Building the bike

[Fix]

Some of you may recall I picked up a parts bike a while back. It's (mostly) a '79 special. There is a liberal sprinkling of MNS parts. My brother-in-law, who've I've been friends with since long before I met and married his sister, finally talked his wife into letting him get a bike. Only caveat is, it had to be very inexpensive. Well, I'm putting this bike together for him, and charging him what I paid.

The bike was tore down to just the engine in the frame. I have what appears to be the vast majority of the parts. I have a thread where I'll post missing stuff http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...907#post288907

I've never fully assembled a bike before, so there's a lot of manual reading going on.

Anyone have some general advice? Like "Don't do this before you do this" etc?

[DGXSER]

Having taken a couple down to the frame now, and put one back together, I'll offer a few sage pieces of advice....

First, your on the right path, read the manual on the Disassembly of the parts first, then on how to assemble the part your dealing with. It will save you ALOT of going backwards sometimes, even if it means holding off till you get a part you did not know you needed or have.

Secondly, take your time, and put all the parts you need for the assembly your on in a separate pile/spot. That way, you will know quickly if you missed something, perhaps before your putting your tools away and then find the spring that holds the drive shaft in place in the final drive shaft connector.

Lastly, do not try to use an alternate fastener on something because you lost or do not have the right one. For example, trying to put a 1.5 pitch thread on a 1.25 pitch stud that happens to be welded to the frame of the bike. That right there can ruin your week!!

Like every other elephant in the world, eat it one bite at a time, focus on that bite and not how much else you still have to accomplish. And it will be a running machine before you know it. Learn to celebrate the little accomplishments in life, there are never enough big ones anyway.

[natemoen]

Don't try to start the engine until you put oil in it! Thats my advice!

[crazy steve]

Having done a basketcase or two myself, I'll add a few things to what Don said.

Trial fit everything; the manual isn't always crystal-clear on how things go together, so a quick trial fit can save time later by making you more familar with the parts, as well as clearing up any possible missing/damaged parts.

Don't assume everything or anything is good; check it. This can save tons of time after the bike is together, particularly the electrical items.

Like he said, one step at a time...

'78E original owner