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bensalf's 4 year caferacer build

Discussion in 'XJ Modifications' started by bensalf, Dec 26, 2015.

  1. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    I've been posting a few topics in "technical" for a while now, and some of you would have seen my efforts at building caferacer from an xj600 euromodle.
    so I decided to document my take on it in a build thread ,so here it starts 4 years ago
    bike was bought from a salvage yard on 7/1/ 2012 (that's 7th January)
    bike was a category "c" write off, which means it was written off by the insurance company after being stolen and crashed, but can be rebuilt and put back on the road
    I paid £175 for it, with no log book (title)
    this is how I got it at home
    [​IMG]
    on inspection found frame twisted at headstock, both fork stanchions bent,
    tank, seat missing, headlight missing coils ,starter solenoid missing ,carbs seized up.

    [​IMG]

    first job was to get it running, to see if it was a viable project.
    removed carbs and partially soaked in paraffin overnight
    [​IMG]
    freed off throttle shafts, cleaned out float bowls, and replaced back on bike
    [​IMG]
    stu
     
  2. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    sent off for missing items from ebay, i.e. coil packs and plugleads starter solenoid
    these fitted to bike .
    oh, I forgot, made up a dummy fuel tank from a protein bottle, and wetset floats
    [​IMG]
    hooked bike up to a car battery, and eventually got it running fine,
    charging system was producing 15 1/2 volts so that will be looked into later on.
    all gears were selectable, and engine ticked over and revved ok.
    didn't have a compression tester at this point, but there seemed to be plenty of power available.

    soooooo. I began the tear down.
     
  3. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    first job was to straighten the headstock.
    you can see the twist in the frame here,
    [​IMG]
    the bords you can see at the bottom of the picture are my garage "pit" boards.
    [​IMG]
    I put the bare frame in the pit and wedged it all the way round with wooden packers.
    myself and 2 mates were then able to twist the headstock by inserting the scaffold pipe with a longer one slotted on the end
    through the headstock. then swinging on it.
    it was then a case of removing the frame from the pit and rebuilding the forks ,swinging arm and wheels, then rechecking wheel alignment
    using two pieces of string along the wheels.
    this revealed wee had swung too far, and the headstock was very slightly twisted the opposite way.
    so it was a case of stripping the bike again and re-wedging it in the pit, and swinging the other way.
    that did the trick, and after rebuilding the bike back up ,the wheels were almost spot on apart from a couple of mm out, which was near enough for me.
     
  4. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    what does soaking the carbs in paraffin do?
     
  5. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    Cleans the crud out. He's not using parrafin wax; its kerosene.
     
  6. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    that's right, I forgot you call it kerosene, used in oil lamps and heaters e.t.c.
    it loosened up the throttle shafts great, i'll be replacing the seals later , this was just to get it running.
    stu
     
  7. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    glad you cleared that up
    :rolleyes:I was wondering how to melt the wax and cook the carbs overnight with out.:( being asked to many questions
     
  8. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    next job was to "delug" the frame, of all the brackets I don't need, i.e.
    bellypan and fairing brackets, airbox and sidepanel brackets, battery box and rear cowling brackets.
    also sliced off the rear subframe, ready for new subframe to be welded on, to fit single caferacer seat.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    new subframe welded on
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    stu
     
  9. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    next job was to raise the rear end of the bike by 30mm so the rear tyre would not foul the new under seat tray housing the electrics.
    I did this by slicing off the top shock mount ,and making a plate to lower the mount by 10mm, this would lift the back end of the bike by 30mm at the tyre bike is a monoshock model
    [​IMG]
    heres a much later pic of the shock bracket lowered by 10mm, the top of the mount used to be level with the top of the frame cross tube.

    [​IMG]
    stu
     
  10. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    lowering the shock mount ,also means I had to lengthen the centre stand and side stand by 18mm
    so the rear tyre would be clear of the ground ,when on the centre stand
    [​IMG]
    sorry for some of the blurry early pictures as I had the camera on close up
    stu
     
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  11. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    bike now stripped down, all paint stripped off ,and bare metal painted with phosphoric acid (jenolite)
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    frame now treated with Hammerite rust beater
    [​IMG]
    2 coats of rust beater applied, now 2 coats of primer
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    now for the top coat, all primer and top and clearcoats ,done with rattle cans
    2 coats of metallic deep red of "Holts "applied
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    2 coats of clearcoat applied over red topcoat
    so nine coats in all from bare metal to last clearcoat
    frame now wrapped in a bike cover and hoisted up to workshop roof, out of way , to allow room to work on next pieces.
    stu
     
  12. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
    stu
     
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  13. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    next job is swinging arm and monoshock with linkage,
    so here's the grotty swinging arm with shock linkage attached
    [​IMG]
    after removing paint, made up a makeshift turntable to allow spraying to be done on both sides
    heres the shock linkage pivot point ,with the relay arm, and shock all joined up ,looking from underneath the bike

    [​IMG]
    its a weird set up , the bottom shock pivot point is way below the swinging arm ,and in direct line with the rear wheel, thus all the crap gets chucked
    directly at it.
    [​IMG]
    also obtained a replacement shock as the original one had a bent damper rod.
    [​IMG]
    heres the swing arm with a coat of primer.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    stu
     
  14. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    here it is finished in metallic silver.
    [​IMG]
    the relay arm pivoting pins (where they fit in the swing arm were heavily pitted. Luckily I have a "big bro" who has a lathe and a welder .
    he made up 2 new pivots, bored out the old pivots and welded in new ones. luckily he's an engineer, as they had to be spot on to line up in the swing arm
    [​IMG]
    stu
     
  15. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    relay arm now sprayed up, together with bottom fork yoke.
    [​IMG]
    shocker stripped and spring sprayed "post office" red
    [​IMG]
    shock now reassembled

    [​IMG]
    shock link arm sprayed up, and new seals fitted.
    [​IMG]
    stu
     
  16. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    here are the pieces "temp, bolted" together, the bottom shock "eye" fits between the linkages in the centre.
    although its should be the other way up
    [​IMG]
    stu
     
  17. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    here's the swing arm bolted to the frame with shock and linkages
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    stu
     
  18. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    next to the forks. these dismantled, using a long 19mm bolt with nut welded on end to loosen the bottom damper rod bolt
    [​IMG]
    bottom leg polished up
    [​IMG]
    fork tube dismantled, bushes checked.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    new oil seals and dust seals and snap rings, obtained and fitted
    [​IMG]
    fork legs built back up
    [​IMG]
     
  19. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    top fork yoke cleaned up, the large ring is where the ignition switch goes. as I wont be using this I cut the ring off, as my Acewell digital dash will be mounted here
    [​IMG]
    here's a later photo with the dash fitted ,top yoke polished up and ugly serrated handlebar mounts covered with blanking washers
    more on the dash later.
    [​IMG]
    stu
     
  20. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    next to the wheels, first to knock out all the seals and bearings, 5 bearings on this bike ,3 in the rear wheel ,2 in the front
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    2 in the sprocket carrier,

    [​IMG]
    new bearings and seals fitted
    [​IMG]
    next, to polish up the exposed alloy part of the wheels,
    the milled finish of the edges will have to be smoothed off before any polishing can be done
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     

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