Bar conversion with pics

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by maviczap

Cool & sexy black forks

Oh yes indeed...

Originally Posted by garynortheast

Cracking build thread Jayne, really enjoying seeing the progress you are making with this. Nice forks!

Thank you for your kind words. After however many pages I am on by now, I do wonder if anyone still looks at it. I like the diary feeling of it really, I may even turn it into a Kindle book for my own sad enjoyment! Feel free to shout at me!

Originally Posted by Bibio

Jayne. you have more than likely drawn the leg over a bit when you put the axle in, the fork legs need to have the top yoke on as well and tightened up so the legs are straight. once you fit the forks to the bike properly and you install the front wheel you will need to bounce the front end up and down a few times to settle the legs into place and you then tighten the lower pinch bolts. this is also true for all bikes as if you dont then the axle can pull the fork leg over when you tighten it so you must bounce the front before you tighten the pinch bolts.

I had not considered that this could happen and again because most of my experience comes from working on push bike suspension and brakes, this is not an issue when you have a combination of a universally used standard fitting and a single crown. I shall investigate further, but the degree by which the brake calliper rubs on the disk, such a movement seems extreme. As it is at the moment, the wheel will not turn easily. I have called in the help of another friend who also builds specials, but if this is the case it would be most helpful and save us both a lot of work.

On another note, my darling wifey has said that if the weather does not improve and we do not get any nice dry days, I should consider finding a place in the flat where I can do some gentle spraying. Because I am taking my time with this, the spraying is going to take a couple of days anyway. I have spent two days stripping and sanding the wheel. I aim to use three thin coats of special metals etch primer stuff that is certified to work on aluminium, which will also need flatting when dry. I also have two large cans of wheel paint in metallic silver that match the Suzuki silver. This may well need flatting and then there is the clear coat which says that it wants a nice mat finish before the glass effect properties come through. One does wonder what level of fun I will be having when I do all of this. I am such a nerd!

As for my darling wifey, who has been so supportive and helpful through out this process, what do I give her as thanks?

[ophic]

Originally Posted by Jayneflakes

I may even turn it into a Kindle book for my own sad enjoyment!

I won't be buying it. Still traumatized from your first one.

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by ophic

I won't be buying it. Still traumatized from your first one.

I know, I found so many spelling mistakes after I had published it and the writing was like that of a child! I would not buy any of my books, they are filthy, full of swearing and a lot of lesbianism!

[Jayneflakes]

Another update for you fine folks. Nothing overly exciting, just playing with my paint brush.

The front brake callipers that fit onto the new forks were looking a little tired, the pain was faded and they looked cheap.



So I went at them with degreaser and a box of cotton buds and made them all clean, but the paint on them was still all manky.

Well, not wanting to leave them like that, I got me some paint and mixed up a nice colour, a sort of dark matt grey and gave them four coats with a model paint brush.

To my mind they look really nice and so I took a photo and... the picture makes them look purple!

They are however Dark Matt Grey, the camera does lie.



In other news, my very lovely friend Wayne and I have been playing with the forks and made a bit of a sad discovery today. One of the damping adjusters on the bottom of the leg has seized solid. The other moves perfectly and has about twenty six clicks of adjustement, the seized one though will need removing and replacing. I am a little disappointed, but things like this are a risk when you buy second hand parts. As for removing it and replacing, I am at a loss as what to do. My money has now run out, I do not have the skills needed to do such a job myself and would not know who to turn to in Bristol, to do such work.

This leaves me in a quandary, I do not know if it is wise fitting a fork leg that has a damaged part, if I will need to remove it again as soon as I can afford to have it repaired.

If the fork still works O.K. and it's just that you can't adjust the damping, can't you use it "as is" until you can afford a fork service? (even a re-spring and revalve to get them spot on for you).

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by dean0n0

If the fork still works O.K. and it's just that you can't adjust the damping, can't you use it "as is" until you can afford a fork service? (even a re-spring and revalve to get them spot on for you).

For now I have set the other damper so that it is in roughly the same place as the other, with knowing how many turns the seized one has though, this is far from exact.

Having talked it over with my friend Wayne, we have decided to go ahead and continue, but it is going to annoy me due to my almost obsessive nature. Once it is all done though we can go through the process of trying to set it all up together so that it acts as one unit and not a set of bouncy bits that bare little relation to each other!

As for shiny bits, I have had a busy morning of painting the front wheel a lovely silver to match the rear. Spraying outside is never ideal and I did have a fly land in the paint which I then had to pick out with tweezers. However this is only the second coat and this lot needs to be flatted back once it has hardened so that I can apply the next couple of coats. Already though it looks lovely.





I really like the design of the R1 wheel, I think that it has an industrial but at the same pretty quality to it and it will look really nice on my bike. I deliberately left the wording cast into it on though, so it is obvious that I have a Yamaha front wheel!

[Geodude]

Nice work as usual

Loving your work Jayne.

Always enjoy reading your posts.

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by Geodude

Nice work as usual

Originally Posted by Flybuster

Loving your work Jayne.

Always enjoy reading your posts.

Thank you folks for your kind words.

[Jayneflakes]

I have now almost finished the repairs and polishing of the parts ready for the fork swap. The most difficult has been the repair of the front mud guard, an after market carbon unit made by a company called Tyga.

Before.




After.



There was a crack in the carbon and this had to be repaired which is not as pretty as the other repairs.

S5031465 by Jayne Carter, on Flickr

As you can see the wheel is also finished and I am just waiting for the paint to properly harden before having a tyre fitted.

So here it is, all shiny and happy.




Just incase you are wondering what the marks are on the wheel inside the rim is my writing and it reads "This is Jayne's front wheel for her bike, Bu**er off and buy your own!"