doesn't that **** ya off? but............ you should have looked for the weights when you picked them up, huh. You might be able to get stick-on weights, auto store/tire store for weights, spoke weights, etc. Once you have the jig set up, balancing is easy to do.

If you intend to ride this beautiful machine a lot, I would get some alum wheels asap. You'll be shocked at the improvement. It's a shame to have shed all that weight and neglect the wheels which will result in an equal effect to that reduced weight. I had to spoke my own in the 60's under the tutelege of a crazy guy by the name of Bill Black, the mechanical genius/inspiration for my cafe racer as well as my riding skills. Spoking wheels is an exercise in patience and there is a specific method to doing it correctly.

 

so as an update, they fixed the balance issue. I also checked the rear wheel and it was surprisingly ballanced even though no weights so kudos to them for that.

I will look into alloy wheels, if there are spoked aluminum wheels I would put those on, I don't like the way aluminum solid rims look on the cafe style bikes.

 

A set of Akronts would round out the bike nicely...

 

that's weird that they missed the front wheel balance,huh? Sometimes when the tire requires a lot of weight to balance, it pays to deflate and break loose and turn the tire on the rim 180 degrees and try it again.

Aluminum spokes:check out "supermoto wheels, Excel"-great wheels and awesome lookin and they'll spoke em up for you. And someone mentioned eliminating the drum brake in the meantime for more weight reduction and performance upgrade. Wow, you may not be done after all. lol

 

I will never be "done" but the "build" is done for this bike.

 

What a process and you have done it well. Now take it out somewhere and surround it with naked women and take some pictures of the final product. Bravo this has been such an excellent example of the talents of our members.

 

that's Bullshit! the build can't be done till you put a little cafe headlight fairing on there and the red stripe that skirts he tail light. And you didn't even get to 20 pages on this thread.hahahaha

 

I want to do a fairing cafe build sometime. doing that on this build would require a diferrent headlight setup, more sportbike like with a frame mount instead of the forks. I am hoping to get another bike soon. Must have more projects...addicted now! Maybe the next build thread will hit 20 pages. I know, one pic per post .

 

Still trying to sort out a vibration in the front. The front wheel is now balanced and that did make a big difference but the problem is still there. I have tightened the stearing head bearings a little. I will see if that helps. I have a few pics of it now that the sun is out I will post up a little later.

 

some ideas:
check the line around the rim edge on bith sides to make sure the tire is mounted straight on the rim.
reduce air pressure
check the rotor for warp
pads dragging
check tread for imperfection
wheel bent/out of round
spokes loose

 

thanks Nath, some of that stuff I can already rule out but the rest I will check as soon as I can.

 

buy a steering damper and crank it down.

tim

 

well, it is not headshake, even though these old bike are prone to that. I rode it a little today after the bearings where tightened and it felt better. I will know more once I can get it above 50 mph.

 

The bike looks great in the sun. The other day I rode it on a road with a couple of turns. I will have to get used to not having any roll on power on exit. The bike has really slim tires so it drops in with almost zero effort which is also something to get used to. Its fun in a kinda old rat ta tat way.

 

It looks great!

 

"I will have to get used to not having any roll on power on exit. The bike has really slim tires so it drops in with almost zero effort which is also something to get used to."

well, there ya go Corn. Your solution is obvious: carry more speed into the turn and you won't have to rely on the torque you've grown to rely on. No problem with carrying more speed into the turn since you're 100lbs lighter, other than your going to have to overcome your preconceived idea of entry speed based on riding the SH. Once you adjust, and it won't take you long, it's fun fun fun railing through the corners on a lighter bike. Just be careful when you first jump back onto the Hawk, because, believe me, if you forget, you will scare the **** right out of yourself>

bike looks amazing sun or not. Congrats on a great build.

 

got my gasket kit today!

Nothing as anoying as an oil leak, must get rid of stat.

 

Nice job Corn. Very tastefully done-it really looks great. Now do what Doug said and find a hooters or a titty-bar or something and get the camera out

 

 

X2 that is one clean bike now time for the pictures with hot womens

 

I will someday get some shots with the bike and hot women since its so requested . Until then I finally captured a shot that you can see the pearl in the paint... if you squint.

 

lol

tim


looks great ! we'll have to hook up soon to see it in person.

 

what is so about the tire?

 

HAHAHA that's fucked up LOL he just finished it and you want him out throwin' sparks on it already

 

he finished it last week ! andrew, need me to scrub in those tires ?


tim


btw: andrew is a very competent rider, it was just for laughs. like he said... it's a very different bike, it'll take a while.

 

ok I get it now lol .

That was before I rode it too much. Maybe I should post a pic now .

 

So fail...

I replaced the head gasket and o-rings but she still leaks oil argg...

and to top it all off the tank had a few pinholes that have now bubbled the paint... double fail.

very depressing

 

i don't care about those little oil leaks... as my mentor taught me long ago: "show me a motorcycle with no oil leaking out of it and i'll show you a motorcycle with no oil in it". Hey, seriously, I guess you didn't check the surfaces for perfect match-up. Again, my mentor, Bill Black, had me sanding the surfaces on glass till there was no uneveness..... "attention to detail Nathaniel".

And while you're getting hell, I want that stripe changed to red ASAP!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GmlJ2al7e_...otorcycles.jpg



hahahhahahhaha

 

that is really not what i wanted to read...

tim

 

I don't have any idea what to even try concerning the oil leak. I know I could leave it but it drips on my shoe when riding. There is nothing I hate more then a problem I have no idea how to fix.

The tank is a pretty simple fix, re seal it... again...wait for leaks then repaint after I am confident it isn't leaking any more.

Oh and there is still a vibration which I am beginning to think is because the rear shocks are no longer functioning anymore.