Light, Fender, Puller, Stator

So I got a light from a tt175 from the 70s.  I like it, its black plastic so it looks kinda bad ass.  I think I am going to get a black handle bar to compliment it.  I also got a battery and installed it tonight.  Nothing lit up so I don't really want to talk about that.  The battery had a strong 6.2v and when the switch was on I was only measuring 4.2v at the fuse with no current.  I'm thinking the ignition switch is full of rust.  WD get in there.  I bought a brand new front fender for a 2006 YZF250, then with a little drill action managed to mount it to the XT rather nicely.  No alignment issues or anything.  Nice and shiny.  As well I bought a flywheel puller, pulled the flywheel, then took off the stator, cleaned everything and checked the coils.  I'm happy to report all is well in coil land.  I was sweating that a bit as stator asemblys are not cheap.  Here are some pics.

Tires and Forks

I picked up the new tires and rebuilt forks from Burlington Cycle on Saturday.  I think I can safely say I love all things Michelin.  These tires are awesome!  I can't believe how aggressive the tread pattern is and yet they are still DOT approved.  While the wheels were there I also had all new bearings pressed into the hubs.  There are three in the rear and two in the front.  Since the parts are only 3.99 a piece I figured get them.  Plus this way the seals are new too.  Burlington Cycle told me you don't need the dust seals anymore as the modern bearing seals are much better than in the past.  I like that because it will be easy to clean the bearings and watch the seals for deteriation when the wheels are mounted on the bike.

New Tires and Fresh Forks

Old Tires                                                                        

 Tread Pattern of Michelin Cross AC 10

Carb Is Rebuilt

The carb rebuild kit arrived today from Rusty Riders in Ohio.  The kit was sweet.  It took about an hour and half for me to install all the parts and adjust them just so.  I chased the threads with a 7mm tap for the part that holds the main jet assembly.  Besides that everything went together very nice.  The carb is now installed back in the bike.  I just need the new cables to arrive so I can set it up.

Upholstery Guy

Ok I got into it tonight and upholstered the seat.  I started by drilling out all the rivets that hold on the old style tooth crimps around the bottom of the seat.  Then I cleaned the plastic bottom and lined the edge of the plastic bottom with duct tape.  Then I busted out my trusty upholstery stapler and hit it.  I'm happy with the results.  I bought one of these Ebay seat covers for my 71cb500 and it didn't turn out as nice as this one.

Before

And after

First Arrival

The first of the Ebay purchases made it through the post on Monday March 1st.  I was excited that the all important Clymer manual was one of those items.  The seat cover followed soon after.  The grips I bought at Burlington Cycle when I ordered the tires on Saturday.

Cleaning Scrubing Steal Wool and Oily Rags

I have put in three solid nights of cleaning with hot water and simple green. Great product that Simple Green. Things are starting to get exciting. I'm hoping the parts I have ordered will start to arrive soon.  I have ordered a set of Michelin Cross AC10 tires.  They arrived at Burlington Cycle yesterday.  I will have the new tires put on when the fork seals arrive as I will have those rebuilt by the shop too since I don't have a fork tool... However I'm starting to think I can make one out of a piece of copper or steal pipe.

I have cleaned a lot of the little things.  Cleaned the threads and polished off the rust.

Wrench Monkees

I was starting to consider painting the tank, fenders and frame so that the bike would look brand new. Then a client of mine showed me this awesome site called wrenchmonkees.com

They have lots of great photos. Including this one of an xt500 engine!  I didn't ask to use this photo.  Its not mine, you can tell because its not a shitty yellow colour.  This photo is the property of wernchmonkees.com

These guys are restoring and modifying bikes the way I originally planned to for the XT 500. The idea is to clean everything, replace all worn, missing, and broken parts with new OEM or better parts. Use steel wool and sandpaper to remove all rust, then buff. That way the patina and pits gained over time will stand out against the brand new parts. I think its going to look really cool.