[Harsh]

Well I tried to assemble the engine today, but failed. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until I tried to get the rocker boxes on. I could get one side on with some gentle caressing from the palm of my hand, but the other side absolutely would not go on. I tried putting the opposite side that I was working on first to see if that did anything. Nope. I tried to get them both on at the same time. Big helping of nope. I tried to adjust the rockers to their loosest state. Nope. I noticed that there was no slack in the cam chain at all. I pressed on the slipper as hard as I could and no matter what position I had the crank in the chain didn't move. So I decided to take everything apart and see what the deal was. I didn't see anything out of order.

Unfortunately, when I took the head off the corner of the gasket tore off so now I need to source a new head gasket. I looked on Bore-Tech's site, but they don't sell a stock head gasket and they are out of stock on the top end gasket kit. Other than going to the dealership I really have no idea where to look for one and they probably want as much for the one gasket as a whole top end kit costs.

 

[Harsh]

Holy crap...the dealership wants $53 for the head gasket. I didn't pay that much for the entire kit from Bore-Tech.

 

[Harsh]

I sanded and painted the outer covers for the gauges and polished up the back covers a little bit. Once done I assembled them. This took a little bit of ingenuity. In order to get the ring back on you have to have something solid to tap against. So off to Lowes I went. I finally found something that would work...a 4"atrium grate. The inside ribs have to be ground down a little bit in order for the bottom of the case to rest on the lip of the atrium. I wrap some painters tape around the case just to protect it a little bit. Once that is complete is a simple task of tapping over the ring. if you just start in one spot and start working around you will have very little ring available to tap down when you get about 2/3 of the way around. To help combat this I tap over the ring at the 12 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 9 o'clock, then 3 o'clock. After that I move around the ring sort of like you install a tire until everything is as flat as can be. My wife has a little hammer that work great for the initial tapping, but once I get the four corners down I use a brass drift to aid in tapping down the ring.




Ribs ground down a little bit











Finished




Now the speedo side requires you to cut out a notch so that the trip reset can poke through. A few seconds with my hand saw and it was done. If you have removed the rubber gasket on the speedo make sure you orientate it correctly since it has a notch. After that it is the same process.








My fork seals came in today so I put the forks together as well. I may end up taking them apart again to swap out the springs, but I will see how they feel once everything is back together.

 

[Harsh]

Had to go back to work yesterday so I guess progress will slow down a little bit.

Since I am waiting on a replacement head gasket I decided to work on the wiring. So that is what I did for the past couple of days. Cleaning up a few splices and getting rid of the old regulator and rectifier for a more modern single unit. I also scrubbed down each and every bullet connector so I should have nice clean connections. Added in an electronic flasher because I am converting all bulbs to LED to reduce the electrical load on the bike since the charging system struggles to keep up. I just got done taking apart the hand controls to clean the connections and so I can figure out what I want to do about making the housings all one color. I think they are anodized black, but over the years the tops turn grey. Not sure if I want to try and paint them or have the PC'd. I am worried that the PC would be to thick which would cover the portions I am going to have to paint red later on. I would buy new ones to make it easy, but they are $100 each. Yah that **** aint gonna happen.

Woot Woot. The new gasket arrived yesterday so I guess today I will hopefully be able to get the engine completely assembled.

 

[Harsh]

I had lots of trouble getting the side covers on the engine. They are an interference fit part with the cam shaft so there isn't a lot of wiggle room. Upon a suggestion I took apart the cam and cam cover this morning to trim some of the rubber off of the cam gear so the chain will sit a little deeper on the gear. I think that helped a lot. I can visibly see that the chain sits deeper on the gear. Put everything back together and was able to use the same technique I used yesterday to get the side covers on. They are an interference fit part that the cam shaft rides in so there is very little wiggle room. I just had to make sure there was no pressure on the cam shaft from the rockers. She is all together minus some covers that I will put on once it is in the frame.




I also cured (baked in a toaster oven) the hand controls. All that is left on them is to paint in the areas that are supposed to be red.

 

[Harsh]

Alrighty...I painted the controls this morning. What an absolute pain that was. I knew it was going to be tough, but damn it was exhausting. I ended up using a pin to apply the paint. I didn't do nearly as good of a job as I had hoped, but I really don't know what else I could have done to make it look better.




Cleaned up the bars with some Prep-N-Etch and installed the controls. Not too shabby.




I also took apart one of the air filters. These things are stupid expensive. I think the cheapest I have seen them is $120 for the pair. instead of paying that I am going to get some Uni Foam and glue it in place. You can see how nasty the original paper filter is.




I also started the process of stripping the paint off of the side covers. I had to get another set since the ones that came with the bike were cracked. The set I got had a lot of cracks in the paint that went all the way to the plastic. They had been painted so many times some of the paint was flaking off and it was thick. I tried a number of things to cut through the paint efficiently, but nothing really worked too well. I counted 6 layers of paint in addition to primer between each color of paint. They started off as gold, then maroon, green, red, brown, and finally a dark purple. The best thing that cut through the paint was good old DOT 3/4 brake fluid. It takes some time to start working and then a little attention with some steel wool, but it is working. I don't figure the brake fluid will harm the plastic since most brake reservoirs are made of plastic and they seem to hold up just fine. I will just make sure to clean them thoroughly after I get all of the paint off.

 

[Harsh]

Well the brake fluid seemed to do the trick. I let it sit over night and it bubbled up the paint fairly well. The brown layer wasn't paint, it was body filler. That stuff was very difficult to get through as was the second color the cover was painted. Unfortunately, the not cracked covers I bought did have a crack in one of them. It was right next to the tab. I mixed up some Hysol and was able to get it inside the crack and made a nice support on the back side to help keep it from cracking again. I will say using the brake fluid is not clean in any way, shape, or form. I used a razor blade to help scrape and slice through the layers of paint. If I was a patient man I would put on a coat and occasionally re-apply more and just let it work, but I am not. So I would put on a coat, work on something for a bit, then scrape, re-apply........After I was done getting the paint off I thoroughly cleaned them with some degreaser I get from work.




I cleaned, de-rusted, and painted the air boxes. I know they will not be seen, but they are nice and clean looking now.




I have a set of each of these. Which one is correct for a K4? Neither set is in great condition and they both look like someone attempted to paint them, but didn't do a good job. These are the better of the two.

 

[Harsh]

Well today was my first full day at work since my surgery and I must say i didn't like it one bit. Not only was I not used to getting up at 0430, but I didn't get to spend nearly as much time working on the bike. All I accomplished was sanding down the Hysol on the crack that was in the side cover. It is nice and solid now. I also picked up some Uni foam and adhered it to the screen. Tomorrow after it is thoroughly dried I will adhere it to the covers.

 

[Harsh]

This having to go to work stuff is really cutting into my available time.

I tried my hand at truing the wheels, but didn't do so well so I passed them off to the guy that did my last set of wheels. Since then I think I figured out what I did wrong so I will give it a go on the next bike.

I also dropped of a bunch of parts at the powder coater today. They should be ready next week. Once I get those back I can actually start assembly.

 

[Harsh]

Started work on the tank. Popped off the side emblems and cleaned the inside of the tank. There was minimal rust, but looked like there was a little bit of a varnish so I poured in some MEK and sloshed it around for a while. All varnish removed. Rinsed it out and poured in some Prep-N-Etch. Sloshed it around and let it sit for a while. I had the tank propped up on it's nose and inadvertently bumped the table and off she went. I now have a nice dent in the right rear corner of the tank. Nothing my paint and body guy can't fix, but it would have been nice to have an unmolested tank.

As previously mentioned the bike was originally red. Sometime after it was painted black then maroon. I stripped all of the paint off and found a few rust spots. You can see a strip in the center of the tank on the first pic. Gave the tank a nice coating of PNE to keep it from rusting until it gets painted.





Still waiting on my powder coat and wheels to be completed.

I ordered an LED headlight retro fit kit. Looks fairly simple to install an should brighten things up a lot. If it works as I hope I may do one for the 750 as well. I already opened up the OEM sealed headlight in preparation. I am not going to use the halo ring. This should reduce the current draw a lot while providing better visibility.

20W 2000lm 8000K Motorcycle LED Headlamp w/ Angel Eye (12V) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

 

[Harsh]

Pretty much ready for the painter. Just some minor clean up left.






The dent doesn't look so bad once the paint was removed.

 

[Harsh]

Finished up a few other parts that will receive paint.

 

[Harsh]

Powder coat...in all it's glory.






The fuel line I also ordered came in. I think someone might be color blind, because it certainly doesn't look clear to me.

 

[Harsh]

Spent part of the day tapping the bolt holes and cleaning the ground points. Then I mounted the engine in the frame. It went in extremely easy even with the exhaust studs installed. It is starting to come together slowly.

 

[Harsh]

Well updates seem to be slower and slower. I was recently given a promotion at work so my days are a lot more full. I am now the Command Senior Chief for my squadron.

Anyway, I received and installed my new swingarm bushings. I kind of wish they weren't covered up by the rubber covers because they look so good.
I was able to get the swingarm installed, the wiring harness, and a few other bits.








I have the lower triple and stem in the freezer so hopefully tomorrow I will be able to install the bearings. However, I am a little concerned about the stack height. When I measured the old set and the new set side by side (including seals) the new set was slightly taller. From what I have read most people have to use one of the washers. It doesn't look like I should have to use one at all. I am worried about the headlight ears lining up correctly.

 

[Harsh]

My lower back has been hurting pretty bad so my time working on the bike has been limited. However, I finally received the LED headlight so I was able to install that. I didn't follow the writeup on it as I elected to use the rubber strip that was in the sealed unit. I put a thin bead of silicone in the corner of the mount then pressed in the rubber strip. I then put a thin bead of silicone in the corner of the rubber strip then put the glass on it. I pressed pretty hard against the glass to push it into the rubber while wrapping the entire assembly in duct tape. Set it aside to let the silicone cure overnight.

While I wasn't able to press the glass as deep as it was originally I was able to get it deep enough to be able to fold the metal over the lip of the glass. I could see the silicone just eking out between the glass and the metal so I am confident I have a nice weather proof seal.







I felt I needed to modify the back of the bucket a bit. In order to allow for the wires to enter the bucket and allow some cooling I had to open up the hole a some. I quick test fit showed that I should be able to adhere the LED box inside the bucket against one of the flat sides.


OEM and modified.



I also received my PAMCO electronic ignition so I installed that. My local electronics shop is closed on the weekends so I will have to wait until Monday to get the correct connectors I need to make everything plug and play. I have the electronic box hidden in the frame tube which should hide the box and wires nicely. I am going to secure it with some industrial double sided foam tape. Right now I am leaving it loose until I get the electrical connections done.






I was also able to get the bearings installed and the triples mounted. And because I wanted to see how it looked I slid the forks into the trees. My tires are on order and as soon as the guy that trues my wheels gets back from vacation I will get this baby into a roller.

 

[Harsh]

Worked on some wiring yesterday since my connector kit and crimp tool finally arrived. With the tool I can make factory type connections. Nothing too exciting, but it is progress. I managed to make a quick connect for the electronic ignition and it tucks very neatly into the frame rail. I also did a little rewiring to the front of the harness as well and added a couple extra ground wires. I also got the bike off the ground. It now sits neatly on the stands. If you look closely I gave the carb bodies a little love. I didn't like the dirty grey look they had so I cleaned them up some to make them shine a little bit. Sprocket and chains are on order. I went with stock gearing but did a 520 conversion.

 

[Harsh]

Connected the wiring that would be in the headlight bucket yesterday. Everything works as advertised and the engine turned over when I thumbed the starter. I had a weird issue with the turn signal indicator LED in the gauge. It would only illuminate when the left turn signals were on. All of the turn signals worked like they were supposed to. I swapped it out for a spare LED and it works correctly. Weird since the power for it comes form the same place regardless of the turn signal switch. The LED headlight is crazy bright. I will be purchasing one of those for my 750.

 

[Harsh]

Well nothing ever seems to go smoothly. I took the wheels up to Cycle Gear to get balanced since they do it for free. The front took a bit more weight than I would liked to have seen, but it balanced. The rear has a noticeable high spot. You can see it when it rotates in the machine. They got it balanced, but I don't like it. I may take it somewhere else and get them both re-trued.

Regardless, I decided to mount the wheels and get the bike into a roller. The front goes on without issue. The rear however is another story. The sprocket I ordered does not fit correctly. The machined space is too great which allows the pin/bolt to free spin so it will never get tight. I have already emailed the place I bought it and am awaiting a reply.

Stock on left Rebel Gears on right.


Stock


Rebel Gears

 

[Harsh]

Got the front wheel on correctly. I noticed after the first time I installed it I had the wheel axle sleeve backwards. I gave everything a wipe down/buff before I installed them, but I still got fingerprints all over the place. It is going to be a pain keeping it clean and shiny.

As she sits.