About Me

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Henry Martin spends his nights writing fiction and poetry, which predominately deals with the often-overlooked aspects of humanity. He is the author of three novels: Escaping Barcelona, Finding Eivissa, and Eluding Reality; a short story collection, Coffee, Cigarettes, and Murderous Thoughts; and a poetry collection, The Silence Before Dawn. His most recent published project is a collection of Photostories in five volumes under the KSHM Project umbrella, for which he collaborated with Australian photographer Karl Strand, combining one of a kind images with short stories and vignettes. He is currently working on his next novel narrated in two opposing points of view. He lives with his family in the Northeast.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Work done on the CX...

And a final note before I’m done.

I’m currently waiting for a new brake reservoir cup. The old one was discolored and I just don’t trust the old plastic. New one was ordered today and if it is here by Friday, bike will be all set over the weekend.

Just a summary for those who do not wish to go back, post by post, to see what was done:

Bike stripped down to frame. Any rust spots were treated and frame was painted.
Removed swingarm, checked and cleaned bearings, lubed with moly and torqued to spec.

Final drive was cleaned, and lubed with moly, including splines.
Tires replaced with Spitfire S11 front and rear. Wheels balanced.

Suspension:
Old, rusty shocks replaced with good shocks off a C model.
Front forks were stripped down and cleaned. Lower legs painted. New seals and dust wipers installed, new 10w fork oil.

Exhaust:
Old muffler that were attached to swingarm replaced with Harley mufflers mounted on custom brackets, attached at passenger footpeg bolts.
Collector box blasted and painted with high heat black paint.
New gaskets at head/header pipes, and at collector box locations.

Motor:
Replaced broken cam chain guide and tensioner. Adjusted cam chain tension, verified timing.
Replaced oil seals at shifter, and at final drive.
New gasket under clutch cover, and rear engine cover.
Replaced bent shifter.
Replaced seal at starter motor.
New oil filer and oil, engine flushed.

Fuel system:
Carburetors completely stripped down and soda blasted.
New jets, float valves, needles, gaskets, pilot screws, and O-rings, including crossover pipes.
Replaced leaking float bowl (cracked overflow tube)
Carburetors bench synched, then synched on bike with CarbTune.
New throttle cables.
New air filter.

Brakes:
Rear drum brake cleaned, lubed, and set.
Front brake caliper rebuild with new seal and piston, plus dust covers.
Front master cylinder rebuild with a new piston, seals, and next the fluid reservoir plus diaphragm plate.

Cooling system:
System flushed to remove deposits.
New mechanical and oil seals at water pump impeller.
New coolant transfer pipes between motor and rear cover (custom made at a machine shop)
New O-rings at all connections
New water pump cover gasket
New thermostat gasket
Replaced leaking radiator with a good used one
Removed mechanical fan and replaced with an electric fan

Electrical:
Charging system cleaned and verified to work properly.
Ignition cleaned.
New spark plugs.
Replaced faulty ignition coil with a good used one.
Replaced faulty auxiliary rectifier / regulator that powers temperature gauge. Verified at 7V
Verified resistance at thermo sensor.
New battery.
Replaced faulty horn.
New LED taillight.
New turn signals.

Cosmetics:
Front fender cut and powdercoated.
Headlight bucket powdercoated.
New headlight brackets.
Tank and plastics stripped and painted. Cleared with 2k urethane to provide gas resistance and UV protection.
Side covers replaced with covers off a C model.
One-of rear cowl. Uses stock mounting points, frame was not chopped so it can be returned to stock if needed.
One-of seat, with fiberglass pan that follows the contours of the frame. Attaches via stock latch system to allow easy access to air filter and electrical connections.

I think that about sums it up, although I’m probably forgetting something.

It’s been a fun ride, full of new challenges and interesting moments. Once I get the front brake reservoir al squared away, I’ll take the bike for a longer ride and snap some pics. 

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Almost there

It was a busy week, and I managed to make some progress on the CX. After fixing a few unexpected issues, I started putting things together. But, the weather was decent and I had some yard work to do, so things went slower than expected. With the wood split and stacked, I found a few hours today to finally make the exhaust hangers, finish the seat latch, and a couple of other things. I still haven't done the front brake, but that did not stop me from taking a test ride. I'm loving it! Actually, after synching the carbs, I was pleasantly surprised by the bike's power delivery.

Anyway, I know there are some people dying to see pictures of the beast. Just remember, she is not done yet. There are a few more things to complete, and on top of that some more paint buffing, some polishing, and some scrubbing to be done.

By the way, the paint is candy red, but it appears slightly different on a cloudy day such as today.






Just a reminder, this is how we started:


Friday, March 16, 2012

Seat Part II

Well, it wasn't as simple as I had thought it would be, but then again, what is.

After I had the seat on the frame, I sat on it a few times to make sure it was comfortable. It was, but there wasn't much room for shifting around, so I grabbed the belt sander again and enlarged the seating area. When that was done, I took a blade and trimmed the foam along the edge of the pan. Initially, I planned to wrap the foam around the lower edge of the pan, but decided against it. Instead, I ran a pipe of automotive edge trim around the perimeter of the pan to prevent the sharp edged from cutting the vinyl. I then wrapped the entire seat in a 1/4" foam to smooth out any transitions and contours.

To attach the vinyl, I drilled 1/8" holes spaced two inches apart around the entire perimeter of the pan, and used aluminum rivets with washers. All I have to say is that working with a nylon pan and a staple gun is much, much easier. I used a pick to punch through the vinyl, then worked the rivet through it, and did my best to align it with the holes in the pan. Leaving the vinyl on top of a heater for a few minutes helped with the stretching.

The underside is not the prettiest of sights, but instead of trimming the excess vinyl off, I glued it to the pan. This way, not all the stress is carried by the rivets and even if on of them rips through the vinyl, the cover will stay in place.

I also used the stock latch system to hold the seat in place. I think this is the cleanest, most convenient way to allow for seat removal so one has access to the air box and electronics. The only thing left to do is to rivet a piece of flat stock to the front of the seat, where it will slide under the tank tab.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Seat

Like on my last project (CB750F), I decided to make my own seat. Unlike on the CB though, this time I had to craft my own seat pan. (on the CB, I used a spare pan off a KLR250, which I modified to fit my application)

So, armed with a can of resin, some masking tape, fiberglass cloth and mat sheets, and an old seat that I wanted to use for its foam, I set to work.

After masking the frame and laying down some cardboard to fill the gaps, I laid my first two coats of resin and cloth. The seat pan follows the contours of the frame, which, if you know a CX500, is not the friendliest of shapes. When the initial resin and cloth had cured, I took it off the frame, trimmed excess with a cutting wheel, and stapled the pan to a wooden board to have a study work platform. I then sanded the pan with coarse sandpaper, and laid down three layers of fiberglass mat to provide structural integrity. Here is the resulting pan (sturdy enough to hold my ass in place without any flexing).
Next to the pan, you can see the old seat foam I planned to use. Clearly, the shape was all wrong (but the foam was the right kind). I ended up tracing the seat pan onto the underside of the foam, then hacking away all the unnecessary foam with a razor blade. When the underside shape was close enough, I sprayed it with upholstery adhesive, and clamped the foam in place while the glue set.
A few days later, I hacked away all I could with a metal saw blade, then proceeded to make the final adjustments with a belt sander. For me, nothing works better than a belt sander for foam shaping. With the right grit paper, and just the right amount of pressure, tiny parts of foam just fly off, leaving behind a smooth, workable surface. Once that was done, I had a shape that makes for a solid, comfortable seat (IMHO).
Unlike the KLR250 pan, which was made of nylon, stapling the vinyl cover to the fiberglass is not an option. I have some aluminum rivets I could use, but I'm not sure yet how that would work, given the inability to simple pull the material off for repositioning. So, there lies my next challenge.

In the mean time, I continued working on painting the tank, plastics, and tail section. After shooting these with a silver base paint, I taped off what I did not want covered, and painted the silver over with a red candy paint. The tank was then shot with 4 coats of urethane clear. Here it is curing before final wetsanding and buffing. The other three parts were not cleared yet, but I'm hoping I'll be done with painting this week. The candy does not really show well with a flash, but it looks great in the sunlight.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Taillight

In the previous "Rear End" post, I mentioned using a scrap fender for the taillight mount. It's nothing special, but in case someone is curious or attempting the same, here is what I did.

First, I cut the stock inner fender so it would be hidden under the fiberglass cowl. My goal was to retain the stock inner fender as it provides protection for the airbox and electrical components, and also for the rear part of the frame, which is where these bikes tends to rust. Every bit of protection from stone chips and the like is important.

I then cut the scrap fender to fit over the stock inner fender, and aligned the two pieces.

Four rivets later, the two became a single, solid piece.
That nicely follows the curve of the wheel, and prevents water from getting under the fiberglass cowl.



Other than that, I've been busy prepping things for paint. The tank had a couple of small dents, and a friend of mine who owns a body shop quickly pointed out to me that I don't know shit about body work. Well, he gave me a hands-on lesson, and while at it, we Variprimed the tank, and shot the plastics with adhesion promoter and lacquer primer.  Then I went back to my garage and shot the base coat.

Yes, that's a heater I use to help drying time. It's cold in here!

Now the parts are sitting on the bike, and I'm trying my hand at making some lines with masking tape. Well, that's what I wasted my last two hours on, only to find that I'm not good at free-handing symmetrical lines.