Big Box O Parts

So the day finally came and the big box o parts from Thumper Stuff arrived.  The big ticket item I was waiting for was a complete Super Trap exhaust system.  The swing arm rebuild kit was another biggie.  Oh and of course break pads, points and condenser, fork gators, throttle cables, break cable, side cover, K&N air filter, crankcase breather, and a new set of sprockets.  The sprockets are two teeth bigger on the rear and one smaller on the front.  I'm thinking this will make the XT more manageable in the woods.

   Over the last couple of evenings I have bolted on all these parts, set up the breaks, built the swing arm bearings up, and set up the ignition.  I was holding my breath a bit on that first kick to see if I would get spark, but no biggie.  Lots of spark!  First kick and there was a nice bright blue zap from the plug.  Good stuff.  I was a bit worried that coil was done, but I guess all my cleaning and soldering were appreciated by the electron gods.
   The swing arm rebuild kit from Thumper Stuff is great.  The end needle bearings have been replaced by a modern teflon type.  I was pleased to see the kit included an inner race.  I pressed the main needle bearings in the the swing arm with my bench vise.  No biggie.

The exhaust was a pain in the ass.  I really had to wrestle in into place.  And I'm sure due to that there is going to be a leak where the two pieces of pipe are clamped together.  However I'm hoping that once I get the bike up North we can call on a welder dude I know of and he can zap the pipe chunks together for good.

   The breaks are working great.  And its really nice to be able to operate the throttle.  Unfortunately there is a spacer missing from the front sprocket, and for some reason I didn't order a clutch cable.  I will get those next week from Burlington Cycle. This is what the XT is looking like these days.