TigerTriple.com

I can't say I'm a serial restorer, or even a multi project kind of guy, but I just couldn't turn this one down.

Meet Daysie!

Daysie is a 1997 Triumph Daytona T595 I picked up a few weeks ago. Here's her story s far.

She was first registered on 10 March 1997. I am her 5th keeper & she came to me with 33132 miles on her. Previous owners were

• 4. David - bought from Ace Motorcycles, Macclesfield in March 2008
• 3. Mr S - bought from Highbarn Motorcycles, Oldham in March 2001
• 2. Mr O - bought from Fowlers Motorcycles in Cheltenham in November 1997

No idea who originally bought her or from where as I don't have any record in the papers that came with her..

Much like Tabitha before her, Daysie has been off the road for some time. At some point after her last MOT in March 2010 and within 500 miles from then, her radiator started leaking. Dave took her off the road & started using his winter hack until Daysie (then known as 'The Yellow Peril')could be repaired. Sadly, life got in the way and she spent two years under a cover in his parents back garden before being moved to a shed where she spent the next 10 years.

There is some service history and I have receipts for services at 4000, 6000 and 12000 miles, the last being done in April 2002.

As you can see, there's a BIG hole in her history from 2002 to 2010 when she was taken off the road, aside from MOT history from 2005 - 2010. The 2005 MOT showed 26,422 miles, so there's over 14,000 miles where I have no history.

I know that the early Daytona's were recalled to have the frame replaced after some cracked & I know this was done as the original frames were polished & the replacements powder coated but as for history, that's it.

You may recall from Tabitha's diary that I name all my bikes, so why Daysie? Well, the previous owner called her 'The Yellow Peril' well, that was the name his Grandfather gave it, but there are racial connotations so it needed to be changed, I contemplated Pearl (the Yellow Peril) because of her paint scheme but Mrs L again jumped in & said 'Why not call her Dasie, daisies are yelow? So she became Daysie the Daytona.

It was a warm, dry day when Paul, my brother & I set off for the outskirts of Manchester in a hire van to go & pick up Daysie. There really wasn't much to say about the journey there & back.

This is now the 4th bike I've bought without seeing first. There's Talulah, bought from eBay sight unseen, the first time I saw her was when I turned up in the Wirral to ride her the 160 miles home. Then there was Tabitha, first time I saw her was when my mate Keith lifted the covers on her after she'd been sitting unused for almost 12 years. That was a trailer job aided again by my brother as I didn't have a tow hitch on my car. That was a short  150 mile round trip to bring her back from Milton Keynes. There was also another Tiger 955i, I bought from a forum member here. Again my brother was roped in to helping me retrieve that one too. That was a round trip of 250 miles.

No, I don't know why I do it either!

When I finally got Daysie home, I didn't really look at her, I just put her in the garage as I was off to Paul's for a nice roast dinner, ably cooked by his wife. So, it was the following day when I first pulled her out on to the drive. in the cold light of day that I got to have a really good look and another week before I washed 10 years of crud off her.

She actually cleaned up rather nice & almost looked rideable.

It was time to take a closer look  :icon_eek:

 

As I knew the bodywork was in pretty good order now she's had a good wash, off it came. As you would expect after 12 years, this was not without its problems. one othe lower bolts on each fairing was seized, so I had to undo the bracket from the engine to remove the fairings. I have yet to free up these bolts but I have a tin of Plus Gas on the way which I'm hoping will help. All of the Dzus fasteners are corroded, so they'll have to be replaced but aside from that, so far, so good.

With the fairings off, I can now get a look at the huge (& growing) list of jobs. For starters and in no particular order, all filters & fluids, a full engine service including valves, repair/replace radiator, replace all bearings (front, back & suspension bushes) strip & rebuild front shocks, refurbish brakes all round (the rear brake pedal is seized), new battery, new tyres, new chain & sprockets, the list is endless & to date the estimate for new/replacement parts is edging close to £1500. But where to start?

I know, I'll start with the easy bits first & empty the fuel tank of 12 year old fuel.

Having removed the tank I carefully undid all the bolts holding the fuel filter/pump plate & carefully removed it.

The smell was RANK.

I removed around 5 litres of old fuel and you wouldn't believe what state the fuel pump was in.

So here you have it, the begining of yet another project, one to rival Tabitha and probably more challenging, not least of which is how to get Daysie on the bench. She has a single sided swingarm, so I can't just roll her on & use my paddock stand, or the centre stand - she doesn't have one.

 :bug_eye  never seen vintage fuel do that until now.

Managed to find a little more information about Daysie today. From the TOMCC database, she rolled off the production line on 21 February 1997 (17 days before she was registered) and there are currently 6900 1997 Daytona's in their database. That's not to say there are still that many on the road, just that there were 6900 produced in 1997.

I know there is an on-line source to tell you how many are left and this shows only 166 are on the road & taxed and 813 SORNed (IF I'm reading the data correctly).

I had a black one a bit like this(955).  Lovely bike to ride.  Couldn't go anywhere at less than 80mph though.  :wheel

Work gets in the way of a good hobby I've decided.  :icon_eek:  I've not managed to do a lot other than use around half a can of Plus Gas on the fuel pump/filter housing, just to free up the fittings. Think I might need a lot more before I'm finished.

I'm not even going to bother trying to clean the fuel pump & have ordered a new one. I'll replace the filter anyway, plus all the rubber hoses.

Had another go at it today & managed to finally release the pump & filter. Mind you' I've knackered two of the screws, so just something else to replace.  :BangHead

Now the tank is finally drained and dry, I'm going to clean it all out tomorrow (Saturday). I want to leave it somewhere nice & dry while I'm dong other work so hopefully the bubbles on the tank will reduce a little. It didn't have e5 in it, taken off the road prior to the introduction of e5 fuel, so the few bubbes it does have may be here to stay - It's got two chances...

Other than starting spending money on a new pump and gasket for the pump plate, I've als managed to get hold of a single sided paddock stand with a pin that fits the Daytona for the princely sum pf £20.

And so begins the wallet emptying saga that is Daysie.

Maybe it's just as well I do have a job.  :icon_mrgreen:

That looks like a great addition to the stable. It cleaned up remarkably well. That fuel pump and filter situation really reminds me of my Ducati. It looked (and probably smelled) about the same. ;) It took a while to get that decent again. A new pump is probably a very wise decision. 

For the lift, there are single sided paddock stands that put a bar through the hollow axle. Those can be found at decent prices sometimes. ;) Otherwise get a small scissor lift and put that under the frame before the swing arm. That is usually what I do and it works well. They are also plentiful and cheap. Or build something to hold it out of wood. That was the first thing I did with my first bike. Needless to say, I then acquired a small scissor lift soon after. It makes life so much nicer.

A bit more work over the weekend & Daysie is now on the bench. I thought I'd struck lucky when I saw a clean looking fuel plate in a well known auction site for a reasonable price, so bought it. It wasn't until I had a rally good look at it a few weeks later I realised there are two different fuel pump plates, a 14 hole plate & a 10 hole plate. You guessed it, I needed a 10 hole one & bought a 14 hole plate.  :BangHead

Looks like I'll be refurbishing the 10 hole one I already have then. I've yet to clean out the inside of the fuel tank but have unblocked the vent pipe & air pipe that runs through the tank. Both were blocked so I had to carefully drill them out. a dodgy process anyway as I didn't want to pierce the pipe inside the tank.

I've also removed the radiator, which is more seive than anything else, as I found out when I flushed it through with clean water. There's a company, Murcia Radiator repairs I think it's called who repair/re-core radiators for far less than the cost of a new one and probably safer than buying second hand, so once it's packaged up, I'll be sending it off to them.

I've also checked the fan and sadly, it's pretty much seized - the fun part will be finding a replacement. It's on the bench at the moment soaking in Plusgas. I rigged up a couple of leads and connected it direct to the Trophy battery and the motor actually works, but there's a bit of a grinding noise. It maybe just full of corrosion which is why the Plusgas, so all may not be lost, except the split washer, that pinged across the garage when I took it off and IS lost.

I've removed the exhaust too which aside from a good clean seems to be ok. there's a little rattle of rust coming from the can but there is on both Tabitha and Tallulah's exhausts, so I'm not going to worry about that.  :augie

I think the next job is going to be giving everything a good clean, starting with a hoover to remove the cobwebs - pretty much what I had to do with Tabitha then...  :wave

I would definitely go for a re-core on the radiator. I have done that countless times and it works fine. 
Looking forward to hearing about the fans.

The 14 hole flange plate is the same on all the 955's I think, if so it should fit Tabitha as a spare.

I suspect they used the same Spal fan as the T3/400's, although the mounting bracket might be different.

Yes, it would likely fit an older Tiger, but Tallulah is an 06 so there's only one fuel connector.

Today's task was to se if I could sort out the radiator. Phoned up a company who recores rads but not only did they quote a min of £280, the bloke I spoke with called me 'love'.  :icon_evil: Not sure if he was assuming gender or sexual orientation, but when I told him if he had to call me anything, I'd prefer 'Sir' , he was not exactly helpful.

Anyway, I found a rad on line for £70 from National Triumph. Also ordered a headlight as one of the mounting brackets was broken on the one attached to the bike.

I've removed the subframe as the paint is flaking. I'll take that off to be powder coated together with a few other bits next month.

The rear undertray needs a good clean before it goes back on as does pretty much all the mechanical bits under the body work.

Not sure yet whether to keep stripping or start cleaning. Whatever I do, I'll need a bigger socket for the rear wheel nut, the biggest I have is 36mm & the nut is 46mm I believe.

Watch this space...

Hope the hub eccentric turns out to be free, they can be a bugger if they've not been looked after.

I would start with a very thorough clean. At least that will keep you half decent when you strip it down further. ;) If not, you are going to go through all that dirt three times. Once on the part you take off, then you have to clean everything you touched afterwards and then yourself. ;)

Been in the garage cleaning up a few bits, starting with Daysies rear and her brakes. Starting off with the brakes, I've removed the front brakes, an easy task. They're in pretty good order, and the calipers have cleaned up well. Before removing the hydraulic lines, I thought I'd pump the brakes to try to make removing the pistons a little easier. I think I may have a battle on my hands though as only one of the eight pistons actually moved. I have a sealey brake piston removal tool, but from past experience, it's pretty much useless. So as I revently bought an air compressor, I'll try compressed air to remove them. If that fails, I'm probably going to visit my tame Triumoh mechanic to see what he can do. I'm going to replace all the seals anyway, but if necessary, I'll have to replace the pistons as well.

Now on to the back brakes. Taking the caliper off was easy, again onlyy two bolts & they undid wilt little effort, but that's where the fun started. The brake line runs effectively insiude the chain guard and there's a plastic cover, held by two screws, both of which were seized. Lots of Plusgas, a pair of molegrips and 40 minutes later, the cover was off. Next up, there are two P clamps which hold the brake line against the chain guard. Both bolts are seixed and not easy to get to without removing the chain guard. There are also four bolts holding the chain guard on, two of which are seized. More Plusgas and that is being left to soak overnight.

Meanwhile, I decided to remove the rear brake master cylinder. I'd noticed when I got Daysie home that the rear brake pedal didn't move and it now turns out the clevis pin that attaches the brake pedal to the master cylinder plunger is... Yes, you guessed it, seized. More Plusgas. On top of which, the brake switch fell apart in my hand when I tried to remove it.

By this time, I'd been in the garage for around 3 hours, not entirely on Daysie as Tabitha needed a bit of TLC, so I gave a few more bolts the Plusgas treatment and retired for the day with a beer.

Cheers

:occasion14

Just a few pics from this weeks work on Daysie.

Callipers that are marginal like that, I throw them in a bucket of diesel for as long as I can leave them, or remember where I left the bucket  :icon_rolleyes:

Real tough ones get stuck in the old powder coating oven set at about 100 C for an hour or so, has only failed me once  :icon_evil: on that occasion the pistons weren't going to be saveable so it was "Ye Olde Maritime Hot Spanner" grind a bit of flat bar to fit inside the piston and weld it to the piston inner, let it cool for a couple of minutes before levering it, hasn't failed me yet  :bad

Good thinking Sin...

Got some diesel lying around somewhere & if not then I've also got some paraffin I bought last year for the greenhouse heater. That and an old washing up bowl may do the trick.

Ah, found the diesel

Good call @Sin_Tiger, a couple of days soaking in diesel * nit only did the pistons come out of the rear caliper fairly easily, the caliper also looks nice & clean.

Will post up some pics at the weekend.

Why this usually works, unless the pistons are rusted solid, is that old rubber seals that are hard have perished and will be easily softened by the diesel. The only thing to watch out for with the two pot sliding calipers is that the rubber seals for the carrier sliding pins will also be affected and will need replaced, unless you remove them before hand. With the four pots the internal O rings can be affected but most seal kits for those usually include new O rings.

A coupe of days soaking and all is now clean - I don't smell of diesel, the oil under my finger nails has pretty much gone and I no longer have to sleep in the spare room because I smell like a 1960's garage monkey.

As for Daysie, she now has clean brake calipers after soaking them in diesel for 3 days. I've managed to get all the pistons out with no damage and although some of them are a bit 'crusry' around the top, where the dust seals sat, I'll give them a good clean with some fine wire wool. As I don't have to replace any of them it saves me around £120 to spend on other bits.

The rear subframe, mirror brackets and the magnesium dash intrument surround went off to the powder coaters on Saturday and should be back with me in 3 - 4 weeks. He's quoted me £142 which I didn't think was too bad.

In other news, I've removed the chain guard which was posing a problem with a couple of seized bolts, with a combination of Plusgas and mole grips. The clevis pin that attached the rear brake pedal to the rear master cylinder proved problematic. I had to remove the whole assembly and put it in the vice to try to free it up. Countless hours spent with a combination of Plusgas, pliers, molegrips and finally a hammer didn't budge it. Finally heat from my blowtorch and the hammer freed it up with no damage other than to said clevis pin.

The air box has also been removed after a fight to get it loose. It turns out Haynes Manuals do have their uses. the early Daytonas have a hidden bolt securing the front of the airbox to the frame. Another example of Triump's design mastery here, the bolt is tucked away behind the radiator and would have all but been impossible had I not already removed the radiator.

I was expecting to see three badly perished vacuum hoses running from the throttlw bodies to the IACV (for the uninitiated, the Idle Air Control Valve, which I've seen referenced as ICAV IVAC IAV and stepper motor in varoius places), and I wasn't surprised - at least with the state of the vacuum hoses, but unlike Tallulah Tiger, there was no IACV to be seen.

Turns out the IACV on early models is not sat above the throttle bodies as in later models but tucked under the throttle bodies behind the clutch actuator arm. Who knew. Looks like it's going to be a PITA to get to but as at least 4 of the 6 hose connectors are not connected and two of them seem to be bunged up with crud, it's got to come out to be checked & cleaned. I have a copy of the Triumph service manual on the PC so I can see the laptop heading for the garage when it comes to this piece of work, that or the printer's going to get a hammering.

The remainder of Saturday was cleaning stuff. I had some Rubber & Vinyl cleaner which I used successfully on Tabitha to cklean all the wiring loom and assorted plastic bits so did the same for Daysie. While I have yet to check any of the electrical system, at least everything looks clean now. I also used some parts washer solution and a rag to clean up the frame, engine and any other bits I could get to. I've still got cleaning to do, namely the wheels and those hard to get to bits at the back of the engine.

While cleaning the engine, quite a bit of the engine powder coating came off. Hardly surprising as it was sitting for so long. Most of it was around the front where antifreeze from the leaking radiator got to it. The water pump housing and the housing where the top hose goes in to the engine is also a bit ropey. It was also peeling off on the underside. Not sure what i'm going to do about this yet if anything as it's mostly covered by fairings, but as is my way, I won't be happy leaving it, so I'll have to clean it up & find some sort of engine paint just to tidy it up

Any suggestions that doesn't require removing the engine are greatly received.

On order and currently awaiting delivery is a socket big enough to remove teh rear wheel. It's a big bugger, 46mm and the torque setting for the nut is something over 100Nm, so as with the front sprocket nut, I think the torque gun is going to be let out of it's case, but that's for another time.

Update:

Having cleaned up the caliper pistons, I've decided to replace 5 of them. There's a little corrosion above the seal but it's where the dust seal sits. So while they're possibly usable, I'm taking no chances as they're all from the front calipers.

:><  brilliant progress, have you set yourself a goal, like get it back on the road before Christmas  :icon_scratch:  as you're fairly cracking on.

I use some biodegradable degreaser called something like "Powerforce", it's supposed to be diluted 10:1 but being me I use it neat, it's not 10x more powerful like that but I don't leave it on alloy for very long  :bad  A steam cleaner is a useful tool, just one of these cheapo kettle type that you have to stop and refill, gets into all the nooks and crannies where you sprayed degreaser and they usually have a long articulated hose / nozzle.

I've recently used some brushing engine paint (I'll get the name tomorrow) which goes on and seems to stick better than Hammerite.

I thought about using a steam cleaner for the inside of the fuel tank but wasn't certain the plastic wouldn't warp. I have one of those steam floor mops which I'm sure has a hose attachment, so will have to see if I can find it.

As for timescale, I've set myself a goal of finishing it before my bike insurance becomes due, but as that's not until July next year, I suspect it may get finished sooner. I'm in no real hurry but admit to starting work early most days, so I can finish early & get a couple of hours in before dinner.

This is the paint I used for the graphite engine casings and frame touch up on the 1200. So far it's lasted well.

https://e-tech.uk.com/

Great to see the progress so far  :><
I could have taken more photo's of my tiger's teardown but I became too depressed.
Happy days an hour ago,  :icon_biggrin: battery & fuel. As the pilots say "clear prop"
Lovely to hear the note from the exhaust once more.

Remember those horrible, manky looking brake calipers from a few weeks back? Well, they're now transformed. Having ordered 5 replacement pistons and some seal kits, I spent around an hour last night in the garage putting them back together. Given the state of them when I took them off the bike, compared to what they look like now, I'm pleased with the result.

I've recently picked up a replacement fuel plate which arrived yesterday as the original was scrap and the first replacement was a 14 hole, not 10, so the 14 hole is going on eBay (unless someone from out Tiger Triple family wants it) some time in the next couple of weeks. It does mean I now also have a spare fuel pump as I bought one in June, but the one that came with the fuel plate works fine.

Remembering the mistake I made when bringing Tabitha back to life, wghere I cut the chain off before undoing the front sprocket nut, I've not done so this time and while I've also left the rear wheel on, I've finally loosened off the rear wheel nut, using a combination of an old electric rattel gun and brute force. Sadly, the front sprocket nut remains firmly in place and no amount of force has so far budged it. I have been spraying it over the past few days with Plusgas and have an air rattle gun on the way, so I'll have another go at it when that arrives.

Other than that, it's more cleaning, labelling and finding places to store stuff away & deciding what to order next (when I get paid). For info, total spend so far is a modest £292, although my most recent estimate to fininsh Daysie currently stands around £1500 (but then I went over Tabitha's estimate by around £400, so we'll see how it goes).

Great progress  :thumbsup

If the sprocket nut won't move even with the wheel locked and a Forth Rail Bridge bar on the socket, the only answer is heat. The technique with heat, in this case, is getting it applied quickly and precisely, so a single point, or small pepper pot Ox/Acc nozzle is the best choice. MAP gas guns with a plumbers nozzle are usually too slow and vague to be as effective.

A mistake I see often is trying to apply that much force directly, which can lead to the much of the force being lost due to the angles involved. When applying large amounts of torque like this, it's best done using an extension bar which is properly supported, that also reduces the risk of the socket coming off and causing damage.

An axle stand or a jack adjusted to precise centre height is the best support.

Been quite lazy this week, still not managed to get the front sprocket nut undone, but have got hold of a windy-gun (air torque wrench for those who don't know) so will give it another crack next week.

I've removed the vac lines from the IACV and all of them are perished, the valve itaelf has also been removed and cleaned.

The alternator is currently sitting on the bench, having also been cleaned up. Not certain if it all works so will have to look into that but the casing was pretty mucky. A combination of Machine Mart Parts cleaner fluid, clutch/brake cleaner and some electrical contact cleaner & it's come up ok. I also had the air compressor fired up & have everything a good blow over too.

Next up, I removed the water pump. To my surprise, it wasn't seized but there was a lot of dried coolant all over where the hoses connect. The hoses are shot, so will need replacing. Might as well replace all of them & have found a place on-line where I can get a replacement set for around £70 (AS3 Performance).

The hoses I've removed so far are pretty clean inside, although well past their best, which I'm hoping is good news for the coolant galleries inside the engine. My concern is that the water galleries inside the engine are furred up. Of course, I'll need to flush them through but where the radiator leaked, it mostly drained the coolant. There was some coolant in the bottom hose and water pump but not much anywhere else. So while there was a lot of evidence of dried coolant on the outside of the radiator and on a couple of hose joints, the water galleries may not be that bad. Fingers crossed.

I took a look at the forks this week as well to see if a good polish would be all that's needed. The area where the forks compress, they're pretty clean with very little signs of pitting, but above that, they're pitted quite badly. Not as bad as Tabitha's were but bad enough. So the question now is, do I strip them down and get them rechromed or just replace the oil & seals? I edging towards a complete strip down & rechrome.  The rear shock is a different matter. I have no idea what condition it's in other than the powder coating on the spring is peeling off, but the place where I bought the rear shock for Tabitha, also refurbishes shocks & will powder coat the spring for a reasonable £190, approximately £150 less than a new YSS shock.

I've also had a good look at the wheels. Ffrom a distance, they look fine, but close up, you can see the finish begining to bubble in a few places. The front is fine, but if I'm going to have the rear powder coated (& I haven't made my mind up yet) I'll have to have the front wheel done too so they match. That would add another £220 to my project cost, bringing it ever closer to my estimate of £2000

So, more questions than answers this week.

 :thumbsup  AS3 prices are decent and good to deal with.

Word of warning about the alternator, the Drive End bearing is a non standard OEM specific size and I haven't been able to source a replacement or alternative  :icon_eek:

Not been too busy in the garage this week, but seem to have spent a lot of money. What prompted my cash splurge was a nice little tax rebate. Long story short, since starting my new job in May, my tax code was wrong, so the Taxman has been taking too much from each payday. (For our non UK readers, our employer is responsible for deducting tax from our wages then handing it over, before giving what's left to us. The Taxman tells our employer how much to deduct using a tax code).

So in the past few days, I've paid out for:

• sub frame, mirror brackets and instrument pod powder coating
• rear brake light switch
• iol lines
• air filter
• front brake reservoir
• clutch lever (the original one is slightly bent)
• brake lines
• coolant hoses

and a few other small bits & pieces.

I haven't been completely inactive in teh garage though. I've had another crack at undoing the front sprocket nut, using my air torque wrench and a borrowed 2 foot breaker bar without success. I tried the method Sin_Tiger suggested, using an extension bar, supported by a strategically placed axle stand, but stillk no joy. I'm going to have yet another go at it later when I've got most of the bike back together. I'll put Daysie back on her wheels, nose the front wheel against the wall while Mrs L sits on her and activates the back brake. Then I'll jump up & down on the breaker bar. If that doesn't work, the sprocket is in good enough condition to replace the chain & rear sprocket, before I take her off to my tame Triumph mechanic to sort out (I suspect it may need cutting off).

I've now removed the rear wheel so I can assess the state of the rear hub. From what I can see, it all needs stripping down & rebuilding, as does all the suspension linkages. The rear shock itself needs either replacing or rebuilding. My initial thought is to have it rebuilt. Brook Suspension can rebuild it & powder coat the spring for around £190, compared to a new YSS shock at £330.

I've removed the oil cooler & pipes and as suspected the pipes are pretty corroded, so much so that they're likely to fail, so they'll get replaced. In removing them, I've drained the oil from the engine & when doing so, ran a magnet through the oil to pick up any metyal bits that may be there. It was clean & the oil didn't feel gritty when I rubbed it with my fingers. It didn't smell of anything but oil, so I don't think Daysies 10 year rest has done any harm. Once I've put the water pump back on, I'll change the oil filter & refill it. I don't think leaving it with no oil in for long periods is a good idea.

It's a 3 day weekend now, so I may get more done, or I might take Tabitha out. Sadly I still have shopping to do (can't get out of it this week), have my Mother's dog to wealk Sunday, so only have Monday free at the moment anyway...

We'll see.

 :icon_scratch:  My breaker bar is bigger than yours  :icon_lol: 3/4" drive and about 1 metre long. I'm not sure your other half will like that implication  :nono  Heat might be your last resort, you're going to change the sprocket shaft seal anyway I'd guess. The technique is to get the sprocket hot fast, don't try it with a MAP Gas blowtorch, you need Ox/Ac to get focused heat quickly. Too much time with a blowtorch could damage the inner bearing seals by heat transfer up the shaft, they're usually 2RS bearings. A 3x2 in the wheel rim isn't going to work with the SSWA.

Shiney bits look good, that didn't take long  :thumbsup

Wow, that's a load of progress! Well done getting this back towards being roadworthy. I feel very much inadequate now, as the KTM has only been sitting. ;)

This week, physical progress in the garage has been a little slow, something I can't say about the postman. There's been a few deliveries to the shed of Triumph.

I've not been completely inactive though, I successfully fitted that little knob thing that sits on the side of the instrument pod, you know the one that resets the trip counter. It was missing when I bought Daysie and knowing how super reliable old Triumph fuel senders are, thought it essential to have a working trip counter.

In addition to all the bits I bought last month, I've just bought some Dzus fasteners for the fairing, the ones on Daysie's fairings were somewhat corroded, a big bag of copper washers so I can refit the oil cooler and sump plug and a cam cover gasket, complete with those little rubber seals for the cam cover bolts.

Sometimes, I love the taxman without whom the savings pot would have been raided last month (and having worked for them & met my current partner there, I have to admit to loving the odd Taxwoman too  :icon_redface: )

Anyway, I digress. Not only did I successfully fit the Trip counter reset knob, I also replaced the air filter. The old one was not the worst I've seen but I didn't see the point in replacing oil & fuel filters, plugs, fuel lines and vac lines and not replacing the air filter as well. Admittedly it was an easy & quick job as the airbox was sitting on a shelf, not in the bike,but as a well known UK supermarket says, 'Every little helps'.

I know there's still a long way to go but an unexpected health issue means I have to slow down for a little while. I'll keep things ticking over in the garage but probably not do as much as I'd like this month.

Nothing serious but enough to have to pay a visit to the local hospital for a day later this month to make sure it doesn't get serious.  :icon_eek:

Been plugging away at little jobs this week. A few more deliveries from Mr Postie has seen a box of Dzus fasteners for the fairings, not that I'm anywhere near that stage, but at least I have them sitting on a shelf ready. The Cam cover gasket also arrived this week as did a big bag of copper washers for the oil lines & sump plug. I'm still awaiting some silicone vacuum hose to replace the 'way past it' IACV hoses.
As mentioned last week, I've been taking things relatively easy with just a little bit more cleaning (why is it that every time I look I find something else to clean), I've reassembled the dash pod, re-attaching all those little brackets & rubber gromets and fitted the instrument pod to it, so that's all now back on the shelf & ready to fit back to the bike when I get that far.

I've stripped out all of the remaining coolant hoses and with my new silicone ones on the shelf waiting to go, along with the replacement radiator, all that remains is to flush out all the coolant galleries. A job for next week maybe.

I've also replaced the spark plugs and checked the valves. The Exhaust valves should have been in the range 0.15 - 0.20mm and all but one was pretty much bang on 0.15mm, the one that wasn't was a little over but nowhere near 0.20mm.

The inlet valves were a similar story. The range is 0.10 – 0.15mm and again all but one was 0.10mm. the odd one was again a little more than 0.10mm but less than 0.15mm. I consider that a result as I didn't need to change anything, so just cleaned up the mating faces between the head and cam cover, a little high temp silicone sealer, new gasket & bolt seals and all is back together again. While I was at it, I also dug out a can of electrical contact cleaner & cleaned up all the plugs going to the coils and a few other connectors I could easily see.

Next up, since removing the brake lines I hadn't removed the brake fluid reservoir, so every so often, it'd squirt brake fluid over the bench. Because Tabitha is parked next to the bench and I kept knocking Daysie's front brake lever, I've now drained and replaced the front brake reservoir. As the screw & clip that stops the cap unscrewing on the original reservoir, broken, I bought a replacement reservoir from Sprint Manufacturing & now seemed the ideal opportunity to remove the old & fit the new. I still need to remove the master cylinder to see if it needs new seals but at least now there's no more possibility of spraying brake fluid anywhere.

I've also replaced the clutch lever (the original was bent) but have still to replace the clutch cable. Again, with Daysie standing so long, the original is a little stiff and they're not that expensive.
Finally, I've cleaned up and checked, as much as I can without fixing up a battery, all the electrical connectors. The majority of them were ok with just a few looking corroded. The application of some fine grade wet n dry, lashings of Electrical Contact Cleaner and a little time did the job.
There's an elephant in the room I've been avoiding every time I do a little more work, namely the rear end. You see, I've never had a bike with a single sided swing arm before so don't have any experience of them. Taking the wheel off was easy, I've done that, but anything else is new territory for me.
For starters, I need to put something under the engine to hold Daysie up so I can remove the paddock stand. Ordinarily, I would have tied up the back of the bike and hung it to the roof beams with ratchet straps, but with the sub frame removed, that's not an option. Besides, with no sub frame, the swing arm & suspension is far easier to get to.

Then I need to strip down the hub, check the bearings and sort out the eccentric adjuster, which appears seized. Then I need to check/replace all the swing arm bearings before I tackle the suspension.
I've been having a look at the rear shock and am still undecided whether to replace it or get it refurbished. I think it's going to depend on how well it cleans up and if all the various adjustments still work. I know that the spring will need powder coating at the least. My head says replace it; my wallet says get it refurbished.

 I think the whole elephant can wait another week or two and I'll concentrate on getting the engine & cooling system sorted first

Definitely won a watch with the valve clearances  :thumbsup

From what I've read about clutch cables, they seem to be a common failure point due to the angled runner at the lever, a good quality PTFE lined replacement is probably a wise decision.

Was your silicone hose set available off the shelf? I've had a look at a couple of suppliers but wasn't sure what was being offered would fit.

I'm not looking forward to doing the hub either  :augie

I'd  guess the hoses were off the shelf. Took less than a week to get here.

I put them side by side with the originals & they're a good match. Oddly I seem to have one more than necessary  :bug_eye

It's Friday already, this week seems to have gone fast. Being busy at work probably helps, but I still managed to get out to the garage and do a few more little jobs this week.

Sunday was the day stiff started going back on Daysie. The plan was to change the oil filter, refit the water pump and alternator, put the shiny new oil lines on and the oil cooler and put the air box back on.

I achieved most of this, refitting the water pump, alternator, air box and oil filter, but that's about it. The oil cooler & lines are still on the bench.

There was a real manky looking cover attached to the left side of the engine, part of the cooling system, I think it's called the coolant outlet/inlet cover and even before I touched it, it wasn't looking pretty, with all the paint having flaked off and the remains of dried coolant all over it. I dug out my endoscope & had a good look inside the water jacket and any other waterchannels I could find and all looks good. Once I've flushed everything through, I don't see the cooling will be a problem.

Undoing the bolts and carefully prising the cover off, I could see pink gunk everywhere and the remains of a gasket, but only a very small piece. it had been removed at some point in the past and in the absence of a replacement gasket, silicone sealer had been used. Unfortunately, the gasket is no longer available so I have two choices, use silicone sealer or do it the old fashioned way, buy a gasket sheet and make my own.

It's now cleaned up and has been resprayed, 1 coat of etching primer & 3 coats of HT black paint I had left over from Tabitha's build.

I refitted the IACV and all the vac hoses have also been replaced with some 7mm silicone vac hose. I ordered 2m although I didn't need that much. It's left me with enough to change Tallulah's vac hoses next time I have the tank off - she's still running on the original corrugated hoses, even after 67000 miles.
I've refitted the airbox, which surprisingly wasn't too problematic. The application of some silicone spray around the rubbers helped to slide it on to the air intakes and seat the box correctly.

Finally (I think) I've now got Daysie tied down, jacked up, strapped to a beam and sitting on a wooden block so I could remove the paddock stand. I've also loosened off all the swing arm bolts and rear shock bolts. In fact, the only thing to undo is the retaining nut for the final drive. There's a collar on the nut which has been peened to hold it in place & stop it undoing. the nut itself, a 46mm one, should be torqued to 146Nm. So, I suspect the air torque gun will come out again for that.

One final point, I took a good look at the shock when I loosened off the bolts holding it to the rear end and I don't think I'll even embarrass myself by sending it off to get refurbished. By the time the unit has been refurbed and a new spring attached, the overall cost won't be much less than a new YSS unit, so I'll just go for that instead. I have a YSS shock on Tabitha & I'm happy with it.

Bit of a change to my usual format. This time I took my video out to the garage and videoed stripping down the rear hub and removing he rear suspension and swing arm.

Part 1 was the hub, done over the weekend it all went mostly to plan and was easier than I suspected. It's not completely done as the eccentric adjuster that is used for chain adjustment is seized. To strip it down further, I need a set of manly circlip pliers, and the ones I have aren't up to the job. I have a set on order which should be with me by the end of this week.

Part two was also done over the weekend, but I haven't processed the video yet. I'll write up another post when I've uploaded the video to YouTube. Again this was easier than expected, with no seized bolts.

None of this was in my plan for this weekend, I was gong to clean up the fuel tank, install the new fuel pump & filter and then do a little painting where the engine paint had flaked off. I cleaned the flaky paint off & prepped the surface last week, and ordered some engine enamel that Sin suggested. Maybe I'll do that during the week if I have time.

For now, enjoy video part 1.

https://youtu.be/QBJvojd2ZZQ

Part two of this weekends work has now been posted. No real surprises, except most of the bearings look shot & need replacing and one of the bolts holding the drag link to the swingarm was finger tight. That's scary.

I've also had another good look at the shock and I think it's rebuildable with a new spring. I'm going to talk with Brook Suspension & see what they can do. I'd rather the original shock than a YSS replacement but that decision has still to be made.

A couple of the bearings are stuck fast & one of them will need something like a slide hammer, so I've decided to take the whole thing to my tame Triumph mechanic & let him replace the bearings - I know, a bit of a cop out on my part, but I could spend days trying to do it when my tame mechanic could probably do it in a couple of hours. At least it's been all cleaned up now so he won't get his hands too dirty.  :icon_mrgreen:

https://youtu.be/dwLnclRijpI

Not done anything this week really, aside from cleaning up the swingarm and back of the engine, so this week's report will be rather short.

That's not to say I've done nothing; I pulled the tank down from the top of the cupboard & started to clean out the inside. You may recall the state of the fuel pump & filter, all covered in a rust covered gunk, well the inside of the tank was the same up to a line where the stale fuel was. So, I've been scrubbing away with various stuff trying to clean it. So far, I've used Gunk (engine degreaser), Muck-off engine degreaser, brake & clutch cleaner and parts washer cleaner, all combined with an old toothbrush and to be fair, not much has shifted the stain inside the tank. Then I hit upon the idea that if petrol made the stain, maybe it will remove it too. I have a can of petrol I use for the lawnmower so tipped a little in the tank and with the toothbrush, began to scrub.

Well, it sort of worked, I think it more bleached the stain than removed it, but at least it looks a little better. Toothbrush is fu%&$d. I might go & buy a nail brush later & try again. I also still have the option of steam cleaning it. I have a steam cleaner usually used for the kitchen floor, but it has a hose & nozzle attachment so I might give that a go as well.

Other than that, I've removed the rear sprocket from its carrier. I planned on replacing it anyway even though it doesn't look worn, at least not until I hung it up on the wall next to Tabitha's old rear sprocket. They now hang against a white wall and if you look carefully, you can see that Daysie's sprocket is beginning to wear.

I'll order a new chain & sprocket kit next month after I've been paid.

I've attached the front forks with some Autosol (when did that become so expensive? nearly £7.00 from my local hardware shop) and it looks like I might not have to get them re-chromed. There is some pitting but all of it seems to be well above the range of the fork dust seal travel. It's an extra £180 I could do without spending.

That could keep the house warm for a week  :icon_eek:

While the Autosol was out, I part cleaned a few other bits of the front too. a little bit of the fork tube, they clean up nice but the lower part, including the brake caliper brackets will need respraying, the top yoke cleans up well too. However, its looking more likely I'll need to have the wheels powder coated. Last time it cost me over £200 for both wheels to be done, and the place I took them did a good job of Tabitha's wheels and a few bits from Daysie that I've had done. But there's been a lot of chat on Farcebook recently with someone asking for recommendations for the very same thing and there's another place not too far from me that gets a good review.

When I was looking for somewhere for Tabitha's wheels, I did email them but got no reply. I was discussing this with Ben, my tame Triumph mechanic at the time and it seems that there was a fatal accident at the premises - that would explain why I got no reply from my query. I might see what they can do as they're still in business.

So, as I said, I've not done anything this week...

Apart from having to move all my project photos to a new external hard drive as the existing drive in my PC is getting very low on space.  :^_^

You might try using another metal polish that I've had good results with. It's called "Peek", it's not much cheaper, though I feel it leaves a better finish FTW.

Just the other week I saw someone clean their tank with cleaning vinegar. It was a steel Ducati tank and I was impressed with the results. Perhaps that might be a suggestion.

 I have some white vinegar in the garage I used to clean an aquarium, so might try that.

In other news, I've not really done anything to Daysie this week. I had another delivery today of a DID chain & sprockets kit, have ordered a new circlip for the rear hub having bent the original trying to get it off and that's about it.

Currently, I'm not allowed to drive or ride for a few days. Had day surgery on Thursday so I can't even lift anything.

As I've just been paid, I suspect more buying stuff coming up.

Sadly, very little to report this week. About the only time I set foot in the garage was to take the swingarm to Ben (my tame Triumph mechanic).

The circlip finally came free from the hub, but was damaged, so another one popped through the letterbox earlier in the week. It took a fair bit of persuasion, a nice piece of kit recently purchased, heavy duty circlip pliers and around 4 days of daily soaks of Plusgas, but the brake caliper mounting plate is firmly seized to the eccentric hub. My rubber mallet failed to free it, as did a couple more days with Plusgas. So, it's off to Ben's workshop. He tells me his rubber mallet is bigger than mine.  :bug_eye

While it's there, he's going to remove & replace the drag link bearings as well. A slide hammer is needed and I don't have one of those. All the other bearings in the swingarm are fine & just need a little grease.  :thumbsup

I've also found a good 2nd hand rear shock from a low mileage bike (allegedly), and for a mere £35, figured it was worth a put, especially when a new YSS replacement would have been almost £300 more. Even if I need to have it serviced, that's still a good saving.

And that's really it. I'm hoping to feel a little better over the coming weekend, so might have more to report from the garage next week.

In the meantime, with my health improving slightly (well, as much as it's likely to in the short term anyway), I'm also hoping to get out on Tallulah for the first time in what seems like weeks, at least for a couple of hours anyway.   :wheel  rather than :nap I hope.

A bit more money spent last night. It turns out that the M14 14mm copper washers I bought for the sump plug and oil lines were 14mm outside diameter copper washers. They've been on the shelf, unopened for a couple of months as i assumed they were the ones I ordered. Not happy when I did open them but at £1.99 I'm not going to bother contacting the seller now.

So, after work last night, I went online and ordered some more, this time making sure they were M14, 14mm inside diameter & 1.5mm thick which according to my service manual are correct.

While I was at it, I've ordered a new battery. I've heard a lot of recommendations for Motobatt but in my experience, having had one on my old Blackbird and more recently on the Tiger, I don't rate. They may be ok for newer bikes, but both times I've bought one, they've barely lasted 18 months. It could be down to old, more agricultural charging circuits, it certainly was with the Bird, so, I ordered a good old-fashioned Yuasa. That's what I have on Tabitha, & even though she doesn't get used that often, I've had no problems.

I also ordered a couple of tyres - yes, I know, I'm a long way from actually needing them, and I still have to have the wheels powder coated, but if they're on the shelf (actually they won't fit on the shelf, so they're going up in the loft), it's just one less thing to buy later. Remembering how well my old Aprilia RSV handled, I opted for Pirelli Diablo tyres. I know the handling characteristics of a 2002 RSV is different from a 1997 Daytona, but the level of grip in all weathers from the Diablo tyres wass pretty good from what I remember. I also used them on my track ZX6R way back when. They were also less than £160 a pair, so they'll do fine.

To date, the whole project has cost me around £1200, so the way things are going, it's all going to come in at less than Tabitha cost, which I'm pleased with, even taking in to account the bill for the work Ben is currently doing with the swing arm.

Now If only I could find the time & energy to do a bit more in the garage...  :icon_cry:

That's a really good deal for the tyres the way prices are at the moment  :thumbsup

My experience with Motobatt is that they tend to fall off a cliff when they get past the use by date, i.e. don't give much warning unlike flooded batteries. The only clue I had was it took longer to reach full charge after use and put on the C-Tek tender.

Re batteries- I'm about to purchase a battery for my steamer. glad to hear your thoughts & experience with the "motobatt" brand on "older"  :icon_lol:  bikes
I had a motobatt in the bike when I bought it April '21 but it "karked it" by July even after being charged regularly on a 5amp C-tek charger.

Things have been a little slow of late. I've replaced the oil lines, fitted the oil cooler & the engine now has oil in it, with no leaks.

The swingarm came back from Ben's today with all new bearings. The hub was freed  from the swingarm & needed a little lathe work to get it usable again without sticking. Wasn't cheap but at least I know Ben does a good job.

I'll try to post a few pictures next week

Ok, I admit it, I've been a little slack of late. Now the nights have drawn in and with no power in the garage, I've been finishing work around 16:30 & sitting in front of the TV instead of heading out to the garage to do more 'Stuff'.

While there have been medical issues that mean I can't do quite as much as I'd like, I was getting back to working on Daysie until the dreaded Covid struck - that's a b1tch to put it mildly.

This weekend was the first i've had the energy to open the garage door, so first on the list was to tidy up the garage a little - after running a power cable from the house. At least I could have sounds while I work. Tabitha has now been put to bed for the winter & Tallulah had a little fettle to get her fit for winter.

Now to Daysie. You may recall the swingarm was out for some work with my tame mechanic, Ben as the rear wheel hub was seized. It took a large hammer to get the hub free and because of some damage, it had to have one face machined. While he had it, he replaced all the bearings, so aside from a litle clean up, it was ready to fit once I got it back. That was two weeks ago and it's been sitting on the side since then.

This weekend, I set myself two targets, Saturday - refit the swingarm, Sunday, refit the sub-frame.

Just two small jobs. The swingarm was easy, until I started  :icon_eek: To be fair liining it up was easy, so was torquing up all the links. I even remembered to pack the bearings with extra, extra grease before refitting everything. The PITA was fitting the new (second hand) shock. I could not line up the holes on the bottom shock and suspension links no matter how much I tried. I could only get the bolt to go 3/4 way through. Tried it from the left side, 3/4, tried from the right, 3/4. I had two bolts, put one if from the left and one from the right, they met in the middle. Pushed the right through, the left fell out, the right, 3/4 then stopped. Took the shock back out, checked it, couldn't see any issues, put it back in and the same problem again. Didn't matter if the shock was bolted at the top or loose, same problem.

I had the swingarm resting on a paddock stand, so the links weren't taking any weight - turns out that was the problem. took the stand away and lt the swingarm drop & the bolt just slipped fully in. :BangHead

After that, greasing & refitting the hub was a doddle. Even fittign the new sprocket to the carrier was easy.

Saturday's objective achieved.

Sunday was a little more 'bitty'. Before refitting the sub-frame, I thought it a good idea to refit the rear brakes. They had already been stripped, cleaned and reassembled, so all I had to do was fit some new pads &bolt the calliper to the caliper bracket. Then came the new brake line, which being a single sided swingarm, followed a slightly torturous route from under teh calliper, up between the swingarm and brake disk, up to the top of the chain guard, which has a little recess in it for the brake line and electrical wire for the speed sensor, before threading it's way behind the shock, to the brake cylinder on the right of the bike. New clevis pin and circlip fitted, the master cylinder was bolted up.

Next up, was refitting the brake switch which is connected to a bracket that bolts on to the.... :BangHead

Off comes the master cylinder, fit the brake switch bracket, bolt up the master cylinder.

Then came the scratch plate that uses the bolts which hold the master cy.... CRAP!!

Off comes the master cylinderfit the scratch plate, the brake switch bracket and bolt up the master cylinder.

Now we're ready for the sub-frame.Four bolts is all that holds it in place, but theree's a tangle of wiring. After teh Master Cylinder Trials, I thought I'd leave it for a bit & refit the airbox. While doing this, I noticed I hadn't reconnected the alternator when I refitted it way back when, so this was also done. I also reconnectred the speed sensor (which I forgot earlier) so that was 5 wiresout of the way. The ECU was still connected to the wiring loom, so I disconnected that to fit to the undertray later, and got all the wiring pretty much where it needed to go.

The sub-frame went on & ligned up easily. The only issue I had was needing to recut a couple of threads where the paint had gone over the threads, but that took all of 10 minutes.

Now the undertray gets put in place. There's two clips at the front & two bolts at the rear, & that's about it. I t was also about it for me too, but at least Daysie is begining to look like a bike again.

Things are looking up :hat10

Coming along nicely, I know it often doesn't seem like that when it's in your face.  :new_popcornsmiley

A short update for Daysie followers.

Nothing's happened. A combination of work, no power in the garage, cold days, poor health and a loss of a close, long time friend means Daysie has been neglected.

I went out to the garage yesterday as Mrs L wanted the Xmas decorations which are stored there.

Daysie awaits patiently for my return. In the mean time, a quick summary of where we are.

The back has now been rebuilt with new bearings for the swing arm. The concentric hub has been refurbished and the sub-frame powder coated and re-attached. The rear and front brake calipers have been refurbished with all new seals & pistons and the rear brakes have been refitted together with new braided hoses.

The engine has had an oil change with new oil & air filter, I've replaced the spark plugs and all vacuum hoses. The water pump has been rebuilt and alternator stripped and cleaned. Still don't know if it works although I've no reason to believe it doesn't. I have all new silicone hoses ready to fit to the second hand radiator. The oil cooler has been refitted with new oil lines.

She turns over ok and I've checked the valve gaps (no changes needed). I've also spent hours cleaning the wiring loom and all connectors although I've yet to test any of the electrics.

I have a second hand fuel pump plate and new fuel pump & filter ready to go in to the now clean(ish) fuel tank. I'm sure I've missed out a lot but this gives you an idea of what's been done.

So, what's on my list of things to do next?

When I can eventually get back in to the garage I'll be moving Daysie off the bench and out on to the drive and, using a hose, flushing all the cooling channels through with running water before refitting the radiator & hoses. Then back on the bench I'll start on the front suspension.

Depending on the state of them, I'll be replacing the seals & oil as a minimum. I've given the chrome a good clean and while there is some pitting, its all above where the dust seals would be at full compression, so it looks like I don't need to have them re-chromed. While this is being done, I'll whisk the wheels off to the Power coaters. I've seen a few strontium Daytonas with gold wheels and a few more with white ones, but as with Tabitha Trophy, I think I'll keep her as close to original as I can & have them done in satin black.

Watch this space & I'm sure Daysie will be back in 2023.

Just a suggestion, as we see your mention of no power in the garage regularly... You could consider getting some battery powered lights to hang in the garage. Or get some 12V LED lights, charge an old car battery in the house, then take it to the shed to power the lights. At least you'll be able to see what you could be doing, before heading back into the warmth of your home. ;)

(No pushing here. I do have power in the garage, but I still haven't worked on the KTM for ages...)

You know how life gets in the way of a good project?

Well, Daysie stares at me every time I step in to the garage and I confess I've had little motivation of late. Tallulah Tiger still sits there, still not sold and I've had no incentive to sell her, Tabitha has been revived from her winter slumber and will go back on the road next month and Talyn J has been getting a lot of attention over the past few months.

But, the mind fog is now lifting, I've reduced my working time & now have more free time. The weather is warming nicely in the Northern Hemisphere, the days are getting longer and all the $h1t stored in the garage over winter is slowly making its way back into the garden - so I have space.

Time to do a little work on Daysie again methinks.

In between riding Talyn J and Tabitha anyway  :icon_lol:

Nice! Get her going again. :)

Work again begins in the Garage of darkness. I've moved my bench nearer to the door and as ever, have run an extension cable from the house so I can listen to sounds, er, light my work area.

Before starting and as Daysie was off the bench, I wheeled her outside and flushed the waterways through with the hose for around 5 minutes. Then back on the bench she went.

First up was refitting the radiator, a job not as straightforward as I expected as one of the brackets was bent. 15 minuted on the workbench and the bracket was about as straight as I could get it - not perfect but at least the radiator fitted ok. I also secured the oil cooler which had been resting on the front wheel for most of the winter. A further 30 minutes work saw all the silicon hoses fitted & tightened up. The only thing I wanted to do which I never got around to was to replace the thermostat, but apparently I'd have better luck finding a rocking horse that $h1t's gold. I was offered a 2nd hand one for silly money on a facebook group but as there was no guarentee it was any better than the one I've already got, I declined the offer. I boiled the one I got and it works anyway and if there is an issue with it, I'm reliably informed the T595 will run without one.

Things were looking up, time to tackle the front end.

With a jack under the engine and a thick ratchet strap taking some of the weight (over a roof beam), I removed the front wheel with ease and this is where things start to go T1t5 up!

There are four allen bolts holding the front forks to the bottom yoke. three of them came undone with relative ease, the 4th snapped as soon as I introduced the star drive to it  :icon_frown: I didn't even apply much pressure.  :BangHead

Still, could be worse.

With the retaining bolts undone, it was an easy job removing the forks. These looked in good condition. I'd already pumped them up & down and the seals seemed in good order and the chrome was in pretty good condition too, not perfect but useable. then I noticed that one of them looked a bit odd. Reaching for a straight edge my suspicions were confirmed, one of them was bent.  :bug_eye  I can see the project cost rising quicker than my blood pressure. Still, I know a business that can sort this out as I used them for re-chroming Tabitha's forks a couple of years ago.

A quick look on their website and to refurb both forks, they quote £340 (plus parts) or £220 for just straightening & re-chroming. The last time I used them, I stripped down the forks myself and just sent them the stanshions. I had a quick look on-line and can source new fork tubes for £100 each and seals for another £20, so I might go down that route & do the work myself. There are a few 2nd hand T595 front ends for sale on that well known auction site, but who's to say they're in any better condition than mine and they're no cheaper than refurbing mine anyway. That snapped bolt is a concern though.

Next up, and in view of the state of the forks was to check the steering bearings. Notchy as f**k  :icon_eek:  so these need replacing too. Once I remove the yoke, I'll have a good look at the frame to ensure there's no further damage - in fact I think I'll hold off spending any more on her until I've sorted the steering head bearings.

Which brings me to another issue. Triumph in their infinite wisdom fitted the Daytona with a weird steering nut which requires a special tool. Again, a quick look around and it seems I can get one for around £20.

Meanwhile, with the wheels off and with new tyres sitting in the garage, I was going to strip out the discs & bearings, have the old tyres removed and send the wheels off to the powder coaters. I think I'll hold off on that for the moment too.

One step forward, two steps back.  :augie

The one in that second shot is not just a little bent...  :bug_eye Man, did someone try to turn that into a banana? 

Where is that snapped bolt? I had half expected a picture of the culprit for us to consider giving you all sorts of bad advise on. Do you have a good bit of it sticking out, or did it break flush on the clamp?
I would hold off on spending more until you have done a full inspection. With that bend in that fork, who knows what forces have been at play here. Better safe than skint, I always say.  :bad
On the thermostat, that is an interesting story. I would prefer not to run a bike without it. They are pretty useful in keeping the engine at the right operating temperatures. Obviously you can run the bike without it, but it will take longer to warm up and on colder days it might not be as stable in temperature as it would otherwise be. An interesting trick is to measure up the thermostat and take the measurements to an old fashioned radiator shop or similar. Gates has a great book on all of the stuff they make and I am pretty sure that if you know they diameter and height etc. of the current one, you ought to be able to find a new one that would fit those dimensions with a comparable temperature rating.

There are those jobs that you just keep putting off and find and excuse or work around to avoid them (I have a bathroom like that  :*&* ) but moving the workbench is extreme even for me  :icon_eek:

I've run a Steamer without a thermostat when I had no option but it didn't run as well at speed due to the cooling effect. I might be able to assist, email coming.

If you're talking about Philpotts, they do lovely work, they'll soon tell you if the tube is saveable or not.

The steering stem nuts on the T300's are an odd size, something like 32.8mm, I bought a pair of spanners specifically for the job but found I still had to file about 0.3mm off the jaw to get them to fit. I haven't checked the 955i stem to see if it's the same size, wouldn't surprise me  :icon_rolleyes:  I recall reading somewhere that the thin spanner used on the viscous coupled fan mounts on early Range Rovers is just a fraction under sized and they're cheap, I have not verified that though.

I was half way through a response when I thought it a good idea to grab a decent LED torch I have lying around & take another look at Daysie's head. There's good news, there doesn't appear to be any damage to the frame or headstock, so new bearings will solve that particular problem

The allen bolt has sadly snapped where it's not accessible so I suspect I'm looking at a new (2nd hand) lower yoke. There's 2 on eBay at the moment for around £20 + postage with the added advantage of one of them not having any bearing on it, so no need to remove one which I confess is a real PITA

Sin, I wasn't thinking about Philpotts but only as I'd never heard of them. I've used Dynasurf in the past with good results. I've had a look on their web site and what actually prompted me to take a trip to the garage with said LED was to check the fork tube on the bent one. Philpotts say if it's creased, its FUBAR and sadly, mine is creased. So my only option is to buy new tubes and rebuild them myself.

So good news - headstock  :icon_lol:
bad news - forks  :BangHead
good news - I don't have a scrap frame and Project Daysie can continue  :icon_lol:

The pic below shows the fork clamp, it's the lower bolt that was snapped off. You can just make out where it snapped.

Have you gone over the rest of the chassis yet? Or even just the headstock to analyse the angle?

Gone over the chassis, no dents  kinks, folds or bends (other than the ones that are supposed to be there. Everything lines up correctly & the headstock looks all good.

No sign of accident damage except for the one bent fork tube. It's a mystery how it happened & with limited history  I guess I'll never know.

No further damage is very good news, obviously.

I would not be surprised if someone kicked a curb at some time. Especially in bigger cities where people park at a 90 degree angle to the road, that is a big risk. Imagine being in a hurry, then quickly pulling in and hitting the curb heavily with one side of the wheel. I'd assume the left side would be bent more than the right. Do that a couple of times and the whole thing looks more like a banana every time. ;)

Mixed blessings then, hope new tubes are still available. I don't know how T300 tubes compare, should be possible to swap the valve stack to a new tube.

Ah, that type of nut  :sign13  I have an adjustable width pin spanner for doing those  :thumbsup

I've managed to remove studs like that with a pillar drill and a lot of patience, time spent setting up the angle using the other hole and a tight fit drill, then use a centre drill with minimal pressure to get it started. Another method is to use a transfer punch in the right size to get a mark. It is a lot of effort to save £20 but I'm a Jock  :nod

How Scottish are you really... :mut

Quote from: ghulst on June 02, 2023, 09:12:21 PMHow Scottish are you really... :mut

Truth is I'm probably as much SE Asian as Scots, sort of square sausage with noodles, debatable which part is tighter though  ;) 

Quote from: ghulst on June 02, 2023, 09:12:21 PMHow Scottish are you really... :mut

I'm asking myself the same question  :icon_biggrin:

Quote from: Sin_Tiger on June 04, 2023, 12:13:41 PMTruth is I'm probably as much SE Asian as Scots, sort of square sausage with noodles, debatable which part is tighter though  ;) 

The question then is, do they perhaps even reinforce each other?  :icon_lol:

Ahh, warm weather, a little free time & Daysie on the bench. Time for a little more work.

Knowing that there is more cash to be spent and not having any spare this month, a combination of going part time, my pension not being paid as expected & saving as much as possible for my trip later in the month to the ABR festival and short tour of the West Country, I have little left for Daysie.

So far, I've identified around a further £600 is needed to get her back on the road. That includes new suspension tubes, bushes and seals, new head & wheel bearings and some new brake disc bolts.

I started stripping down the steering, which after spending a few ££'s on a tool for the steering head cap, was easy to remove once the stanshions were removed. A quick chat with my tame Triumph mechanic confirmed that buying a 2nd hand yoke was the best solution. He can drill out & repair my existing one but it would cost more than buying another one. A replacement arrived during the week which is awaiting a good clean.

Having removed the headstock, I noticed that the steering bearing (the top one) wasn't seated correctly. Now I'm not certain wheather the monkey who fitted it knew what he was doing but on closer inspection, I'm unsure it should have been raised above the frame quite as much as it was, and certainly shpuldn't have been approx. 2mm higher at the back than the front. The photo below doesn't show it as bad as it was. The bearings have now been removed, the frame inspected again to ensure there was no damage (there wasn't) and next month, I'll order some new bearings.

Now on to the forks. You'll recall one of them, the right side as I recall, was slightly bent. Turns out it was approx 5mm out, bending from the lower clamp. Having already done this with Tabitha Trophy, it took less than 1/2 hour to completely strip the fork. The oil that came out was graphite grey & spelt like an indian restaurant toilet at midnight, not that I make a habit of hanging around toilets you understand.  :nono

Once I'd stripped the first one down, you could see the kink on the inside of the tube and a quick search on Philpotts web site (thanks Sin for the heads up) confirmed that straightening it would not be possible. I've found two companies who can provide replacement tubes at less than £100 per tube, Sprint Manufacturing and Squaredeals UK. I have other bits to order, so I'll see which one can provide the most bits for the least price and order next month. I just need to give them a good clean and spray the bottom to tidy them up.

When I originally removed the wheels, a very quick glance showed they were in pretty good shape so I was in two minds whether to get them stripped & powdercoated. Well, I had another good look this week & decided they did need doing, so the discs had to come off the front wheel as well as removing the bearings & tyres. I was pleased that almost all the disc bolts came off easily, leaving only two that were chewed.

It looks like someone had already tried to undo them using an allen key, the thing is, they're star, not allen. I confess I was a little nervous and expected far more than two to be an issue, so with eash one, I took the correct size star bit, placed it on the bolt and gave each one a good few taps with the hammer. I used a T-bar rather than a ratchet, a trick I've learned over the years working on older bikes and that seemed to do the trick. With the two bolts that were chewed, I used an oversized star bit & hammered it in. That done the trick. The discs themselves are ok, but I suspect I'll have to get a spray can to the centre as they look a little tired.

Next up, I guess is off to Ben to have the tyres & bearings removed. Normally I'd do the bearings myself with a bar & hammer, but as he's having the wheels, I'll leave him to sort out. The rear wheel is easy - it' doesn't have any bearings in the wheel, they're in the hub & Ben's alrteady done that job.

I suspect tidying & cleaning will keep me occupied until next payday, so I won't be short of jobs to do.

Great work! I understand the saving up part. That is always a challenge. You might also be able to find two used fork legs for little money. I once got two complete fork legs for my Ducati for €100. As the original fork legs were badly pitted, that was the easiest and cheapest solution to sort them. Make sure you can return them if they are not straight. Dealing directly with a breakers yard might allow you to do that.

Had a look around to see if there were any 2nd hand forks but most of the ones I could find were either bent or over £200. Seeing as I can get new fork tubes for £200 and I'm no stranger to rebuilding forks, I'm going down the new tube route. Now do I get them from Sprint Manufacturing or Square deals UK? I did find one person who was prepared to sell me his original forks from his T595. he replaced them as he track days his Daytona & has some trick stuff on his bike. Unfortunately, they'd need re-chroming which is a little more expensive than new tubes.

No pics this time, but had a hour or so free yesterday so decided to clean up the discs removed from the wheels last week. I have an old suede brush which I use to clean up aluminium bits, together with an almost neat solution of parts washer fluid.

The first part went well, that is spraying the parts washer fluid onto the brake discs to remove the encrusted brake dust of many years residence. Sadly, it also lifted the paint. Not to worry as I was going to spray them anyway. I used some clutch/brake cleaner to clean all the parts washer fluid off and the result isn't too bad. Unfortunately, I ran ot of clutch/brake cleaner, so only managed to do one side of one disc.

I thought abut replacing them rather than spend time cleaning/spraying them, but at £200+, and as the discs are 3.95mm (the min thickness is 3.5mm) it didn't make sense to replace.

The other jobs were to finally put all the stuff on the tank, fuel pump, fuel warning thingy and fuel cap, so that's ready to go back on the bike eventually. and I've also cleaned the rear footpegs & hangers bolted them back on.

All small jobs but it brings me just a little closer to a finished project, although still a long way off.

On the plus side, while sorting through the box of new parts I bought last year, I fond a box of front wheel bearings I'd forgotten I bought and two small allen head bolts which look like they fit the fuel cap. No idea what these are for but I'm sure I'll find out eventually.

The wheels have gone to Ben's for a strip down. Will be picking them up on Monday then it's off to the powder coaters. Meanwhile, I've had a little windfall & now have some funds to take me a little further to completion. I'll be ordering the fork tubes later this week, together with a few other bits I need, steering bearings, fork seal kits, a bush kit for the front suspension and a couple of disc bolts.

On the down side, I'll miss my own deadline to get her back on the road. I wanted to have her done by the time my insurance njext becomes due, but that's a mere 26 days away. The fallback date is the end of November (152 days) which is probably more realistic.

Another quick update. last week, I looked on line at Sprint Manufacturing and Squaredeals UK as they both had fork tubes listed for under £100 each. Well having just been paid, today I went back to Sprint, my preferred company and they're no longer listed  :icon_eek:

So I went to Squaredeals UK, they've gone up from £99 each to £115. Ok I think if I need them, I need them. Went to order, no longer in stock  :BangHead

So off I go to Wemoto, they have them in stock at a whopping £193 each  :bug_eye

:m

Back to that good ole auction site and managed to pick up a pair of complete front forks for a T595 for £190.  there was a cheaper pair comming in at £80 but they were badly pitted and would have needed rechroming at additional cost. I only hope the ones I've bought are in as good a conditionas the photos appear to show.

I've also purchased the disc bolts I need and a fork bush set, which I may not now need.

I've also just bought myself a new coffee machine - not really relevant to Daysie's rebuild, except the coffee will help me keep awaie while in the garage.  :icon_cool:

Life goes on. A lot has happened in the past few weeks, I've been to the ABR festival (I will be adding a video of Talyn J's adventures as soon as I've edited it), had a trip to North Devon & met up with a few friends, renewed the insurance for my trio of Triumphs, booked Tabitha Trophy in for her annual check up and finally got an appointment at Papworth hospital to mend my broken heart (literally, not figuratively).

I've also got a few more steps closer to finishing Daysie. The wheels are currently with the Powder coaters although there is a 4 - 6 week wait. The 2nd hand forks turned up on Thursday and the new fork seals Friday. I already had new bushes and 2l of fork oil so armed with s toolbox, the Triumph service manual, enthusiasm and time (not always a good combination), it was a wet, thundery day I headed for the garage, lime green extension cord in hand so I could at least have the radio on and a little light.

First job of the day was to make a cup of coffee and sit & stare at the rain while listening to the distant rumble of thunder (no not an old Prog Rock album) while drinking it & deciding which job to do first. Replacing the steering bearings won out. A relatively easy job as I'd already removed the lower bearing from the replacement yoke I'd had to buy. This took around an hour, 20 minutes of which was spent making (yet) another cup of coffee & looking through the service manual to print off the pages showing torque settings & assembly of forks.

I have to admit when unwrapping the 2nd hand forks I was more than happy with them. I took a bit of a gamble and it paid off. Yes I paid almost £200 for them and only saw the usual poor quality eBay photos, but there was barely a mark on the fork tubes & certainly nothing that a quick application of Autosol and a clean rag couldn't deal with.

One of the fork loweres was a little scratched, but the ones I took off Daysie were in good condition so I wasn't too worried. I had to strip them down anyway to replace the seals & bushes, so swapping out the bottom for one of the originals was easy, as long as I swapped out the left lower for the left lower. I admit, it was more luck than judement that I got this right. It was only because I did one complete rebuild before starting the next that I realised the brake caliper brackets and hole for the axle are different for each side.  :icon_eek:

I have this nice little slide hammer thingy especially for replacing fork seals, so it was all a doddle to be fair. While I had the old fork inners alongside the 'new' ones, I did a quick compare the originals looked in better condition, so I swapped the internals around as well on both forks.

While I had the printed page from the service manual which told me how much fork oil to use & the correct procedure for filling them, I decided not to follow them with the result I poured around 300ml of fork oil on top of my work bench.  :BangHead

Unlike the forks on Tabitha, where the internals could be split so the spring could be left out while filling them, Daysies fork internals are pretty much all one piece. I completely forgot about the small retaining bolt in the bottom of the forks so began filling one up without the internals in. The result? while I was pouring oil in the top, it was going straight through and out the bottom just as quick.  :icon_scratch:

NEXT TIME LEE, READ THE F**KING MANUAL!   :^_^

Just as well I had 2l of oil, 586ml for each fork & 230ml for the workbench. I still have to adjust the oil level in the forks but now having read the manual they need to be on the bike to do it.

Edit: 18:48
Decided to replace the front discs. I had another look at them and aside from the paint peeling I noticed a couple of gouges in the disc carrier. Looked at wavy discs but decided against them. I couldn't really see any benefit. Less weight maybe, but also less surface contact & potentially less cooling than standard discs. I saw some Comet discs on eBay which were £150 but couldn't find any mention of Comet discs let alone any reviews. As brakes are a safety thing, I've ordered some EBC floating discs from Demon Tweeks..

Another few hours free yesterday. Daysie now has a fitted...







mudguard  :icon_biggrin:


The front calipers & brake lines have also been attached, as has the headlight. The wiring has all been cable tied as per the photos I took prior to dismantling the front end. The clocks and cockpit surround has been done and I've trial fitted the nosecone.

And here's where things started to go a little wrong. I have a 4-wire connector and a 2-wire connector I can't find homes for. I'll need to take a look at the wiring diagram to see if I can see what they're for. One of them was hanging down when I got the bike and I assumed it was the side (middle as you look at the nosecone) light, but it isn't, although thinking about it, it could be the warning light for the alarm that's no longer fitted. There's a sensor attached to the inside of the rear bodywork which is also unattached, so the alarm theory may be a good one. I have no idea where either of them go at the moment, only that they're not long enough to reach anything that's not behind the dash.

The other issue is when I tried to trial fit the nosecone, I broke one of the locating lugs off. It doesn't really make any difference as there's three locating lugs (centre and either side) plus two bolts under the nosecone and the wing mirrors to hold everything on. There is a small piece of fairing that's broken off (done before I got her but I have the broken bit), it's tucked out of the way so you'd only see it if you looked. I'm going to get some JB Weld & patch that up I might see about fixing the locating lug as well while I'm at it.

On the plus side, my new EBC discs turned up today. Just need the wheels back now, pop the new bearings in the front wheel, get my tame Triumph mechanic to fit the tyres, and I can lower the bench to finish off the electrics without having to stand on a stool.

Gonna be nice to see her fully clothed, even if she's not yet ready for the road.

I think this evening I'll refit the rear bodywork.

Update 13/07/2023
I've traced the two connectors, one of them was, as suspected the alarm warning light, the other was for the tacho light. Had to remove the headlight and clocks to find the connector wire from the instrument pod as it was about half the length of the other ones, so eaasy to miss when connecting everything up - at least that's my excuse.

Things are looking good, er... bad. Let me explain.

over the past few weeks I've sent the wheels of to be powder coated in the satin black, as near to standard as I can get, I've had new brake discs arrive, I've fixed the piece of fairing that broke off and I've finished off putting the coolant system back together, ready for coolant.I've even refitted the rear bodywork and front mudguard so she's begining to look more like a bike again. There was one last thing to do for the day, fit a new o ring to the coolant housing and refit the temp sensor.

O ring went fine, temp sensor was going well, I just had to refit the retaining clip at which point tsaid clip flew across the garage, the temp sensor fell out and ther thermostat housing broke.  :BangHead

So, I've finished with it, had enough, come in from the garage, got beer i the fridge & just might have one before dinner.

Just got back from the Wheelrite (Spalding) with my freshly powdercoated wheels  :icon_biggrin:

Looking great, will update with pictures once I've had the tyres put on them.

We're getting there, brakes to bleed, coolant to add, tank & fairings to put back on & she'll look like a Daytona again. For info, she's cost a bit more than Tabitha Trophy cost by around £350, again proving that you can buy a road going bike of equivalent condition for less than it costs to rebuild one.

Still, that's not why I do it & at least I know both Tabitha Trophy and Daysie Daytona er... intimately!

It's been a hard week with both good and bad bits.Lets start with the good. Thanks to Sin-tiger I have a fully functioning coolant system, at least I believe I have. Everything is back together coolant wise with all pipes, thermostats, sensors and rad cap in place but I admit I've yet to fill it with coolant. That is still in a container on the shelf. I thought I'd wait until I've got the wheels back on before I fill the coolant, then I can put the tank back on as well.

The wheels are still with my tame Triumph mechanic for tyre fitting. I spoke with him today & he'll have them done tomorrow (Tuesday). I dropped them off over a week ago but to be fair, I did say I wouldn't be able to pick them up until this week. The reason for the time delay is I went into hospital on Monday to have a heart procedure, was only in for a day but was told to take things REAL easy for 2 days and not drive for 7. UK daytime TV is not good and I watched a fair few 'B' Sci-fi films on Netflix too (that's not a good bit though  :icon_biggrin: ).

Another good bit is I've bled the front brakes and all seems well. They are a little spongy but that's because in the absence of wheels and therefore discs, I removed the pads and wedged a bit of wood into the calipers. When the wheels are back I can bleed them properly.

Now for the bad bits, the rear brake cylinder is completely f**ked. I have a choice of a rebuild kit or a 2nd hand refurbished unit, both are around £30 so I opted for a refurbed cylinder. It's on its way & should be here later in the week. I know there is a risk that I may still need a refurb kit but thems the breaks.

Bad bit 2, before refitting the nose cone I thought I'd better check all the lights work, so I took the battery of Tabitha & connected it up. With baited braeth I inserted the key & turned the ignition on. I was rewarded with a click from a couple of relays and the neutral light, oil pressure light and EML light up - so far so good. The fuel pump is not connected, so obviously that didn't spring to life as I'd expect. I switched the lights on and... nothing. OK, try the horn, still nothing, indicators, nope, same with the headlight flash switch. Check the kill switch and that was fine, switch it off and the dash lights go out & relays can be heard clicking off. So it was with some trepidation I thumbed the starter switch - still nada, nowt, nothing, nill, a big fat zilch. Connected up Tune ECU and there were no error codes. I even checked the rad fan while I was connected up. at least that works.

My first thought was that maybe there was an alarm/immobiliser fitted but I never found one of those while rebuilding her. Having said that, both Tallulah and Tabitha, while not having alarms fitted, have the alarm connector with a jump switch, without which neither of them start. Maybe Daysie has one of those.

Checked the fuses anyway and  all ok. I know, I'll check the parking lights, front side light came on and the rear right indicator.

Wait, Indicator?

Oh dear!

Looks like I've got some work to do. I'll investigate the immobiliser jump switch theory later in the week if I have time. I'm back to work on Wednesday so I may have to wait until the weekend.

A quick update for you all on where I am with Daysie Daytona.

Both front & rear brakes are now fully functional including the brake light, althopugh the rear brake light switch needs a little adjustment as I can't depress the brake pedal far enough to operate the switch - an easy fix, and I finally managed to fit the new chain. She's been off the ramp and out in the sun with the fuel tank and most of the bodywork in place so she looks like a bike again.

I went out at the weekend & bought a new battery after using the original new battery I bought for her in Tabitha Trophy when I put her back on the road earlier in the year.

I've had all the relays out & tested, using both an electrical tester & a couple of bits of wire with crocodile clips on and attached to Tallulah's battery (which also needs replacing as it doesn't hold a full charge).

So, all relays good, battery good, brake lights good, parking lights goodish (the offside rear indicator still lights up instead of the rear lamp), I had a look at the alarm plug used for the factory fitted aparm although one is not fitted, and fabricated a couple of jumpers and I've checked the earth connectors.

Still no lights, horn, indicators or starter.

Daysie is now back on the bench with all her clothes removed. Time to start a more thorough inspection of the wiring. Think I'll start with the ignition switch & work my way back.

Hey Lee, how's Daisy doing these days? ;) 

Quote from: ghulst on November 28, 2023, 08:44:35 AMHey Lee, how's Daisy doing these days? ;)

Well, she's been put on hold, life has got in the way with a few curve balls being thrown my way over the past 3 - 4 months. I've not even taken TalynJ out that much & Tabitha has only done around 150 miles (240km).

She still sits on the bench with electrickery problems. As soon as I connected the battery, one of the relays started to overheat, hot to touch within a minute. Swapped the relays around and it's not the relay at fault, but the circuit it was attached to. The relay socket in question is the one that cuts the headlamp when you press the starter, so clearly something within that circuit.

All earths have been checked but still no joy.

When the weather improves & I can get out to the garage again I'll start checking all the wiring starting at the front & working my way back. There's something in my head that says I may have connected the wiring loom behind the headlight cluster wrong, but until I remove the lights I don't know for sure.

There's still an earth problem somewhere as I'm pretty sure the rear offside indicator shouldn't light up when I turn the parking lights on.

Quote from: Lee337 on December 03, 2023, 12:22:12 PMWell, she's been put on hold, life has got in the way with a few curve balls being thrown my way over the past 3 - 4 months. I've not even taken TalynJ out that much & Tabitha has only done around 150 miles (240km).

She still sits on the bench with electrickery problems.

Good luck with the wiring issues :^_^ 
The Granite tiger's 'lecky" problems were only a heap of blown bulbs, so I'd imagine once I start doing some kilometres' there could be an overcharging issue.
Old TR6's had a power surge when ridden with enthusiasm, :rfl  so hopefully, as Lucas the Prince of Darkness had nothing to do with production, it won't have carried bad guru's across the factory  ;) 

SHE LIVES!

Had a few hours spare today filled Daysie up with coolant,no leaks. So far, so good.

Then headed off to Halfords to buy some replacement relays. Found 3 of the 4 I needed. Back home & with relays replaced. I gingerly connected the battery & felt each of the relays - you may remember one of them overheated as soon as the battery was connected. Nope, All seemed fine, so in to the house to grab the keys.

Back out, still no heated relays, turned the ignition on & all the tell-tale lights came on as did the instrument lights. That's new!

Thumbed the starter button












and







she turned over  :wings

Even though I charged the battery, she was a little slow though. No headlights until I switched to main beam. The right headlight came on. No left but I still have a missing relay. The side light came on though, as did the rear right indicator. Oh dear  :icon_scratch:

Still some way to go but definitely one step closer.

Need that relay and I suspect there's a dodgy earth somewhere.

YEAH! She's alive! That's always good news. On to the next solved problem! ;)

Been practicing '2 steps forward, 1 step back' today.

Pulled Daysie out of the garage as the sun was shining & out of the wind it was quite warm. Had the battery on a conditioner overnight so it was fully charged. Connected it up & plugged in the final replacement relay.

That's odd, the right headlight came on, ignition still, off, turned ignition on and front side light, rear right indicator, neutral & eml came on. Nothing else, no other lights, no horn, no indicators & no left headlight, no brake lights.. Unlike yesterday, no starter either although you can hear the relay click.

Pulled the fuse for the right head.ight but it stayed on. Pulled the left fuse & it went out.

Disconnected the wiring for rear lights & indicators and checked them all. The rear light bulbs were blown & bulb holders corroded. So after check8ng all the ear5hconnections & positive wires,new bulbs & holders cleaned up, I now nhave rear lights, still no brake lights though even though they worked when I refurbished the brakes.

At this point my brother turned up on  his new bike wanting to go for a ride. When packing up & showing him the bits that did work, I noticed the  headlight wasn't as bright as when I started. Battery was showing 12.74v when I started but it was now down to 12.14v. Not enough to account for the dimming bulb but suggests a short somewhere.

So, fuse pulled again, check battery, 12.14v. Turn ignition on, no iights except neutral & EML, 11.1v. Ignition off, 12.14v

Definitely a short somewhere.  Next, put Daysie away, pull Talyn J out & go for a ride.

Wonder what the battery voltage will be tomorrow?