Another ‘80 - The Bitsa Bike

[NobleHops]

Jumping around, I'll try and fill in some gaps; sorry if it's a little random.

I started out thinking I was going to use a repro wiring harness, and had it hung on the bike, but it was later manufactured than the ones Phil and I formerly sold, and I just didn't like the fit. So I picked out one of the better-used specimens we have hoarded and tuned it up. First off, a lot of this - checking for resistance, breaks, obvious problems that we can spot, including abrasion, corrosion, bad connectors or terminals - all that jazz.



Then it got cleaned - first in our heated parts washer to get the grime off of it, and then in the ultrasonic cleaner, then it was rinsed and blown dry and left to hang for a day or two.

Un-tape any abraded areas and inspect any suspect junctions.





This is wiring harness tape, NOT insulating electrical tape. Electrical tape (or better yet, shrink tubing) is great for insulating repairs or solder joints, wiring harness tape mostly prefers to stick to itself and won't ooze adhesive and make a mess. We found this at a local electronics store, but I'm certain it can be found on Amazon too.



Stubborn corrosion:



Overheated wires and connectors - an outcome of corrosion and excessive resistance it creates:



Brittle plastic, so I take a reference photo and replace it.



Remove and trim the old punky tape:



Retape



...

[NobleHops]

On to the gauges - I detailed this separately which you can find here.

http://www.cbxclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=12350

The summary was that I had what were probably a set of school bike gauges in unused condition, but they needed a bunch of stuff swapped to work on a twin-shock bike. One of those cases where hoarding stuff came to my rescue .



Swapping the internal wiring harness to mate with the twin-shock.



Pulling that super nice needle and faceplate so I can reset the mileage.



Freshly powdercoated bezel and a black dummy where the air pressure warning lens was.



Done!

[NobleHops]

Just HAD to have my red 8mm Taylor wires, so I was punished with 90 minutes of fiddling to get them mated up with the repro coils. These are a skosh too tight, so I skinned the outer sheath and shrink-tubed the ends instead before inserting them to get the needed clearance.





If you're going to use these wires with their nice molded ends then you're going to need to scare up a set of these barnacles for the plug ends.



OK, now I'm happy



Finishing up the last of the wiring. This is an excellent reproduction headlight bucket that was produced by Cary Knapton and Rick Armao, made from modern materials, and it fits identically inside and out. Awesome.



Note that the connectors securely nest as stock using all the stock parts.



Awesome.

...

[NobleHops]

Womp womp. I thought I was going to assemble the airbox and upright the beast, and then I was reminded that I had a punky-looking airbox I should have painted weeks ago.



Warm water and a few drops of dawn in a clean bucket.



Wet-sand out the deeper scratches and scuffs with the coarser waterproof sandpaper and then resand with 400 and then 800 grip paper till the plastic is smooth and consistent.



Then paint it, with several light coats of the excellent SEM Trim Black spray paint.
Much better, nevermind my greasy fingerprint. Hey, it's upright!

[NobleHops]

OH HELLO THERE



That's a Sankei-replica reproduction exhaust system, as sold by CMSNL and David Silver Spares. Super nice.



Vapor blasted a set of collars and re-plated a set of collets, some nice new flange nuts and we are ready to install this baby.



That handsome devil is none other than my old pal and shopmate JoeInTuc.



Ahhhhhhh

[NobleHops]

We fired the beast up after a 15-year slumber for the engine!

(Click this for the video)


And it ran beautifully. Better than I could have hoped. The head is really quiet, as is the primary chain and shaft, and with the Prolink clutch in there, that's not making the usual twin shock noises either. It sounds like an 82, and that's high praise. I am absolutely delighted.

Now it's the last run to the finish, fitting the bodywork, and attending to a bunch of loose ends.

Our (incorrect?) shifter had the usual play, so we swapped in a set of bronze bushings sourced from SixCenter.nl





Installing new footrest stickers.



Swapped the too-long standard choke cable for a NOS Sport kit version





Adapted the gauges to the Prolink top bridge with black bolts threaded from below, capped with nice black acorn nuts up top.



Powdercoated a set of seat stays and tail hooks.



Installed the stays and strap onto my nice original seat.





Assembled and installed the tail after tearing the shop apart, looking for the missing lock that I never found.





Fitted the gas cap lock and some nice original tank emblems with the proper 4mm screws for the '80 tank.



Installed a leaky petcock the seat and sidecovers and took a few steps backward.



Oh yes.

[Syscrush]

Temp

Great, now I can't go to bed until I've seen what's coming.

[NobleHops]

OK, sorry for being random, but I do aspire to catch up with this thread so I put some placeholder posts there.

I hit a super fun milestone tonight, test-fitting the bodywork as I enter the home stretch of my project. I still have some more details to attend to, but its relatively minor stuff as it goes. But here’s the way it sits tonight, and I am psyched!

794BA87D-0842-4882-B5AD-678E86539108.jpeg

[heli_madken]

Wow Nils that looks so nice, cant wait for you to fill in the blanks

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Just wow!

I notice you also have another essential tool from my work area....flashlights!
Can't see nuttin' anymore.

[NobleHops]

Just filled in a bunch of blanks, fellas. Now we're in the 9th inning, just as I need to go back East on business again for another 10 days. *might* get to tie up more loose ends this weekend before I fly on Sunday, but maybe not.

But I'm close!

[bikeymikey748]

Outstanding workmanship.
I am in awe

[NobleHops]

This was a really fun sight last night:



That's my Bitsa Bike, home in my garage, after about 40 miles of limbering up, capped off by a fairly spirited romp up the Interstate last night on the way home with JoeInTus. It is running beautifully, and feels great in all respects: The Ikon/Racetech suspension fore and aft feels just right as setup - the Prolink fork and 1100F swingarm make it feel really solid and planted. The twin-pot brakes are still bedding in, but are already better than the stock brakes. It is the quietest twin-shock engine I've had through the shop - and the Prolink clutch is definitely a big part of that, but even the primary shaft and chain and the cylinder head are notably calm - it sounds like a well-dialed '82 engine. The riding position with the sport kit rearset pegs plus the Euro-spec Prolink bars is just right for me.

I had a really modest punchlist after the first few rides out of the shop: A couple of rounds of brake bleeding. checking the rear wheel alignment, handlebar adjustment, clutch adjustment, fixing a flaky front turnsignal issue with the aftermarket turnsignals. All easy stuff, and satisfying to do.

I'll post up a few straggler photos of some wrap-up stuff, including some stuff I learned, but this bike is now as done as they ever are, and it came out really well, is a joy to ride. Thanks for coming along as I built this.

[FalldownPhil]

It is stunning Nils !! The perfect resto-mod

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

The bike looks fantastic and the fact that it performs just as well is a testament to the great skills of you and Joe.