CB100: Wheel Swap Test

 

Not the best session.  Found that the metal race doesn't actually seem to fit the bottom of the CB100 steering head.  Had to go with old fashioned loose ball bearings.

Also discovered that S90 fork bolts are way too short to use with the CB100 bridge.  Was cinching up the left fork using the temporary long 10mm bolt and ended up wedging the top of the fork into the bottom of the bridge.  Had to use a hammer to knock it out.

 Rear wheel installed with no issue, but it's a no go on the front until I can figure out the fork situation.

 

 

Ivy: Speedo Gear and Front Brake

With a hard stop to the garage session, I wasn't sure how much I wanted to try to do.

Started out easy by testing out the new shift pedal (stock).  It was a much better fit but quickly realized it was bent a bit out of shape.  Fiddled a bit with how to hold it down to hammer it back.  Finally settled on putting a big bolt through the center then just stepping on it to hold it in place while I whacked the end with the deadblow hammer.  Really surprised that it worked, to be honest.

With the stock pedal mounted, shifting felt pretty close to Ivy and Roxy.  At least, having that slightly lower peg bars don't seem to be a deal-breaker anymore.  Good enough for test riding at least.

With that bit of "garage luck", decided to go for it with the Ivy front wheel.

This was the first test of the jack stands under each side of the pegs.  But I also added the wood stool under the engine.  Turns out that in terms of holding up the bike, the stool by itself worked absolutely fine.  Though it was nice having the jack stands as insurance.  But now it seems as though I should focus on customizing the stool to fit perfectly under the engine with the peg bars in place then continue to use the jack stands as backup (and they'll need some shims underneath to get them a little higher).

With all that in place, the only thing fiddly about removing the front wheel is getting the fender bolts off.  After that, it was easy to remove the bottoms of the axle holders, then just pull each shock up and over to remove the wheel. 

On to the speedo gear.  As soon as I touched it, it "popped" into place and I thought that it was just misaligned. 

But more surprising was that it didn't have the EBC grooved brake I thought it did.  Not sure where I'd gotten the idea that I'd upgraded them.  Grabbed one of the two EBCs in the bin and did the swap.

With that done, I reassembled everything.  With the wheel back in, I walked the bike around to make sure the speedo arm seemed to be turning - which it definitely was.

Note: you can't run the speedo/brake cables through the fender holder because the cables are too short.

June 17 update:  Unfortunately, no joy on the fix.  Within a few blocks, it was clear neither the speedo or odo were moving at all.

Came back to the garage and removed the cable from the speedo side and taped it to the brake cable so I could walk the bike and watch it.  The cable was definitely not moving anymore.

So thinking through this:

• The cable itself is working, which is an easy test to do.  Also easy to swap out to test another cable.
• The speedo is pretty sure to be working, since again, a pretty straight-forward test and also another easy one to swap.
• This is very similar to what happened before, where the speedo gear seemed to turn but then stopped after awhile.  It must be that it starts off working and in alignment, but something happens and it stops.
• The problem could be...
• Just the speedo gear itself, which would be the best case scenario.
• The brake, which would just mean swapping over to the newly purchased spare.
• Or, very worst case, it's something to do with the hub, in which case we're talking swapping to a new wheel entirely.

Ivy: Front Wheel Relacing

Got the new rear brake to replace the cracked one (and after the first one I ordered didn't fit), but decided there was no rush to install it.  Saved that for another day.

Tested out the new engine bench while removing the front wheel and it worked like a charm.  The bike basically didn't budge an inch while removing or installing the front wheel.  Magic.

Once the wheel was off, though, I realized that the new spare had both a better rim and a better hub, so that was the one to relace.  The only problem is the bearings that can't be removed, but I can relace them and worry about that another day.

Only 1 inner spoke nipple was frozen on, so that one got cut.

One interesting thing I found on Ivy's current wheel (the "bad" one) is that it had a little extra spacer on the non-brake side.

Spares: New Front Spare

Unboxed the new front wheel that came courtesy of a Yahoo group member ($70 shipped).  Pretty decent rim and hub.  Came with a 17mm oil seal, Nachi sealed bearings and a Bridgestone "safety" tire and tube.

Oddly, the nipples seem smaller than 5mm and a few were frozen.  More concerning, though, is the fact that there seemed to very little free play in the distance collar, making it impossible to get enough of a ledge to use the screwdriver to hammer out the bearing.  Will need to figure that out...

Red: Rolling Thunder!

A new front wheel from eBay and we finally have a rolling chassis!

 

Red: First Time's a Charm

Whew, luckily...  Tried to make an educated guess as to which version of front axle I needed (went with the one that seemed most like Roxy's, since she has the same style fork mounts).

Got it and... perfect fit!  The thicker section of the axle is 17mm, as is the spacer.

The only odd thing is that the hole in the thick end (which the Yahoo group suggests is used to hold the axle in place when you're trying to turn the nut) disappears into the mount when the nut is tightened.  A bit strange... and not entirely sure it's correct.  Though that's the same setup as what Roxy has now, and it seems fine.  Go figure...

Red: Rear Almost Complete

Got the new drive flange, sprocket and keeper bolts.  Rigged everything up and watched the wheel turn - beautiful.

Looks like I'm missing 2 pieces, though: the wheel bearing and grease seal that sit inside the flange.

Also got a new front brake, but didn't mess with it yet.

 

Thought this rear adjuster was missing a spacer.  Turns out it was just BACKWARDS!

The front brake, and also a measurement of the front axle mount (17mm ID)