Webster NY Dream Project

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Day 7: Brown showed!

As the title reads, "Brown Showed". Meaning, the UPS dude arrived at my door and hand delivered to me a package of items. The package consisted of about 25 gaskets and about 20 O-rings as well as a set of Piston rings from Ohio Cycle. An expensive beginning, but necessary. There was of course no saving and of the dried out gaskets and most of the O-rings were more like D-rings. I find the most difficult part of gasket replacement is removing the old gasket material that invariably sticks to the aluminium or steel parts. I purchased gasket removal stuff at $9.00 because of the amount of material I had to remove. Did it work? Not well. I think you can do just as well with a ton of patience and some "Goo Gone". One area of caution if you have not done this yet: Gasket removal stuff removes paint as well - so remove gasket first and paint second or you will be touching up your paint job.

I spent the evening putting the engine back together. Had some difficulty with the Piston rings but everything slid in eventually. I think it would be helpful if I had, had another set of hands - maybe just one extra hand. Holding on to two pistons, squeezing the rings and trying to lower a 15lb head slowly was difficult. I have not torqued anything down quite yet. I've read here in this forum on multiple posts on the importance of torquing down and re-torquing the head bolts. I always get great ideas, so if you have any, let me know.... Here's what it looked like when done:


100_3641 by nestwoodmotors, on Flickr


100_3640 by nestwoodmotors, on Flickr

The rope around the kick start will be removed of course once I install the engine. I will install it without the right side case to lower the weight and not scratch it up.

While I was at it, I replaced the Condenser. I don't know if the old one was functioning properly, but it would be difficult repair if it was not working and the engine was re-installed. I also do not know how to test the unit. I typically replace them as it can be cheap insurance.

After assembly of the motor, I realized I'd have to put it all back in the bike. This was always in the back of my mind, but I was concentrating on the engine. The bike needs painting for sure. It has surface rust on about 80% of the metal. I need to take her down to the last bolt. This is gonna take time.

My parts table is starting to look more red then rust. More clean than dirty. I've painted up almost everything that bolts on now. I prime on day 1, wet sand with 400 on day 2 and paint the next day with 3 coats all within 25 minutes. After about 5 days, I will re-sand everything red with 1000 grit wet. Finishing up with some rubbing compound and then polishing compound. Hopefully, it will look pretty good for a Rattle-Can-Finish. I don't have proper tools for air spraying or powder coating :(


100_3647 by nestwoodmotors, on Flickr

I removed both wheels and cleaned up the front. The rim is salvageable but the rust is pitting the surface pretty bad. Tire is shot. It's not original, but it's probably 15 years old - cracked and hard. Surprisingly it does hold air. I polished up the hubs but I have to finish on the spoke section of the hub. Tires will be replaced after the motor is fully tested.

Here's what the frame looks like now. The only items remaining is the stem, stand and wire harness. I've taken a bunch of pics of the harness so hopefully, I can put it back together properly.

100_3644 by nestwoodmotors, on Flickr

Next step is removing the steering stem, checking over the bearings and removing the wire harness and the stand in order to start the sanding process to paint with the frame. Messy work! :)

Thoughts and ideas are welcome....Steve

[Dgormley]

Steve, coming along nicely, can't wait to see the finished product. BTW, UPS destroys their trucks at the end of their service life, that's why you never see them as anything but a UPS truck.................D

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You know your getting old when you don't even bother to look down....what does that mean? Funny thing happened to my in my "Quality Time" with the NY Dept of Motor Vehicles (DMV)! Sooo, it's with dread that we NY'ers go to the DMV. Why? It's a always a very long wait, it is difficult for some of us to understand the dialects the workers and worst of all, we always need another form or another ID. After that, we just pay a huge fee/tax. This often takes more than one try. So it was with great trepidation that I ventured into the Rochester DMV to both register the 305 and get my permit. I'd studied and taken the practice stuff twice and I was ready. Standing in line for 1 hour just to get to info-lady was interesting. Watching people get shoved away for crazy things was kinda fun actually in a mean sense...It was my turn next and they took me from the throngs of people. Got all I needed for the 305 lickety split - gonna be a breeze putting on plates! Checked all my paper work and she handed me the test. Sat down and frig! I'm gonna get the first question wrong on the school bus issue. I gotta avoid getting, like 4 more wrong to pass this puppy. The rest was a breeze. Passed with a 95% Yah! :). Back in line to pay the fees and do the rest of the paperwork to get my MC. The lady even put a big smiley on the paper. It felt like 2nd grade again (I have no recall of attending 1st grade). They call number quickly. I walk up and the lady greets me like a human being - - bonus! She takes my paperwork, test and all and my drivers license and starts squinting and going to the computer.....crap - busted for something. I know that look. I need another signature, another form, another something....paranoia hits hard. She looks at me and says, what are you hear for again? I say my M/C permit - see, I passed. She says, "Sir, you already have you M/C License - you don't need a permit, your all set. See that little 'M' right there? That means you have your Motorcycle endorsement - license. Your all done". And then she laughs - I see that she's actually pretty cut! What does all this mean? 1. The DMV deserves an apology from me. 2. I mis-informed the good readers of this post previously and for that I apologize as well, and 3. I need to look at stuff once in a while before I assume. - - - 100% true story. I just had to get this off my chest........Steve

Thanks rrtccp!

I've got a daughter over at Univ. at Buffalo so I spend some time there. My wife is also Canadian so I'm up North (New Brunswick) a fair amount as well! Yah, lost my MC license in a License transition from Michigan to Maine to New York. Must have missed checking a box or something. I had given up on road bikes back in the early 90's when I was hit from behind while stopped behind traffic. The ironic part of it is that it was my wife to hit me!

I guess I've procrastinated long enough...time to drop the engine!

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I see I did not have a "completed project picture". Since this was taken: 1. Newer/better chrome tank sides, 2. Newer/better bars.



Pretty much done for now by nestwoodmotors, on Flickr

[FIREMEDIC]

Wow, it came-out nicely for being done w/spray cans. You did a good job of documenting the work.

I grew up in Monroe Co. on the west side out Lyell Ave. about 10 mi. A family in town had a European/British/Spanish mcy dealership on Ridge Rd. & then one of the sons had a Japanese mcy franchise in Rochester. One of them lives in the city & one lives in Scottsville, last I knew. Tom & Dave Robinson. Even their sisters rode bikes to school! I recall a BSA Shooting Star...I used to see Tom & Dave occasionally at Daytona Bike Week, but haven't seen them in awhile. They have some great stories they can tell. I think Tom's son does restorations, and Dave still dabbles in bikes but I believe he is 'semi-retired.' Up until not too-long ago, Tom was a competitive ice racer and he's got to be close to 70!

Your Dream looks like a spaceship w/those saddlebags, I kinda liked them red but the white is probably most people used them, I am guessing still in gel-coat. Remember the Buco fiberglas 'fedora' helmets? The woman's model (more traditionally shaped) even had a scarf to cover-up the strap. The double lights on the bags are especially cool. You should try to get some of those late 1950's 'red bullet' taillight lenses, they would look really cool if they fit the lens bases. Even if you only installed them for shows, I think that would really add to the 'space age' appearance. For more of that, look up the coolest 1950's bike, the Bowden 'Spacelander,' whose frame was made of fiberglas! I think there are reproductions now. Your bike and a Bowden in the same display, with maybe a mock-up of a Sputnik or an Vanguard Explorer satellite on a stand, and a government pamphlet about 'build your own fallout shelter,' real authentic period stuff.

http://www.nostalgic.net/bicycle206.htm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1959-Cad ... 35aa728c1c

Again, a good write up! Thanks.

Having your first frost warnings now? Summer doesn't last too-long by Lake Ontario. Here comes 10 ft. of Rochester snow!

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Thanks much! Yes, Robinson cycle sales on West Ridge Rd. I had my Bultaco Lobito worked on by those guys when I was 16. That was like 36 years ago.... First bike I ever owned and of course wish I still had it....We're looking at our first frost over the weekend so my mind is starting to turn to the snowmobiles :)

I love that fiberglass Spacelander bike. I've never heard of it. I'm sure they are about as rare as they get. Those tail lights are killer. I would be afraid someone would knock them off walking around it.

Steve

[FIREMEDIC]

Yes, if you recall the Robinsons, you have been around awhile in biking. They were a Bultaco dealer, among others. Senor FX Bulto came to America at the urging of the Robinsons, and Dave Robinson took him around to visit dealers. Dave told me Senor Bulto came to the USA twice and they hosted him.

Not many people know that Dave Robinson was probably one of the first Americans to go race motocross in Europe, he did that in the 1960's for Bultaco, of course. Years later, Dave bought the East Coast Bultaco distributorship which was based in Schenectady. Those guys were the inspiration for the Yankee 500 two-stroke twin. Before Bultaco went under, there was even a water-cooled jugs setup they tried for road racing, I believe it was a twin but was never fully-developed. When Dave Robinson bought the business, they got among other things, an Astro flattracker which sat in the lobby, and had never been run. Of course, all the inventory, too. I can't recall for sure, but I think the same Schenectady business had something to do with Full-Bore. Anyone who was into off-road racing on two wheels in the 1970's was familiar with their products. I have a vintage Full-Bore mcy jacket in what feels like 1000-dernier nylon, bereft of any padding, but double reinforced in places where you might hit the ground. It's gold in color, and I literally bought it off Tom Robinson's back one year at Daytona. It was probably close to 20 yrs. old then, but evidently hadn't seen much use. Since it has no CF armor, I really don't wear it v. much, but it has a nice embroidered "Full Bore" emblem on the front. Maybe when I get my Yamaha 360 Enduros squared-away...

Dave graduated from a western county high school w/my oldest brother. He then went to MI State on a scholarship-at 16! A bright guy. I used to enjoy hanging-out at their Ridge Rd. shop in the 1960's, and riding on the scrambles course they had laid-out behind the shop in the acreage which fronted on W. Ridge Rd. That was my 1st introduction to dirt-bike riding, when one of my friends bought a Bultaco Campera from them. His family also had a business closer to Greece and Union St. on W. Ridge Rd. a fruit & vegetable stand. Their dad would go to the farmer's market in Rochester and buy produce & vegetables, and sell it at the stand. They also farmed the land behind it and sold the vegetables too. Another of my hangouts! I learned a lot about buying produce and vegetables from Mr Grieco and his sons, and he had some cute daughters too!

If you ever run into Dave or Tom Robinson ask them if they have that old twin piston cylinder lying around, and "what's it good for?"

So are you looking for another project for the long winter ahead?