1980 WR 390 Rescue...

Oh joy ! Maybe find another pipe if you can, or weld it back up and ride on.

Pretty much putzed around today... Removed the last piece of internal pipe liner from the pipe. Worked on cleaning up the spokes some more... Did some stripping and paint on some minor parts including the silencer. Highlight of the day was a couple pics sent by my powder coater of the frame in his stripping tank...

bubble bubble where has my frame gone???

It more fun than shifting the one arm bandit, slot machine. I don't gamble or drink. My $$ is in my hobbies. Yup we have more into them then the cost but the first ride is awesome we can't put a value on that. Plus we built it.

I personally am an advocate of stripping over media blasting. Most powdercoaters I have heard about mostly do media blasting. The 84 WR frame I did with Rustoleum was stripped with aircraft stripper, sanded, rust treated,and painted with the appliance epoxy.

you must have mother Theresa's patience. once ive got that frame bare....its of to the races and the deliver and pick up powdercoat is great start. although I can see the benefits of painting, I cant wait to bolt stuff on!

I have a wife who is allergic to most solvents. Painting and stripping is a nightmare unless it's in my unheated barn ie. ain't happening unless it's warm out. Big projects=powdercoat

That was my dilemma... I even bought a couple cheap spray guns from Harbor Freight.
After I weighed the time involved in stripping, prepping and painting the frame vs being able to get other components ready while I waited for someone else to do the frame it was off to the powder coater.
Luckily my buddy is a master at coating what should be coated without coating what shouldn't be coated and pays great attention to details. He does A LOT of bikes which are his main business and sometimes people will bring him the whole bike and he will do the disassembly, coating, and reassembly.
Having a bike powder coater is a lot better than a commercial powder coater who is just sticking your job in between commercial jobs where detail is usually not important.

The triangular rod that goes between the steering stops at the bottom of the steering neck??? Are they cable guides?

Aircraft stripper works best when covered with plastic to slow down solvent evaporation. A trick I picked up stripping my 76 Firebird Formula in the early 80's.The car took a few days, the bike frame took a few hours and it was down to bare metal. Had to treat a few stubborn patches. Painting maintains the value when and if I sell it and is easier and much less expensive. If I am restoring something for sale , I have enough spray equipment to do a pro job on the frames with PPG epoxy and PPG Deltron for the plastic and aluminum tanks.Yes Deltron is flexible enough for urethane bumpers and only needs adhesion promoter to do plastic tanks and panels.And besides Patience is far less expensive compared to dropping something somewhere and paying when you pick it up.To me the thrill of these vintage machine is knowing there is very little I can not do for them. I make parts that I can do with my lathe and the old way with bandsaw,beltsander, and drill press. For other issues I can get Bridgeport time in a friend's shop. A return favor for the free consultations I give his business.

I take my hat off to painters, a wealth of knowledge is required to do it good. if I was any good at it, I would do it purely for the "done it myself" factor

yes

Thanks, both throttle and clutch cables go through it? Is tough figuring out a bike that hackers have worked on for decades!
I got a new clutch cable and it is nothing like the old one which had an adjuster sleeve at the engine boss. I put it on and it worked guess the one that was on there was wrong.

Anyone have any close ups of proper cable routing?

Agree 100% wondering just how to route the cables can cause loss of sleep. Just remind yourself that these things are fairly pragmatically designed, and you own it. Primary aim for the route is that the cable won't catch on something that moves or wear through something that vibrates. Plus, if you have the right length of cable, you will often find only one route "feels right". Though a pic or diagram would be nice.

Yeah, I figured it would be in the shop manual but no.

likely just the clutch cable will use that..been awhile since i had my 79. pretty sure my throttle cable on that went under the tank but above the tank bolt if i remember right

That's what it seemed like to me... I did reroute the old clutch cable through the guides but it seemed like the throttle wanted to go under the tank before it got down far enough to go through the guides.

My buddy just texted me... Going to the shop tonight to get the pipe welded back together...

Started on the forks this afternoon... Draining the oil.

Things are coming together... once I get the frame back it should only be a day of assembly! The only thing I can't do until then is press the new bearings into the swingarm.

Nice!