R65 Project Going Back Together

[wilcom]

 Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner. Ive been using this on my cars for years. Spray on, let soak 10 min, rinse off. I then gave the stubborn spots a dose of brake cleaner.

 

I ran right down and picked up some Scrubbing Bubbles. When it didn't do anything I saw that I got "kitchen cleaner". There are a couple of Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom products... bathroom cleaner, toilet, tile, etc. Is it the straight "Bathroom cleaner" product that you use

thanks

[flybot]

 Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner. Ive been using this on my cars for years. Spray on, let soak 10 min, rinse off. I then gave the stubborn spots a dose of brake cleaner.

 

I ran right down and picked up some Scrubbing Bubbles. When it didn't do anything I saw that I got "kitchen cleaner". There are a couple of Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom products... bathroom cleaner, toilet, tile, etc. Is it the straight "Bathroom cleaner" product that you use

thanks

Sorry for the confusion. It is the bathroom cleaner. I will go back and edit the previous posts.

EDIT: I guess the ability to edit goes away after a while. Cant change previous posts. Sorry, and I hope no one else gets the wrong stuff.

[flybot]

Here is a pic of the cleaner that I great results with on certain parts. It worked great on the wheels (snowflake), fork lowers, rear drive, and transmission. It did not help the cylinders, head cover, or the front engine cover. In fact it made them look dark greyish.

Its an weak acid. Dilute it 4 parts water and one part cleaner. You just apply it with a sponge, let is soak for a few minutes and rinse off. You may want to rub stuborn areas. It goes on soapy and then gets like shaving cream. Its not going to burn you if it touches you, but I would wear gloves and be careful with it.

I was a bit worried when I first used it. I went out to the garage the next day hoping I wouldnt find a melted pile of aluminum. All was well.

[wilcom]

Sorry for the confusion. It is the bathroom cleaner.

I was the one that was confused, you stated "bathroom cleaner" in your first post. I just went willi nilly when I was on the cleaner isle at the local super market and saw 7 different "Scrubbing Bubbles" products.

[flybot]

I got the swing arm on yesterday and a few other pieces. I should have it back on two wheels this afternoon.

I did the pulse air delete. I like the nice and neat cleanness of the airbox.

[Adrian]

Its looking really good Flybot - I took the reflectors off the slides today and underneath was the original shiny alloy - looking just like your piks so you've done amazingly well -= so what process (es) did you use forthe heads barrells etc Thansk for any info and help you can give mate - Adrian .........

[flybot]

Nothing special used on the engine that wasnt already mentioned with the Simple Green, Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Cleaner and a stiff plastic brush. There are several different metals used on the engine and tranny and they all react differently to different cleaning methods. The cylinders and valve covers just seem naturaly dull to me. I have them really clean, but thats as far as Im taking them. I tried various chems on the front engine cover, but nothing really worked very well. I ended up just using an abrasive plastic pad and then steel wool. I wanted a more factory look and not polished. But it looks more polished now. Oh well.

Like I said, the bike was parked with only 6000 miles on it. So it wasnt weathered too bad to begin with. I guess I got lucky.  

[Adrian]

Okay thanks Flybot - I ahve tried several different types of cleaning ideas - your bathroom foaming cleaner has given great results on the fork sliders with just one quick test - thanks again its been really useful info thats working well - Adrian ..........

[flybot]

Here it is up on its own two feet. Im so psyched to see it going together.

I hate the auto-retract side stand. I forgot about that untill I put it back on last night. It looks like to me if I saw off the pin at the end of the kickstand hinge bolt, it will stay down on its own. There is no other reason for the extended pin other than to keep the spring off center when the stand is down. I discovered this when installing. I had the hinge bolt in partialy and it would stay down on its own because the spring plate thing didnt bump the bolt extension. Any thoughts? I searched and Googled but didnt see anything specifc for an '83 R65 except the Brown stand.

[luckyd20]

Great job! I just can't get over how clean your engine looks!!

[montmil]

Great job! I just can't get over how clean your engine looks!!

It is a thing of beauty, yes.

Fingers and toes crossed for flybot that it remains as pristine after that first 100 mile shakedown.  

[flybot]

Just a quick update on the progress.

I got all the electrics hooked back up and tested it. All good, after all these years.

Brake caliper rebuilt. Had a hard time getting the old pucks out. I thought I was going to have to get a new caliper, but finaly got them to give. All clean inside which suprised me. The seals had just gotten hard as a rock.

I have the single disk/Brembo caliper setup. Impossible to find the correct hose. Turned out ok tho, because I found a fab shop that make a perfect repro for half the price of most hoses-$45.

I got the tank back from the shop. It survived, although the acid treatment they used on the inside was hard on the paint. Looks like water spots. It will all be ok in the end, but Im having to do a 1000/2000 grit sanding, then buff and compound it out. Plus there is a few surface rust spots on the underside that need to be treated.

One issue Im going to have to deal with is the petcock connection on the tank has lost most of its threads from what ever the tank restoration process was. Its like the threads got eatten away a bit. Im not quite sure what to do on this.

So, last items are: finish up the tank, rebuild the carbs, Restore the exhaust system, refill all the fluids.

[flybot]

The carbs are rebuilt and rigged up. Only two items left before I can fire this thing up:
- Restore the exhaust pipes using steel wool. I havnt looked at them in a while, but I think they were in pretty good shape.
- Improvise the connection from the tank to the petcock. For some reason there are no threads left on the tank fitting. I think it happened at the tank restoration shop. I will link the tank to the valve with a small link of hose. I still need a fitting to go on the valve so I can connect it with hose.

Pics later (if anyone cares)

[MR.E]

looks brilliant,
Looking forward to final pics!

Well done

[Mike V]

Flybot,

Great job!  I may have missed part of the thread but regarding your Pulse Air conversion...be sure to plug the small vacuum take-off nipple in the rear of the air box.  You may very well have done this after the photo was taken.

Tank threads - you may try to remove the petcock nut, apply some fine grinding compound on the nut threads and tank threads (sparingly) and try to clean up the threads that way after using a small brass brush to clean them up.  If the male threads on the tank are seriously damaged this may be a futile attempt.  

Bike is gorgeous - well done.

-Mike V.