 1
Bugger 😖
I hate doing forks at the best of times
Steve
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251LC
Dec 20, 2019 21:30:42 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Dec 20, 2019 21:30:42 GMT 1
yeah, thanks guys. What's worse is as usual Ive another set to do as well on the F1 as I want to fit the valves to them and the set to build up for the LC2 and I want to service with the 500s as well... my life seems to be all about forking... kinda like when i was a teenager...
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251LC
Dec 20, 2019 23:52:54 GMT 1
Post by donkeychomp on Dec 20, 2019 23:52:54 GMT 1
Jon I have some forks with air caps fitted. Not sure what they are off but I'll have a look for you.
Alex
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251LC
Dec 21, 2019 12:40:12 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Dec 21, 2019 12:40:12 GMT 1
Jon I have some forks with air caps fitted. Not sure what they are off but I'll have a look for you. Alex I suspect if youve air capped forks that youve got ypvs forks Alex. The Goki tops are an aftermarket thing for LCs from back in the day.
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251LC
Dec 21, 2019 23:52:17 GMT 1
Post by donkeychomp on Dec 21, 2019 23:52:17 GMT 1
Gotcha
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251LC
Dec 22, 2019 1:08:46 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Dec 22, 2019 1:08:46 GMT 1
So no one has an idea what blocking one of the two holes in the bottom of the damper might be like?
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Deleted
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251LC
Dec 22, 2019 6:08:39 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2019 6:08:39 GMT 1
Just working through the logic here of fluid movement, I don’t know if I’m correct or not, however here goes, any Ohlins technicians here?
Less holes I think would be less flow of oil therefore more resistance to the movement of the damper, so the fork would feel harder to compress quickly, the opposite effect I would think that it would also return more slowly to its original position, if I’m correct that means the damping effect would be increased
By harder I don’t mean the suspension is harder I just mean that the action is slowed down making you think the fork has a heavier spring in it
It could also give you more heat affecting the viscosity of the oil which may negate the effect of less holes as the oil may become thinner as it heats up and thus flows faster under pressure
Most modern oils I think would cope with this heating though
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Post by JonW on Dec 23, 2019 23:55:41 GMT 1
Alright... In fact this bike didn’t quite go straight to the line of slumbering projects, it got a new side stand on the way! To be honest didn’t like how the F2 stand fitted on the LC. I’d drilled the hole larger for it so wanted to make it work but even filing the edges it was still woefully easy to nudge the bike forwards off its stand as it wouldn’t go far enough over center to hold itself solid on the spring. I could have worked some more steel and attacked the frame as well to make it work but in the end decided that as this bike is semi modded I would use one of my stash of ‘other stands’ as something different on this side of the bike mirrors the YZ kicker on the other. So this was my stash of stands acquired over the years. Mainly from ebay of course: Triumph, Ducati, R1, OEM and the bare steel one with the home made foot... Which has been welded on the wrong way round. I bought this off a forumer a few years back. Geez, thanks for that mate :/ In the end I chose the one from an R1 from about 2008 (I think). I bought it ‘new; never used’ from a bloke who was setting up a race school and pulled them off his bikes before they went on the track about 7 years back and never got round to finding a use for it. I’d really have liked to have put it on the inside of the bracket instead as it’d have been very neat there, but that would have meant welding to my powdercoated frame so that’s not going to happen. Anyway its different, I’ve never seen anyone fit an R1 stand before so at least I’m not copying anyone This stand has a steel captive fitting that the stand rotates around that also holds the spring hanger, this is a pretty cool design actually. The leg is a nice alloy unit which is quite slender. Obviously work was needed to make it fit, but I think its come out nicely.
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251LC
Dec 24, 2019 0:23:21 GMT 1
Post by donkeychomp on Dec 24, 2019 0:23:21 GMT 1
Wow. Never even gave that side stand a thought when I had to buy one for my LC but that looks really good. Clean and crisp if you know what I mean.
Alex
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251LC
Dec 24, 2019 1:50:17 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Dec 24, 2019 1:50:17 GMT 1
Thanks for the kind words Alex. This bike is no 'full resto' so I thought it deserved something to match the sexy YZ kicker and this is it... and all Yam of course
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Post by JonW on Jan 15, 2020 8:17:34 GMT 1
The fork leg I ordered from Webike landed and from the words on the anti corrosion paper that it was wrapped in, it appears to be Japanese. I will say it looked really good, in fact it had more definition in places than the OEM leg I took off. So, happy so far. I checked and this is defo Japanese text. Same info (i checked) is also written in English: Anyway, without any ceremony; its on! no hassle other than the usual of trying to replace a fork leg without dismantling a whole bike to brace it with the front in the air. I used my patented 'Down Shep!' method where i ratchet the rear down on my lift and im free to pull the front end off. No easy, but 'easier'. So.... Wahooo! no more warty fork leg.
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Post by JonW on Oct 21, 2020 0:13:55 GMT 1
Ive not updated this thread for a while, the lack of picture links did my head in. Thats at least the 3rd time Ive lost my picture hosting in the last 7-or so years and it got to me. Anyway, this bike had a few jobs done. Eg. I painted the front guard red, its a thing the Japanese guys seemed to do. Its meant to be a different red from the other colours on the bike and look like it came from some other bike it seems. #JDMlife lol I finally gave in and bought the JDM painted tail from webike. So that it matches the tanks off colours. No one here wanted to paint that white for me, citing it would be off by some margin. I refuse to buy the side panels tho, the painter webike uses refused to paint the lower parts satin telling me gloss was OEM, which its not of course. Sigh... So I am slowly getting there. I ordered new plastic side panels and will see what I can do with them when they come (around xmas). For now this is what I have...
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251LC
Oct 21, 2020 7:03:22 GMT 1
Post by dusty350 on Oct 21, 2020 7:03:22 GMT 1
Looks great Jon I do love the Jap market paint schemes - they really suit the Lc's imo Dusty
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251LC
Oct 21, 2020 12:36:39 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Oct 21, 2020 12:36:39 GMT 1
Thanks Dusty, I agree. Its a great looker I reckon. A few jobs still to fix, not least the headlight inner bezel needed some work etc.
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251LC
Oct 21, 2020 12:41:03 GMT 1
via mobile
JonW likes this
Post by midlifecrisisrd on Oct 21, 2020 12:41:03 GMT 1
Looking minty mint 😎
Steve
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251LC
Oct 21, 2020 12:43:34 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by arrdy350 on Oct 21, 2020 12:43:34 GMT 1
That looks good I like the clutch cover and paint scheme 👍
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251LC
Oct 21, 2020 21:36:52 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by donkeychomp on Oct 21, 2020 21:36:52 GMT 1
I painted the same design for a mate a while back. Pretty sure the muddie was white though! Looks great Jon, how long before she's on the road?
Alex
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251LC
Oct 21, 2020 23:10:22 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Oct 21, 2020 23:10:22 GMT 1
A while Alex, Ive got to wait til at least xmas as Ive ordered side panels and they are coming on a boat.
Yes the OEM scheme was white front guard. I decided to go with the Japanese owner thing of adding a random front guard colour into the mix. It matches the clutch pressure plate powdercoat and also a decal yet to be applied.
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251LC
Oct 22, 2020 17:22:25 GMT 1
via mobile
JonW likes this
Post by Tobyjugs on Oct 22, 2020 17:22:25 GMT 1
It looks really nice Jon. I hope you like the 250 engine. I like them a lot.
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251LC
Oct 22, 2020 19:32:08 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by reedpete on Oct 22, 2020 19:32:08 GMT 1
From my home pic you’ll know I’m bound to approve ! Your lucky to have a nice 4L3 seat, another nice touch of differentiation from 4L1.
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Post by JonW on Oct 23, 2020 8:43:32 GMT 1
It looks really nice Jon. I hope you like the 250 engine. I like them a lot. Thanks ToBy! Im looking forward to getting it going, it should be a very usable city bike.... I just hate riding in the city tho, some myopic idiot will probably destroy it in the first week. hmmmm... Lets hope not. I didnt brace this frame at all so its just a normal LC and with the same bhp as the 350 it should be a 'same-same, but different' experience as this has ypvs. From my home pic you’ll know I’m bound to approve ! Your lucky to have a nice 4L3 seat, another nice touch of differentiation from 4L1. Haha, someone noticed! Superb! I actually bought both the 4L3 cover and seat foam from Japan as a set (its by Daytona I think - check webike for more info, thats where it came from) and converted my normal 4L0/1 seat base to the 4L3 to get a more JDM look. The bonus was that the cover is thick as anything and the rectangles on it are padded and could even be gel? I just dont know but its really a nice quality item and feels lovely to sit on if youve only ever sat on 40year old foam. On my resto LC I have a nos cover on a new foam from the UK, thats nice, but this is much more comfy. There are a few different touches to this bike, so its great when people spot them, all designed to have it feel more JDM, thats one of the reasons I wanted to find some Beet alloy side covers, but it all became too hard and expensive in the end with the buying via a 3rd party, so I gave up that quest, sigh. Ahh well. I dont yet know what colour the new plastic side panels will be painted, but no one here wants to try and match the pearl white colour the guys in Japan did... hmm... I should do a pic of the pearl in the sun, its really rather good. very different to a normal straight white or even the stormy white pearl that the later bikes were, more 'gold and green'. Sounds terrible, but looks good and dare i say a bit 'classy' for an LC, maybe lets not say that... there should be nothing classy about an LC. lol
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251LC
Oct 23, 2020 11:02:24 GMT 1
Post by reedpete on Oct 23, 2020 11:02:24 GMT 1
I like the pearl a lot. Mine is a 4L3 bike, so long term I want to also go back more in that direction albeit probably as a semi hybrid 350 as the papers here are already changed. I assume the pearl is probably same as the white LC2 we had here (or was that the stormy white?). either way, a few folks should be familiar how to paint that. Also looking for 4L3 cases etc but all this like most of my other WIP projects are ‘long term’ objectives....just hunt for stuff when I see it on my terms.... Seat wise I have a gully that I want to get done same as or by bob the seat.
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Post by JonW on Feb 3, 2021 7:10:54 GMT 1
Over the Christmas 2020 period Al and I embarked on a mini project to print a custom horn cover for this bike. I always wanted this bike to have some more JDM flair and one day i hope to get some BEET side panels, but for now as budgets are tight I'll have to make do with this lil bit of fun we had. More info on this thread: rdlccrazy.proboards.com/thread/53569/custom-horn-cover-jon(and yes my headlight bezel is off. I wasnt happy with the inner bezel and wanted to pushed out and dress a few more damage marks before it goes back into the plating run tubs. It's always the little details... )
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251LC
Feb 23, 2021 20:00:19 GMT 1
Post by reedpete on Feb 23, 2021 20:00:19 GMT 1
Was there talk of a BEET duck tailpiece ? I remember some type of conversation but my poor old synapses seemingly don't snap like they used to !
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251LC
Feb 25, 2021 0:32:08 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Feb 25, 2021 0:32:08 GMT 1
There is BEET ducktail, its a bit wild tho as its one of those that sticks out and up at the back. Its cool, but not for me. I may well one day get the side panels and the front guard, but for now Im happy to just tip the nod to the JDM style on this one
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