1998 Steamer Restoration

[Joshorilla]

That is including parts, I need a new slide spring, but the diaphragms are good and the other rubbers look good.

The new parts are going to be new jets + a slide spring + anything else the find, but I can imagine it'll be fine.

I think i've decided on a colour, i'm thinking a cargo pants sorta sandy khaki colour but in a high gloss as opposed to the matt you'd expect, and i'd like to do that over a base coat of a slightly darker colour and then do a trick where you put cling film over the wet top coat, pull it off and you get a marbling effect where it clings and comes off to get it a marbly camo effect but subtle and glossy so it's a smart finish with a hint of utility which I think sums up these bikes.

[rybes]

i like the sound of that. once i got the rest of the bodywork i need ill be gettin mine done like this

[Joshorilla]

There is a guy on youtube that does bike spraying i think his name is bigbandit, he does a load of trick paint jobs, mablijg, flip paint etc, he's got some good ideas. He's the one that does the marbling on candy paint with clingfilm

on the phone now, so csnt really post it.

[JayDub]

i like the sound of that. once i got the rest of the bodywork i need ill be gettin mine done like this

I like that - nice choice rybes... don't forget the big fat cigar too 

[rybes]

I like that - nice choice rybes... don't forget the big fat cigar too 

cheers mate but itll be an ecig. i dont smoke anymore 

[fishnbiker]

Re: rebuilding ...

Feel free to look around beyond Triumph Genuine Parts for your work. My brake calliper seals & pads came from a Honda dealer, 1100 Shadow I think. Kawasaki valve shims. Should be similar for all the Japanese parts used on the Steamers.

My 95 has about 130,00 very rough gravel& coarse pavement kilometres on it. Baby it & you should be grinning for years to come. Some of my riding is available at http://fishnbiker.smugmug.com/Motorcycles. I hope yours is as engaging as mine has been

[Joshorilla]

I was rather hoping to have more to say here, but it's going to be a further week and a half till I get my carbs back!

I've applied some rust treatment, the stuff that uses tanic acid to parts of the frame that have light surface rust, seems to black it up nicely and I am happy knowing it's got some protection. I'll give it a lick of matt black on the affected areas.

She's got a new high capacity battery, the biggest I could fit in incase I want to run more lights or accessories.

So, yeah.

Decided i'm just going to paint her matt sandy khaki.

[Mustang]

the size of the battery means nothing btw

the bike has a 25 amp alternator that makes 300 watts period that's it 
doesn't matter how big your battery is

[Joshorilla]

I appreciate what you're saying, while riding along under normal loads the size of the battery means nothing as anything over what the alternator can crank out is still going to drain the battery the only difference being how long it will take.

The difference is when you've had your ipad on charge in the pannier power port over night and you're having a hard time getting her to start, or if you stopped and listened to the radio for a few hours.

Granted none of this is great for a motorcycle battery as they aren't deep cycle, but for the sake of £5 i'm getting the bigger battery with thicker plates and better build with more amp hours as for an extra £2 a year you'd be silly not to.

[Sin_Tiger]

While you have her bare, have a good look around the sub frame top rails, near where the cross brace is connected, for cracks  :icon_wink:

[Joshorilla]

I checked the frame for integrity while spotting rust, it all looks good minus a rusty rear brake support bar and a bit of rust on the frame that holds the front platics.

So I am happy to report that the only crack on the bike will probably appear between my belt and jacket 

[Sin_Tiger]

  glad to hear that, those front sub frames I swear were rusty when they painted them 

[Joshorilla]

Got my carbs back! Three new springs, all new main jets, gasket seals etc + labour, £107. I am quite happy with that.

Fitting them tomorrow! I feel like the rookie that finally found the "long weight".

[Sin_Tiger]

Yup, I think you got off very lightly, if you'd needed slides or anything that was "BST" specific, you'd have been looking at a lot more. Double check everything before you put them back in, pilot jets clear, spring + washer + O ring on the idle mixture screw in the right order, float heights, O rings under the caps at the vacumn tap off, inter connection linkage and springs all in the right place, inlet T between carbs in the right place, filter removed from the inlet T (or cleaned and put back as you prefer). Worth taking the time, it's really depressing to build everything back up and find you've missed something simple 

[Joshorilla]

I gave the specs I wanted for everything from the shop, it's all built up now so I don't want to fudge with them. If they don't work straight away i'll push my bike the 15 - 20ft to the nearest motorcycle repair and be a noob :)