wheel bearing

The good thing with an SR is that it looks good even when it is broken. When I got the rims of for painting, last winter, I recognised that all the seals were missing. Got some seals from Japan but didn´t change the bearings (bad idea). The bearings had taken to much beating from the water braking in. Yesterday I felt a small gap when I shook the back wheel. Fortunately the local Yamaha supplier told me to get some standard, sealed, ball bearings instead of the origoinal ones. - Swedish SKF is cheaper, and in stock next door to us. Thakyou mrs lokal supplier!

If you ever had trouble dismounting the metal sealer - here´s a tip. M5 bolts fits perfect into the holes, and they make it easy to lift the metal plate - even with a new rubber seal fighting back. Standard part is good. No problems to fit the brand new ball bearings into the 27 year old wheel...


...not so easy with the motorcycle lift. Bought the lift and rebuild it in order to fit the low design of my bike. It has been cut and welded in so many new and strange ways that I dont realy trust it. As I lift the bike, it starts to tilt a bit to the right - very nervous owner. Must find a better way before I get a dent in the gastank and a hole in my wallet.

Party with bikes and friends

The recyclemotorcycle BBQ was a success. Both the photo studio and the film was apritiated. So now I'm aiming higher. In September it will be a rerun - only bigger with more people and bikes. Yes - this time, we used small grills, but we will start the large 1.5 square meter barbecue in September.

Some say it is difficult to distinguish a sr400 from an sr500. I say - just to look at the driver.The typicall 500 owner is mostly one bit happier than the other. Fredrik´s black tracker is fitted with a 18" front tyre and a muffler that, in a generous way, amplifies the exhaust sound:)

Two years of surfing has created some large picture maps on the mac. The common theme has been small and few cylinders and an "I dare to use my bike even if it´s raining" style. The style and the bikes is still rare in Sweden - hoping to catch up.

BBQ test run

Tonight there will be a test run of the BBQ in the workshop. The idea is to run a bigger event in september. The evening contains the possibillity to take photos of the guest bikes and riders. There will also be a movie show during the evening.

Gold

It's been a while since the youngsters painted the logos on the rear tires. It feels today as if it is completely out = it´s "time to show them were the cabinet should stand" (swedish proverb). The whole bike is getting more and more 70's like, to my horror and delight. 
Instead of white paint, I use poor man´s pinstriping, marker pen, a technique I already used on the tank. Searched for a yellow-brown marker all over the city before I saw a motorcycle on the exeptional blog Pipeburn. Found the answer in the text. Gold is the color. Always nice to have builders who will share their materials and ideas.

Covers

After spending a whole winter in the workshop cutting away fittings and battery from the center frame, I discovered that the big wheels brings to much fokus to the start and the end of the bike. The trend of having see through frames with no fairings  caught to much of my design attention. In a small test I just rested the plastic fairings in the frame - and it made a big differense. More optical fokus to the center and less "hole in the frame".

No work is in vain. Because I stripped the frame from unnecessary fittings I can place the fairings were I want them. Now fitted inside the frame rather than hanging on the outside. They don´t add any width to the bike, just a shape that amplify the impression of a bike, long and thin as a paper.

Chrome away

To many old men saying: I got one of thouse, Northon bikes, when I was young. Just like this one. I need to add some more modern materials to my Yamaha...

 

The chrome must go. A heat resistant paint has been applied to the exhaust. A realy nice texture to the paint - almost like black iron. Painted the headlight as well.