XBR replacement tank

[mthee]

It's the weather for painting, isn't it? Last summer, I painted my tank in rattle can acrylic, cos I'm having a go at as much as I can and money's tight. I sprayed white over black for the pinstripes and then clear.

This year, when I decided on side panels, cut from aluminium, I thought it would be simple to colour match the tank using the same paint from the same manufacturer. No stripes required so I left out the black base coat.

The white of the side panels came out a pure white and showed up the tank white to be a creamy white. 

Is this because I don't have black under the white on the panels?  Is white difficult to match?

[themoudie]

Aye mthee, white isn't always white and maybe your clear coat has yellowed due to exposure to sunlight, ozone and life in general. Hence the "creamy white" rather than 'Persil' white or Lilliwhite. The black under the white may actually make it a grey white and the clear has yellowed, a wee bit.

Apologies for being a 'wet blanket', but it's a black art, this paint matching lark and even the professionals have problems.

Good health, Bill

[mthee]

Thanks, Bill.
I've stripped off the bright white paint on the panels, as I quite like the "accidental" creamy white on the tank, so that's a keeper. I'll reapply the black and put the panels on to see how they look, just black. My worry is, that, with a black seat and frame tubes, it will all splodge into one big, black shape. Should that happen, I'll go over the panels with white and clear and get the creamy effect, if not straight away, then in a year, or so 🤣

Here's a charismatic professional, showing us how it's done with proper paint and equipment on a GB500 tank, I think. Like a true pro, he makes it look really easy 😀 You get a brief glimpse of the cafe-racer at the very end.

[Moto63]

Finished bike looks cool in the closing shots of the vid eh... 👍

[mthee]

Had the forks apart today and was very lucky with a rounded socket head on one of the piston retention bolts which shifted  when I used a torx bit in it.
Holding the uncompressed fork in the vice, I put a cloth over the cap, but when I undid it, there was no pressure at all. I even read the manual which warns the cap is under spring pressure and to wear safety glasses.
My spring measured 435mm, against the service limit of 428mm, but no measurement was given on the spacer - mine is 100mm.
Maybe it's a misprint in the manual. The last time I put new springs in my Vx800, it was a job to wrestle the cap back on against the spring and I seem to remember my GS500being the same.
Anyone got a spacer measurement?

[Moto63]

Bear with me Matt and I’ll strip one of my spare legs down and measure it for you.. may take a couple of days tho until I can get in to the old workshop

[mthee]

Very much appreciated, Michael 👍

[iansoady]

Nice video (apart from the irritating sound track). I used a similar technique for lining my Norton tank although in reverse to his method as I was using coachlining paint (one-shot) applied with a brush.

Masked:



And finished:

[mthee]

Very nicely done!

[Moto63]

Evening Matt, just been in the ol workshop and taken top nut off one of my spare legs. (Oo eerrr vicar, it’s now pretty sore🤪) not a great deal of tension behind it and the spacer is like yours exactly 100mm top off with a 2 to 3mm thick washer, then the nut. Hope this helps 🤞
Cheers, Michael

[CrazyFrog]

Nice video (apart from the irritating sound track). I used a similar technique for lining my Norton tank although in reverse to his method as I was using coachlining paint (one-shot) applied with a brush

Amazing job 👍. I lack the patience for paintwork. I know what's required, but every time I rush it with predictable results. 

[mthee]

Evening Matt, just been in the ol workshop and taken top nut off one of my spare legs. (Oo eerrr vicar, it’s now pretty sore🤪) not a great deal of tension behind it and the spacer is like yours exactly 100mm top off with a 2 to 3mm thick washer, then the nut. Hope this helps 🤞
Cheers, Michael

Thanks for removing one of your nuts to answer my question - above and beyond the TC call of duty, I'd say 🤣
Looks like I'm on the original setup, so no worries. That safety warning in the manual seems a bit OTT.
Anyway, I'll be shortening the tubes internally by adding a 35mm spacer on the piston to hold the tube that far down the stroke (vicar spits tea out again!) Ordinarily, I'm supposed to then cut 35mm off the more open end of the spring, but I might first try cutting just 25mm off to achieve that extra bit of stiffness (another cup, vicar?) and cut the preload spacer instead, as I'm a lilly lightweight at 145lbs. Also, not cutting the spring means it can all be played around with/returned to normality 🤣 more easily.

[mthee]

I've got wear on one tube which has 3 small pits in the surface passing the seal. I've sanded with 1200 grit and can't feel any lip. Is this sufficient? Need araldite? Please swipe first pic to see pitting. Tissue used for contrast only! Ok, so maybe I did get a bit upset😥

Also, there's a wear area on the end  of the same tube which I guess is older than the other, unmarked one. Is this acceptable? I'm not experienced enough to know.

[mthee]

Forks reassembled today, using a new- to- me method for seating the bush and seal. It worked so well, I thought I'd link to the video. Basically, you wrap enough electrical tape around the tube to then use it as a slide hammer to tap home the bush and seal with no possibility of damage to either.

[SteveC#222]

I seem to recall the last time I did my XBR fork seals I found a short length of scaffold tube was just the right size i/d and o/d to seat the seal perfectly.