RobbieRobot Cafe Racer Project in pictures

Old head coming off whilst paint dries.

 

Spare head finish painted in silver.

 

Cylinder block being prepared to receive refurbished head.

 

Refurbished head in position.

 

The fitting of the refurbished head didn't go entirely problem free. I fitted new gaskets (both cylinder head and cam chain tunnel) but on initial torque-down it became apparent that there was a gap around the cam chain tunnel area. I removed the head again and realized that there was a significant difference in thickness between the head gasket and the tunnel seal gasket despite both being supplied in the same sealed kit. The tunnel gasket was about twice the thickness and was not compressing anywhere near enough. On close inspection I decided to discard the new tunnel seal gasket and refit the original one due to them being the same thickness and the fact that the original tunnel gasket was in excellent condition. New oil gallery seals and copper washes were used and everything was torqued up successfully. A compression test was next giving the following results. 1-135psi 2-115psi 3-115psi and 4-110psi. A re-check of the valve clearances proved a wise move as both no 3 and no 4 exhaust and inlet required re-shimming to bring them into spec despite having already done it on the bench. The exhaust and carbs were then fitted and by yesterday evening she fired up with minimum choke and sounded sweet. Next step is to vacuum sync the carbs and colortune. This should be far easier now because the spark plug threads are in perfect condition as opposed to the badly damaged threads in the head that has just been removed.
I have to say I am disappointed in the compression test results (mainly the variation) and adding a little oil to no 4 did significantly improve it, however as the engine ran ok before, I decided to carry on and finish the job and hopefully get it running reliably for the summer then I will be able to concentrate on performing a very extensive overhaul of the complete spare engine for future use. I guess that will be a project in itself but based on the inspection I've carried out so far it looks very promising.

 

Bravo!

CN

 

Still at it ! Keep up the good work. Love the fact you're not slowing down

 

Can't slow down when totally addicted.

 

Last Wednesday evening I rode my XJ 650 Café Racer over to a local pub to meet my friend and other members of the Tees, Wear and Tyne Triples club. A rather large gentleman on a lovely BSA rocket 3 powered Norton, known as a Nocket 3, (very similar to the one pictured below) also attended and parked very close to my bike. After a very enjoyable evening the Nocket 3 owner went to leave and began attempting to kick start his bike with his right foot whilst standing on the foot peg with his left foot. I wouldn't like to hazard a guess as to the combined force being transmitted through the side stand suffice to say that it snapped like a carrot resulting in said large gentleman and aforementioned Nocket 3 crashing against my bike and knocking it over so breaking their fall. Due to the fact that it was dark by the time the incident occurred I wasn't able to assess the damage until I arrived home. On close inspection I got away fairly lightly with a ripped seat, gouged right side engine cover, bent right side clip-on and cracked bar-end mirror. I contacted the large gentleman the following day and he apologised and offered to pay for the damage.

 

Nice day for a ride today. About 100 miles covered and she is running beautifully. The bike's 100% record is still intact for attracting total strangers during refueling. Each time the different guys have enquired about the bike and congratulated me on her looks. It's a nice feeling.

 

Just dug this photo out. It's me on my trusty Honda CB750K2 back in 1976.

 

f*** YEAH ^

 

My parents have engagement party photos printed on that exact same kind of paper, with the rounded edges. I'm not meaning to point out an age gap, but rather let you know that I was guessing 1975 before I read "1976" just by the texture on the photo. Pretty cool! Hopefully no one will ever guess the year of a picture of me by the quality of jpeg compression or the pixel sampling rate.

 

Your powers of observation are astounding. I wouldn't rule anything out regarding what may or may not be possible in the future. 'The times they are a changing'

 

Upon re-reading my post, I want to point out that the "Pretty cool!" was in reference to your picture itself. It was not me trying to sound like a blowhard looking for a pat on the back. That's what the rest of the post was for.

 

Heck ! I hope you kept those flares tucked to your socks/boots while riding..
Nice pic all the same 'satin finish' hmm..

Best

james

 

Cheers James. I used to wrap the flares around my shins (a couple of times) to get them into my boots as can be verified by the creases. We'd set up camp in Scarborough near Oliver's Mount for the road races. Barry Sheene v Mick Grant was always the highlight. Yes! Satin finish. Probably trueprint ha ha!

 

This is the result of not using petrol/gas resistant lacquer. Re-spray required. Lesson learned.