BEFORE/AFTER Thread.

thrill-billy85 said:

Yeah its been a while since I read/drooled over that thread. I seem to remember the big thing being the exhaust conflicting with the wishbone on the frame. I may not remember correctly, there was very little blood remaining in my bring while reading that thread

Click to expand...

That's the main issue with putting a CR500 engine in most modern 4 stroke frames (wishbone). There are a couple of ways around it; one way is to fab a billet wishbone, cut the existing frame, and weld in the billet wishbone. Another way I've seen it done is to cut away the existing frame to accommodate the CR5's exhaust port, weld a flat piece across the opening, and extend the downtubes. Either way, the welding needs to be done by someone who knows what they are doing (preferably certified) due to the heat treating requirement to bring the aluminum back to proper strength. Last thing you want is the frame to crack in half (and it has happened). There are several other fitment issues, but that's the big one.

believe it or not, all the same machine

Dang!

A riding restoration. The frame needs to be repainted & the engine could use some polishing.
Not really before, but after cleaning it up, getting it running & doing some stuff to it.


1981 KZ650-CSR. KZ550 wheels. KZ750 exhaust. ZX10 Fr Br rotor bolts. hee.
The handlebars have since been replaced & it still needs a different Fr Br mc.

Before:


After:

Without a doubt, this is my best one-

'72 Norton 750 Commando chopper rescue

Former owner from Oklahoma was what is referred to as a "ham fist" and/or "bodger". Since bodges typically result in oil weeps or outright leaks, you can assume the bike was "somewhat" oily. Since oil attracts dust (and dirt), and Oklahoma has lots of red dirt everywhere, you can assume there was some red dirt stuck to the bike.

As far as "creativity" imagine the use of 1/4" thick steel and lots of welding rods for various parts. This sucker had easily 20 pounds of Red Oklahoma dirt stuck to it with oil drippings holding it on nicely. Don't you just love those headlights? One round, one rectangular. There were at least a dozen hose clamps holding various bits on, as well as another half-dozen U-bolts. Love the 2-piece Harley tank, WELDED ON. Sissy bar and cruiser pegs were welded on, too.

Had a monster long 3/8" drive socket extension welded on for a hand shifter; you could swap out the sockets for the size shifter you wanted to fit your hand. Also had the world's second-longest rear brake rod, and a coil mount made from two chunks of heavy-wall steel pipe, duct-taped to the frame. One stainless steel pipe, one not-so-stainless.

(I guess almost all my better ones are Nortons)

Finished in 2009, this is a '74 Norton 850 Commando that I built from scratch. These were parts left over from all the previous Norton builds, plus a stash of parts I had been saving up for about 10 years.



I had an idea to come up with my own design for a monoshock swingarm, after having a heck of a time making Kenny Dreer's rising rate link work. I decided to take 2 stock swingarms, chop the ears off of one, and graft it onto the top of the other, with a couple of uprights at the front. All it took as far as frame mods were two little tabs drilled and welded in place for the top shock mount. Not rocket science, and it worked a treat.



For the front end, I found a TL1000 front end locally for a very short stack of $10 bills. The yoke stem just needed a bit of trimming, and it was on.

Front dual-disc hub was the last of the Kenny Dreer VR880 units, boat-tail seat was one of the last batch of 4 or 5 that I got from him. I scored the alloy tank in a fluke deal for only $400, one of the better deals I got that entire year. My local guy upholstered the seat by copying the Blue bike, for about 1/10th what Kenny paid to have his done.

As far as the engine,
Built from a mostly complete lump, it was stripped to the bare crank halves and flywheel
New bearings, bushings, seals, gaskets, etc.
.040 over pistons and rings, total valve job with all new Kibblewhite bits
Megacycle 560 cam with radiused lifters
Sparx electronic ignition, 3-phase alternator & regulator/rectifier
Barnett clutch plates, modified stuffer plate for optimum stack height
Overhauled carbs, K&N dual-neck air filter
Reed valve crankcase breather, modified oil sump

It's also got the Taylor rod-linked head steady & Eads rod-linked front steady, a near-perfect isolastic taming kit for excellent handling on a Commando.

Buchanan's did the wheel lacing to drop-center rims, and the fully floating front rotors are a few of a stack I got from the guy who built them for Confederate Cycles. Tokico 6-pot calipers stop TOO well.

I did have to fuss about quite a lot to get a modern rear brake master cylinder to work correctly on the Left side; took me a month of sorting to find a modern shifter that would swap out with the brake pedal (should have just chopped off the toe bit and welded it up on the opposite side).

Kinda cheesy, but I ended up using a set of cheap flip-up pillion pegs for rearsets, and simply flipped the shifter over to result in "more proper" 1-down, 3-up shifting.

The front fender was a total afterthought after one ride through a puddle, I never fixed it before selling it at the Betor auction at Barber's in 2010.

"Made in England, Born Again in Texas"

In 2010, when I delivered a client's bike, he handed over a bunch of Norton stuff as partial payment; besides that pile of parts, I already had another pile of parts including various tanks and seats. (my spare parts pile was getting BIGGER, not smaller, the more bikes I built). To be sure, I had enough stuff to play with some mock-ups...



This red stuff; hard as a brick Corbin seat (but it looks good), and nice tank that would likely start oozing honey as soon as the modern gas hit it...



...and this black tank in fair shape-



Besides some faded red Interstate stuff, there was also some more Dunstall stuff (Reg Curley?)



...and this little High Rider tank & roadster seat



I tried out various exhaust mock-ups as well (plus a spare cafe racer seat I had on hand)-



Then I went ahead and bought another pile of parts including a set of Norton Production Racer (PR) bodywork. To this day, I don't know if it was original Norton stuff or pattern copies, but I'm guessing it was PROBABLY pattern stuff. Anyway, that settled it. I sold most of the other stuff off, including the original High Rider seat, sissy bar & ape-hangar handlebars for some decent money to a guy in Europe. Now i had my play money and I cut loose. I was able to obtain another Combat engine and got to it.

This is what rolled out of the shop in 2011- '72 Norton 750 Combat Commando Production Racer replica "Flying Banana" often referred to as "Yellow Peril"



Powdercoated frame & cradle, vernier adjustable stainless isolastics, Taylor rod-linked head steady
Overhauled forks, NJB shocks, cleaned up original Dunlop rims & overhauled original brakes; drilled disc
Home-made rearset footpegs and brake pedal, clubman handlebars and refurbished original controls
Total engine refurb with all new bearings and seals, optimized clutch stack, reed valve case breather
Combat SS cam, .020 over pistons, honed cylinder, valve job, overhauled carbs
Polished all the alloy stuff, refurbished "Green Blob" meters, K&N dual-neck air filter
Sparx electronic ignition, hand-made wiring harness, re-worked aftermarket lighting & mounts

This was a more refurb than resto, partial custom build (not a lot). This bike ALMOST cost me a pile of money when the state told me I could release it to the shippers (to NC) after it had already been inspected by law enforcement and all paperwork cleared. When they returned the paperwork as "incomplete" and were requesting a re-inspection, I was quite ticked off. Anyway, the local DMV was able to sort it out, and the title was processed to the new owner within a month.

It's a banana, but some people love bananas. Sold it under stress and barely broke even. By this time, I was doing more "part-time" computer & surveillance camera work than motorcycle work, our adopted son was a year old and growing fast, and the writing was on the wall.

This is what the pile of parts looked like when I started on my 3rd 'Rex salvage build, a "mostly" 2000 ZRX1100...



It was a bit more dragged-out, as I had to buy a lot of little parts onsie-twosie to finally get it all together.



I sold this one to SORT OF make up for the net loss I took on the 1200R.

I also sold off most of this pile of leftovers, as well as other stuff that sold before I snapped this pic...

Although the Norton chopper rescue was a pretty striking transformation, this little old Tiger was pretty dang sad.

The owner delivered this barely-rolling hulk to my south Texas shop all the way from south Florida, just because he wanted to go over EVERY aspect of the restoration from top to bottom, and front to back. We spent a good 2 hours, using a 100-point list I came up with. Funny thing, he was on somewhat of a budget, so it was determined the bottom end would not be split open - HIS DECISION, against my strong advice.



Sure enough, the bottom end bit him in the butt after about 4 months of hard riding. However, he was very cool about the whole thing, and took full responsibility for the necessary repairs (all new bearings and seals, thankfully no destroyed parts). I was actually surprised it held up as long as it did, and I only attribute it to the VERY thorough flushing I did with good fresh solvent for several days in my pump-equipped parts wash tub.

While we did use some middle-quality parts, the overall restoration came out looking very nice. The FIRST thing he did when he arrived to pick it up, was to whip out his rolling shop stool and cleaning bucket, and go from one end of the bike to the other, laying on a heavy coat of bike wax. He's from Florida.

Later that day, we loaded up and took off to the Texas hill country with our wives and he got to complete a full run of the "Texas Trinity" FM 335, 336 & 337, with his wonderful Cherokee wife Mae Lynn who, sadly, passed away a few years later. We have some great memories!

This one is not quite done, but these pix will give you an idea-

Some time back, a few years ago, a guy got my number through a local all-brands dealer that knows I have old Brit bikes, and offered me a "twofer" deal on an old Triumph and an old BSA, plus some spare bike parts. He called me every few months wanting to sell, with the price going lower each time. Finally, he called with a price that matched my stack of play money, and we closed the deal.

What I ended up with was a "mostly" '62 Triumph 6T Thunderbird that kicked over, and a "mostly" '67 BSA A65L Lightning that seemed stuck.

This is what the BSA looked like when I got it, although it didn't have a seat when I picked it up (I had a spare one on the shelf)



I finally got around to messing with the BSA about a year ago and for some reason I took a look underneath the engine...



Brilliant, eh?

"Less hoses must be better"

I have my critics, but even I was very concerned about this. No, it's not some secret drag racing trick, either...

I bought a spare lower end, swapped it out, and built it up with some other stuff I had on the shelves.

Not much left but to install fuel taps, bolt down the tank & seat, fiddle with the wiring, points & coils, top off the fluids and give it a kick or three...

Along with the Norton chopper was a BSA chopper...



1967 BSA A50 Royal Star 500

Got it running, but sold it before detailing it out-

I did this '53 Triumph T-Bird chopper for a friend who recently passed away.

There is a LONG (great) story attached, for another time...

Another good Triumph chopper rescue, but kept it a chopper (also another good back story, later)

'66 Triumph T120R Bonneville

My '68 BSA 441 Victor restoration

I love this one. '56 Triumph T-Bird (as close as I've come to finding a bike from my birth year ('57)



It's going to be a rat rod with some 60 year old patina still intact...

This is my '69 Bonneville, total restoration.

Akront rims
Magura controls
Joe Hunt magneto
'70 Bonnie paint scheme (my favorite)

It didn't have the head & cylinders on it when I got it, I had 'em on the shelf and stuck them on before snapping the "before" photo

'67 Bonneville I built for my older brother who kept pestering me to sell him mine. Bought from Keith Martin at Big D.

My '67 Bonnie, didn't get a proper "before" photo, this is the oldest one I could find (it was already half way re-assembled). Picture a rusty, scruffy rattle-can black beater that smoked pretty badly and dripped more oil than usual...

Holy freaking amazing!

RB

Mother. Of. God. You win at Brit bikes.

hee hee

Thanx guys.

That's what 40+ years of bike building will do...