my patient elsie

[flames]

hi all.
been lurking round here for a bit n figurd i oughta say hello proply,and introduce you to my project.its an 81 lc350.ive had it for 20 yrs,and its been in bits for.....probably 18 of those yrs.
it was the first proper bike i'd ever owned.previously riding 50's and a couple of c90's.it was supposed to have been a race bike returned to the road.it was tatty as feck,but i think i decided i was having it come what may,before i had even seen it.being the naive 18yr old that i was,i couldnt wait to get on a 'proper bike'.i was deffo not dissapointed.the motor was as sweet as a nutand the powerband was the most exciting thing i'd ever felt.tho top spot was a very hard fort competition between the band,and the then berd.she laseted 6 mumfs,but as i say,elsie has lasted 20 yrs and counting.unfortunately,i have no pics of her as she was or how she was after i did her up,tho was still nothing special,as i was still that stupid niave lil dik who couldnt wait for anything.anyways,as i said,ol matey told me she was tuned,and was runnig 2 base gaskets around a spacer to de-tune it for the road.me being me.......found the pub.me then found lots of beer,me then found mate and proceeded to givit large with what i was and wasnt gunna do to elsie.after about 8 hrs,with god knows how much beer making rather large sloshing noises in my belly,i thought......no time like the present,and went home to find my tool kit.this consisted mainly of a pair of pliers,grips cheap and nasty mayaswellbemadeofchocolate spanners and rubbery screwdrivers.me and sed mate had the motor out and the head and barrels off in what seemed like minutes.looking at the ports,showed no signs of porting other than someone attacked the bottom of them with a file maybe.so obviously the spacer was purely to raise the ports the easy way.the barrels had been skimmed we finx,and so had the head.we know that because there was no lip between the gasket surface and the squish area.anyhoo,the spacer and gasket came out in search of more oomph.with new gaskets fitted,the motor was slung back in the frame,and i was away.or so i thought.it didnt sound crisp anymor,and it had a sort of spluttery stuttery attitude.still being young and niave i thought .....i know,i can thrash this out of her.and proceeded to cane the spuds out of her for about 10 miles,when the detonation became too much and we screeched to a halt.1 holed piston,and one well and truly welded to the head piston.damn damn damn!!!took the bike up to sunny hunny to be repaired,only to find out the crank was twisted aswell.he sent the crank away to denver motorcycles who told him the crank was fubard.after about 3 wks,when the crank didnt return a call was made to find out what had happened to it.they told him they didnt think we wantd it back as it was fecked,so they skipped it!!!!! i was not happy.this was yrs before computors and e bay.and there wasnt anywear that had a crank to sell.only exchange.ive since heard that theres no such thing as a fubard crank,they can be rebuilt out of just about anytihng.after a few yrs,i managed to get hold of a pv motor from a crashed bike.i decided lc was guna get a new crank 1 way or another,so the motor was stripped and the crank removed ready for its new home.obv it wdnt fit so out came the dremel and the cases were slowly but surely ground away till it did.after a lot of faffing about and mixing and matching of rotors and clutches etc,we finally got it running.tho not very crisp,and the clutch wdnt fully engage and i never found out if i could select any gears.a few more yrs passed and i found the internet and more importantly e bay.i bought a crank which needed rebuilding,and then a box loada spare engine parts.inc.2 sets of cases,a gearbox,powerjet carbs and a set of 350 aircooled carbs.eventually i found a decent crank,bought it,and kept it in a box waitng for me to get a few bits together n pull my figner outa me butt.which at last brings us pretty much up to date.theres loads missing,but i think i have bored you all for way to long.in fact im probably only talking to myself now coz you all buggerd off after the 3rd line coz of my runnings on about nuffin.any hooz,i will end it here,n try get some pics of the sorry thing up next.bye for now.

[flames]

here goes,guna try to get a pic up

[flames]

that worked then.that was tatty wiring loom this is it tidied up a bit....


front forks as were



after an hour os so with wire wool wet and dry followed by solvol autosol.



before and after shots of the wheels.....









and the fork brace





i bought some kr wheels and tzr swing arm for it,in the hope that one day i will fit them properly.here is a pic with them mocked up.the swinga is upside down i know,but i liked the look of it better.







sadly the blade was sold a while back.fantastic bike,but lacked the character of lc.probably wdve prefered it if it was a tank slapping pig on stilts like my lc always was.....remind me again why im rebuilding it???

anyways,ive rattle canned the frame silver,and stuck the standard wheels back in for now.so these picks bring you up to date with how she looks now.....no,some with kr wheels without the tank etc







now the up to date ones.









thats pretty much where we are to date.i got some holiday booked for next week and am hoping to get the motor put back together with the lc crank and hopefully back in the frame by end of that week.will update soon.

[lcowner]

looks good keep the pictures coming

[sidney]

hi mate looking good ,i am also from norflok good to have anouther lc around ,cos we dont get much happen hear in the east ,not like the northan boys ;D

[greenlandy]

Looking good mate will have to pop over and see it.

[trev1340]

i like the top shock mount with the tzr swingarm lest you wont slide up the tank ;D ;D

[flames]

thanks all.
will keep all info and pics comin lcowner.wish i had a snap of it when i got it.it was dog ruff.
where in norflok are you sydney? i didnt realise there were so many bumpkins with lc's.ive only ever seen 1.a black one around the walsham area.
pop over anytime landy,will pm you my number so if your in the area you can check im in.
lol trev,hadnt thought of that.if i clamp them down on my pants aswell,i wont have to worry bout sliding off the back under power either.wonder if i cant get a discount on me insurance based on the safety aspect.??
thanks jazzy,i have no idea on the brace im afraid.it was on when i got it,tho not fitting very well.it is a bit big and clumsy for my liking,but when i took it off,i could nearly get the bars onto full lock before the front wheel realised we were turning.needless to say,it wasnt off for long.there are no markings on it at all.....apart from the big circle on top where some numpty dropped something on it at some point or other.

[flames]

ok,well a small amount of progress today.did a lil bit of cleanin.heres a pic of my fancy parts washer.lol




mrs is always complainin bout me never throwing anything away....but i can find a use for anything eventually.trouble is i got junk everywhere and no space for anything.4sheds and a plastic storage thingy is not enough!!!
anyhow,gave the cases a bit of a bath and didnt come out too bad.







dont know if these 2 pics show up very well,but theres bad scoring on inside of cases where the locating tang on the main bearings have spun inside them.im sure theyre still ok to use.the bearings on the crank that im fitting hasnt got the tangs on the bearings.i dont know why,but im sure it will be ok.





took my carbs to my mate last nite,and hopefully he will b cleaning and blowing them out at work for me.just waiting for my piston circlips to arrive,and get instant gasket for the cases,and gasket sealer just to be sure.just a few lil bits left to clean,then i think i will be ready to strip down the other motor with pv crank and re build with lc crank and the cleaned cases.start should hopefully work on this monday.

[sidney]

hi mate i am not far from stalham ,if its this black mars bar lc u seen around walsham its mine i go through in the summer time on my way to haydon alot ;D

[flames]

very nice looking wheels.hope to see you razzing rnd on it.looks a lot tidier than the one i saw last yr i think.i deliver to stalham area a fair bit with work.will keep an eye out for ya.if you see a green and yellow lorry flashing his lights at u,its me,and the flashing lights is code for'put it on its back wheel'. lol

[sidney]

lol i will keep my eye out for you ,i should have it back on the road next month cant wait ;D

[lcowner]

nice looking lc u have there

[elsie1411]

there are a few of us in Norfolk with LC's ;D

Sid how's the build comming on?

[sidney]

hi laurance ,its going ok mate hope it should be mot ed next month sometime ;D

[elsie1411]

just in time for a blast to Haydon then mate

[flames]

quick update,but no pics yet im afraid.got the motor together,timed up and in the frame.i intend to get the cases and frame powder coated at some point,but i figured it best to get the motor sorted and make sure everything is ok before i chuck too much money at it.(no good spending all my hard earned gettin it to look reasonable,only to run out of funds for gaskets etc if i need to strip down to sort summut out).im thinking i may have to make up another couple of spacers for under the barrels as the squish is a bit close in places.it is mostly 8mm or over,but i took several measurements from various places round the pistons,and there were a couple of places where it was 7.6mm or 7.7mm.i was gunna use the standard head that i bought,squish was 1.5 to 1.6mm with that head on.but i think the head gasket mustve moved slightly when i torqued it down as there was a tite spot as the left piston hit tdc.(i think the piston protrudes the barrels slightly and therefore may have been catching the head gasket if it twisted enough)?? anyhow,i ended up putting the original skimmed to fek head on.i measured both of them and reckon there is as near as dammit 1mm skimmed form the old one!!! i know i should have probably used the standard head,especially with my previous experiance of detonation,but i have always been a glutton for punishment.i have never ridden a standard lc,so i dont know if there is much if any differance between one and mine.i wouldnt of thought so,but i decided i wasnt gunna chance being underpowered if i didnt have too.lol.so anyhow,i will be making up some mor spacers,and may try doin differant thicknesses aswell jus to see how much of a differance the diff thicknesses make.thats as far as we will get for the time being,but i will update you as soon as i have sorted the wiring and plumming etc,and had a go at firing the biatch up.fingerz crost i shall be met with a nice crisp ring a ding ding.but not gunna hold my breath.

bye for now!!!

[flames]

yayyyyyyy!!! she lives peoples.it was a bit of a slap happy job.havent routed the wires or n e fing.just joined them all up.ran premix in the expansion tank to feed the carbs,and enlisted a mate to hold it for me.my battery has gone missing,so we ran jump leads to the battry leads,and connected the other ends to a honda shadow battery.so a very heath robinson job.kicked it over three times with the kill switch off,just to get everything pumping round.then once with the plug leads off to make sure i had a spark coz i wasnt sure i had the rite coil on.mate has been tekin pee all week about how its guna run like a bag of nails and blow up after 30 secs etc etc.he sed i bet u cant get it goin by the third kick..........1st time!!!! it fired and ran for about 10 or 15 secs,but died after a few secs on idle.so i wound the idle screws in a tad,then realised i had blocked off the nipples for the oil feed on carbs.blanked them off,it fired 1st time again an idled like a dream.revd cleanly and sounded nice and crisp when i blipped the throttle.shut it down for a wile,so i could have a celebratery stella and a fag,went back to it after an hr or so,and it started first kik again.dunno how to put into words how effing chuffed i is.next job will be to clean and de rust the inside of the fuel tank and set up the oil pump.get the wiring routed properly,and sort the brakes.wilby ordering side panels and tailpiece from norbo in the future,but i wana make sure it runs and pulls under load b4 i go too mad spending all my money on cosmetics.there is still a chance it will detonate on the road when i get higher up the revs due to the tite squish area but time will tell.at the mo,im happy to be creaming my pants at the sound of my crackling allspeeds.

[flames]

crikey!!! its been nearly a yr now and not a lot has happened.had to strip the carbs down a couple of times due to them keep overflowing,but i think i got that sussed now.got an inline filter while im using the expansion tank for fuel.got the pump all cleaned up,bled and working.the head gasket was leaking,i wasnt sure if it was due to the head or the gasket,i tried the other head,and head gasket but it was still leaking.maybe its something to do with the spacer beneath the barrels.anyhow i ended up using a slight smear of flange gasket sealer.it worked and we have no leaks now.bike still starts first kick every time which im chuffed about,and it will idle for however long i let it.was ticking over for around 10 mins other day while i got the temp guage working.anyways hopefully here is a vid.....or at least a link to a vid of her running....

[Deleted]

sounds really good on the video mate and lots of lovely blue smoke, how long do you reckon now before its back on the road? I should have my brand new allspeeds in about 3 weeks and hope my bike sounds the same as yours

[flames]

yes,there was plenty of blue smoke.theres still a fair bit to do to get her roadworthy yet,and unfortunately the other half doesnt share my passion for bikes,so funds are way down her priority.needless to say its going together to be ridden rather than looked at,so it aint gunna b turning into a money pit.the insurance is due on my shadow in august i think,so im hoping to have her ready for about then so i can get a multi bike policy.if things move quicker then i will get temp insurance to get her m.o.td.gotta get seals for the calipers,ideally need pistons for them too,but may get away without.gotta de rust the inside of the tank,route the wiring etc properly,then mount the seat unit.its a tz unit i got.unsure what model,but will post a pic up soon.want to cut it down a bit.then its just a case of a few little niggly bits.would like to change the tyres for bridgestones,but may have to wear the ditch finders out first.watch this space as they say.

[Deleted]

i have bt45's fitted to mine and they are a lot better than the old tyres we used to have fitted but will never handle like a modern superbike but thats why we love em, you have to ride these and not just point and squirt

[flames]

o definately.my lc taught me how to ride proper.if i hadnt had the tank slappin pig on stilts from hell as my first proper bike,i dont think i wdve ever been able to do the fireblade justice.but then i had to sell that because i couldnt slow down.i think lc will sort my aggression out.lol

[lovelydog]

Mar 27, 2012 18:33:37 GMT 1 flames said:

o definately.my lc taught me how to ride proper.if i hadnt had the tank slappin pig on stilts from hell as my first proper bike,i dont think i wdve ever been able to do the fireblade justice.but then i had to sell that because i couldnt slow down.i think lc will sort my aggression out.lol

My blade is identical to yours,same colour. I know what you mean as even just a run to the local shop always ends up red-lining a couple of gears. . . .and you know what that's like on one of them. Having said that,I still prefer the LC experience.

[flames]

minor update,been gettin the front brakes sorted.a bit spongy but thats to be expected really,i cleaned them a bit with new seals etc as theyve been sat idle for nearly 20 yrs,but didnt go overbored with them because once its all up and runni and m.o.t.ed i will be runnin it in and checking for any teething probs,and getting carbs etc set up right,then it will get stripped down again for powder coating and paint.......thats the plan anyways.so.....got the brakes done,so thought ide check them out on the bit of concrete i have that runs across the front of my house.i backed up to the neighbours and pulled away and grabbed a handful and i stopped.thats good mefinx,now lets try a proper test.so i backed up to the neighbours again and aimed lc at mother in laws brand new corsa........in the belief that its gota stop or else im a dead man.......we launched @ bout 3krpm across front of house and gave a gd yank on the lever.the front bottomed and locked the front wheel up resulting in a 2ft black line on the end of my concrete strip.no damage to muv in laws corsa.the boy pointed behind me......where i launched i left about an 8 ft line of rubber!!! wow!! doesnt show up too well in the pic,but here it is anyways....





can i just add that no cats were harmed in these photo's,or the launching and braking tests.

[flames]

well......curiosity got the better of me.i couldnt wait so i was a naughty boy and took her up the cul de sac sorta thing where i live.i know the motor has just been re built and i shd be keeping the revs down and outa the power band,but i had to make sure she wasnt gunna detonate like the last time.no grips on the bars,expansion bottle with lid off for a fuel tank,and no seat,just the frame rails.i like to live life on the edge.didnt get to hook 2nd gear or n e fing as the road isnt long enuff,but i got to about 7 n arf to 8k rpms.each way.we had a wheely in both directions as she hit 7k and i ended up with a lap full of fuel from my makeshift tank,but i didnt care,i was probably wet from excitement anyways.i cant wait to get this thing back on the road.really need to get my tank de rusted.guna try the electrolosis technique i think.i keep putting it off,but hopefully today will motivate me enuff to get my arse into gear.still targeting getting her mot ed this summer,so hopefully we will be on the road august time.it wont be pretty as i say,but so long as she goes like she should,i can live with that till she is run in.want to be able to change things around if i need/want to without ruining new paintwork etc.probably will end up with xj600 front end up front.i have one with fz top yoke and clip ons.may have the bottoms sleeved so i can keep the elsie wheel,or may run xj complete,and locate a powervale rear wheel to match.cant decide at mo,but i dont want to fit a longa swingarm just yet.i may do in the future.but i want to keep wheelbase as is for now,so at least if i try a longa one,i have something to compare it with so i can decide which way i prefer.anyways,ive probably bored you all enuff for today,so ile update you again,when ive got something to update with.

[Deleted]

glad it hasa made you smile, think how much more you will be smiling when it is mot'd
but dude you still running it in, keep out of the powerband and the front wheel on the floor ;D

[flames]

blimey,been almost a yr since i last updated this thread.ive posted bits and pieces in other threads,but thought i would update here.
i got elsie mocked up with tank and a tz seat unit i was planning on fitting.i cut the seat catch lugs off,cut the rear frame tubes and bent tubes in a bit to allow unit to sit on the frame so i could see how i wanted it.i had a choice between this


and this with the seat unit slid back a bit.....if i got these the right way round...


photobucket seems to have changed so i check pics coming out right.then bring you all up to date tomoro.

[flames]

ok then,from here,wot happened was.........muva in law decided to give her kids a couple of grand each so she could them enjoy some of their inheritance.my mrs decided,we should have a grand each and go shopping.which is a hobby she is very good at.unfortunately for her,but fortunately for elsie,i didnt quite grasp what SHE meant by shopping.i proceeded over the next few days to scour ebay,norbo's shop and the sale section to try and get as much as i could for my buck to get elsie finished.mrs got bit upset that i spent out by time we went out shopping.but hey ho,i was happy as larry,the only clothes i wanted wer for elsie.so i speant my money on a tank and panel set,spare barrels,gaskets,seals and a whole loada other gubbins that i either needed,or just wanted for my baby.after all this dissapointment at the shopping thing,mrs agreed to letting me getting rid of my sheds,and replacing it with this puppy.........







a big hooj 18ft by 24 ft concrete sectional garage.i have got some shots of the outside somewhere,but i cant find them at mo.anyways,
















theres some pics of my baby with the tank and bodywork set i bort.after a lot of teething problems with leaking head gaskets and other minor niggles,i finaly managed to get an m.o.t on her,and set about running her in.i had done a few miles when i noticed oil leaking from the pump,but i had a spare,so i swapped them over.after about a hundred miles of 'not strictly by the book' running in,curiosity got the better of me.i was going to a mates funeral,overtaking a line of cars,next to a white van @ 95mph,and she nipped up on me.luckily the roads were wet,so when i dipped the clutch,she just slid back in line,rather than snatch and spit me off.as we coasted to a halt,i let the clutch out and she turned over.kicked over a couple of time,and started,but wouldnt idle,so i had to spend the funeral ride keep dipping the clutch and revving,and riding the clutch.turned out to be pump bunged up,and so wasnt pumping.this is the damage that was done....














luckily,as said before,i had bort a spare set of barrels,so i fitted these.i had a knocking noise that i couldnt get to the bottom of,which i thought came from the gearbox,but since the re rebuild,it seems to have gotten a lil worse,so im guessing maybe crank aint too good.but thats something for me to worry bout another day.
on account of the pump giving up,i rebuilt running premix this time.i will revert to pump when i buy a repair kit and rebuild it,but for now premix will do.i jetted carbs up from 220 mains to 240.i wouldve gone 230,but i havent got any.running was ok,a bit flat from tickover to 3k,then perked up,flat spot at around 5n arf to 6 n arf,then sparked into life.so today i dropped the needles by moving the clips up a notch.now above 3k she pulls hard.i have messed around with airscrew to sort tickover to 3k out,but what seems to work blipping throttle,doesnt seem to work when under load,and vice versa.i will be doing a plug chop soon to make sure all is ok.and will invest in a set of banshee coils from norbo soon,in case im getting a weak spark.thats a long story cut short to bring us up to date.the bike is by no means finished,the frame and swinga are just rattle cand at the moment because i modded the swinga to jack the back up a bit.i will take some pics of this when i remove it,but basically i ground off the shock mount and welded 3 plates in then welded shock mount on top.i didnt tart it all up as i went because i wanted to make sure everything was how i wanted it and sort out any niggles and problems first.next plan is to fit some xj600 forks and yokes that i have.i will be keeping the lc wheels for now because i like the look of them,but i dare say in time i will change to somethin else to allow for better rubber to be fitted.anyhows im sure ive bored you more than enough again.i will try to keep u updated as i go from now on instead of one big hit like this.

[bryan]

looks like you are holeing both of the pistons, whats the timming set at and are you using a skimmed head.