Frayed Clutch Cables, And Making New Ones.

When you alter anything from standard...
Inevitably something must change with it. The clutch cable was way too long since I've dropped the handlebars down, and although I'd managed to 'lose' some of its length, it wasn't quite right. 

But it worked; until it frayed. So I bought a kit to make a custom one myself. 

Having seen the job done by Gordon at Lucas Motorcycles, Ross-on-Wye loads of times over the years, I figured I knew all the tricks of the trade. Whenever I had a cable issue on my bikes as a kid, I'd be straight up the dual-carriageway to Ross and he'd make one for about ten quid. Bargain, and that was at any time up until 9.00pm everyday of the week... the guy was a legend!

So if you have an issue with cable length, an odd bike or the original part is too expensive, take a look on eBay and check out the kits available. This one came from the UK and is a quality bit of kit, nylon lined for smoother action, oo'er missus.

DANGER! Scared Of Using Engine Flush?

Skeptical, or concerned?

You will find different opinions on using engine flush from every mechanic out there. Some say never use it no matter what. Others put it in at every oil change.

So why the difference in opinion? What are the pros and cons?

Valvoline detergent-based engine flush.

Bloody Exhausted! (I'm so funny...Suzuki GSX Humour).

Link Pipes Done.
With the merge collector done, I needed to make the links to the reverse cone mega's. I decided to cut up loads of little sections of stainless pipe to get the correct angles for the link pipes. I could have done it with fewer, longer sections but decided the "loads of welds look" was the way forward. Maybe, when you know how to get the pretty colouring of welds to work for you, but it looks like a jumbled mess now. 

Still, it's on and the bike sounds bloody great! And it was a good experience too, giving me plenty of ideas for the next go, and that's how we learn. I've been wondering how the bike would sound for ages, and I'm not disappointed. You can hear it in a video at the end...

Petrol Tanks, Filling Dents, Priming... Meh!

Unskilled.
Not my favourite job if I'm honest. I spent ten months prepping cars for paintwork a long time ago, but I think the very little I actually learnt has slipped away to oblivion. The guys I worked with made it look so easy. 

I'd spend hours applying filler, rubbing it back, going too low and having to start again. They seemed to be able to perfect it in minutes. But, alas, the tank I wanted to keep in bare metal has just too many dents and marks for me to be happy with it. So, I decided to break out the filler. 

First job was to get the bottom ready for primer. Once painted I can refit the fuel gauge sender and tap, and double check for leaks before spending hours on the top.

Flatted with 360 grit paper, it was soon good enough for some filler primer. 

Exhaust Fabrication on the GSX750 Cafe - Part 1.

It's simple.
All I need to do is make a basic two-into-one link pipe to join the downpipes/headers to the reverse-cone mega's. The headers are made of mild steel (possible GS1000) and, in my wisdom, I decided to make the link pipe out of stainless. 

Because it'll look awesome!

The first thing that struck me was how hard it is to fit all that into the space I had left. Ideally, the collector would have collected a little closer to the front of the bike, but I'll work with what I bought on eBay (for the right money). 

The pipes arrived painted in some sort of grey, but rubbing it back slightly with 400 grit wet & dry had them looking great. Not bare metal, but more rough and ready, hmm... well I like  them.

Greasing The Suzuki Speedo Drive.

Funnily enough... grease dries out and goes hard after thirty years of getting mashed in a worm drive, but how do you get the speedo drive apart without ruining the seal? Once they're put together, it's nigh on impossible to remove it — and you can't buy the drive complete now, let alone get the right seal! 

So, after a lot of messing around with a spare one I have, I decided to have a stab at getting it apart with minimal damage. I came to the conclusion that a 2.5mm hole drilled through the body of the drive itself would allow access for a small punch to tap out the seal. If all goes to plan, a small dab of silicone in the hole will seal it up once finished. Job jobbed.

Symptoms.
Just turning the tabbed washer will tell you how bad it is. If it stops, gets stuck and generally feels tight, it needs to be stripped, cleaned and greased. Leave it and the tabbed washer will fail, maybe even the worm drive and gear itself. The drive in my ESD has had the tabs brazed back on at some stage. And this spare drive has quite a bit of wear on the inner tabs where it fits into the gear.

Whatever happens, it would be good to take a look inside and see what can be fixed. With a centre pop first, and then very slowly with the drill I had enough room for a small punch to tap on the back of the seal.

The Suzuki GSX750ESD Continues — At Last.

As projects go... this one is dragging. 
I've been doing too much other, altogether mundane, stuff rather than concentrating on the cafe. But I have a couple of weeks off now where I should be able to make an impact. I also had some business cards made recently, purely to advertise the blog, but I want to get busier on the bike before I start passing them round. The backs of them are useful as a service log too, so keep them in your wallet and you'll know when the old beaut needs another oil change.