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Now New owner of a 1400

Started by BlueDragon, Sunday, 21 April 2019, 07:56 AM

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BlueDragon

Quote from: Snapey on Wednesday, 12 June  2019, 06:34 PM
I've never seen a stud break with enough thread sticking out to start a nut. I'm thinking it's broken off flush & how the hell have you got your jig attached?

What I am intrigued with is how the hell did you get the m4 hole concentric on a bloody drill press when I'd be happy to get it right with all my special toolmaking equipment.

Took me 2 goes.  I just lined it up with the first attempt, but while it was centre at the top of the stud, it was very slightly off at the bottom.  So on my second attempt I did a heap of measuring and worked out the angles and was able to get the second one almost perfect.  Took a bit of time, but it made the job of drilling out the other studs a lot easier.  Unlucky in that 6 studs broke.  But lucky in that they all  broke outside of the head so that I could use my home made guide to drill straight and not have to take the engine out of the frame. 

I did have to buy some very long drill bits though. 

When I fitted up the new headers, I didn't need to do anything but put the nuts on the ends of the new studs, after using anti-sieze on the stud threads.  The header brackets just went straight on, everything was lined up nicely.

I figured that after having 6 exhaust studs snap off after 2 weeks of soaking with WD40, I had to get something to go right... :lol:

Snapey

Six broken studs ... unbelievable although if one breaks then there's the chance of them all breaking. I've been lucky with every 14 that I've had that I've never broken a screw although I certainly expected it on the current project.

If you look like your passport photo then you're too sick to travel.

BlueDragon

well, I did something I said I would never do and bought a KBS Tank liner kit to re-seal the tank.

Too many pin holes in the tank that I had to get welded.  Plus the surface rust came back before I could get fuel into the tank after picking it up from the radiator shop that re-welded the base back into the tank for me.

All went well with the re-seal. In fact, if in their videos they said how powerful the first step cleaner was - I would have bought the kit in the first place.  Following the instructions, that first step cleaner stuff - (glad I always wear gloves) it actually stripped out every bit of the old liner - even the stuff that was still fully stuck to the inside of the tank and I had been using a wire brush to get it off.  Then after the second step rust prep - inside an hour (as per instructions) there wasn't a spec of rust left in the tank.  That liquid went in blue and came out the most disgusting colour I had seen.

By the way - for the above first and second steps - if anyone needs to reseal a tank.  I removed the fuel pump and just put the housing back in.  With the sender unit, you can remove it from the base by unscrewing 2 small phillips head screws and then get the soldering iron out and melt the solder off the one wire connection.  Job done. You can then just re-install the housing.  This way the pump and the sender unit don't get damaged at all by the first and second steps.

The next trick though was to get the sealer all through the tank without it blocking up the inlet from the rear of the tank.  Easy - go to the local pet store and buy  a short length of clear air pump hose.  Then use a heat gun to soften it a little and you can then shove it inside the inlet at the back of the tank and this will stop any sealer from getting into the metal pipe and blocking up the inlet.


The kit I bought was for a 20 litre tank - which there is more than enough sealer to do the GSX tank.

Just poured it in and spent my time slowly turning the tank around to get it to coat the inside of the tank. For this part I took the fuel pump and fuel sender housings off the tank so I could see inside and where the sealer was getting to.

Once I was happy that it was coated, I sat the tank upside down and let the excess gather around the area behind the fuel filler.   You can watch it slowly pour down to the area.  Now, to get it out of the tank - I previously bought a cheap long handle paint brush for a couple of dollars as a sacrificial brush.  Simply stick the brush into the tank and scoop up the excess sealer and put it back into the tin it came from.  Take your time with this as it takes a long time for the excess sealer to make its way to the lowest point of the tank. 

All done and I now have a nicely sealed tank again ..



BlueDragon

Pics of all the rubbish I got out of the tank - thanks to the previous owner not following the instructions on tank sealer..  Obviously he didn't drain the excess out as most of these are solid chunks of sealer

BlueDragon

#34
Also got around to fitting up a windscreen I bought on ebay.  Had to hit it with heat gun as it the edges where the brackets were meant to bolt onto the headlight bolt - well, there was no way they were going to fit. Bought a clear screen as I don't like dark tinted screens - which is what was on the bike when I bought it..   Something else to sell off when I'm finished, along with the Scottoiler, both being removed from the bike and never to be put back on.  (if anyone is interested in these bits, let me know)

Also test fitted up a volt gauge - but need to rewire it to the battery so that it reads actual voltage, currently reading 1 volt lower than actual voltage on the battery.

Then fitted up a GiPro ATRE that I bought by mistake a year ago..  story being that I bought it on ebay from a wrecker in Brisbane.  Said it was for a VFR800, so I jumped on it as I wanted one for my VFR. But found that when it arrived, the plugs were totally wrong..  Not knowing what model bike it was really for, I just packed it away in the cupboard as the seller didn't offer returns.  But as luck would have it - with some research, I found out it was for the 1400..   So fitted it up as well and it works a treat.

Funny thing is now, when I turn the headlight on - the bike seems to want to do a "Tron" light cycle thing   :lol: :lol: 

See here with the headlight off

BlueDragon

Now with the headlight on

KiwiCol

Looks ok, but a bit distracting, especially in the dark I'd say.  If you want to remedy it, just mark out & cut it up higher with a dremmel, I see it's a bit low in front of the lens.
😎  Always looking for the next corner.  😎

BlueDragon

Yeah, I noticed that it is very slightly below the top lip of the headlight.

I don't do a lot of night riding, so will worry about it later if I find it annoying.  Initially it isn't.

seth

If you fit a strip of electrical tape along the bottom edge of the screen or paint with model paint/nail varnish .
Then that will stop the light entering the screen so shouldn't then show as the rim of light your getting
:cheers:
only a slightly modified gsx1400
oh and a standard one too

Sethbot Postwhore

BlueDragon

Starting to put the 1400 back together now.  After respraying the ductail and the rear grab handle. 

Also decided to see what vinyl wrapping was like and vinyl wrapped part of the side covers.  I think it turned out OK for a first attempt. 

BlueDragon

Then thought I would maybe go for a quick test ride up the street and back again..  Nope...

The bike had been sitting for so long and even though I would start if up and let it idle every few days - the clutch plates had stuck together..  so off came the clutch cover and took the clutch apart and put it back in again.

So thought, well, I won't let the time go to waste and promptly installed the Venhill braided clutch line at the same time.  I have the same lines for the brakes, but as I'm picking up a set of front brake calipers off a SV1000 in October (along with some other parts that are being kept for me) I thought I would wait until I get those calipers and do a full service on them and install the Venhill lines at the same time.

Got that all working so went for a nice 1.5 hour ride.

Kiwifruit

Looking good there BG great you got a decent ride on her  :onya:
Another great day on the right side of the grass.😎

BlueDragon

Thanks.

Still a lot more work to go yet.

Just ordered a complete seal kit for the clutch master/slave and all the brake master/slave units as well as the rear brake caliper.

Still have to paint the side covers. Undecided on that one. I like mirror black, but also like the white covers with the blue graphic on the Yoshimura GSX1400. 

I painted the passenger foot pegs and brackets black and like it better than silver - so the side covers might head that way as well.

Also need to do a touch-up re-spray of the lower part of the tank where the radiator guys damaged the paintwork when they re-welded the base of the tank back in.  But at least when I put a new KBS tank liner through the tank - it is now all sealed, no leaks etc.  Still need to install the rear hugger as well. 

Then I want the seat re-upholstered in velour, which I find gives just the right amount of non-slip but still lets you move side to side in the seat for cornering.  I have that on my VFR and it works beautifully.

Then I need to cut up some graphics on my vinyl cutter as well.  Cheaper than buying OEM Suzuki, as I just buy the off-cuts from the local sign-writers.  Too small for them to use - but the right size for my smaller Roland cutter.  Which has been a handy little thing as I also used to use it when I did custom air-brushing on bikes - great for making my templates up.

Speedy1959

Brilliant restoration..
I can vouch for your choice of SV1000 callipers.. I did the same mod and have never regretted it!

BlueDragon

Well, been busy over the last few months..

Bought a seat cover out of the UK through ebay and fitted it up, much nicer that the ripped cover that was on the bike when I bought it.

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