Text only update to identify how things stand.
This first part was actually ready May 25...
I've been calling the bike "Frankenhawk" because it isn't going to be stock. You know, looking at universal parts to resolve the expensive missing parts. But then I noticed that I have project bikes that could temporarily sacrifice parts to the cause.
I could swap on the mirrors, rear turn signals, and tail light from the baby Interceptor with just an added bracket or two. And I just ran across an ebay deal; headlight (with bucket), brackets for 41mm forks, and signals for $75. If I ebay'd that set seperately it'd break down to; headlight and bucket - $50, brackets - $75, signals - $25. And they are universals pulled from a BMW K100. The seller identified them as being from Aztec at $220 for the kit.
Frankenhawk indeed.
For the work log:
I've broke her down a little farther to clean and adjust. Stripped the handlebars and removed them. Removed the ignition switch - the Locktite'd bolts were tough - but I did need to repair the cracked housing. Removed front fender. Removed head breather hose.
Washed down the hard plastic parts like fenders, covers, and airbox with soapy water. Wiped down the parts that weren't washed with WD-40—it breaks down the dirt and makes the rubber parts look better. Painted the plastic fenders and airbox with a plastic bonding spray—black ofcourse.
Placed the inner rear fender where it goes and mounted it; looks good painted. Put the handlebars back and adjusted to as square as they'll go. They are a little out of kilter — clutch side comes back a little further than the other. But this may acutally work for me since my left elbow won't straighten out making my left arm effectively shorter than my right. If not, replacing it is easy.
Rebuilt left side with choke, clutch, one of the Interceptors mirrors and adjusted by the book. Rebuilt the right side the same but fought the throttle cable linkages. Couldn't seem to get them right until I found the binding point. Reattached the boots to the airbox with an extra sticky gasket dressing adhesive—what a fight. Took the inner fender back off to get the air box in place—*sigh*.
The rest of this log was written today.
After letting the goo on the boots cure for a day, I spent a while wrestling them onto the backend of the carbs. Next time I pull them off I may just go the way of the mini-filters I was originally looking at.
Put an overnight charge on the battery. Cut a piece of plastic wrap around the ignition barrel and wrapped it in that stretchy rubber tape used on outside electical connections - not electrical tape. Connected all the little bits back into the wiring harness...except for tail lights and turn signals. Straighened out the tach bracket and put it back on and connected it up.
Put on the test tank—well, actually a bowl with a feeder tube—and after about four kicks she started right up.
WOO-HOO! This first start actually happened about 8pm May 28 2009.
Of course when I tried to show it off to the wife just a few minutes later, it wouldn't start. I was really getting ticked and getting ready to tear it down again before I noticed I'd left the kill switch "off". Started right up after that. I don't think her grin had anything to do with the bike running.
It's kinda loud, but that could have something to do with running it inside the garage. Now I've gotta dress her back up to I can take her for a spin on the back roads.
So now I start on the tail light. Surprisingly, the tail light—lens and housing—on the `86 VF500F is exactly the same as the ones on 90's Nighthawks. The embossed labels are even the same. But, the lights had to be switched around because the Intercepter uses four bullet connectors, two on each light, and the Nighthawk uses a single 3-pin plug. Easy swich-out and now I can use the orignal plastic mounting process. I'll get to that in a minute.
Turn signals were something else though. The Nighthawks use a single-post design—wire runs through the mount post. But the Interceptor uses the older two-post type—one is a mount bolt, the other is a wire run. So I got a 2in wide strip of aluminum, bent an overlapped square at 1½in (that's a 5-sided square—think it through), drilled a mount hole through the overlap (call this "inside"), drilled a two-post mount on the outside, painted black and mounted them all up. Hmm...not bad.
The most recent thing done is gonna really bring out the frankenstien in Frankenhawk. I rebuilt the tail cowling.
Thing is, I have all three pieces, just not glued together as a solid piece. I considered several ways of doing this—mounting each seperately, going sans sides, or maybe fiberglassing the whole thing together. But I came up with something I feel is workable and unique. Frankenhawk's tail is bolted together.
See, the sholders at the overlap point is about 3/8in wide. Enough for a small bolt. So I got some 6-32 ¾in bolts with nuts and washers, drilled three bolt points on one side and two on the other (missing a big chunk there), and bolted a strap across where the tail "lip" should have been to hold the two sides together there. I'll re-assemble it tonight with some gorilla glue to help keep it from coming loose. I may also replace the multi-holed lip strap with a piece of flat bar-stock.
The headlight/brackets/signals set I ebay'd should be in today. Means I should have it 95% road ready tonight. After that all I've got left is a carb sync and the Acewell 2803-AB that is currently scheduled for a June 4 delivery.
If all goes well, I might get to putt around on one or two of the farm backroads on my birthday tomorrow—June 3. And that could get me to profess a "woot"—just not where anyone could hear it.
But now the weatherman says there's a possibility of severe thunderstorms at the exact same time as I get home from work. Bleh. Much as we could use the rain around here, that would just suck.
I promise, pics on the next update.