Thanks for the info Will. I think the idea at the moment is to get the RT finished and - if the lockdown is lifted - to ride that while I slow-convert LFB. I'll then be putting the RT up for sale because I simply don't have the room for more than three bikes in the garage. As with Brick2 when I sold that, someone is going to get a real bargain.

New rear reservoir arrived yesterday so I made the bracket for it today. I cut it from 2mm nikrosti which is a high nickel content mild steel. It does rust - eventually - but it takes a long time to do so. I only used the nikrosti because I had no 2mm stainless.

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/30b.jpg

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/31b.jpg

Unfortunately it might have to be replaced because the feed line is too close to the swingarm for real comfort. Also the MoT guys will probably fail it for the same reason.

And right at that point my run of good luck came to a screeching halt. I decided it was time for the dreaded spline lube so I could start reassembling things on a permanent basis. First thing I noticed was that the rear shock - a Hagon - was missing the top collar . It had been dismantled for the application of the much-loved black paint. Second thing was that on close inpection the damper rod appears to have been assaulted with a hacksaw in multiple places, almost as if the original Hagon spring had been hacksawed off and the saw wielder had not had time to stop the stroke before hitting the damper rod. Had it not been for that, I'd have stripped the paint and asked Hagon for a replacement spring and collar; instead of which, I find myself contemplating the unwanted purchase of another RamShok. That will be a shuffle-down; the new shock onto LFB and LFB's shock onto the RT.

Moving onto dismantling the swingarm, I found every K owner's worst nightmare. The splines were completely fcked beyond any semblance of reuse. Yes, the good old 20-spline pile of shite that BMW thought was a brilliant idea to replace the z16s with. So, I need to find a complete z16 shaft because kicked into the dark corner next to the door is an '85 RS bevel drive.

It just needs a new main seal...

There's a good z16 driveshaft on ebay UK for £56 which I've got a watch on, but payday isn't till Friday and I've run out of fun money for this month. At least Motorworks tell me there's a huge parcel of parts on its way . Ironically enough, just after I'd had that news from Motorworks, Gutsibits emailed me to say there is a huge parcel of Guzzi parts on its way too

It's dreadful when the fun tickets get a bit low. Makes one think that it might be time to leave the carnival. But who wants to when there's so much fun to be had?

And the other thing I forgot to mention? Because I don't know much (anything!) about RTs, I only realised that it's had a later LT exhaust system bodged onto it when I found a very crude bracket securing the silencer to the footrest hanger.  That's one bodge-job I'm not going to unbodge, but I will make a better securing bracket.

more than likely an early iteration muffler , the footpeg plates on those are slightly different , with a different hanger  rt lt  rs all appear to be the same  on the same year model ,    
just a thought that I had noticed during the Fred build

It's definately a later bodge Charlie. I went in for the kill on the gearbox splines this afternoon and found the kidney box mounting off-centre from what is obviously a homemade bracket. The anti-vibration mount was taking sheer stress because it wasn't lined up and it had reshaped itself diagonally before giving up and coming unglued. I couldn't get the gearbox off because I was unwilling to dismount the exhaust system with all the possible problems that entails up around the exhaust ports, but I was able to get it far enough back to expose the splines and get a long thin piece of steel in there carrying a payload of Optimax. Rotate and repeat.

There's something odd about the mainstand too. It's had a load of weld trails run across underneath the feet. I don't think they'd worn through as the bike hasn't been worked hard enough to start doing that; more like protection-in-case.

I think I'll put a square exhaust system on the nice-to-have list.

What's a kidney box?  One of these?

Colostomy bag then The bit that sticks off the side under the back of the gearbox and is other wise completely enpty.

Dai wrote:The bit that sticks off the side under the back of the gearbox and is other wise completely enpty.

???

Someone on this forum took a hacksaw to that part of a K1100LT exhaust system and there was nothing in there.

Dai wrote: There's something odd about the mainstand too. It's had a load of weld trails run across underneath the feet. I don't think they'd worn through as the bike hasn't been worked hard enough to start doing that; more like protection-in-case..

The welds might be an attempt at traction control to allow more grip on the road when deployed??
Regards Martin.

Good thought Martin. They've certainly lifted a few chunks of cement out of my garage floor

I dismantled the Hagon shock prior to binning it because I didn't like the idea of it going into a crusher and the spring coming back out at a high velocity. That gave me a closer look at the damper rod; the 'hacksaw marks' turned out to be paint streaks where the bristles had just touched the rod. A Stanley knife blade and some metal polish took care of those. A quick test showed that the compression and rebound damping is good, so I gave Hagons a call this morning. I was wrong about the missing collar as apparently the adjusting cam bears directly on the spring. A new spring is £22.00 with £8.30 p&p. No problem. Then he read my address and the p&p almost doubled to £15.00. In the subsequent conversation two things came up:

1. They have always used UPS as a courier and don't have any other way of despatching items (I can understand this)
2. Last year UPS started price-gouging big time for delivery anywhere except mainland Great Britain south of the Highland Line. Their prices have doubled (and more to some islands) to all other areas despite all of us being part of the United Kingdom postal area. 

This had led to some customers arranging their own couriers. Foot meet bullet.

The replacement rear caliper arrived in the morning post. Unlike most motorcycle part vendors, this guy had taken time and effort to clean it first.

Do you need a spring from Hagon?

Reason I ask is because coilover springs tend to be a standard size and there are several aftermarket sources.
Plus, you can calculate your own preferred spring rate and size with a fairly straightforward formula, and you might find that you can get an ideal spring for your riding, rather than what Hagon can offer you.

Having said all that, 22 quid is a good price for a spring - it's just the carriage that you're getting stuffed on.

Hagon's told me that the shock I have was a basic one designed specifically for the K100 when market prices hit bottom, but people still needed new shocks. Whether the springrate is a standard one or not, I have no idea. He did say that now prices are going back up people are tending to buy the more expensive shocks (similar to the RamShok but about £50 cheaper). I couldn't resist telling him that my three Ks have cost £700, £300 and £0.

Just don't mention the war rebuild costs...

k is the calculated spring rate in lbs per inch
G is the modulus for spring steel, which is 1125000 lb/sqinch
N is the number of active, whole coils (ignore any closed coils/part coils at the end, ignore any chamfered part coils, or anything that is not free to move as the spring compresses)
d is the wire diameter in inches
D is the mean spring diameter in inches (ie the ID, plus d)

Might seem a bit over the top to calculate this, but it can be useful to measure a spring you're currently using and calculate its rate, then you've an idea what to aim for when you're shopping for another spring for any reason, especially if you're offered a choice.

Just for interest, the OE BMW spring calculates at 256 lb/inch. The progressive wound spring on my Koni Dial-a-Ride was 250 lb/inch fully extended, increasing to 550 lb/inch as more coils closed up and became inactive. The WP/KTM shocks that I like to use come with springs around 400+ lb/inch which is way too much, so I use springs around 300-325 lb/inch bu this does give a firm old ride.

Something else to do in lockdown when you're bored!

chris846 wrote:D is the mean spring diameter in inches (ie the ID, plus d)

Shouldn't that be ID+(d*2)?

Parcel Force arrived about an hour ago.

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/25b.jpg

I hate those expanded foam things with a vengence. It doesn't matter how careful you are, in a month or so you'll always find one hiding up a corner camoflaged with dust bunnies.

That would give the OD, what we need is halfway between the OD and the ID - the neutral axis along the centre of the wire.

And yep, I get a feeling of dismay every time I open a parcel and see those polystyrene monkeynuts. 
...compared with the joy I feel if its BIG bubblewrap!

Dai wrote:Parcel Force arrived about an hour ago.

I hate those expanded foam things with a vengeance. It doesn't matter how careful you are, in a month or so you'll always find one hiding up a corner camouflaged with dust bunnies.

Years ago I worked for a parts manager at a large Subaru dealership. When the distributor sent us our weekly stock order he would quickly open up the first box to see if there were any styro 'noodles', as he called them, inside, before allowing the truckie to unload the rest of the order. He HATED them, and would refuse the entire order despite the customers potentially not receiving their parts on time. It caused such a bottleneck with the truck company and back at the distributor's dock that they eventually conceded defeat. He'd won. When I took over his job they continued with their no noodle policy. He'd fought and won the war for me. Thank you, Scotty Dread, where ever you may be, probably still harassing the unconscious into consciousness.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but last week I received a box of fairing parts that was a bit larger and full of styro peanuts.  I hate taking them out to the road on trash day because no matter how careful the trashman is with them, at least half end up all over the road.

I just come in from taking the box out to the edge of the woods behind our home with some kerosene and a match.  It amazing how clean they burn when the fire is nice and hot.

I am an evil person.

Well, they're going to go handful-by-handful into a black plastic bag and the bag is heading straight for the dustbin. Having glimpsed the top bits of the fairing, I think the 1970s has just returned to claim its own. Have a squinty at the front corner of the pic.

Oh yes; and between then and now I've cleaned up the RS bevel drive and ascertained that a new o-ring and main seal inc p&p is £36 and a few pence. It'll be here on Wednesday. With the cost of a new mainbearing being £42, if the RS one proves to be a bit iffy, I'll be stripping the RT bevel drive for the bearing first.

Maybe I should do that anyway...  

The good news is those damn disc securing bolts came out relatively easy... with a really good smacking from a brand new Teng impact driver My old Draper impact driver finally gave up last month after almost forty years of serious abuse. I should have taken a picture of it because the amount of peening on the impact head was unbelievable. It must have been a good 3mm or maybe slightly more.

Your workbench top is just like mine, Dai. Parts, tools, junk 1, clear space 0. 

Bill

Workbench clutter +1

The sign of a sane or sick mind? I've only been in this house for one year from the 18th April.

Whenever I've had a Motorworks delivery, the foam packing has been biodegradable. You can throw it into a bowl of water and watch it dissolve. Apparently made from starch, so if inclined you could also eat it.

Mike

Wow, hope my Motorworks delivery comes in time for lunch!

Bon Appetit

The man's right - one bagful of expanded starch. I guess I'd better go find a big bucket and a hosepipe.

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/26b.jpg

Cluttered worktop = the result of building three bikes in parallel. The frame that keeps popping up in the background on the bench is the Guzzi 1100-T3. The other one - the 850-T3 - is in residence on top of my oil burner when it's not having something done to it.

Last thing last night was to pull apart the bevel drive. I'm not too happy with the state of the seal rubbing surface but the only way to find out is to put a new seal in and hope. Cleaning this up is today's first job.

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/27b.jpg

Also today these arrived in the post. That's a nice priming job; I'll possibly get away without redoing these.

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/28b.jpg

Forum's playing up - it's showing the auto-generated  < alt > tag for the photographs instead of the pics themselves. The page source still has the correct links in it and they work if selected directly.

[Edit] No it's not. Our server's playing up. ALL of my pics have disappeared across all threads.

We've found the reason for the missing pictures and there's not much that can be done about it. An update by Forumotion to their webhosting software is now forcing an https header to all requests for images. Any host that does not use ssl will refuse the header as unrecognised. Anyone else who has suddently lost sight of any pictures, check your URL link to the picture. If you've started it as '//' or as 'http://', that's your problem.

Regretably, there's not much point in continuing this thread. For the same reason, if feasible, I'll be removing any other thread I've started that contains pictures because the information within them is effectively useless. As I said to Bert:

'I won't be transfering any pictures - I must have posted upwards of a hundred-plus and the thought of searching all my posts for pictures, locating the original pictures, modifying as necessary, uploading and then modifying the posts again with new URLs doesn't hold a great deal of appeal.'

Okay - just for this thread and for any future threads, I'll show the pic URL and you can click on it if you want. JPGs are a three-pass download, so it may be oddly slow at times. I'll be switching to single-pass .PNGs at some point. I've gone back up the topic and swapped out the forum links for direct URLs.

Temporary lashup so that I can get the rear hydraulic hose made. Again, the reason for the 90-degree banjo on the caliper is because I was using what I had in stock. Between it and the 20-degree banjo on the master cylinder there's a nice loose curve. The top mounting bolt for the shock is stainless steel from stock because the one I took out was... erm... a set screw and not a bolt. Sigh.

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/32b.jpg

Rebuilt RS (32/11) bevel drive. Cleaning the old EP90 out was a real bitch - it took three goes to remove it all. Then I had to clean the rust off the drive and wash it all again to make sure nothing had got in the bearings. The new seal went in easily with a good dose of silicon grease and a pair of hefty thumbs. The disc bolts went back in with a covering of copperslip and NOT that damned red Loctite.

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/33b.jpg

Now: a bit of a sidetrack. I bought a pair of later footrest hangers just to get the good brake pedal on there (noted above at some point). As you do, I dismantled the master cylinder to see if it was reusable. Nope... I have never seen such a mess. I had to drive the piston out when normally that pops out when you remove the securing screw and then hook the return spring out. The hydraulic fluid had crystalised - this is just some of it:

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/36b.jpg

I knew I was wasting my time but I just had to clean out the master cylinder... and hope...

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/34b.jpg

The black spot on the screen is the exit hole for the fluid.

http://simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/35b.jpg

The inside surface is nice and smooth at the edges of the screen but complete bucket material down where the spring sits.

One for Charlie: I had a long conversation with Motorworks about that bloody LT exhaust system because the mounts were still confusing me. We got that sorted out on the phone, along with the information that for 1987 the LT exhaust system was an option for the RT. Motorworks are going to quote me for a proper mounting kit, but even while we were talking it looked like the price for that was going to be really close to a secondhand square exhaust system from ebay. Today's job is to get under the engine and try releasing the exhaust studs, just in case that route looks a better bet.

Dai try here for a master cylinder. http://www.motobrick.com/index.php/topic,9364.msg116179.html#msg116179
Don't use the supplied reservoir to cylinder supply hose. To extend the life of the master cylinder pack silicone grease under the master cylinder boot. Doing this will mostly stop the ingress of water and road crap.
Regards Martin.

It's not a huge problem ATM, Martin. That was (! ) or would have been a spare master cylinder anyway.

thanks for the update Dai

The paint stripper sucessfully lifted the brush paint on the instrument panel mount, but also lifted the OEM paint too. 'No problem - where's the spray Hammerite?'. Ah.... only just enough for one coat before it sputtered to a halt. Well, sod it. You won't see it on the finished bike anyway.

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/37b.png

I've pulled the fuel injectors too. It was a bit of a fight to get them out which says the o-rings are probably fine for re-use. They rolled off the ends of the injector bodies with no trouble at all. Cleaning the engine block was a PITA though because of the dirt that collects in the depression under the injector body. What I did was to soak a thin cotton cloth in brake cleaner and ease that into the top of the injector hole on the end of a screwdriver. I then twisted the screwdriver round to wrap the cloth around the blade and pick up the dirt. Finally, I pushed down hard against the engine block and dragged the whole lot out bringing the crap in the depression with it. It took two-three goes for each injector hole before I was happy. I'm still waiting a delivery of carb cleaner to flush the injectors through.

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/41b.png

A small pile of parts arrived from Motorworks today, sufficient to unbodge the exhaust mountings. I didn't really want to have to go to all the trouble of finding and fitting a square pipe so these were very welcome. They just need a good cleaning.

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/38b.png

The replacement z16 driveshaft arrived too. There's a slight notching in the UJ but not enough to cause me any worry.

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/39b.png

I've also drained and refilled the forks with 15w oil (my preferred rate from experience). New gaiters fitted and if you look, you can also see the new rear spring from Hagons.

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/40b.png

No amount of farting about was going to get the parts that Motorworks sent me to line up with the footrest hanger. Conclusion? Maybe wrong, but I now think that effing exhaust system is off a K1100 4-valve and not a K100LT 2-valve. I crawled underneath, took one look at the exhaust studs and decided that if I started messing with those, there was a high probability that it would become an engine-out job. So I made my own anti-vibration mount.

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/43b.png

It's obvious just how much further back the hanging point is compared to the standard setup. Now it was my turn to get handy with the black paint, complete with drip on the lower corner.

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/42b.png

I took the opportunity to mount the other pair of footrest hangers to Low Flying Brick. I'm sure that most of you with the early cup-and-rubber type mounts have had the problem of the cups rusting through at the bottom and falling to pieces. The next action is to go back an pick up the remains of the footrest hanger from the ditch it just ended up in. Or from under the artic that just ran over it. Rather than just bolt the silencer up solid with a couple of spacers, I cut two mounts from 1mm stainless (better for absorbing vibration than a single piece of 2mm - in theory anyway) and cobbled together the offset with four of what I think are rubber mounts from an OEM topbox rack. The nuts are nylocs pulled just tight enough to start distorting the rubbers. The long stainless tube is part of the Givi rackmount I made.

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/44b.png

I'd been looking at the paint on the rear mudguard and trying to figure out ways of removing it without damaging the plastic but when this arrived on ebay for £15, it was a bit of a no-brainer. It was the same guy that I bought the rear caliper from and like that item, he'd taken the time and effort to clean it first.

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/46b.png

Four cans of carb cleaner also arrived yesterday - buying four in bulk meant paying the equivalent of around 55% of the price of a single can for each one. Out came Charlie's secret injector cleaning kit:-

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/45b.png

Considering how long the bike had been standing with old fuel in the tank, I was surprised and pleased to find that the injectors were spraying well. No.3 injector put up a good fight when trying to put the fuel rail back in but gave up eventually. Only... no start. Fuel was pumping okay; all four plugs were firing brightly but when I pulled the fuel rail, no fuel. Start logically... if you'vve been messing with the injectors then you could have disturbed the temperature sensor wiring. Pull the plug and rather than mess with the sensor, plug another one in. No.. Check the resistance spare sensor by sucking on it while watching the multimeter... nope... all looks good there. Eventually the troubleshooting arrives at the fuel injection relay, which is not being pulled in. I swapped out both the FICU and the ICU for known good ones but still no fuel. So, wiring loom fault. Shit. I'd been eyeing up some bodged fixes in the relay box and trying to ignore them, but it looks like the RT is about to get new main and fuel injection looms.

Shit.

Again.

Dai wrote:So, wiring loom fault. Shit. I'd been eyeing up some bodged fixes in the relay box and trying to ignore them, but it looks like the RT is about to get new main and fuel injection looms.

Shit.

Again.

Hopefully you know someone good at sparks Crack on.

Fixed it.

Erm...

There's a four pin connector under the left side of the frame. Five pin on the very early ones; the other pin goes to the vacuum switch.

Erm...

You guessed it. It wasn't connected.  

It still ran like a bag of old bones, until I discovered that all of the air screws had been messed with and the main idle screw in the middle of the bar was nowhere near making contact. The air screws varied from one half-turn out to one-and-a-half turns out. I set them all to one turn out, wound the idle screw down till it was just lifting the bar and tried again.

Some difference! I don't think the balance screws have been messed with but I'll have to put a set of gauges on and find out. I replaced the vacuum takeoff caps some time ago as the originals were, not unexpectedly, split.

I also looked at the bodges in the relay box. Turned out it was the original cloth insulating tape starting to unpeel, so I pulled it all off and replaced it with four layers of heatshrink. Just to be sure, to be sure.

So, there is a wiring fault after all. Pin 3 on the righthand switch connector block has two green wires from the main loom and one of them goes to the load shed relay. The other goes to the starter relay. The one to the load shed relay is broken internally approximately two inches or so from the connector block. I think the easiest solution to that will be to cross-wire from another green wire (most likely the other one that goes to the starter relay) down in the relay box. That way it both fixes the problem and retains the wiring as shown in the OEM diagram. Unwrapping the main loom and replacing that section of wire is a definate no-go without removing that side of the main loom from the bike. Also, if you've ever unwrapped that cloth tape from anywhere on the loom you'll know just how much sticky crap it leaves behind.

I   hate internal breaks on wires. Fair play Dai, You are winning the war but there's a lot of little battles !

Home run Will; home run!

I drained the bog-standard water I'd put in the radiator for engine testing and it came out looking like something from a sewage plant. Yeugh. In general we can get away with using the local tap water round here because we're in a soft water area, so no nasty calcium carbonate to fur up the cooling system. It was refilled with 25% coolant and checked very carefully for leaks. None. Pleased with that, I refitted an odd few loose parts, then looked around for the next step only to realise that at this point it's now mechanically finished.

The Rub'n'Buff for the fork sliders still hasn't arrived from Amazon - truth to tell, I think I've given up on seeing it.

So... colours. I'm seriously thinking of a burgundy red (more red than burgundy) for most of the cycle parts with the legshields and the tail tray sprayed a mid grey with a hint of the main colour in it. When I posted the vehicle logbook back to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea I stuck 'red / grey' on it for a change of colour. It's no problem to change that if I don't like the idea. I'm also thinking of switching in the black snowflakes from LFB, after they've had a good clean!

Time to get Photoshop out.

Paint prep part 1. The part I hate - cleaning and keying. First batch done

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/47b.png

Second batch is also done but I didn't take a picture. That left just the fuel tank. The pump came out dead easy and much to my delight, the fuel level sender is in excellent condition. I drained the fuel via good old suction and a mouthful of unleaded and took the tank outside to shake out the remaining drops of petrol. The tank felt a bit slippery and I put that down to petrol running down the tank until I flipped it back the right way and found this:-

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/48b.png

Unbelievable. I have no idea what the grey undercoat is, beyond the fact that it is evidently not fuelproof. I was literally able to wipe most of the rest of the undercoat off with a cloth dipped in acetone.

Oh shit. That means the front mudguard is going to be the same... and so it proved to be . Right. That means every trace of grey has to come off. Easiest way? Get the paint stripper out and use it as a cleaner to get into all of the sanding marks in the white paint. It's no use as a paint stripper but really useful for cleaning crud out of inaccessible corners. Well, that plan worked well on the tank - whoever painted it white did a good job - but not so well on the mudguard. The white paint around the bolt holes started to lift - and the red paint - and the other coloured paint. That means I can't trust that mudguard to take an uncontaminated undercoat without stripping it right back to the OEM fibron. Bugger that. Ebay.....

As for the tank... the heatshield peeled off quite easily and underneath, the ex-factory colour proved to be Willy Wonka green.

Strike one. Silver mudguard with a few scratches £25 inc p&p.

[Edit] Except that an hour later I've remembered I have a spare silver mudguard in the garage roof...

Dai is the mudguard Fibron?
Regards Martin.

I'm pretty sure it is Martin. As is usual, the one I have in the roof was missing the OEM blind nuts and as a consequence, the holes were getting larger as the result of vibration. I filed them out and fitted grommets-and-tubes in there as an anti-vibration mount that could still be pulled tight. The point of the story is that when I was filing out the holes, I remember that they filed really cleanly which fibreglass doesn't usually do.

However, I'm happy to be corrected!

I thought my front mudguard was a plastic type material due to it's flexibility. However I could be wrong.  
Regards Martin.

That Willy Wonka green grows on ya.......like a fungus!

Dragged out Photoshop...

http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/design1.png
http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/design2.png
http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/design3.png
http://www.simpilot.net/~sc/brick3/design4.png

Any thoughts? I don't have a preference yet.

I sanded the fuel tank back to a good layer of white today and also cleaned the gunk off the underside. The top of the tank has been filled near the front weld. I suspect it is a fill rather than a leak patch but I don't aim to find out. I've sanded it down quite a way and now I just intend to reinforce it.

Martin: I had a good squinty at the defunct mudguard today. Quite helpfully it says 'Fibron' on the underside along with what appears to be a load of manufacturing data.

I like #2.  It may be the light grey background, but doing the front mudguard and/or the lower fairings in silver makes the bike look top heavy and clumsy to me. 

The silver on the louver vents adds a nice detail, and combined with the background, the silver below the tail cowl makes the area under the cowl less noticeable and thus gives the rear a lighter, leaner look.

That's my $0.02, you can keep the change.