Going Racing

[The Prophet of Doom]

Thanks Bobby, you are a gem, but I have a full set of standard XZ parts.  It's non standard ones I'm after.  Your support for my projects has been amazing though I really appreciate it.

I rang ForkingByFrank.com and found the cost of replacement fork tubes from them.  $269/pair & $107 Shipping, plus I will need to pay $150 Import tax.  That's on top of the $200 it cost for tubes the wrong size. Argh!!! Too much for my unemployed wallet.

My backup idea is to make a pair of extended fork caps that the clip-ons can bolt to.

[dingleberry]

Hi Rohan

I have a pair of 'riser' lowbars that you might be interested in. They are off an RG250. Will be in town this week so could bring them in?

[The Prophet of Doom]

Cool, thanks  Not any closeup pics I could find on the Interwebs, but from the parts list they look like they might be just the dog's bollocks.
Except going out for lunch on Thursday I've no engagements this week.

[The Prophet of Doom]

"The Oldstuff" came round today bringing with him some meat and a pair of clip-ons from a RG250.

These are alloy and well less than half the weight of the stock bars.  The clamp is smaller than most clip-ons - only 20mm high, so with 5mm shaved off the bottom of the upper triple, all I lose is 15mm in fork travel which matches almost exactly the drop in the rear from using the R1 shock.  I can live with that without getting longer tubes.  The risers allow the bars to clear the tank and I think they look most excellent. 

They were very corroded, so I was going to powder coat them but have now decided to give them a bit of a polish instead.
4 hours later and I'm still on the right hand side minus a final polish with autosol.  I'll get some larger gauge bolts and dome nuts next week.

It's been a long discovery, but this is by far the easiest fit of a clip-on that I've seen.  Best dozen beer I ever spent.

[dingleberry]

Always ready to share my meat with a willing recipient! Want feedback on the taste.
Going for the polished look now eh? Movie night tonight, nothing like getting a good polish on yer bar while watching a good movie...
   

[kiwibum]

Looks very tidy, well done.

[Rikugun]

I won't go touch the "meat" comments with a ten foot pole but will say the clip-ons look like they belong there....  ;)  :D

[The Prophet of Doom]

I polished the other one yesterday and I have to say I'm very very happy with them.
Height wise they are similar to the 83 so they don't clip the tank, but a little further forward.  I have them oriented so the clamp lines up with the triple which gives the bars a quite sporty angle.  They are also threaded for bar end mirrors.

I'm still going to mill down the upper triple by a few mm to reduce the amount of travel lost to the clamps, but otherwise I'm done.  I sat on the bike for half an hour making vroom vroom noises and found them pretty comfortable.  A ride will tell for sure (That's a fair way off), but otherwise this would seem to be the definitive solution for clip-ons.  If anyone wants to do the same there's a pair of RG250 clipons on ebay right now for 30 GBP

[Re-Vision]

They look nice as they are but think you ought to paint clip-ons black or polish top of the forks to match.      BDC

[The Prophet of Doom]

Good idea Bobby. 

After about 10 hours of polishing I'm not so inclined to PC the clip-ons, although it would cover the pits in the alloy.  Jap castings in the 80's left a lot to be desired - you sand out one pit and another dozen appear.

Here it is with shiny fork caps though after spending simply ages sanding out old spanner marks.  The stock valve caps are pretty chunky, I thought they were brass like the valves, but turns out they are coated steel so they won't stand being bare metal.  I like the look of standard tyre valve caps, and I can always get some pretty coloured ones if I wish.

Next job is to strip the whole front end AGAIN and install my newly powder coated fork lowers and lower triple.  I was going to leave these as is, as I painted them with POR15 blackcoat when I did my bike last time, but they looked wrong next to the powder on the brakes and frame so decided I just had to re-do them.  Once you do some parts as good as new, it makes all the other bits look twice as bad.

[QBS]

Are you going to remove the excess threads from the pinch bolt?

[The Prophet of Doom]

I'll get some larger gauge bolts and dome nuts next week.

[The Prophet of Doom]

Rebuilt my front end AGAIN to install my newly powder coated fork lowers and lower triple.  Any recommendations on fork oil? I was using Bel-Ray last time and it was badly discoloured after less than < 500km.  That can't be good.

New stainless bolts and dome nuts just for QBS, plus a quick power-up of the motogadget mini speedo.

[Rick G]

I have used ATF for 50 years . viscosity varies by brand, from 7.5 to 10.

[fret not]

Profit of Doom, if your fork oil became dirty after only a few Km I think there was some dirt left inside from before the change.   It can be a bit difficult to clean thoroughly in places where you can't see well.  Must wash out ALL the gremlins. ;)

[The Prophet of Doom]

It wasn't dirt (I am very thorough), just a change from water clear to the colour of oil.

Talking of dirt - I powdered one of my valve colours.  Despite cleaning in degreaser, then soapy water, then acetone, then pre-baking @240C for an hour, then acetone again, I still had grease bubbling out of the alloy and marring the finish.  Fortunately, where it will be in the shadows so I don't think I'll bother overcoating.

[Re-Vision]

Valve covers should be easy to find when the engine blows up.     BDC

[iain]

Is that go fast orange

Iain
NZ

[The Prophet of Doom]

It's Chrysler Hemi Orange - The same colour as the General Lee.

I'm not sure I like it as much as I thought I would.  The idea was to have subtle splashes of colour here and there amongst the black and metal - this is not so subtle.

[fret not]

Holiday trim!  Could have a few sets of covers in different colours, just right for every occasion.