Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Mid-Century Moto Mecca Makeover

[beetlepower]

Amazing, well done!

 

[Boosted1]

Beautiful bike. Great story. Congrats.

 

[zmotorsports]

Great story and congrats Gregor.

Your efforts and tenacity definitely paid off.

 

[Finallygotit]

Great story and congrats Gregor.

Your efforts and tenacity definitely paid off.

I couldn't have said it better!


Congrats!

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Great story with a happy ending.
I'm a Father of two Daughters, both are journeyman machinist in the aircraft industry.
I really enjoy hearing about successful people working in unconventional careers.
Kerry sounds like a very cool person with lots of talent, I wish her the best.
Thank you for sharing Gregor!
Greg

 

[GeddyT]

Man, you keep some talented company!

 

[shirk]

That's gorgeous.

Congrats on pulling off the build. Inspiring story and documentation between here in IG.

 

[GeddyT]

Around 1pm we came to the conclusion that something was wrong and I needed to pull the engine because the frame precluded pulling the side cover (tsk, tsk Scott) and so I pulled the motor, pulled the clutch and then, with the gears still not seeming to be working right I had to pull the entire motor down and split the cases.

I split the damn cases with 4 hours until guests arrived.

It's a good thing I did because I discovered that I'd not tightened the oil pump bolts. I also found that I'd assembled the kickstart return spring wrong. Lastly the heavy duty clutch springs bound up and that was the reason the clutch didn't work.

This gave me flashbacks to one of my engine builds that went horribly awry. A buddy of mine blew up his XR650R supermoto engine, and I was rebuilding it (and throwing some new goodies in in the process). My shop was still out of commission, so I was building the engine on the dining room table while my wife was asleep. This turned out to be a fortunate thing, as, in an effort to not scratch up the table, I had one of my kids' silicone food-tornado-containment-mats underneath the engine. Because the mat was bright blue, I happened to notice a tiny sliver of metal on the mat right before I was about to tighten down the cylinder head nuts. It was a circlip.

I knew I was screwed, but I didn't know how screwed, so I looked through every parts fiche for that engine and the whole rebuild section of the service manual, looking for where it could have come from. I was hoping it would be something under the clutch cover (easy), but, of course, no. I can't remember if it was from the kickstarter shaft or the transmission, but I definitely had to waste two hours tearing everything back down, splitting the cases again, putting in one stupid circlip, then buttoning it all back up.

Still finished before Mrs. GeddyT woke up in the morning, and that's all that matters...

 

[gearhead1960]

Gregor,

Fantastic story, and absolutely fabulous build and bike. In my book, you guys won the race. Just remember, cheaters never prosper......

 

[dhubbard422]

Kudos. A great story. One that I imagine you will long remember.

 

[Pressingonward]

Very cool. I didn't make it to the show but I'm glad you were able to get the bike together and made it into the race. A truly impressive accomplishment. The bike looks great. It looks like you put serious time into the design and execution, so the fact that you did it all in a month is staggering.

 

[Matias]

Congrats, the bike looks awesome! Reading this thread and following on IG, it was like a planned TV-show, with the time running out, despair and low and then sudden resurrection and final success. But this was reality! Thanks again for taking the time to share.

 

[Sham]

Great story, thank you Gregor!

And I for one, raise my glass to Kerry! You da MVP!

 

[tap1970]

Gregor,

I have been a reader since the beginning, and as some do, this thread never gets old. Your craftsmanship inspires us all to keep going on our projects. Keep up the good work and we are all looking forward to the next endeavor you will tackle.

Congrats....

Tom

 

[mothgils]

Congrats to you and your team on the win! I was following along all day Saturday on IG live. It was really great to see the process!

 

[Hostyle]

Woot! Great work Gregor and team!

That head-on shot of the bike is killer. Love it!

 

[mikeway]

Thanks for sharing the trials and tribulations. Enjoyed YOUR stress of the build and getting it running. The video feed worked well too. Congratulations

 

[JasonJ]

Love the lines on the exhaust. Entire project was well done.

 

[Vertigo Cycles]

The bike is amazing, which isn't a surprise because you've conditioned us to expect great things from you. You added a significant amount of drama with the IG stories and the photos here...it's the most interesting reality show I've ever seen. I just wish there was even more of it. What are you going to do when you don't have some massive deadline looming?

The party was so much fun, and that's saying something because it takes a great deal of effort for me to even make the arrangements to get out to one. You have a pretty remarkable circle of friends and it was great to hear the stories of so many of the people who showed up to your house that night. Lots of talented folks.

 

[sakurama]

The bike is amazing, which isn't a surprise because you've conditioned us to expect great things from you. You added a significant amount of drama with the IG stories and the photos here...it's the most interesting reality show I've ever seen. I just wish there was even more of it. What are you going to do when you don't have some massive deadline looming?

The party was so much fun, and that's saying something because it takes a great deal of effort for me to even make the arrangements to get out to one. You have a pretty remarkable circle of friends and it was great to hear the stories of so many of the people who showed up to your house that night. Lots of talented folks.

Ha, I am going to try to make progress without a deadline - or at least a looming one. And as we talked about at Saul's I think that building a bike with you is very much the next step for me in this process. I think that bicycle builders and you in particular are way more meticulous than motorcycle builders and I'd like to be able to work at that level.

So you and I need to talk about a plan to build a bicycle before you become a full time luthier as well.

And thanks - that party was a lot of fun. I have always been very lucky to have a really interesting group of friends around - I certainly gravitate towards that and the party is the way to bring this disparate group of similarly obsessed people together.

I'm going to be downtown tomorrow morning and will have a few hours if you want some help on that mill. Sorry that pallet jack is weak... like I said, another project...

Gregor

 

[Vertigo Cycles]

I'm going to be downtown tomorrow morning and will have a few hours if you want some help on that mill. Sorry that pallet jack is weak... like I said, another project...

Gregor

No apologies needed. It's not weak, it just lifts in a wonky way that I don't remember happening when we moved your mill. Doing this machine move solo, I was just a bit uncomfortable with how much it was tilting. I'm halfway done and it got the job done so far so no harm no foul.

Your offer is much appreciated but I've made a few trips over to your side of town today while I let some degreaser soak into the floor. Not much can be done in the shop today and I don't think two people could move freely in here even if you were here.

Let's definitely come up with a plan on a bike. I can get you an outline of the curriculum I usually use so you can take a look at it and can come up with questions that I can use to tailor it specifically to you. I know you're going to care the most about things that most students are happy to gloss over...mostly people focus on the welding because they think it's the area that they're least familiar. What gets missed is the importance of everything that comes before stepping on the pedal that makes it so the frame can be welded predictably and successfully. I have a feeling that's the part you're most interested in.

 

[Fast914]

Hi Gregor, I am constantly amazed with what you are able to produce for sure but the quality...well, you are on another level.

I missed a few days and saw this comment....

"I made some more exhaust hangers and after the pipe was done welded a spring for the rear muffler."

I buy those....like a lot of other guys / gals but you make them and its just one more little thing but not so little....thanks again for posting...what a fantastic thread! Grant

 

[sakurama]

Hi Gregor, I am constantly amazed with what you are able to produce for sure but the quality...well, you are on another level.

I missed a few days and saw this comment....

"I made some more exhaust hangers and after the pipe was done welded a spring for the rear muffler."

I buy those....like a lot of other guys / gals but you make them and its just one more little thing but not so little....thanks again for posting...what a fantastic thread! Grant

Thanks. Some things like that don't seem like they're that big of a deal but then that's because I had made that little tool. That tool is probably 7 or 8 years old and it's not very pretty but it works just fine. I think I was probably bothered by the fact that they're just welding rod so...

I have been hard at work doing... not much. I've been sleeping 8 hours a night which is not easy for me, cleaning the shop and doing a little bit to clean up the bike. I'm hoping to get the bike on the dyno this week just to help get it tuned a bit.

Still can't really make out the ovals in gold...

Also working with my friend Jesse on a project that might be done in the next week or two. Related to this bike build.

I'm also hoping the bike is running right for my upcoming Supercamp - Danny said he'd like to take it around the track and give me some feedback.

So, I'll try to have an update on something this week. Not sure what that will be...

Gregor

 

[TwoBytes]

Gregor,

I found your thread via Grumblebums Corner, when GB referred to your watch servicing post.

I've spent the last month reading from the start, I've still got a bit to go, I'm on page 108 of 180.

You've done a lot of very cool things!

I've just read this, and it must be one of the best quotes I've ever heard...

Yet, through the beauty of mission creep and a single minded determination to not realistically size up a challenge I have accomplished something that I should never have bothered tackling.

Sometimes I amaze myself.

This perfectly summarises so many of my projects!

I am also now the proud owner of 2 OHTO Super Promecha mechanical pencils.

 

[sakurama]

Gregor,

I found your thread via Grumblebums Corner, when GB referred to your watch servicing post.

I've spent the last month reading from the start, I've still got a bit to go, I'm on page 108 of 180.

You've done a lot of very cool things!

I've just read this, and it must be one of the best quotes I've ever heard...



This perfectly summarises so many of my projects!

I am also now the proud owner of 2 OHTO Super Promecha mechanical pencils.

Thanks for dredging that quote up. Sometimes i can't see the forest for the trees and it's good to be reminded of who I am and how I manage to do things. It's actually a great reminder right now as I'm contemplating the building of my fathers bike and how far over my head that whole project is.

My goal, ever since building that first bike with Scott 20 years ago was to make my own motorcycle. That first bike was a huge success but I was in no position to build a second one. I had no skills but lots of desire to learn. Over the last 20 years I've been working little by little towards that goal and I've now reached the edge of the cliff. I am not an engineer, a welder or machinist and by all accounts what I want to do more than anything is something that, on paper, I have no business doing.

So here I am ready to make that jump. To build a frame is a huge and difficult undertaking and I am certainly not ready but also, I will never be ready. I want to build a bicycle with Sean because I don't think motorcycle builders are particularly good at their craft with a few exceptions. Bicycle builders are exceedingly good and Sean is one of the best. It's important enough to me that I'm going to sell another motorcycle to fund a bicycle.

But also, I just have to start. Which is scary. Especially when you have no idea what the end looks like.

So that quote is a very good reminder of who I am and how I do things. The last bike I managed to build in a month and I wanted to make it the best mini framer ever and I think I pretty much did that. To build the coolest BMW ever is a rather tall undertaking but it's really all I want to do. I don't know if I'll be able to do it. Everything points to no but I don't care. I will learn so much and become a completely different person through the process that I can't not do that.

Gregor

 

[TwoBytes]

I don't know if I'll be able to do it. Everything points to no but I don't care. I will learn so much and become a completely different person through the process that I can't not do that.

There's another quote that's right up there with the best I've heard.

You've got a way with words.

I would say that all signs point to you being able to do a first class job of whatever you turn your focus to, mate!

 

[Growlertdi]

let me get this straight,

you want to build a motorcycle from scratch in honor of your father, so to gain more experience, you are going to build a custom Bicycle first? seems like a good way to learn some needed skills.

Best of luck Gregor. we will be watching

 

[E12-535iTurbo]

Greg, am I right when I say I caught another small detail which is that the steps are not aligned but functionally tilted/angled independent of each other?

 

[sakurama]

Greg, am I right when I say I caught another small detail which is that the steps are not aligned but functionally tilted/angled independent of each other?

You mean the footpegs? From the top shot? They should be aligned but it's possible that their adjustment for height is not the same. I was looking at them from the front for their height/level and not from the top when I welded them so it's possible that they're not perfect.

Gregor

 

[E12-535iTurbo]

Yes from the top the left one is more forward.

 

[PatrickM]

Gregor, long time lurker, first time commenting. I have followed along from the beginning and I am very impressed. I was at the One Moto with my buddy Tim, I think that you know him, he won the green Yamaha 250 a year ago at the Moto Show. Anyway, I have been making the pizza and as I am a pizza snob, I am thoroughly enjoying it....as are the rest of my family members. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[fastev]

Gregor, anything ever become of the home-built espresso machine? We just brought home a Synchronika. Would like to see what you could come up with.

We’ll have to connect again one of these days. Be it over bullets, burgers, or bread. Or watches.

 

[somgaet]

I was reading you E350 build on Expedition Portal. Did you fix your death wobble? I have a fleet of about 40 vehicles, mostly Fords. I have had the experience with the DW on only one of my trucks which is a 2011 F250 Crew Cab Gas V8. I tried the aftermarket dampener and it seemed to work but, then it came back about a year later. I replaced a few worn bushings and that seemed to work for awhile and then it would come back.
I searched the internet and found this video:

So, I had a castor correction/adjustment kit installed and it's been 4 years without the issue popping up again. Also, the guy in the video explains different ways to fix this in different videos. With all the other stuff I have read about you trying, I figured you should at least give it a shot.

Great thread btw!

 

[TwoBytes]

I was telling Lara how pin nailers, how we're holding the boxes together as we glue them, can just get a wild hair and shoot out any direction. Be careful with pin nailers.

---
That is certainly something that happens regularly, and I caught one in the end of my finger recently, ouch! Timely reminder, thanks.

We clean off the router table and try a few different rounding bits to see if they help the edges. I don't know anyone who doesn't smile the first time they round over corners with a roundover bit on a router table. It feels like cheating - a perfect edge in nothing flat. Or curved. Depends on the bit.

---
This is also something that me and my 7 year old son experienced recently, I've always used a roundover bit by hand-holding the router, but I built my own ghetto home made router table last weekend and yeah, so much fun!

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[TwoBytes]

Also, your amazing photos have encouraged me to ditch the smartphone and get my DSLR out again.

I haven't bought any Festool stuff yet, but I did buy a 50mm F1.8 prime lens so that I can play with shallow depth of field and get that awesome foregound/background blur that you do so well...

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I still consider myself a rank amateur when it comes to photography, but I'm having fun!

 

[jlevers]

Also, your amazing photos have encouraged me to ditch the smartphone and get my DSLR out again.

I haven't bought any Festool stuff yet, but I did buy a 50mm F1.8 prime lens so that I can play with shallow depth of field and get that awesome foregound/background blur that you do so well...

I still consider myself a rank amateur when it comes to photography, but I'm having fun!

A 50mm F1.8 is an awesome and affordable lens on practically every platform...I have one and love it. (I'm also far from being knowledgeable about photography, but I spend a lot of time around people who are.)

 

[sakurama]

Well, things have certainly changed a bit in the last few weeks haven't they?

A catch up then.

Lara, Nick and I drove to California March 1st. I had been in NYC the week before and was watching the news and at that point there was a single Corona case in Washington. I sort of anticipated there would be some kind of panic and wanted to make sure we were set but I literally got off the plane and into the van to go to California.

I think Nick thought I was a little nuts when I started ordering groceries on Amazon. I wasn't going prepper style crazy but I wanted to make sure I had at least 2 solid months of pizza supplies. Look, I'm happy to be cooped up at home but it will take more than a pandemic to get me to eat frozen pizza! If you'd asked me why a few months ago I'd have said it was more likely to be an earthquake but it really doesn't matter as long as you're prepared.

Anyway we are fine, completely set up and content at home. If this phase has anyone rattled I feel bad for them - it's the next one that will be bad. As a freelancer who's been through this before in 2007 I can forecast it for you: we are now in a recession. All my work for the next few months has been cancelled but thankfully I have a bit of a cushion and our expenses are pretty low. My friends with restaurants are laying people off and it's hard to imagine how people in the service sector or freelancers will recover much less manage the next few months.

I hope I'm wrong but I expect school to be cancelled for the rest of the year. I worry about my mom and MIL but also anyone who gets sick in the next few weeks when hospitals go over capacity. It's not going to be pretty.

But, you are home, practicing social distancing and looking for something light to pass the time. Hopefully you have a shop that you can go and work in. We collectively have a lot of time on our hands to get working on projects right now.

One of the last things on my list for the little XR was to make a race stand. It might have made sense to make it from stainless to keep the theme of the bike but I wanted to make it from aluminum because I just love working and machining aluminum and welding aluminum is the thing I need the most work on.

Some other things I've been working on is getting the mill dialed in. I had picked up some things for it over the last year and hadn't had the chance to get them installed. One was this power feed that I converted from a table feed to a knee feed. If you've ever cranked a Bridgeport table any length you know it takes a lot of turning. This really makes it easy.

Another thing I've dug out was this Kato automatic tapping head that I've owned forever. I never really used it because I didn't have any wrenches for it and because it was set up for an R8 spindle so it just seemed a bit of a hassle.

Well, I went ahead and made the wrenches. Nothing too fancy - just ones that are functional. It's funny how having made the wrenches the tapping head can now be tightened all the way and it's a real joy to use. If you haven't seen one it works by screwing in as you feed it down, spinning clockwise. But when you lift the quill handle the head reverses direction and spins counter clockwise and backs the tap out. It makes tapping super fast and easy.

While at Supercamp I was able to get Danny to take my bike out for a few laps but sadly the brake lever return spring had come off and the brake over heated on his fourth lap. He suggested I completely change the rear brake to use a much larger disk which would help with heat and he gave me a few other ideas to try to then reduce the power of the brake but increase it's feel.

So I picked up some aluminum stock from Metal Supermarket as the world was stocking up on toilet paper. Also, being on the cautious side, I refilled my Argon bottle so that I have two full ones.

The small disk is the stock size rear brake, the one next to that is the stock front brake and the one on the wheel is a floating rotor from a Kawasaki KX250. In that photo I've sized the aluminum to the hub and I'm checking the fit on the disk.

Now I have measured and drilled the carrier to fit the hub and the disk but have left it at full width since I don't know yet how much offset I want in order to fit the twin piston caliper from a Ducati 916.

So my plan is to finish this bike in the next few weeks. I was hoping to get the chance to race it this week at our last indoor race of the season but in light of the situation I won't be going.

So I hope you are all well and settled in - I think we will be in this new reality for quite a while. I will try to post things a bit more regularly so as to provide a bit of a diversion. Both for you and I!

Gregor

 

[Seagoon]

Thanks for thinking of us Gregor - It always cheers me up to see anything you are working on.
I'm patiently waiting for the Guzzi but I have a horrible feeling that will get sold as-is

 

[Arclitgold]

Wahoo! An update from Gregor! Stay safe and I look forward to reading your posts


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GeddyT]

You don't have to if you don't want, but I'd love to see more pictures/read more details of how the One Show and flat track race there went. Was really getting into the cliffhanger story of the last minute bike build! No IG account, so missed the story of the show as it was happening.