Last Sunday, I dropped off all the motor parts with Paul. I think he was surprised at how nice all the parts were looking. He was definitely a little amazed at how I was able to find some of the NOS parts out there, especially at such reasonable prices. But then again, I had forever to collect all of these things- when time is on your side, anything is possible! It's going to take 3-4 weeks before I get the motor back, depending how busy he is in his life and if any parts are missing and still need ordering.
So now I can focus on some of the other smaller matters. I swapped out the Woodcraft clip-on bars. They are a little longer and they are black as opposed to the chrome bars that came with the sale. Even though they have a little more length, the mounting assembly still gets in the way of the master cylinder- I think that I'll just need to shim it with a thin slab of aluminum- that should fix and secure it good.
I did receive another used meter bracket off of eBay. It was claimed to be straight and unbent. I also came with the four black chrome screws to hold down the turn signal cover. When it arrived, it was 95% straight with one of the meter tabs slightly bent up. I messaged the seller and he gave me $15 to keep it. I was successfully able to pound it back to a workable angle. Then I painted the bracket and meter covers. Everything mounted up beautifully. I attached the speedo, tach, clutch and throttle cables and called it a day.
I tried to polish out all the scratches on the headlight rim, but it ain't looking too good. After searching for a new or even good conditioned old one on the inter-web, I called up a few local plating shops. This one shop in Hayward quoted me an estimate of $90 to do the job. Not bad. I think I'll take it! So the front end assembly will have to wait until I get the rim back.
I have been searching for the proper seat for months now! I knew for sure that I didn't want a big OEM saddle, one that uses that gigantic seat pan. I really wanted a cafe-style seat with a hump. I had to come up with a solution for filling the 2-stroke oil though. I think I'm just going to keep the filler in the same position, but I may have to cut down the length of the dip stick. I'll mount the seat on a mounting board to give it some height and flexibility on how to mount it, and I'll put it on a hinge attached to the rear of the seat- that way I can [somehow] unlatch the front, tilt the seat back and fill the oil. I carefully did some measurements to figure out what would be my ideal length and I ultimately decided on this seat. With VAT and shipping, it came to just under $210, complete with upholstery. I'm still working on a solution for the gaping hole it's going to leave at the gas tank, but I'm getting closer to a final solution. This seat is actually so long that I don't think I'll even need to cut off the end of the frame. But I will probably have to grind off the hinges and the lock mount.
I'm looking for turn signals now, front and rear. I think I'll get an LED brake light/license plate mount combo thingy. That should work out fine.
More to come.....
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