Thumper Club Forum
Technical => Project Progress => Topic started by: Ian on December 02, 2011, 08:45:03 PM
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As always I tend to get itchy fingers when the clocks go back, so Im trying out doing a Monoshock SRX....a bike I have hankered after for some time. I did try and build my own but I couldnt find a suitable frame at the time so I squeezed a 3VN engine into a twin shock frame...now I have the real McCoy (or for Bill..The Real MacKay!). Progress to date has been painfully slow due to work and family commitments...but I now see a window of opportunity. As always..Im stuck for the colour...I have no objections to changing it from the original (as is the norm). Any sane suggestions welcomed. Im enclosing a few pics. The fuel tank was badly leaking when I bought it, but I managed to get hold of a solid but very dented one. See pic. I hope to show some progress before Christmas.
Any comments, sarcasm or other information will be accepted and duly acted upon.
Ian :)
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Aye Ian,
Where did you find the window? [" Progress to date has been painfully slow due to work and family commitments...but I now see a window of opportunity."]
My windows are remaining tightly shut at present and I might get a bit embarrassed!
Blowing a hooly again tonight, with heavy drizzle and snow forecast for Sunday night into Monday. The tops have been white and sparkly for the past 2 days now and looked really bonny.
As for tank colour: SR Malachite green, with signwriters 'gold' for details (minimal) and a charcol or matt black frame! Matt black wheels as well.
I'd better get off of here and 'do something', rather than wittering!
My regards, Bill.
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Southern Railway Malachite Green Bill??? I will think about that one .... :D
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Southern Railway Malachite Green Bill??? I will think about that one .... :D
Aye! :)
Bill.
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This'll give you some idea of SR Malachite green with Sunshine yellow lining and lettering!
Southern Railway (UK) 'Lord Nelson' class 4-6-0 No. 815 Lord Nelson, at Minehead station.
Date September 4, 2006
Author: Brian Harrington Spier (Brian Harrington) from Shanghai, China
Image from Wikipedea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SR_850_Lord_Nelson.jpg
My regards, Bill.
[attachment deleted by admin]
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I remember chasing 850 from Shrewsbury down to Hereford and getting stuck at Church Stretton.....omg that was some years ago ::)
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Paintwork gone to the sprayers, ready for Feb hopefully. Frame going to Powder coaters tomorrow....A change of (colour) direction for me this time.
Ian :)
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Good luck with your project, its going to look great
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Haiving a garage clearout of some sorts this weekend so hopefully I will be able to report a bit more progress on the monoshock.
Progress so far:
1) Frame & associated brackets powder coated
2) Bottom yoke powder coated in contrasting colour and new OEM TR bearings fitted (cheaper than pattern parts !!) and assembled to frame
3) Paintwork sent to my mate for his artistic touch after I had plastic welded in several places
4) Swinging arm rubbed down and primered (surface not good enough for polishing really but thats hard work anyway! Colour to be decided.
5) Top yoke primered and painted but not happy with it so will get that done again.
6) Loads of bolts and fittings shotblasted and ready for plating.
7) Airbox degreased and ready for painting and fitting
7) Various new parts obtained
Ian :)
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Ian... i do admire your approach... once started.... see it through non stop... eyes permanently on the finishing line.... wish i could do it, instead of the haphazard peicemeal fashion which seems to be my way
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Hi Steve, your reply made me smile as I probably give the feeling of a regimented approach but I can assure you, if you come into my garage you would probably say otherwise.
Today was an unmitigated disaster :'(
I had sprayed an undercoat onto the primered swing arm....it was drying off nicely, when a neighbour came round to "inspect" my progress.....he walked past the swing arm which I thought was well out of the way....I dont think you need to know the rest of the story...needless to say..Im considering having it powder coated now. :'( :'( :'(
Ah well onward and upward
Ian
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Trying to get motivated, so Im hoping by posting a pic or two will spur me on a bit.
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Aye ian,
A challenging 'back up'!
On Fleabay at present: 280803884707
Hope you are progressing. Absolute stagnation here!
All the best, Bill.
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Thanks Bill,
I did have a quick look at that SRX6 on fleabay at the moment....and I thought I had a lot to do!! :o.
A bit of progress to report on the monoshock....
1) Fork legs now painted in appropriate colour
and laquered.
2) Fork stanchions are away being rechromed (an unexpected and unwanted cost)
3) Top Yoke now painted/laquered/polished ready to fit when plating has been done (yoke lock nuts and covering washer)
4) All plasticwork (airbox,batterybox, rear mudguard and tailpiece)now cleaned and ready to be either painted or fitted depending on my mood at the time.
5) Discs and tyres removed from both wheels to allow for polishing/painting of the wheels.
6) Monoshock now cleaned and ready to be refitted
Thats all for now folks ! Will post more pics when I can.
Ian :)
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A few pics taken tonight..pretty obvious what they are......isnt it??
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Slowly but surely now....I have now managed to move the frame into the garage where progress continues .....watch this space.
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oooooh, shiney!
Has your missus missed the hall carpet yet?
GC
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Not much to report this week apart from a whole lot of painting going on and forks virtually rebuilt and complete now (only dust shields to replace when they arrive) Airbox only needs a rubber curtain fixing after its coat of paint. Couple of pics as below.
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Couple more photos for this weekend. Switch housings now painted in satin black and re lettered with Letraset...look better than new now :D, but need laquering to seal my hard work. Clutch lever bracket now sprayed and laquered, ready to go on when I have finished the front forks etc.
Ian :)
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Very impressive... do they still sell Letraset? blimey!
I used to live with a girl (biker) who was a graphic designer in the Letraset age. And... Mrs Onepot is venerable enough to have started her Graphics career with Letraset and bromides too. Isn't that why Macs were invented though?
GC
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Hi GC, yes you can still buy letraset, direct from them.
http://www.letraset.com/
The sheet I bought was £3.33 including postage. Theres a bit of a knack to rubbing them down in the right place..as you can see..Im still practising.
Ian :)
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Hi Ian, on average, how long does it take you to complete a project from start to finish? How much do you "outsource"? Any recommendations for companies for chroming fork legs for example?
My kick-start lever has been welded and I know new ones are like hen's teeth, so anyone got any experience of the durability of a welded repair?
My SRX600 project badly needs starting let alone finishing so give my aspirations a kick-start!!! lol (sorry about the pun!)
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Hi Longdog,
It normally takes me around the 4 months (if I "pull my finger out") to complete a bike from start to finish, if I have a complete bike to start with and I dont need to find parts. The "Hybrid" ( http://www.thumperclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=3807.0 ) was different as I was building from scratch...that took me about 7 months, as I had to search for bits that were specific to the monoshock and modify a lot of them. I normally strip a bike down virtually straight away and clean the frame up (degrease it etc) then send it off to Powder Coatings in Birmingham ( http://www.powder-coatings.ltd.uk/ ) I have used these for several years now and had good results from them. They dont just do black either! The paintwork I send off to a friend of mine in Wednesbury. If you have seen the job he does you will know why I keep using him. He does it as a spare time activity and it will cost a lot less than Dream Machine and I believe he does a better job. I had to have the fork legs rechromed on this one Im doing now and so I called Philpotts ( http://www.amphardchrome.co.uk/hard-chrome-plating.php ) They picked the fork legs up from my home and did the job in exactly the time they said and delivered back to me (A beautiful job too!). There is also Hard Chrome Plating in Nottinghamshire who I believe also do a good job. As for Zinc plating I use a company in Wolverhampton called Parkfield Plating. They are situated in Parkfields in the old Ever Ready factory and they still have some of the old plating tanks that were used by Norton many years ago (not used much now though). Cash in hand is the order of the day here and a minimum of £20 will get you a biscuit tin full of bits and pieces replated in a short time (usually the same day if you catch them right) Ask for Craig 01902865654.
As for the kickstart, I try to avoid them now as my hip doesnt like me kicking them up so thats why I built the Hybrid and also the Monoshock that Im doing now. There is one on fleabay right now ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YAMAHA-SRX-TT-XT-KICK-START-/150758741336?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item2319ebd558 ). I dont have experience of a welded repair, but Im sure someone will be along here to give you their experiences or maybe point you in the right direction.
Hope this is of some help both to you and others who maybe need recomendations. Get in touch direct if you need further advice (not that you have to take it!)
Regards
Ian
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Thanks Ian, good info and good contacts too. My 600SRX has a couple of pics on here somewhere, (probably when I first had it!!), and it is pretty much complete, I reckon about 99%.
It does need a complete strip down, re-spraying and the tank will need some sealant in it too. The worst part is the engine which someone has brush painted, so I would like the cases vapour blasted I think, then probably re-painted.
One sticking point for me was deciding exactly how I want the bike to look. Initially, I thought it should go back to standard, probably the least expensive option, but then I thought of slightly customising it but so that it would be easy to return to standard. I have a picture in my head, but no decision yet!!! lol
I will definitely be in touch as soon as I start, you'll regret your kind offer yet!! lol
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Believe it or not, I have never have a plan of what it is going to look like. The only thing I have to decide upon pretty early on is the colour of the frame..everything else seems to "fall into place" after that. I take the paintwork to my mate and tell him..." I want it blue or I want it a bright colour or I just want it a standard colour....he has never let me down yet and this is the 6th set of paintwork he has done for me. Go with your heart I think, and (B****x) to everyone else....do it to suit yourself
Ian :)
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Frame colour for me depends on what I decide the end product will be, if it's standard(ish), then it will be similar to standard, other than that, it will be black, (maybe pearl) or a darkish candy red to go with the pearl white paintwork with the same candy red for shelby type stripes, but as you say, it could all change!!!
OK, enough dreaming, best get my thoughts and words transferred into actions!!!
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Paintwork....Im sure it will upset the purists.....I think!
Ian :D
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looks awesome. did something similar with my first srx only it was gunmetal grey instead of blue. i like it :)
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Few more photos of paintwork and trial assembly. Engine & Wheels are optional extras.
Ian :D
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Looks really good Ian!!! Do you use tank sealer inside the tanks???
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Longdog
I didnt need to on this tank.
Ian
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Longdog
I didnt need to on this tank.
Ian
Thanks Ian
Mike
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Just a bit of a quick update.
Wheels now painted, lacquered, and tyred again.Speedo/Tacho assembly rebuilt. Brake parts now mostly painted and just waiting to replace the hoses. Forks virtually done apart from new caps needing anodising (Tried to do it myself but wasn`t happy with the results :( so I may just polish and fit and hope for the best) Wiring virtually done also....just the odd connector to be replaced also. Waiting for more plating to come back this week which will allow more bits to be reassembled. Trying to get this completed by the end of the month....ah well we can all dream
Post a few more pics when I can
Ian :)
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Hi...paint work looks stunning and different....who cares what the purists think.I believe you live fairly local to me.I live in willenhall west mids.
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Its all looking very neat and tidy :)
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It looks really good Ian ;)
Mike
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Looks very nice, well done
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Im not showing a photo of progress today as it looks as though I havent done much ::) . I now have brakes (1 on each end of the bike), and I have the electrics virtually sorted. Previous owner wanted to use LED indicators but Im not that clever, so I put bulb types back on. Just waiting for one engine case to dry off completely before I replace that. This will lead to the starter motor (recently repainted too) and carbs being replaced so I may be able to fire it up before the weekend :D. Loads of little fiddly jobs to do as well as making new footrests and lots of adjustments to do. End of March is a bit more of a reality now. Will post more pics when it looks like I have done something.
Ian :)
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As promised a few photos. Nearly done as can be seen in the pics. Will post a final photo or two when finally finished (are they ever?)
Ian :)
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Aye Ian,
Nice job, as ever, I see the paint colour leans toward that malachite colour.
Enjoy putting some miles on the wee beastie.
My regards, Bill.
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Another fantastic job, Ian. Nicely done! :)
I look forward to seeing it in the flesh sometime soon, I hope.
Trevor
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Thanks to you both, this one was harder work than ever down to several reasons methinks....
Me getting older
No room in the garage
and no time to do it!
Hope to see you soon Trevor :)
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Enclosed final photo for this thread from me. Photo taken after it has been awarded its MOT today in the gorgeous sunshine :)
Will tax it from April so hopefully see a few of you when I actually get to use it. Thanks for any help and encouragement.
Ian :)
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Aye Ian,
Enjoy getting out and about on it. Thank you for the final image.
All the best, Bill.
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Well, what a great job!... You make it look so easy!... I know it's not...
the mono-shock version has never really done it for me (even though i have one as a track bike)... but your efforts with this one have made me think again... a really superb job mate!... enjoy this current heatwave and get some miles under your wheels.
are you going to flog it?
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Hi Steve, many thanks for your lovely comments. No Im not going to flog it....yet! I want to use it and see how it compares with the twin shock. I am now going to revamp "the Hybrid" this year with a few (non major) ideas. See how easily I get bored? ;)
Again many thanks and I hope to meet you at some point soon
Kindest Regards
Ian :)