Roxy: Bling

Put shiny new fasteners on Roxy's rear cushions.

Old...

And new...

Not exactly sure what happened to the right bottom mounting point.  Instead of the integrated bolt sticking out of the swingarm, a hole has been drilled through and it's now held with a 10mm bolt with 8mm threads and a nut on the opposite side.  Not pretty, but it works.  Will need to find a shiny replacement for this bolt, though.

Roxy: Miscellaneous

Verified the spark plug is a D6HA.

Inside of the battery cover needs painting.

Same with the frame under the seat.

Bottom of the seat pan.

6N6-3B 6V battery (PO said he'd bought it just recently).

Roxy: Odometer Log - 17,443 (+37)

After a 9 mile ride through Golden Gate Park.

Roxy: Shocking

Took the brand new rear shocks that I bought for the project bike and put them onto the '64.  Pretty straight-forward.  One odd thing was that for the right shock, I added back the metal sleeve that went inside the rubber and that fit the mounting bolt perfectly.  But the left shock was too large in diameter so I had to leave the metal sleeve off.  Not sure why the 2 sides were different, but I suspect it's the right side that has been altered.


The old shock.

The new shock.

Finally, I really wanted to switch out the old acorn nuts (right) with some shiny new ones I had (left).  But the old ones were a lot beefier.  Not sure if that matters or not, but figured I'd just play it safe for now and leave the old ones on.

Roxy: I'm a Real Mechanic!

Well, not really, but it felt good to actually 1) see an issue, 2) figure out the problem, and most importantly 3) have the tools and know-how to actually fix it!

I had noticed that the brake light wasn't very bright at all.  With the taillight on, you'd press the brake lever and you'd barely see the faint, faint glow of the second filament.  At first, I thought the problem was the bulb itself.  But then I realized that the bigger filament was acting as the taillight, and the smaller filament was coming on for the brake.  The wires were backwards!


With the seat off, I had access to where the wiring harness met the taillight wires.  Luckily I'd done a lot of electrical work when I got the new harness for the project bike.  I had good insulated bullet connectors and I used those for the connections.  I swapped the wires and presto, problem solved!

Also, I found that the bulb in there was a 12V.  The project bike had a new 6V one as well as a clean, new taillight lens, so I scavenged both for Roxy.


The backwards wiring and old connectors.

Coming soon... a picture of my handiwork and the new bullet connectors (can't believe I forgot to take a picture!)


Why a 12-volt??

The electrical kit.

Success!

Roxy: Odometer Log - 17,434 (+28)

Roxy: First Pictures

Hello, Roxy...

Saw the ad for this bike on Sunday.  Drove down to San Mateo to see her on Monday.  Brought her home Saturday afternoon.


A shot from Sunday when I first met the owner to look at her.

Picking her up on Saturday afternoon.

Easy-as-pie pickup and delivery by Dave's Cycles.

She joins her sister bikes.

S90: Cafe Fever

Got new hardware in the form of Dime City Cycles levers and grips (with throttle included).  Installed those on the 7/8" handlebars from Bike Bandit (all the Dime City stuff fit perfectly!).

Wanted to get a real feel for the ergonomics of the grips, and realized I couldn't really do that with the stock seat.  So I got the other seat pan (which is actually the wrong year/model and doesn't mount correctly at the front) cleaned it up and gave it a quick coat of paint.  Sitting on that gave me a better idea of how things would look and feel.

One thing I realized is that the bike MUST have rearsets to make the whole thing work.  Your knees would just be too high up if you only changed the handlebars and seat height.  Unfortunately, rearsets will be the trickiest thing to install as mounting holes would almost certainly have to be drilled.

I have to say, she looks good in this cafe racer trim...

A comparison of the stock handlebar setup versus the cafe setup.  I still think these cafe bars are too wide at 30".  They're actually wider than the stock ones. 

Some detail of the Dime City hardware.  Not that I have much to compare it to, but I thought the fit and finish were great for the price.  The lever set was only $20, and same price for the grip set with throttle body.  Both are Plain Jane, OEM-style hardware, though.  Down the line, I'm sure I'll end up with something snazzier.