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Classic Bike Trackdays

The French Correction
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wizbit



Joined: 20 Aug 2015
Posts: 56
Location: Isle of Wight UK

PostPosted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 3:16 pm    Post subject: The French Correction Reply with quote

As promised: piccy's of my new french mistress. My intention is to get this french import gamma roadworthy, MOT it and get it registered. Panel repair and paint will be done once the bike is UK legal. I'm not looking to make a concourse bike or do a nut and bolt resto. I'm saving it from being parted out and my intention is to make a reasonably tidy, mechanically good road going bike for the nice days. Don't let the photo's fool you she is a rough old bag at the moment but I hope to put that right. I don't have any real target date but it would be good to have it ready for Summer 2016 lol lol lol lol!

ps Note the bodged random rear grab handles fitted. The holes in the tail piece to fit the handle were unsympathetically hacked out and bits of old iron bracket were badly bolted to the frame. They are off and binned now UGH!!!


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Bitacticus



Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Posts: 276
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 4:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

looks good

not all the bits are there
missing the bellypan brackets on the frame tube under the engine
they are very hard to find.........

take your time

Erik
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wizbit



Joined: 20 Aug 2015
Posts: 56
Location: Isle of Wight UK

PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 3:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Erik Wink
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wizbit



Joined: 20 Aug 2015
Posts: 56
Location: Isle of Wight UK

PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 10:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thought I'd add a little bit on the findings so far. I knew there must be some electrical gremlins as the bike came with a headlight switch repair kit and this:

Checking out the wires in and around the connector boot revealed something nasty and taped up:

Some rather horrid connection:

This was a taped up earth wire leading to the ignition connector block......the worst I've ever seen! This bodger was up there with the elite:

Wiring leading to the ignition looks fine but the connector block that this earth goes into had been badly fitted into the block. Anyway some serious short circuiting must have occurred if it's an earth.
The thing I initially overlooked but realised after following the wiring diagram was that the fuse didn't exist! So dodgy connections, knackered switch and no fuse....oh and and the left hand switch gear loom appears to have had a screw or drill go right through it. I am currently rewiring this little lot and have fitted a fancy new fuse with an LED that flashes when the fuse has blown; I know it's not original parts but sensible upgrades I'm fine with.

There are plenty more bodges where that came from, more of that on the next update.
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The Cameraman



Joined: 22 Aug 2015
Posts: 608
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Wizbit,

nasty electrics or what!
_________________
Kindest regards


Reggie
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gammaguy21



Joined: 07 Jan 2011
Posts: 70

PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hate electrics.

Looks like you've got some work ahead of you.
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Howie



Joined: 18 Oct 2009
Posts: 511
Location: Kwaksville

PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 1:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I reckon wizbit knows what he's doing Thumbs Up

You can't go wrong with actual wiring as long as you have the guide. I've spent many an evening colouring in B&W guides Bang Head

It's tracing faults in components that drives me mad..........
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wizbit



Joined: 20 Aug 2015
Posts: 56
Location: Isle of Wight UK

PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 2:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"wizbit knows what he's doing" lol thanks for the vote of confidence. I agree with Howie though it's the faults in components which can make your brain hurt. I haven't moved onto testing the electronics but the bike runs and that's good enough for me for now. At least with a fuse fitted now there will be less smoke and fires Shocked
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wizbit



Joined: 20 Aug 2015
Posts: 56
Location: Isle of Wight UK

PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2015 10:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another little update. Been chasing down the little jobs as and when I find them. I inherited a front brake light switch with the RG to fit in the new lever/reservoir unit which was on the bike. I’ve never done this before but it was straight forward. Put spring in small plastic housing-pop copper contact into housing. I had to gently open out the contact so that it clipped into the sides of the plastic housing nicely. This combination of bits then drops into the underside of the brake lever. As it’s a moving contact a little copper grease was used to lubricate it.

Here’s the cover ready to go on:

With the other half screwed on it’s time to test. Open circuit ‘off’:

Closed circuit ‘on’ so it’s working fine:

I’ve been refurbishing the petrol cap and sprayed it up black rather than the gold it came as. The unit is held together by a circlip but you need to press down and hold it all against a spring whilst inserting the circlip using a pair of circlip pliers. After a couple of failed attempts which saw the circlip boomeranging around the garage I found that I could push down on the spring, insert another circlip into the groove just to keep the whole thing temporarily compressed then using the circlip pliers and two hands pop the clip onto the top of the unit. Once in position I used a size 17 ring spanner to push down evenly on the clip and pop it cleanly into the groove. Job done.

In amongst this I have been taking all ignition, fuel cap and seat lock barrels out and removing worn lock “wafers” until they all turn on the same key.

Whilst this doesn’t present factory levels of security (such that they were in 1985) it gets me out of a hole and gives me a functioning bike. I’ve also repaired the wiring to get the bike to MOT standard. I’m keeping it simple with spade connectors for now with the option to spend time and money on pretty connector blocks in the future once the bike is roadworthy. I’ve also had a lot of “fun” taking the right hand throttle/switchgear unit apart. Both screws were rounded. I sprayed them with graphite release compound and the top one came out with the old "screwdriver and tap with a hammer” trick. The bottom one wasn’t so obliging and had to drilled out. That was real a sweaty affair as I was desperately trying not to damage any plastic of the casing. I just about got away with it but it took an hour of careful work! All steps in the right direction. I’m sure more horrors will reveal themselves but I’m enjoying the little victories at the moment.
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Howie



Joined: 18 Oct 2009
Posts: 511
Location: Kwaksville

PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2015 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
In amongst this I have been taking all ignition, fuel cap and seat lock barrels out and removing worn lock “wafers” until they all turn on the same key.


You do right wizbit, this is something I also do but also why I am wary of sellers stating that 'one key fits all' Laughing

Looks like you're making progress & as you quite rightly say, little victories do make a world of difference Clap
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wizbit



Joined: 20 Aug 2015
Posts: 56
Location: Isle of Wight UK

PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2015 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes it's made me realise that the "one key fits all" statement doesn't necessarily mean all things perfect. Ultimately I'll do the GSXR ignition conversion once she's legalised for use on UK roads Smile
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wizbit



Joined: 20 Aug 2015
Posts: 56
Location: Isle of Wight UK

PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 7:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A little update: I took the generator cover off this morning for inspection. Looks like someone's been drilling holes in the flywheel, I can only assume this was for timing marks. The flywheel is a replacement as it has RG250 written on the circumference. The wiring loom issues and historic repairs probably tie in with this replacement flywheel being fitted:

Bad news: the crankcase has been damaged (see red circle in photo). I have heard of crankcase damage on RG500's it must be caused by a chain break? Unfortunately it's taken out the fixing for the outer casing bolt. Also you can make out to the left of the arrow the circular remnants of a second case fixing, the one where a long bolt which doubles as the clutch adjuster cover fixing bolt. Both these bolts missing mean that when the clutch is operated the casing moves ever-so-slightly away instead of being 100% rigidly fixed the left crankcase. I note that a hole has been drilled (arrow) through the top of the crankcase cover. It could be possible to use this to pass a bolt though if the outer cover was drilled. Not ideal but the alternative is new crankcases!

I inherited some black crankcases stamped '84' which would seem to be for the WE model. They have different part numbers to my 85 model FG so I'm assuming they wouldn't be any good?



More bad news: I took the oil level inspection screw out and...you guessed it...more emulsion than a DIY store! (The radiator water looks clear though). I'm guessing water pump seals or head gasket? At least that'll make me strip it down now so the MOT is fast becoming a more distant dream.



Fortunately, this afternoon, I took the SV out with my mate to a local annual bike show. The weather was fantastic, hundreds of bikes including the 'Flying Mallard' with a 5 litre V-twin plane engine in it. Plenty of strokers but only one RG125 and no RGV's. Maybe mine will be there next year....here's hoping Wink
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wizbit



Joined: 20 Aug 2015
Posts: 56
Location: Isle of Wight UK

PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 7:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some more dismantling this week. The top oil pump cover “chocolate” bolt was seized and had to be carefully drilled out....more sweating. When I got the cover off I was presented with this:

Whilst the bike was set up to run on pre-mix I did at least expect to see the redundant oil pump- WRONG! And what a lovely job of “fixing” the oil pump drive shaft seal leak....which was of course leaking emulsion. In the foreground is the chain link clip which is (you guessed it) the wrong way round, this is probably why the chain came apart and ate the crankcase in the past.
Obviously now the engine will be coming out as there can be little which hasn’t been botched or sh*gged! Under the thermostat housing there is....wait for it.......no thermostat. The cylinder head bolts came out without too much effort but as ever an array of bolts and botches were evident on the front of the barrels:
I had to “persuade” bolts 1 & 3 to come out with the hammer and flat edge screwdriver trick again. Note the rusting at the gasket, Duran Duran were probably singing ‘Wild Boys’ the last time it held oily parts and water apart. Anyway the head is off, measurements taken and the top of the bore is roughly 55.4mm in diameter with wear below that. The right hand piston has some localised scoring on the exhaust port side in a narrow band so must have nipped up at some point (unsurprisingly).
So officially the bores are beyond their bore limits as the largest bore is 55.5mm. I will be calling around to see if I can get the barrels re-lined (clutches wallet) and I’ll probably get the crank sent off too, there’s no way that can be sound (clutches wallet and gasps). I’m determined to get this bike sorted.
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steezin_and_wheezin



Joined: 07 Jul 2015
Posts: 68
Location: Radford, VA(USA)

PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shew, she's needing some good loving huh? Glad you're still motivated and want to see her back road worthy! We're watchin over your shoulder and cheerin ya on! Best of luck mang
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wizbit



Joined: 20 Aug 2015
Posts: 56
Location: Isle of Wight UK

PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've not done a lot physically with this project for a while but I have been collecting parts whilst my crank and bores have been away at PJ Engineering. When PJ inspected the crank they said it was welded and no good for rebuilding/balancing. This was really bad news and I considered selling on the bike to get my money back for a little while. Desperate I put a call out to fellow internet bikers and found a rebuildable crank from Holland; it was sent directly to PJ who said they could at least take this one apart but the left hand generator end of the web had been cut about and couldn't be machined to a satisfactory state. Desperate call number 2 went out and 'Setch' from RGVforums came to the rescue with a spare left end....bacon saved again! I now have the crank and resleeved barrels back and they look very nice. This means I now have a like new engine (sort of) and a solid base to move forward with, minus a large chunk of my original budget.

Don't they look luvverly:


Masked up:


OO-ARR!! Ford Grey Tractor paint was sprayed on:




Mk2 lower case sprayed up:
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