|
|
The reason for owning a motorcycle is different for everybody. The reason of rebuilding
it to your own taste is too. I loved my triple as it was, but there where some things
that, to my taste, could be improved. One of the most important things (for me though)
that could be done with little effort was improve the handling. As it is a heavy bike,
I felt that the front side was too weak for that weight. And it has a very large and heavy
front wheel which is very uncomfortable for sharp steering. So I needed a pair of stiffer
(adjustable) front forks and a new front wheel. At my local bike shop stood a
Honda VF750 F '85 (Interceptor in USA) with a broken down engine which has 39 mm adjustable
front forks, double piston brakes, a 16 inch wheel and fully adjustable clip-ons. This
all I bought for about 170$. Plus the little fairing (not the belly pan) for 80$. When I
had it at home, I took a close look and saw that the forks had leaking seals but for the
rest they where in perfect condition. The brakes even had new pads. Just a little polishing
and painting and it was ready.
The biggest problem was, that now I had a 16" wheel which is to small for the triple. Three inches of difference was just too much. So I dismantled the 'comstar' wheel and took the middle part (?) to a wheel specialist who transformed it to a 17" x 3.5" spokes wheel the tyre has to be a Bridgestone Battlax BT57 120x17x70). And he did his job! He had to make flanges which could be bolted on, to tie the spokes. Very special. Great looks! Quite expensive too! Cost as much as the forks and the fairing all together. So, when I got the wheel, everything was there and ready to be put on the bike. Started of course with slashing the whole front off. Then measured the central pin of the lower treeclamp, and made the Honda one exactly the same length by sawing it in half and cut 4 centimeters off. Then weld it carefully back together just in line .Some would say this is a dangerous trick, but since I have done a little welding in my life, I'm sure it's as strong as ever. At one point I was very lucky. The two bearings where exactly the same. They just needed a little tiding up. The rest was an easy job. Just put it all together except for the brake lines which I replaced with steel ones of the exact length. I took two long ones from the master cylinder down, instead of using the two-way manifold in the middle. These cost me about 70$. The clocks needed new attachment points which I made from a piece of U-formed steel. Even the Honda countercable fitted in the Yamaha counter. And that's it. With the +- 2000 km test ride I've had 'til this moment, I only can say that these changes are major improvements to me. The handling is so much better than before, that I can speak of a complete transformation. A new bike was born. Hallelujah. Jef from Belgium.
|
| ||
| Running MegaBBS ASP Forum Software © 2002-2008 PD9 Software | ||
| (Delete all cookies set by this site) | ||
