2007 May 04: Assembly (5.25 hours)
Updated:
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Pulled the rear wheel and discovered the source of the scraping...the lip in one area of the rear drive had been very-very-very slightly bent. I gave it a careful smack with a rubber hammer, reinstalled the rear wheel, and no more scraping. I vaguely recall accidentally dropping the rear drive on my rubber standing mat when I was handling it at one point in time. I remember chiding myself for my clumsiness and feeling very lucky that I hadn't broken the lip. Some times you get the bear...some times the bear gets you. I got the bear on this one!
Cleaned up the threads in the tank for the petcocks...some of the sealant that had been used on the tank had clogged the threads.
Secured petcocks to the tank...positioning properly with fiber shimming washers.
Fit the rubber grommets and steel top-hats
into where the tank mounting bolts will secure the tank to the frame. A little bit of silicone sprayed on all the surfaces makes this job a breeze.
Fit the battery and a plastic tray. Created a battery acid catch bottle out of an old pill bottle. I filled the bottom part way with baking soda and drilled a hole in the lid for the battery acid tube. A tiny hole in the lid serves as a vent. The bottle is secured directly to the battery using Velcro. The vent tube exits the battery and does a complete loop before emptying into the catch bottle.
Fit the battery hold down bracket and bolts. Discovered the threads on the battery hold down bolts do not extend far enough (due to the shorter than original battery). Rather than cut additional threads, I simply fit tubular spacers to each battery hold down bolt.
Connected the cables to the battery.
Finished wiring the front turn signals. A quick test showed all four turn signals operating as intended.
Tested the tail light/brake light...both are functioning properly.
Lubricated the throttle and enricher (choke) cables.
Assembled the cable splitter for the throttle and enricher (choke cables). I applied a liberal amount of grease to the cable splitter.
Connected all the cables and made the initial adjustments to obtain the proper amount of cable free play. The upper enricher (choke) cable sheath was too long and was holding the enricher plungers open. Fortunately, I was able to cut back part of the sheath and make it function perfectly.
Polarized the generator field windings.
Connected the electrical wires to the generator.
Checked the indicator lights on the dash...everything is illuminating properly.
Fit the generator cover in place.
Secured the electrical wires in the C
channel portion of the frame with zip ties.
Fit the tank and ensured the wires and cables were run properly.
Cut, fit, and clamped the fuel lines...complete with the stock X crossover, miniature stainless host clamps, and translucent fuel line.
Fiddled with the side stand securing bolt. If I inserted it from the bottom, the spring cleared the head of the bolt but the header pipe would contact the threads. Inserting it from the top provided plenty of room for the header pipe...but then the spring hit the threads on the bottom. I finally came up with a compromise. I inserted the bolt from the bottom, but used a couple of 12 mm stainless steel flat washers to push the head of the bolt down a little farther. Then, using just a 10 mm lock nut on top, I got the clearance I needed. This may not have been a problem if I hadn't wanted to use the header pipe to lower frame rail clamps.