And so it begins...

No wonder the insurance totaled it, lot of work.
Good luck getting her back in A1 shape. Or as close as you want it.

 

Since I am not able to make the R3 event this year, I decided to take off early today as tomorrow is a day for the family. So I decided tore do the wiring for the volt meter. I had most of the connectors but bought a small 2 pin connector for the volt meter light power supply. I did my usual crimp and solder method and got all that setup today. Hopefully Sunday I'll have the headers on and then start her up!

 

Since I wasn't able to attend R3 this year, as I planned to attend my Grandmother's 100th birthday celebration on Saturday instead, I used Sunday and Monday (Memorial Day) to do more work on the '01. The good news is that I did order and receive the correct exhaust gaskets this time, so I was finally able to get the headers installed AND get the motor started.



I left the plastic on while I did a test fit. I didn't want to chance getting them all covered in grease and oil or worse, all scratched up or nicked.








[video=youtube_share;tLzh77dQPVY]http://youtu.be/tLzh77dQPVY[/video]

Although I did have one minor step backward, as after I started the bike I did find two leaks. One was at the lower right radiator tube, which was easily remedied with a quick turn of a nut driver, but the other was an oil leak! WTF?! I had thought perhaps it was the coming from the oil pan I installed as I did not use a gasket, as there isn't one for this, Honda recommends 'Three bond' or "equivalent". So my first guess is that I didn't do this correctly. Turns out it was coming from the Stator cover, which was also replaced earlier and the gasket got tweaked when I installed it. Not sure how, but none the less when I removed the cover part of the gasket was broken off and sitting inside the case cover! So back to the drawing board...

Since I was not in the mood to order more parts and have to wait for them to come in, plus the fact that the oil pan doesn't use a gasket, I decided to use the same method I used there for the Stator cover. So I drained the oil into a clean container and removed the Stator cover and did it up like the oil pan and put it back on. I let it sit over night and got to work on the brakes the next morning.

 

So today I was working on the brakes. Much to the chagrin of a few folks, I kept the linked braking system intact, as I do not have an issue with them and I already have the Stainless Steel brake lines installed and didn't want an additional expense to replace all of that in addition to the extra work involved with swapping them out. So while the Stator cover was curing I also remounted my horn so that I can use the Pit Bull head lift stand without having to remove the horn each time. Although I haven't test fit the front cowl, it does look like it will work in this position. Hopefully I will get to the body panels within a week or two and I'll know for sure.



As some may have experience with, the linked braking system isn't all that complex but it does have a few more bleed points than the standard fare. Ultimately it does require more diligence, it really is no different than a standard brake bleed. Having done this process more than a few times, it was relatively painless if not a little more time than the norm. I will say that speed bleeders do make this process go much faster! However, before I bled them, I did a thorough cleaning of the pistons just to make sure everything was nice and clean. I did this by removing the brake pads and using a "spacer " to keep the pistons from popping all the way out. It gives maximum exposure of the pistons to clean them.



I also used a "spacer" in between the pads when I bled them. This allowed me to do this with both wheels out of the way, not only making access easier but helps keep the wheels from getting any brake fluid on them.





I also figured while I was at it, I'd drill a safety wire hole in the oil drain bolt so that I can safety wire the bolt for easy tech inspections on track days. Note to self, get better drill bits! I ended up braking a few bits trying to do this but rather than take off and go to Home Depot or Sears for bits, I was able to get it done, albeit the loss of the few drill bits.

 

Nice D-- speed bleeders and a thorough cleaning of my calipers are in order as well----42000 miles, probably wouldn't hurt


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I thought the 5th Gens did not have a catalytic converter.

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98-99 5 Gens did not have catalytic converters, 00-01 did as well as O2 sensors. I actually added O2 bungs so I could keep the current stock ECU setup as I also plan on getting a tuning module that can use the sensors for "auto tuning".

 

SMH with a smile. Are we having fun yet. It's good to see this Viffer coming back to life.

 

looking good so far. I'm enjoying watching it all go back together.

 

"I'm not dead yet, feeling much better".

Keep it going!

 

Nice Monty Python reference! :thumb:

 

There - fixed it for you..

 

This is actually what someone said to me at a gas station, "I see you dress for the slide and not for the ride". So being that I was in my Stormtrooper uniform, I quickly pulled out my blaster and shot at the guy. Lucky for him, being a Stormtrooper, I missed him completely!

 

Now that's funny.

 

Sliding is way less painful than sudden stopping..layful:

 

Nice helmet. Finally had to give in and buy a new one last week-my over 15 year old Miguel Duhamel replica was worn out so ordered a Shoei RF1200 Marquez replica. Looks a lot like yours. Amazing how much lighter they've become. Btw your headers look great.

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Glad you got it. lol

As much as I'm sure it hurts to have a nice bike wadded up, do you enjoy rebuilding? After I have thrown a bike down the track and the awful feeling subsides I really enjoy wrenching in the garage.

 

I'm totally loving it, as much as it pained me to see the bike in the condition it was in, it feels twice as good to see it get better! I also like that I have a direct hand in getting it back on the road, vice having someone else do it. It maybe taking longer, it is both a learning experience and a great throwback for me. Back in HS and shortly after I was always working on my race vehicles and even my car at times. Then there was a big lull from then until more currently, where I didn't have the time and space to do much of my own work but now that I have my business established and more time (and slightly more space) I am glad to be back in the mix of tools and grease!

 

I thought so, enjoy!

 

Between family obligations, sneaking in a ride or two and helping others with their rides, I finally took some time today to do some more work on the bike. The remaining effort right now is the fairings. Although the original side fairings and front cowl are too far gone to be reused, luckily I had fairings in the waiting. I had found these for a steal on eBay a while back and had originally planned to have them cleaned up and painted and then swap out what was currently on the bike. Well, not that it still won't be that way, it's just now under different circumstances!

Although the two side fairings I had waiting were not greatly damaged or cracked, there were a few places that needed attention, so today I thought I'd make those repairs before prepping them for painting. However, before I began working on what would be fitted to the bike, I used the thoroughly damaged farings to test and practice my "welding" skills. Having watched many a YouTube video and even some small work I did on the original fairings, I took to them and made some test fixes before hitting the good stuff.

The old damaged side fairing.





Taping up the outside to help align the cracked pieces.


Stitching it up. That little figure 8 looking stitch is actually a piece of wire bent in an 'S' shape and embedded into the plastic to help give it a bit more strength. A "staple" of sorts.


Did some practice runs on corners and edges.





Then I took to the good pieces. This is a good shot of the 'S' staple I used above.


Nice and buried here.


I also used some plasti-fix on a broken tab on the front cowl.


As luck would have it, there was only one crack in the rear cowl, albeit a long one. This is just before I added the 'S" staple.