1980 WR 390 Rescue...

My buddy welded the pipe back together for me last night and today I finish ground the welds so I could etch the bare metal to prep for the primer...

The area where you can see the weld bead along the seam is where the two cross cuts were and the pipe was opened....





It looked so good that I could not leave well enough alone and decided to grind down the welds from a previous repair before I owned the bike... I screwed up and opened up a crack! Back to my buddies shop so he can repair the old botched repair!

That is how we learn. Look at the bright side, by grinding the weld down you found it was poorly welded. You were then able to have it properly welded. I consider that a win win situation. I need to practice my welding more. Very easy to get "rusty".

All better now...

I should know better! I need to practice too... I have a decent Marquette Mig that I actually bought from the buddy that is doing the welding for me but I never ran a 220 line into my shop to use it. I have been looking at small TIG welders. I am self-taught and do pretty good and even took a welding class doing well enough in TIG to pass the aluminum destructive testing. That was many years ago and if you don't use it you lose it.

My wife and I just moved. Big selling point (for me) was the 220 line running to the garage, which unfortunately we did not have access to prior to making an offer (housing market here moving really fast, decided to chance it). Now that I'm in the garage (and looking closer at the box), the 220 line is only a 20 amp circuit running 2-sided 110 junction box in the garage. D'OH! Something tells me I'll be running a new line to up the amperage to the garage by the time the city inspector takes a look at it.

Can't you do it after they inspect? then you won't need to be so fussy. Here in NY a homeowner can do electrical work without a permit.
Unless you mean the inspector won't pass the current ( ) wiring.

Just an FYI all wire has a date code on it... The inspectors can tell if/when work was done unless you have old wire lying around from an earlier date.

A couple small advances today...

Made a new ignition harness grommet to replace the homemade one that was on the bike when I bought it...

I used a rubber stopper from a hardware store for the material. The old one is on the right... forced the harness against the case to seal it.



Etched, primed and painted the pipe. The repaired areas look better than the rest of the pipe...





This is the primer and paint I used...

Didn't do a lot today... Replaced the stiff hard as rock Motoplat wiring sheath with a nice supple and soft silver one...
Cleaned and organized the shop in anticipation of the frame being ready soon...

Where did you get the silver wire cover? I need some for my '86.
Nice motor stand.

http://vintageconnections.com/

The engine stand is a couple shipping stands/supports that a wood stove came with... I just cut them apart and bent the tabs up then screwed them to a few blocks of wood. Actually, I can't get the ignition cover on while the engine is in the stands.

lost all your pics of the pipe etc...they is gooorn

Could you see them before? Something wacky with the site, photos come and go. I expect all images don't always link when you open a page.

They usually vanish if you have changed the URL (moved the pictures within your hosting site, i.e photobucket or similar)

All my photos of the bike go into one shared album and the do not get moved.

For those who have disappearing photos... Direct link to the album they are in. https://goo.gl/photos/cELw1xVavtF7SvtbA

Frame is basted and ready for powder!

I didn't take any pics but here is a tip I came up with... My speedo cable covering was partially melted in the fire, the cable otherwise is in good shape. I stripped off the vinyl sheath cutting it at the ends where it goes into the end fittings that are crimped to the flexible section.

I went to Harbor Freight and bought a pack of 4 boxes of 48" rolls of Heat Shrink. It comes in a pack that has one box each of 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" and 1".
I used the 1/2" and pulled it over the cable cutting it to length to allow it to overlap the end fittings. A couple minutes with the heat gun and I now have a new looking speedo cable for less than $5.00. Plus I have all the other heat shrink left over.

Got a call from Drew @ WER this afternoon just updating me on the status of my shocks which I thought was good of him to take the time to do.
Shocks are all disassembled and cleaned. Bodies and reservoirs are painted and everything else internally is in great shape. He is looking to reassemble and get them back to me next week.

It is indeed a small world!
I stop in the local warehouse of the company I buy my fireplace supplies from. The manager is a motorcycle guy and knows what I am working on. He also knows I sent my shocks out for rebuilding.
He says "Next time you need suspension work done Bob from the Whippany (NJ) (headquarters of the company) says his Brother in Law is a suspension expert and raced and so on and is in North Jersey. I ask if the Brother in Laws name is Drew. He calls Bob on his cell and Yes...Bob's brother in law is Drew Smith. Amazing!

Things are coming together!
Powder Coater sent me this pic a little while ago... He is getting ready to coat all the small parts and then will clear coat everything. He said everything should be done today! (Yeah he works Sundays too!)