Red: Dime City Headlight Brackets

Got the brackets, now just need the light.  6" distance between the 2 mounts.  Had to double up on the rubber shims to make them fit.

Red: Irony

Realized that even if I found a clever way to stretch the center stand spring and get it attached, it probably wouldn't be easy, and it probably wouldn't be something I'd want to do more than once.

But given how much I'll have to be disassembling and reassembling the bike, it didn't make sense to try to get the stiff spring on there.

So I sent to the hardware store and picked up a #175 spring (4-3/8 x 23/32 x .072) that was a tad longer than the stock spring, but nowhere near as tight.

But when I went to mount it, I realized it was too long to actually pull the stand back and up.  Then I saw that I could just hook it to the frame tab instead of using the connector - exactly how Roxy's is now.  I wonder if her PPO went through the same thing.

I may still try to get another spring so I can at least use the connector.  But this works well enough for now.

Red: Spring Stymied

Had been waiting a long time for this shiny new connector to arrive from Vietnam.  Got it today, then realized attaching the spring wasn't going to be straight-forward.

I know about the penny trick (or dimes in this case), but even that seemed very difficult.

Stymied for now...

Red: Primer, Bearings

Good long Sunday garage session.

The swing arm had started to rust up so it was time to put a coat of primer on it.  Figured I'd throw a coat on the center stand while I was at it, too.

Then took a fresh look at the bearing races and realized the bottom upper race and the top lower race were already installed into the frame (press mounted).  But used the new races to cap them off because the old ones seemed to be a tight fit (ironically).  Also didn't add the bearings since it would mean I'd have to worry about losing them every time I took the steering stem off.

Stole the fork stem lower nut (the adjusting nut) from Viola, which fortunately was only on finger-tight.  Also stole the washer for the steering stem nut, which completes the hardware.

Also attached the rear fender, and realized that it had actually been modified to fit this model frame. Lucky, I guess.  The mod is an ugly job, though the rest of the chrome is so clean it almost makes up for it.

Red: Parts Hunt

Preparing to place my first order to Ohio Cycle, and have been combing through their extensive catalog.  Had a lot of parts on my list, but then after checking the bike, realized that I don't need them, already have them, or they're for a different model.  Never hurts to check twice...

I need to refine my technique, but happy to say this tie-down idea seems to work pretty well.  At least let me work on either wheel while keeping the bike (relatively) stable.

Shiny new steering bearings and races.  I installed the races without the bearings, just to see how it would go.  Next time I'll grease up the bearings and install everything (hopefully without losing any).

"Discovered" that I already had the lower races, though I'm glad I just got the new set.

But even happier to find I had both the washer and the dust seal already (given that Ohio didn't carry them).

I need to steal Viola's fork stem lower nut (this is Roxy's), as it's proving tough to find.

Finally unboxed my rear fender and it was mirror shiny.

 

Red: Odd Jobs

Like a wobbly restaurant table, I needed to add some padding to the bottom of the center stand.

Spent the rest of the time checking over my list of needed parts.

Red: Rear Brake Refurbishing

Continued work on the frozen rear brake.  Attached the brake arm lever and it still wouldn't budge.  But while giving it some whacks with the rubber mallet, I noticed that while the cam wasn't turning, the entire backing plate was spinning around within the hub.  So I kept whacking it, slowly spinning it around, until eventually it got loose enough to where I could pull it off.

Discovered the whole thing was just frozen with age and corrosion.  The cam was stuck so tight that I had to knock it out with the ballpeen.  But mechanically everything seemed sound.  Once I'd cleaned it all up by sanding it down and using liberal amounts of WD40, it all went back together nicely.

Red: Stand Before You Walk

Red gets off the ground for the first time.

Tried to remove the rear brake, but was completely stymied.  The thing wouldn't budge.  Asking the Yahoo group for advice.

Was glad to see the seat pan fit, but looks like it's a different tank mount (as compared to Viola).