Rebuilding.... The Bike & Myself!

Merry Christmas! Five weeks since my wipeout and I am starting to feel pretty good, almost well enough for some short rides. All of the rebuild parts have arrived and the rebuild is well underway. My ribs and side still hurt and a sneeze will induce a level of pain that I can't even begin to describe.

Maybe it is not just a "rebuild", but more of an "upgrade". I have mounted some new Woodcraft clip-ons, much nicer than the steel chrome units that got trashed. The new forks are on the RD, complete with vintage DG pneumatic adjuster caps and some upgraded springs. I have started polishing the replacement stator cover and the repaired Moto-Carrera rear-sets are ready to go back on the bike. I am also taking some time to drill and safety wire all the critical nuts and bolts. I have mounted a new petcock on my undented blue tank and should have it swapped out this weekend. Still struggling with possible paint schemes, period-correct white with red striping factory race livery is my current plan, but......

My target is to have the RD rebuilt, painted and running 100% in time for the annual "Mods vs Rockers City of Hate" event in late March. Looks like a three day rally, March 26th - 28th.... This event is sponsored by the DFW chapter of "Ton Up" and this will mark the fourth year of the event.

I also have some crash damaged gear to replace. My beloved Yoshi leather flatracker jacket is toast as is my Shoie helmet (cracker the shell straight to the foam liner). I did not realize just how hard I went down until I started examining the damage on the helmet. "Leather, leather, armor, and then more armor", my new moto! I have been eyeballing a new Alpinestar "Dragster" jacket (complete with chest armor & back protector), some "Rockers" leather patches from the "Ace Cafe", and a sleek black new Shoie X12. The black X12 will receive a custom paint job, something with red stripes, jolly rogers, and a nice four-leaf clover on the back.

It Hurts When I Breath!

Still recovering from my accident, but the good news is that I will not need surgery on my shoulder! I'm still having some major pain and I can't sleep....Sucks!

I hope to be back on the RD racer within 3 weeks. These will be very slow and very short rides :)

The parts from eBay have started to show up on my doorstep. So far I have....
Crankshalf
Foot Peg Hangers
Stator Cover
Rear Brake Actuator...

Still waiting for the forkset to arrive. Not sure if they are 34mm or 35mm, the suspense is killing me! Drove by the wreck site yesterday and the brothers of the dog I hit were running loose on the road! WTF, someone is going to get killed!

Moondog Meets The Big Dog

November 20th was the day, the date for my first "long ride" on my RD Racer. I came home from work, leathered-up and filled the tank with pre-mix. The moment of truth had arrived! One kick and the RD came to life, crackling and idling smooth as silk..... Life is good!

After a couple of minute to warmup the engine, I roll out of the driveway with a huge smile on my face. Today I will be riding the twisty little country roads around my home, maybe 40 to 50 miles total. The engine is crisp, coming alive at about 3500 - 4000 rpms as the powerband kicks in. The bike is light, very flickable and responsive. About 15 miles into the ride some minor issues become apparent, I need to make a very minor adjustment on the rear brake level position and the fuel petcock is not flowing properly. I should have rebuilt the petcock, but for now I just tap the petcock occasionally to keep the pre-mix flowing.

The bike is running great and I am really getting into the ride. Now I am on my way back home, already planning to rebuild the petcock and dreaming of long rides on the little RD.

Ahead I can see a Ford Excursion approaching me and I am taking it easy at about 30 mph. The Excursion is moving much slower, but nothing was setting off "my alarm". Just as I pass the front of the Excursion a large German Shepperd sized dog darts out from behind the vehicle. I had just enough time to think, "This is going to hurt!"

I brake hard and swerve, the dog darts, we collide. The RD goes down and I am ejected over the bars. I come down on my left side, dislocating my shoulder and getting some huge road-rash on my hip. My leather suit is a two - piece and the zipper separated on impact, exposing my hip. The dog did not fair as well, he became lodged between my front forks and the front of the expansion chambers..... Dead Dog!

11 days later I was able to return to work , but it still hurts BAD! The RD did not suffer as badly as I expected and I should have it back on the road in no time. Total damage to the RD....

• Front Forks - Bent back about 1.5"
• Left Moto Carrera peg and shifter are "toast"
• Stator cover is ground down pretty good
• Broken clutch lever & cable
• Bent left clip-on
  

I have already started on the new forks and I should complete the final installation over Christmas break. Maybe I'll actually be able to ride by then?

Details......

Finishing up the last of the wiring and now everything works. Routing fuel lines, still need to get some small clamps. Tonight I'll reverse - bleed the front brake, grease the swingarm pivot, fill the gearbox and forks with oil, ........ And then off the stand she comes and she will begin resting on two wheels.

Mount the pipes, pour in some 50:1 pre-mix, and then the start her up.

The RD is going to need quite a bit of "shake-down riding". Coming from a pile of parts, the bike had no baseline setup. During the "shake-down" period I am going to ride the bike unpainted, al natural. I can hardly wait!

Wiring Mystery - Solved!

Spent this weekend with my volt-ohm meter in the garage. The original wiring harness on the RD had been "modified" several times and I was getting some very unusual results. A couple of shorts located and resolved, a rewire of the kill switch circuitry, and finally getting the lights all working (as they should).

Now I just need to button up some minor details, connect the instrument console, resolve the front brake issues, mount the expansion chambers and then start the process of "shake-down rides".

Maybe I'll be riding over Thanksgiving break!

Oh yes, I also got all of my beer bottled! 20 gallons = Four 5-gallon carboys = 321 bottles of beer! Hell Yes!

Weekend Off!

This weekend was just too nice to spend my time locked up in the garage, 75F sunny and little to no wind. I spent Saturday riding my Gixxer on the back-roads and Sunday I brewed up 24 gallons of homebrew; "Streetfighter Dark Ale", "Cafe Racer Stout", and "Ace Cafe Bitters".

The homebrew should be ready at about the same time the RD Racer is ready! The Planets are aligning!

Tonight after work, back to the garage to preform a "clutchectomy".

I Hate Wiring! I Love Dreaming!

Spent last evening connecting and routing wiring, I hate wiring. I classify wiring as "non-mechanical", translated that means boring. I love the look of well routed and well managed wiring, but it is all so anti-climatic.

I started at the front of the RD and fastened and routed the wiring working my way rearward. Most of the wiring is tucked up and mounted under the subframe, nice and clean, out of sight. This evening I should finish mounting and routing the last of the wiring, just in time for my clutch parts to arrive!

Progress...

I can tell I'm getting close to completing the RD Racer because my mind is constantly drifting to, "Where should I journey to when the RD is done?". Today I am going to buy a new copy of the "Texas Gazetteer", an atlas that shows all the little country backroads. Then I'll sit down and plan out a 400 to 600 mile "RD Adventure". Maybe I'll head north to the Oklahoma "Salt Flats" or to the cool Little hip town of Tahlequah. Maybe I'll try to discover a new "backroad route" to Austin and Luckenbach. Maybe the rolling mountains of north-eastern Arkansas. My mind is dreaming of an epic 2-stroke adventure.