You know how you start to get this sinking feeling a little ways into a project? The feeling is in the pit of your stomach, the back of your throat, and you know things are not going to play out the way you hoped they would. That’s where I am with the R 60/2. I’m trying to stay optimistic but we all know that’s not my strong suit.
The plan was to replace the swing arm boot, which was torn from the get-go when I bought the bike, fix (reposition) the kick start lever and change all the oils, then start riding the bike. I recruited George to help in case we had to pull the engine mounting bolts/studs, but the plan I had from the beginning was to remove the final drive, unbolt the driveshaft and squeeze the boot in the easy way. G approved of that plan.
First thing I did was drain the oil from the final drive. I got a thing marked in CCs to measure what came out because 200 ccs are supposed to go in. Less than 50 ccs came out and it was thick, gross and sludgy. It looked BAD but the paste on the drain plug was paste and not shiny or sharp (no visible metal shards). That’s good. But the small amount was certainly alarming. The swing arm was totally dry – not entirely unexpected since the boot’s been torn for who knows how long. Still not great. I’m glad Jinks’ test ride a couple weeks ago was VERY short.
I lost my little bag of crush washers (NOTE ON 28 OCT – Found it! Taped to the cardboard protecting the oil pan gaskets I bought.) so I was hoping I had a stash of R 90/6 ones that would work – I had enough for the final drive and swing arm at any rate. I need to compare sizes and see if they all match (spoiler alert – they don’t).
The final drive came off fine, but the previous owner did not install a gasket the last time he worked on it. What the f*#$, Chester? Sloppy work! It was easy to unbolt the drive shaft from the transmission – super fiddly, but easy. George brought a 12-point box-end wrench with a “small wall” that made the job not miserable. I tried doing it with one of my six-point wrenches; it wouldn’t work AT ALL. The wall of the box end was too thick! I thought there might be enough room to wiggle the torn boot out and the new boot in with just doing that, but there wasn’t. The final drive had to come off, and the boot wiggled on with some grunting and cursing. G recommended tackling the kick start lever before reassembling the drive shaft/swing arm, so we did that next.
Well, I say we did that, but what we really did was fight with it for an hour and then give up because it would not. come. off! The pin was hard to get out at first, but it came out. The trick is to run the nut down to the end of the threaded portion of the pin, then spray some lube/penetrating oil in the hole. Then tap on the flat surface made by the nut with a hammer until the pin starts to move. Once it’s gotten moving well, take the nut off and use a drift to punch the pin the rest of the way out.
The tapered part of the pin was pretty well buggered. Not wrecked, but not smooth either. Used a lot of penetrating oil to get it out. Messy. The lever would move an inch or so, but got stuck tight at the end of the shaft. Likely the transmission will have to come out to see what’s wrong. Best case it’s just stuck and maybe some heat will do the trick. Worst case the transmission has to come apart to replace the whole shaft/gear unit, which costs over $300. At that point I’d just rebuild the transmission, do the seals and maybe even the clutch simply because it’s all open. We all know my luck, so it looks like I’ll be learning how to rebuild a transmission.
AN ASIDE: All the cables have to be replaced. George noticed they were wrong just from looking at them – AND improperly routed to boot. All the ends are bent and messed up, which limits the ability to adjust them.
I figured I’d get SOMETHING accomplished though – besides the successful replacement of the swing arm boot, I don’t want to minimize that I actually got something done – so we removed the fenders and fuel tank so I can get them pinstriped. We used this pump thingie Morton’s has to suck most of the fuel out of the tank. Got nearly all of it, the little bit left in the lobes came out into a drain pan (which G wisely told me to get – I’d have just popped the hose off and got that shit all over the place) when I took the crossover hose off. Maybe I can figure out some kind of quick disconnect for that crossover, since it runs under the frame and wire loom. It’s not stock but will make removing the tank easier.
We had to disconnect the three wires for the tail/brake light that run through the rear fender. The junction is open to the weather but protected (ish) under the bench seat. I want to find a waterproof solution for that. The rear fender bolts were all mismatched like the seat bolts were, and one of them was also missing. There’s one down low, two up by the electrical junction, two on each side, then the ones that secure the stabilizing arms on the part the folds up. (The hinge of which was fully painted over, making it difficult and a bit scary to fold up.) Those last ones on the arms have cap nuts and a special shouldered bolt. The front fender came off with the wheel in place, but it likely won’t go back on easily that way.
Those will all be good places to start using the stainless steel fastener kit from The Bolt Guy. Expensive ($210) but free shipping. For the kit’s weight, that’s not nothing. Of course it was USPS “if it fits, it ships” Priority Mail, so he used the smallest box possible and TONS OF SHREDDED PAPER. Who does that?
I went back to Morton’s yesterday to move the bike over to Motoworks. I need to sit down with those guys to map out what needs done, how much of it I can do and what it’s going to cost.
The further into the bike I get, the less happy I am with its condition. Chester made some really poor choices. At least I know better now what to look for, and that makes me a better resource for other people searching for a vintage bike.