De-Painting Inside of Yokes

The powder coating had to be taken off the inside of the fork yokes or Ts.

  

 Fork stanchions slide in quite nicely now.

 Be careful not to hit any outer surfaces with that abrasive.

 

And BEFORE you test putting in the stanchions, clean out all the grit so the stanchions do not get scratched.

 Then I need to work out if the flat section, where the bearing will rest, needs to be cleaned up too.  My surface here is quite lumpy.  I don't think this is paint build up but it could be and there is also a washer that should cover it up.  I don't want it to settle at a later date forcing me to do another head adjustment.

Steering Head Assembly Issues

Just been pointed out that due to the powder coating reaching the insides of the fork yoke clamps, it is unlikely that I will be able to put the stanchions back in with removing the paint.  You can see here how beautifully the insides have been painted.  Oh dear!

 And indeed the fork stanchion will not go in.

 And this is why.  It is trying to scrape the paint off.

 

  Is this the way to do it?

Preparing Steering Head For Reassembly (Day 511)

After some time dealing with my other bike (My GS1100G Road Runner Blog) and enjoying riding it over the last part of the summer of 2013, I am back on the original project and I am starting on the frame / forks reassembly.

All of my parts and frame have been beautifully powder coated at Performance Powder Coating in East Kent.

Now I am preparing to reassemble the steering head.All the powder coated parts look great and we are ready to go.

 

The stem was wrapped in masking tape that was baked at high temperature.  This meant the tape was very hard to remove and when it did come off it left a sticky residue.

 Removing all the sticky tape glue with a "sticky stuff" remover.

 Then I needed to dress the damage I had done when I was busting off the old race with the Dremel.

 And prepare the stem for the new bearing.

Then I needed to tap the handlebar retaining bolt holes as these had not been protected from the powder coating.

 

 

 I also spent some time wire brushing up the original clamp bolts.

Then let's see where these bearings go.

 I think there should be a washer underneath that bearing.

 

I need to find a way of pushing this bearing right down to be in contact with the T section (including the washer which is not present).

What's Been Happening

Some time (nearly 4 months) has passed since I last posted.  But fear not.  My passion is undiminished.  I decided that this project is unlikely to be on the road anytime soon.  In fact I now estimate at least summer 2015.  I have realised just how much time all this takes and how much money it costs.  I have also realised that when it is finished, it will be so lovely, I will be very afraid of riding it out.

So to get around this I bought another GS1100G which will be my Road Runner.  A bike I can ride around in all weathers and not worry about spoiling it.

I started up another blog for her and  you can see it here:  Suzuki GS1100G Road Runner Project.