Evie: Straight Pipe

As suspected, the straight pipe fits the Early head.

Red: Back to Keihin Carb

Had the brilliant idea to use the offset Keihin in Red.  Got all the way to bolting it on then realized exactly why I'd never done it before: fuel inlet is on the wrong side.

But since I'd cut a new DIY gasket for it already, I was able to put that into the E05 that had been leaking a just reinstall it.

Couldn't get her started right away.  Seems to be very fussy about screw settings.

Final air screw setting is 3/4 out and plenty of throttle screw.  This setting works once warm.

Needs choke to cold start but then have to shut off choke almost immediately.

Red: Carb Shuffle Continued

How many times can I possibly swap carbs?  Found that the Keihin E05 was leaking gas from the bowl gasket (which explains why it was empty every time I'd switch the petcock on - should have realized that in the first place).

So had to swap for the Sheng #2.  However, it had the exact same problem as always of having a rough idle and a big time stumble as you roll on throttle.

Tried to tune it while idling but never could find a better setting.

Red: Going Big Bore

Since getting Ivy running I've been able to compare her with Red side-by-side.  Seems crazy, but Ivy just feels much torquier, especially winding up in second gear.  Then again, she does have Roxy's old jug along with brand new rings.  But Roxy's cylinder is standard size and nothing special as far as I know.  Not sure how that could translate into such a big difference in the feeling of torque.  Maybe it's the exhaust?  Either that or the carb.  (Ivy's currently running the Sheng #1)

Decided to take the leap and install the DRATV Big Bore into Red now that she's feeling "under powered".

• Installed the 5 piece ring set before heading downstairs.  No issues getting them on.  Helps that I had some recent practice doing Ivy's new rings.
• Also filed down an old knock pin until it fit easily into the top right hole.
• Disassembled the top end.  The new pick set was handy getting the wrist pin circlip out.
• The old case-to-jug gasket was looking a bit brittle so swapped it out with a new one.
• Filed down the end of the knock pin a bit to make sure it fit flush into the case.
• The new piston went in ok.  Followed the standard setup for placing the gaps.
• It was VERY fiddly trying to get the jug over top of the rings.  Was constantly worried about knocking a ring out of its groove or messing up the 3-piece oil scraper somehow.  Finally just got it on after constant fiddling.  Maybe next time the strategy would be to insert the piston into the jug up to the rings before installing it to the crankshaft.  Or, get a piston ring sleeve thingy.
• Used the thicker copper gasket provided by DRATV to help with clearance.
• Slowly torqued the head cover nuts to 10 ft lbs.
• For some strange reason, it was VERY hard getting the advance back onto the end of the camshaft.  Why???
• With everything back together, she started right up.

Shakedown: ran quite a few laps from about 17th to 25th, keeping the revs varied.  No smoke!

But she suddenly cut out on 25th and Lake.  Feared the worst, but after making it back to the garage realized I'd simply run out of gas!

But... biggest disappointment was that I simply did not feel like those extra 14cc's made any difference at all.  Didn't really feel that much extra torque.  Didn't feel that "surge" in second gear that I was comparing against Ivy.  Very strange.

Thinking of swapping back to the Sheng as a test.  Maybe that old Keihin is just not breathing as well?  What could be giving Ivy that extra feeling of power???

Ivy: Leather Wraps

Wrapped Ivy's new bars with the same Tourneau tennis wrap I used before.  Went for a few laps after that and they felt great.

Ivy: New Bars

Swapped the bars over to the new Euro setup.

Went smoothly but realized that the old mirrors looked horrible on the new bars.  Couldn't really get anything to work that looked good and showed enough of the rear view.  Finally left just the right side on so I at least have something. But ordered some bar end mirrors from Dime City right off.

Ivy: Custom Throttle 2

Built out the second Venhill throttle cable.  Pretty much the same drill as last time except I used a leftover length of outer shroud that was already sitting there.  It was 63cm (the first one was 70cm) but I knew that I should have made the first one shorter anyway.

Used the trick of putting a little piece of solder into the birds nest and then melting it in place.  Worked fine and a lot cleaner than the soldering pot.

Went to install it into the throttle only to discover that the opening for the ferrule was just way too small.  Either that or I needed to be using a different sized ferrule than last time.  But given I had so many of this size, figured I'd just open up the hole.

Used the Dremel to slowly work the hole open but must have taken an hour to just work it big enough to comfortably fit the ferrule.

Ivy: Timing and Loose Wires

So Ivy losing spark was either the timing being off, or the points wire getting disconnected, or maybe both.  Although the disconnected wire makes more sense as I may have kicked it loose when I stopped to check for smoke the previous day.

Still, good to set the timing correctly anyway.

With that done and the points wire firmly connected, she started up easily and we ran a few laps around the hood with no issues.  Though did need to tighten up the clutch cable a bit.

Ivy: New Piston and Rings

Process of elimination to determine why Ivy's still smoking.  Figured first easy fix was just to swap in a new piston with new rings.

Had a new STD piston marked "HF" and installed a new 5-piece ring set.  Three-piece oil ring went on easy.  Top two rings were a bit more fiddly.  Used the ring pliers but was very careful to only open them the bare minimum so as not to snap them.

Install went smoothly, somewhat in part to all the practice I'd put into getting the piston circlip in and out.  Top Tip is to use the small punch to get in under the circlip and then coax it off.

On first start, no smoke!  Good sign.

Took her out for a ride and was all going swimingly at first.  Did a big lap around the hood.  Stopped at the top of the street to check smoke and she died!

Took her into the garage and after a few checks realized she had no spark at all!

Tried swapping the plug but no dice.

Red: New Plug

Red wouldn't start.  Thought it was more carb issues.

Turns out the plug was completely knackered.

Probably all the weird carb issues taking their toll - though the plug was only a month old!

Ivy: Cylinder and Piston Swap

Swapped Ivy's cylinder and piston for the ones just removed from Roxy.  Straight forward swap, but no joy.  Still smoking.  Which was somewhat to be expected given they were smoking coming off of Roxy, too.

Flipped the horn right side up so it wouldn't hit the fender, though... damage done.

Forks Day

Red: drained the right fork and got a little less than 100 mL, refilled with 100

Ivy:
- right for a little less than 100 mL, refilled 100
- left was exactly 100 mL, refilled 100

Also, the right fork bolt on Ivy just spins.

Evie: Switch to Late Frame

Swapped Evie over from the black frame to the turquoise (Late).

Switched to the early style 2-piece forks which solves the mystery of the spacer on the late style axle.

The top cushion bolts are 10mm instead of 8mm.

Red: Horn Hitting Fender

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

All this time it was the bottom of the horn impacting the front fender under heaving breaking that was causing dents.  Incidentally, that was also the reason for the horn going off under breaking as it touched ground.

Dumb - had always thought it was during the removal of the fender.

Angled the black horn up to get more clearance.

Red: Carb Mystery Cont.

Opened up Red's Keihin (K1 E05) to figure out the float issue.  Some of the custom gasket material had separated and left residue.  Cleaned that off and jiggle the floats a bit.

Reassembled and no more overflow.

Red: Carb Issues Cont.

After riding a few days ago, came down to find that Red would not hold idle.  Classic symptoms of an air leak.

Found that the stud bolt was just turning and not tightening.  Swapped it out for a regular bolt.  After that, held a very rough idle and needed a lot of throttle screw to keep it going. 

As a test swapped Ivy's Keihin (K1 EO5) with Red's (CS90C). 

Red idled ok but floats were stuck and gas came pouring out the overflow tube. 

Red filter very dirty.  Is it possible that having filled the tank to its highest level in awhile, it loosened a lot of rust and debris that found it's way into the carb and clogged the jets?

Red: Carb Swap Cont.

Swap out the Keihin CS90C for the Sheng #1.

Ivy: New Studs

Finally installed the 2 new studs on Ivy's OG crankcase.  Double-nut to get them tightened.

Had to play with it to get them to all the same length.  Probably one of them is not the correct part number...