On the mend

[John]

I have been busy with the resurrection of Twilite Special in the past few weeks. I have bought a used frame from a bike that is 64 units newer than my bike. Chances are that it was built on the same day as mine, probably came over on the same ship, and very well could have been sold at the same dealership. Anyhow, the frame was a salvage yard with grass growing up all around it. We dragged it up to the front of the shop building, and removed the swing arm and the forks/triple trees. Everything else had been stripped from the frame. Got the frame home, and discovered that the right side center stand mount/pivot point had been removed from the frame, and a large gaping hole was in it's place. Other than that it was in good shape. Got it all sand blasted, and primed it to keep it from rusting. I didn't think the hole in the frame was that big a deal, because I could just cut the pivot from my old frame and weld it onto the new frame. Well, upon stripping the bent frame I noticed that the area around the pivot had been damaged, and the it was unusable. Luckily, I have a couple of XJ11 frames sitting around, so I cut the frame section out that holds the pivot, AND I removed the bracket that mounts the kick stand warning switch. I promised SWMBO that I wouldn't ride it unless it had some sort of kick stand warning system installed. I tested the xj kick stand switch and it tested good. It will become part of a circuit that will kill the engine if the stand is down and I shift out of neutral.
Back to the progress. The frame was repaired, switch bracket, and the steering head bearing races replaced. Three good coats of black paint were applied, and then a good heavy layer of paste wax was applied. Then I reinstalled the wiring harness. Next the bearings were removed from the lower tree, inspected and repacked. Both trees were sanded and painted. The tach got replaced, and it and the speedo got the housings polished, and the black trim around the faces got repainted. The front end (with wheel and tire) was installed onto the frame yesterday, and it now resembles a motorcycle. I have changed out the fork ears and installed the headlight bucket and turn signals. Next will be laying the engine over onto it's right side and lowering the frame down over it to install it. After a couple of engine mounting bols are installed, it will be stood back up, and be standing on it's own.

More to come as I get more accomplished.

[randy]

Congatulations, John. Glad to hear Twilite's on her way back! Watch the heavy lifting, though!

[Street_Rat78]

Yea John, be careful ... after that spill, we'd hate to see you get hurt again.

Best wishes with the Twilite restoration. Keep us up to date on your progress.

[don07tncav]

Glad to read things are going back together John! Both you and the bike!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey John,

That's great, glad to hear things are on the mend! I've got to get the gumption up to get working on my basket case, but since I have a ride working, it's a bit more difficult to get motivated!
Don't forget the PICTURES!!
T.C.

[John]

The Progress

Today SWMBO and I got the engine in the frame. It wasn't to difficult, but it would have been easier if I had left the front end off, and installed it after the engine was in place, and before it was stood back up. After that I installed the plastic rear inner fender from an XJ, but there too many little differences, so I repaired all of the cracks in the old busted up one with a soldering iron. I just melted the cracks back together like I was brazing. It works good. The swingarm and the rear shocks from a MNS followed. I got rid of the XJ air shocks. I installed the rear turn signals and then came the rear fender, and the luggage rack. I then went to the front, and installed the front turn signals, and ran all of the wiring into the headlight bucket and plugged in all of the connectors. The bars were next and then the clutch lever perch, front master cylinder, new throttle cable, and the grips. It really looks like a motorcycle now. I'm hoping to have it all back together in a couple of days. I'd like to be able to have it running by the middle of next week. It will probably take me that long to get the bugs out of the electrical system.

More to come as I get more accomplished.

[Street_Rat78]

Sounds like you're making great progress. Glad to see things are coming back together smoothly.

Best wishes.

[John]

More progress

After a couple of days of chasing electrical bugs, I have most of the bike back together. When I tested the turn signals on Sunday the left side didn't work. Right side was fine. Checked the connections at the connector, and everything looked good. Opened the switch and discovered that the wire for the l/side signals had a bad solder joint. Repaired that and then went to test the start circuit. Pushed the starter button, and nothing. Started chasing down the circuit, and discoverd that in the accident, the kill switch on the right controls had been damaged. I placed a jumper wire from the battery terminal on the solenoid, and conneced it to the blue/black wire to the starter button. Ok, I now have power up to the starter button. I pushed the button, and I let all the smoke out of the circuit. Apparently there was too much amperage to the button and it melted, not the wire. I started chasing out the starter circuit, and discovered that the kill switch on the right side of the bars was damaged. I had a spare switch pod, (with no starter button) so I canniblized the kill switch from it and installed it into the switch pod on the bike. That cured that problem, but I still have a melted button. I jumped from the blue/black wire to ground and the starter engaged. Problem solved. Log on to Mikesxs, and spend $10 to get a new button . $4 for shipping when they could just stick the button in an envelope, put a stamp on it, and drop it in the mail, what a ripoff... Anyway, I have a kick stand safety circuit wired in and it appears to work. I don't know for sure, but I will find out soon.
Monday, I only had a couple of hours to work as I had a Dr's appointment, so I installed the carbs and airbox. Yesterday I rassled the exhaust into place, and today after physical therapy, I will install the oil cooler, and engine case guards. I will buy a new battery, and get it charged up overnight. Tomorrow I don't have therapy, so I can devote most of the day to the bike. I am anticipating having it running, or at least cranking, and then chasing more elecrical gremlins if it doesn't run.
My spare gas tank had a dent that I didn't know about, so I am going to use the original one for the time being, kinda like a badge of honor, if you will. I have two other tanks, that I have plans to use to make one large tank, but that is still down the road for now. I was going to use the spare with the dent, on the bike, and cut the tank that was on my bike, as it got messed up in the accident, as well as a tank from an XS850 SG. They were going to be the donors for the big tank project.

More to come as I get more accomplished.

[John]

It runs!!!

Today I installed the new battery, added fresh oil. and gave the bike a quick once over. Went to the gas station and bought a gallon of premium. Poured it into the tank, and had the tank sitting on the luggage rack with a long piece of fuel line running to the line on the right side of the carbs. Blocked of the left side of the fuel line as not to have gas pour all over the place. Turned the fuel on and had a leak between #3 & 4 carbs. Dammit! It was the fuel T fitting. S#it! Put an old towel under the leak and proceded to fill the bowls. Turned off the petcock, and pulled the choke, and held my breath and crossed my fingers. Stuck a phillips screwdriver into the hole vacated by the starter button and cranked it. It cranked about three or revolutions and lit off! It runs! I played with the petcock in order to get some fuel to the carbs and not to make too big a mess. I let it warm up a few minutes and took off the choke. It idled beautifully. I twisted it up a couple of times and it roared. It runs great! Only it has this damn fuel leak. I need to get a new T fitting. Motorcyclecarbs.com is the only place I know of that has them and they ain't cheap. I then rememberd that I had a set of carbs the originally on the Foster Child, and they are just sitting around doing nothing. I pulled the #4 carb off the rack, and pulled the T from the carb body. It looked good. I then started the bike again in order to run the fuel out of the bowls. As it idled, I had loosened the clamps on the carb boots and pulled the airbox out of the way. As soon as it died, I pulled the carbs out of the intake boots, and to the left to remove the throttle cable. Went to the bench and loosed the screws that hold the carbs to the rail, and loosened the choke linkage from the rod. Slipped the carb off and the T fell right out! I reassembled the carbs, with the new T, and reinstalled them. Turned the fuel on and Viola! No leak. Installed the airbox and started it up. Still running good , but now there is no head light. damn. Chased that problem down the relay. Bypass it and the light works. Checked the charging rate to make sure I was getting power to pull in the relay. 13.5 at 3k rpm. Looks like I need a relay now. Damn! Oh well, enough for one day. It runs and I'm happy. Time to adjust the attitude.