Early start this morning, got the hub stripped first of all, various bolts / nuts and spacers are cleaned and polished ready for plating. The hub is in great shape, no screwdriver adjustment and as an added bonus I've realised I have a 520 chain and sprockets, the rear is an alloy renthal too with no signs of wear.

Next job was to sort the exhaust. The ethos had a nasty ding which no doubt would have obstructed the gasflow a little



I've dealt with something similar before and couldn't find an easy way to get it out - tried all the old tricks. With this one I could get to the back of it with a large screwdriver, but it wouldn't budge the dent, even when heated to red hot I couldn't push it out.
Time for drastic action



Cut an access hole opposite the dent, then push it out from behind using a drift and hammer.



Not visually perfect, but not dented anymore (there is also a smaller dent to the left, but I didn't consider it worthwhile sorting this

Next was to weld up the access flap and linish it flat. Ended up leaving a little blob of weld here as I was finding the welding hard going and kept blowing through at this point

Gave the rest of the exhaust a wire brush and polish



Then whipped the sump off to clean it out, I find they usually have a layer of 'silt' at the bottom, this one wasn't too bad though, think its been off before. Cleaned out with petrol, gasket faces dressed with an oil stone and refitted with a new gasket from Rick O

I got most of the engine and swingarm cleaned up yesterday. This morning I fitted my HRC link and BM shock and sorting the sump meant I could refit the whole exhaust with new gaskets.





The rear axle has a little bit of surface rust, but nothing detrimental, I might strip and paint it yet. Rear disc measures 5.15mm (min thickness 5mm) so that will be good for a while.
Torque arm and caliper holder have been blasted and painted and are hanging up to dry.

Nice project, was looking at this bike myself when it was on EBay.

Looks to be cleaning up well.

Think there was a few watching it Jim. I was lucky to snap it up.
The seller was a really nice guy, named his price and said he'd prefer someone to come up and view before buying, rather than bid it up on eBay and run the risk of a buyer messing him around.
Was a very fair price too.
I must admit on first look it was a bit rough, but on stripping it down its not too bad. Most of the fasteners have copper slip etc. It's actually in better condition than my recent road bike rebuild was.

I've had a bit of a broadband issue so not been able to upload any pics for a while. I've still been busy though.
Decided that the rear end was sorted, so I moved onto the front, this is what I had to deal with:





Stripped everything down and blasted all of the painted parts, recoated with Simoniz 'tough satin black'. I ordered a Rick O fork spring kit and fitted that along with new dust and oil seals, there was some light pitting on the top bits of the stanchions, so I polished that out with some 2500 grit wet and dry.
The fork sliders had previously been polished, but the finish was deteriorated, so they got another buffing.

As you can see above, I've also rebuilt and the front brakes and re-fitted with some carbone Lorraine pads, new seals and a master cylinder rebuild kit. Did the rear too.
Thanks to hunter I got hold of an original needle and emulsion tube set, so put the carbs back together last night and bench synced this morning.
Swapped the rock solid and slightly damaged carb rubbers for some Oem RVF ones from DSS



At a guess, I'd say it was 10 times easier fitting the carbs with these babies installed. I also warmed them slightly and used some fancy o ring lube from work. Air box back on.



Next up is to make some ally bars, then I can move onto the rads, not too far off now, good job as I got followed home by this brute the other day, which also needs some love.

Sp1 ? You're a compulsive bike buyer

I admit I've got a problem Dave, pesky Internet auction sites. Getting a bit busy in the garage now and the Mrs won't let me have anything in the house, not even a 2 stroke! My shipping container in the garden idea doesn't seem popular either.

Lol..

Nice work you don't hang about either in getting things done keep it going makes enjoyable reading .