Working for the (top triple) Clamp Down

I really struggled for a pun there.

Anyway, top triple clamp stuff is going well. A few days ago I purchased some VHT grey primer and some gloss enamel engine paint to have a shot. Figuring that if it went badly then I'll just strip it back again.

After two light coats of primer.



I masked off the inside of the forks and stuck two scews in so i'd be able to move it around the yard when painting it, and hopefully it'd block the threads too. Same goes for the ignition mount.



It actually looks pretty good for a first attempt. As per the instructions the can I'm going to wait seven days and give it a final coat. I'm not too sure if I should clear coat it or something like that. Some people are telling me I should be sanding between coats and stick it in the oven or something like that but it seems to be going okay so far*.

As an aside I've ordered some handlebar mounts for the clamp as well as I've managed to lose my immaculate ones that are... well, I don't know where they are. They're in pretty ratty condition so i've started sanding them back with some degreaser on 800 grit wet and dry and they're going well. I gave them a rub with some 1200 grit to finish with some autosol and they've got a bit of a sheen to them.

Turns out they're coated in some kind of lacquer...



One I refinished on top, the lower one I haven't had a shot at yet.



And the good one from above.



Looks okay! I wonder if I should clear coat these? I'm going to paint some more of the fittings, but other than that, progress seems to be going pretty well.

*That usually means I'll stuff it, when I don't listen to other people.

Valve Clearences

Besides vainly watching the top of my head on the teev last night I did actually do something constructive yesterday. The valves have been sounding a little loud lately so I figured I'd check check them.

Everything off and ready for action:



With the flywheel cover off to find TDC I had a chance at how my rust prevention technique of some gear oil after a light sanding worked. Seemingly well:



There was some oil that'd gathered at the bottom of the cover.



With the feeler gauges in. 0.4 inch intake clearance and 0.7 outlet clearance with the new cam.



One more thing I've somehow misplaced, the retaining bolt for the fuel tank. There's also a bit of surface rust in there too. Any ideas on how to patch this up?



I didn't start it out after I'd done it, but I'm curious if it's stopped the valve noises. The inlet clearence was a tiiiiiiny bit lose and the exhaust needed a bit of a tighten. I've got a little bit of a routine downpat for doing valves and the whole thing takes around 20 minutes allowing for my usual faffing about, losing feeler gauges and misplacing spanners.

Bolting for It

Well!

Apologies for those who saw the blog over the last couple of days. I fiddled with the HTML settings, fucked up and threw my hands up in the air. It's not as though I had any good news to post anyway...

After having a shithouse month where my girlfriend of three years finally realised I was a bit of a dickhead I managed to drop the SR a week later, and cracked a few ribs. Entirely my own stupid fault.

I'd got some new tyres put on it and simply laid on the gas, not even thinking, as I left the shop. The back end slid out and I came down relatively lightly and at a low speed. And in front of a bit of an audience!

Anyway, the bike's mostly okay. The left rearset was ground down a little. The left clipon was pushed around a little which pushed the gauges together and bent them out of shape a little.

And that's about it!

In other, more cheerful news I replaced some rusting screws on my Daytona throttle. I've got to keep on top of little things like this because more than blackened spokes, dull sidecovers or scratched fuel tanks nothing looks worse than a rusty fastener.

Before:



And After:



I'm also swapping a few over. There's a local store, Metro Bolts Richmond, who stock all sorts of funny sized bolts and don't have a minimum. I picked up a few stainless socket-headed bolts and I'll have to head back there to get some assorted boxes of bolts for the future.

I also ordered a mirror from Japan, which turned out to be the wrong one - silver and not chromed. In the meantime the existing bloody mirror won't come out. Out again tomorrow to have a shot at getting it off again...