I've been working on this project bike for a few weeks now. Since I have a "daily rider" I'm not really in a hurry to get it wrapped up. I'll post updates and pictures as I make progress. Since it's my first bike project, I was a little slow out of the gates. The bike sat in my garage with little progress for a number for months, but now that I realize what a piece of crap I started with, I'm less worried about messing anything up.
From my original introduction post here: http://www.ex-500.com/index.php/topic,1928.0.html, you can get a good idea of the scope of the project.
I primed the frame in black today. I thought about spending more time cutting, grinding, and welding it before getting to the paint but I figured no matter how hard I work at it, it'll never be a show bike unless I dump an unreasonable amount of time and money into it. So, I'm going with the "good enough" approach and I figure that if it ever gets on the streets, it'll look fine from 10 feet away.
My to do list seems to be growing, not shrinking as I dive deeper into the project. I pulled the cam cover and discovered that one of my exhaust cam lobes has a nice chunk missing. Makes me think (1) why did this happen, (2) how bad does the rocker arm (or whatever it's called) look, (3) where is that missing chunk, (4) what exactly will I need to replace and how much will that cost?
Here's a pile of parts that I have to get working on.
The valuables include the R1 seat which needs to be modified a bit in order to fit the frame/tank, some bikemaster bars (can't beat the price), steering damper, grips, top triple clamp, a crazy headlight that might not make its way into this project, and the crown jewel, the all-in-one Acewell 2700-series gauge. I also have some extras including pistons, stator and cover, a decent set of clip-ons, an extra head, a somewhat nasty looking cam, a stock brake line, and some dog bones (is that what they're called?)
Here's a pic of the motor as it is at this moment.
I'm debating what to do with it. I might just give it a good cleaning and call it a day. Since I've never been into one before (only cars) I'm not sure what to expect. But, it's probably not too painful to pull the head and take a look at what's going on. I've contemplated asking FOG if he'll give it the royal treatment but I'm not sure if I have the motivation and funds to put it on a crate, ship it out, and go through with the whole thing.
Let me know what you think of the whole deal. I'd love to hear your comments, criticisms, suggestions, and whatnot.
Finally, here's a picture of some sand.
From my original introduction post here: http://www.ex-500.com/index.php/topic,1928.0.html, you can get a good idea of the scope of the project.
I primed the frame in black today. I thought about spending more time cutting, grinding, and welding it before getting to the paint but I figured no matter how hard I work at it, it'll never be a show bike unless I dump an unreasonable amount of time and money into it. So, I'm going with the "good enough" approach and I figure that if it ever gets on the streets, it'll look fine from 10 feet away.
My to do list seems to be growing, not shrinking as I dive deeper into the project. I pulled the cam cover and discovered that one of my exhaust cam lobes has a nice chunk missing. Makes me think (1) why did this happen, (2) how bad does the rocker arm (or whatever it's called) look, (3) where is that missing chunk, (4) what exactly will I need to replace and how much will that cost?
Here's a pile of parts that I have to get working on.
The valuables include the R1 seat which needs to be modified a bit in order to fit the frame/tank, some bikemaster bars (can't beat the price), steering damper, grips, top triple clamp, a crazy headlight that might not make its way into this project, and the crown jewel, the all-in-one Acewell 2700-series gauge. I also have some extras including pistons, stator and cover, a decent set of clip-ons, an extra head, a somewhat nasty looking cam, a stock brake line, and some dog bones (is that what they're called?)
Here's a pic of the motor as it is at this moment.
I'm debating what to do with it. I might just give it a good cleaning and call it a day. Since I've never been into one before (only cars) I'm not sure what to expect. But, it's probably not too painful to pull the head and take a look at what's going on. I've contemplated asking FOG if he'll give it the royal treatment but I'm not sure if I have the motivation and funds to put it on a crate, ship it out, and go through with the whole thing.
Let me know what you think of the whole deal. I'd love to hear your comments, criticisms, suggestions, and whatnot.
Finally, here's a picture of some sand.
