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Bah, damn the luck!
A stupid mistake and a millisecond of bad judgement caused me to lay down my bike. Luckily, I was only going around 30 and just got a couple scrapes and a little knock on the arm for my trouble. My upper body stayed upright and I slid on my butt. Seat of my pants suffered some, but my wallet saved my butt, literally!
My bike however, was not so lucky. It slid into a yard where the The pickup coil cover caught on a meter cover and broke off, destroying the pickups and bending the centrifugal advance unit center shaft slightly, as well.
The pickup cover bolt holes going into the block are broken out on the side to where you can see the threads as much as a 1/2 inch or more into it
The bottom right hole and some of its surrounding wall is broken off the block completely.
If only I had put the case guards I bought on it. I was putting it off until I could clean them better....
I'm hoping that alumiweld stuff (or possibly a MIG) will allow me to recreate the missing metal around the top and bottom holes I still have so I can retap them. I'm not sure about the bottom one thats gone. I am thinking something like a small piece of aluminum barstock of the same height welded onto the block and then tapped. Possibly even some machining on it's sides to better match the walls. Replacing the engine block is just not an option, and I think I can at least come up with something that will protect the pickups, and still look relatively decent. I've made small casted parts with JBweld that have really held up for other things, but I'd really like to fix this with metal, if I can. It doesn't seem like it should be fatal for the engine. Anyone here ever have to do anything like this?
Also, what year and model pickups and centrifugal advance can I use on my 80SG? I've read here about some of the differences, but it's all greek to me. There seems to be a difference in every model.
Definately learned a couple of things from this. Won't be riding again without a jacket. Despite the 95 degree weather. I'm also going to go take the riding course I didn't think I needed now, as well. Didn't remember as much as I thought I did....
I'm not going to give up on my bike now though. Especially after all the work I've put into it. It saw me through this, so I'll see it through it, as well. When it went it was almost like it set me on my butt deliberately. Seeing it like this now kills me.
My bike however, was not so lucky. It slid into a yard where the The pickup coil cover caught on a meter cover and broke off, destroying the pickups and bending the centrifugal advance unit center shaft slightly, as well.
The pickup cover bolt holes going into the block are broken out on the side to where you can see the threads as much as a 1/2 inch or more into it
The bottom right hole and some of its surrounding wall is broken off the block completely.If only I had put the case guards I bought on it. I was putting it off until I could clean them better....
I'm hoping that alumiweld stuff (or possibly a MIG) will allow me to recreate the missing metal around the top and bottom holes I still have so I can retap them. I'm not sure about the bottom one thats gone. I am thinking something like a small piece of aluminum barstock of the same height welded onto the block and then tapped. Possibly even some machining on it's sides to better match the walls. Replacing the engine block is just not an option, and I think I can at least come up with something that will protect the pickups, and still look relatively decent. I've made small casted parts with JBweld that have really held up for other things, but I'd really like to fix this with metal, if I can. It doesn't seem like it should be fatal for the engine. Anyone here ever have to do anything like this?
Also, what year and model pickups and centrifugal advance can I use on my 80SG? I've read here about some of the differences, but it's all greek to me. There seems to be a difference in every model.
Definately learned a couple of things from this. Won't be riding again without a jacket. Despite the 95 degree weather. I'm also going to go take the riding course I didn't think I needed now, as well. Didn't remember as much as I thought I did....
I'm not going to give up on my bike now though. Especially after all the work I've put into it. It saw me through this, so I'll see it through it, as well. When it went it was almost like it set me on my butt deliberately. Seeing it like this now kills me.
I, too, now prefer to sweat over bleed! 
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