Stripping and Rebuilding Do & Do not

[Wingnut]

Right lads starting the strip on Thursday night.

Why?

Bikes 1991 imported from UK . Frame starting to show some rust mostly at the back.
Going to shot blast allot of the non plastic and powder coat the lot black.
Rear wheel being rebuilt.
I have never taken a bike to bits and to be honest I'm worried that I'm going to unearth more problems that I didn't know about , and secondly will it ever be the same again , I really like the bike and want to get it back into tip top condition.

I know some of the masters here have answered these questions 100's of time's and thanks for the encouragement so far.

What I dont want to do is break components down too much for example breaks , should be able to remove with out draining down or disconnecting levers .


I could do with a short list.

Jonny.

[BobA]

Your digital camera is your best friend for a strip down.

TAKE LOADS OF PICS. You cannot take too many!

Pay particular attention to the way control cables and wiring are routed around the frame and engine.

You are right, strip as little as possible, so try to keep things as sub assemblies for now. Each sub assembly can be stripped later.

Put nuts & bolts back where they came from (even if you intend to replace them), as bolt lengths and diameters can vary. Having a big bag of mystery bolts at re-assembly time will outfox even the best Honda engineer!

This is how I stripped my RD03.

I did this on my own, but to be honest it would have been so much easier with an extra pair of hands. If you have the facility to secure the bike down at the engine removal stage, please do so for safety. The engine is fairly heavy and fiddly to get out, but it can be done by one person and a lot of sweating!

On the centrestand, remove battery, then strip all bodywork, seat and tank.
Remove exhaust system.
Remove all lights, recording wiring routes and where connectors are.
Remove complete rear subframe as one unit (4 bolts), leaving light, indicators, cowlings and rack attached.
Remove CDI
Remove complete front subframe (2 bolts) with clocks, headlamps attached and unplug all connectors recording where each sits on the front subframe.
Carefully remove the loom, disconnecting horn, coils, sender units, rad fan etc and recording what connects where.
Remove carbs, and plug inlets with clean rags
Disconnect all cables from the engine.
Remove chain, rear wheel, brake and master cylinder, and swingarm (bike should remain upright on centrestand and front wheel)
Remove fuel pump, and air box (which comes out downwards and back)
Wrap a tie down strap securely around the outside of the engine V to use as a handle for lifting engine out of the frame.
Undo all the engine mounts and remove the engine out of the RIGHT side of the frame.
Undo pinch bolts on top yoke, the stem nuts, and remove the yoke allowing complete front end to be dropped out of frame.
You should be left with a frame and a centrestand to remove.


Obviously, before you send the frame off to the powdercoaters, de-grease as much as possible especially in the little nooks and crannies so that oils don't seep out when the frame gets heated for the coating process. Also, use old bolts to plug threaded captive nuts on the frame, just to stop Mr Powdercoater filling all the threads up so you can't reassemble without tapping all the threads again.


Good Luck


Bob

[Wingnut]

Hey Bob
Thanks for putting that together for me man . Right pic's pic's and notes.

Thanks for the tips Bob.

Jonny

[craigrevo]

Don't get over whelmed when it comes to the rebuild, the rebuild is always easier than the strip down, it just looks harder. Take your time and enjoy it, you will always feel a little different on the bike after a full strip down but that is just natural and will pass very quickly. Bringing a huge smile and sense of pride. good luck

[Wingnut]

craigrevo
Thanks craigrevo , I was forever messing about with Land Rovers and In the end I got out of them because of the costs and the never ending quest that becomes Land Rover gets right under your skin , an addiction , well I got off that drug and it was hard even when I see one on the road I still get the feeling ,. I jumped ship and cleared out the shed , but the same things happening all over again with the Twin , started by looking for a Haynes Manual and **** it all if Im not back at square one . Two wheels instead of four , the same history of ground breaking engineering, history , victory's , mechanics , body treatment , electrical faults , suppliers , hard to find parts (wheels RD04) . The one great addition to this addiction is the XRV.ORG team and all the people here who give out all the encouragement and tips and advice , repeatedly to the new members and it takes effort to take pics do a write up and upload and answer questions , and for that I'm going to make the effort as well because its the done thing here.

So thank you for your personal encouragement and hopefully Ill be able to do my self proud and keep up the tradition of ordanary folk doing extraordanary things in garden sheds.

Jonny

[vinas]

What I dont want to do is break components down too much for example breaks , should be able to remove with out draining down or disconnecting levers .

Jonny.

Hi Jonny!
I only back from trip around Europe and thinking complete rebuild my RD4 Don't worry to much about breaks i done my last year, its easy enough and anyway if you do rebuilding you should change break lines and piston seals. I'm in Dublin so if stock give shout. Val

[Wingnut]

Sound Val , with a bit of luck we will hook up for a spin .

jonny

[anton88]

Plenty of clean cardboard boxes to store bigger bits youve taken off the bike - dont leave them scattered all over the floor - somethings bound to get lost or broken.

After you take bolts and nuts off components and removed said item, if you can, put the bolt and nut back in the hole so you know where it goes.

Freezer bags to store smaller/dissmantled items, and use permanant marker to write where they go/what theyre for.

Electrical connectors - clean them up before you pull them apart, and again using permanant marker write A on each one , then B for the next pair, C and so on - makes it piss easy plugging them all back together at a later date.

If no big connectors, wrap some white insulation tape on the cables again as above marking them to join again later on.

Clean bits before you put them away into boxes/bags.

Keep a written list of what you need to order/replace as you go along and order them asap - infuriating to find you need to wait for a part whilst re-assembling.

And as said above, plenty of pics

[Wingnut]

Anton88

Mate thanks for dialing in on this . Yeah freezer bags ,numbered and stored. Components cleaned and painted polisher then bagged ,small steps . Spares ordered and lined up for rebuild . Didn't think of that , thats one mistake avoided.

Im not going to go as far off menu as you did , but Ill be in your dust mate.


Jonny

[anton88]

No worries pal .

If your unsure of anything just ask - someone on here allways to help, and dont rush things - theres allways (usually) tomorrow.