Trigger's Broom (and it's an ESD)

[Rob65]

Ok so we've all made a dubious purchase under the influence and apparently some of us never learn in our later years. This is the story of mine, an 1100 ESD. OK, it isn't a Katana, more the toned down model for the faint hearted possibly, but some of my fondest memories were mine in the early '90's which was sadly stolen shortly after I got it just how I wanted it. Worse still, I don't seem to have a picture to share but that's the nature of this project.

Triggers Broom minus V&H Exhaust

My moment of weakness happened last year. I'd finally started taking my 750S3 apart after I bought it off an old mate around the year 2000 rather than see it part chopped. Since the 750 wasn't running and my TL1000 needed some serious investigation of the fuel injection (which my heart just wasn't in) I wanted something to ride. Being tall, stiff and frankly suffering on the TL, another 80's bike was perfect and I'd loved the ESD riding position. Funds wouldn't allow any kind of decent Kat so an ESD at 1/3 of the price seemed obvious.

50 odd thousand miles, 17 uncaring previous, ham fisted owners and the last, a trial bike enthusiast who bought it for the Bulldog Bash and never got round to it. Still, his mate had MOT'ed it (must be fine....) and he was up in the Derby area for work as was kind enough to drop it off.

Soon after purchase and road tax I took it out on the A50 for a blast. The engine pulled just as I remembered, steering wasn't great, brakes were really a bit suspect although so was the front suspension but the howl of the V&H was fine. I ran it down to work a few times which was a dull 60 mile round trip on the M1 and frankly wasn't too thrilled for reasons which become obvious later.

Still, it needed looking at starting with the exhaust. oil, heat, swearing and gentle persuasion was not going to free all the studs so I bit the bullet and got away with three sheared. The downpipes were ok but the rest was held together with filler on the underside. From here on it just got worse. A couple of exhaust outlets looked abnormally coked up so I resigned myself to a full rebuild ahead of the Kat. Unlike the latter this was going to be done quickly so I prepared to outsource some of the trickier bits of restoration which might be beyond my limited skills.

Getting the engine out wasn't hard but the cycle parts were in a shocking state with every bolt corroded and/or seized solid or painted with some horrible red or gold paint. Once everything was off I decided I wanted it essentially as new. This would give me years of trouble free riding on a bike which I loved, which suited my height and preferred riding position. It was technologically of an age I was comfortable tinkering with so in my head, cost didn't matter so long as it was significantly less than a new bike (I am my own worst enemy).

So the plan. I fell in love with this modded Kat - see pick below with apologies to the owner although Goodhal Garage may be the original post. I'm not copying this bike, certainly not at the start, but there are lots of things I love about it, matt black being one thing and whilst I don't like the execution which seems to cover the pillion, the tail piece.

I'm also obsessed with corrosion and durability so I've decided to paint the whole bike with Cerakote ceramic paint and replace all bolts with stainless or titanium. Cerakote is tough and resistant to everything plus it improves cooling efficiency and the price is the same as every other coating. Initially I'll keep the bike largely standard or at least not make modifications which aren't reversible. I'm not judgmental about restoration or modification but I'll keep the 750 Kat standard (probably) and this will be my toy. Everything will be in metallics apart from the body work which will be matt black (or maybe slightly satin). I don't want it too gaudy. If I ever get to stage two I might put the Kat 1100 fairing on, get a tank made and have a go at building a seat and tail piece in the style of my inspiration bike. Money and apathy will decide nearer the time.

So back to the story. The engine went off to Chris at Grumpy's with a view that anything with less than 50,000 miles of life would be restored or replaced. Whilst the bores weren't bad they failed the test to I'm upgrading to 1170. After this it is a bottom end up full rebuild but only the valves look like they are seriously worn. I've cut Chris some slack as he's busy as usual and I'm taking longer with the rest but hopefully I'll have an engine early 2020.

So why trigger's broom? I took everything to Ipswich for the Cerakote then we then noticed the frame was twisted. I'd noticed so rather strange modifications like the incomprehensible plated welded to the rear end but this was beyond repair. £160 later I was in Stoke collecting an american imported frame (which I'll have to register) before back to Ipswich. I'm sure you all remember Trigger's quote from "Only Fools And Horses" and this bike when complete will have had about 17 new handles and 20 new heads.

A significant period has passed but the engine cases are back at Grumpy's hopefully for reconstruction. Most of the cycle parts are done but I'm still waiting for some odd wheel components, brake calipers, anti-dive units and the body work which I'll need towards the end. There was a significant delay when Mark of HCC Coating's prep man had a massive heart attack. Fortunately he is recovering but it was touch and go for a good month. In all the chaos, the frame data plate has been lost although I do have a photograph and I'm crossing my fingers that this plus the number stamped into the frame will be enough for the DVLA and Suzuki.

So what will it look like?

Here are a picture Mark took early on of the colour scheme which will be as follows. The frame will be "Tungsten", the engine "Bright Nickel" with some cases done in "Burnt Bronze" reminiscent of the old gold bits on the 750S3. The wheels and brakes will be gold and various other cycle bits in nickel and bronze for variation. To be honest my planning was dogshit and Mark has the memory like a sieve so some things will not be as intended. Still I'll see what it looks like and steam-roller Mark into redoing anything which really offends.

These are the basic colours which are the frame, an engine case before they went to Grumpys and a sample of the burned bronze. I have lots of bits back here now and will take more pictures in the next few weeks

This is the back wheel in gaudy gold

Feel free to comment as you see fit as I really won't be offended. I'm sure this will be marmite for some and let's be honest, it isn't a Kat. Still, if I finish it and it proves to be a weather-proof monster, depending on the final cost I might still be proper chuffed. The TL has gone but I still have the second installment on the engine, and new V&H pipe, Dyna kit and rear shock to finance so don't hold you collective breath.

[stockcar]

Be very wary of mixing stainless and alloy as you will get a galvanic corrosion which is a tw&t to sort......make sure you use a proper thread coating / lubricant to help alleviate

[Rob65]

Thanks Stockcar, I'll look into this as it isn't something I was aware of.

[PaulD]

Be very wary of mixing stainless and alloy as you will get a galvanic corrosion which is a tw&t to sort......make sure you use a proper thread coating / lubricant to help alleviate

I’ve always used coppaslip grease on stainless fittings and never had problems. If you fit stainless bolts with stainless nuts the threads can “pick up” making it virtually impossible to undo them without wrecking the threads, coppaslip will stop this.

[fossie]

Love the esd , for all the comments about riding position etc..
Data plate being lost isn't an issue for UK market we didn't get one for all bikes .

[Rob65]

I was intending to use a copperslip grease and when I started the project, invested in a number of different greases to investigate their properties. Having looked up galvanic corrosion it all came back to me as my dad had an old narrow boat in my youth and explained all about the need for sacrificial anodes to protect the hull.
Thanks for the suggestions which I'll use but I've also ordered a marine application called Duralac to try out.

When stripping the bike down it was the bolts which are always ignored which gave the most problems and often ones you wouldn't think about. I had big problems with the fuel tap mounts, the plates holding the fuel level float and some of the brackets holding the fairing together. I'll be focusing on these in particular during the rebuild.

[Uncle Bob]

Great write up, thanks for taking the time to do that and I'll look forward to reading more as it happens.

[Rob65]

Update 2, lubricants, cleaning and the fork rebuild

Having sat on my arse all Christmas despite the reasonable weather I thought it was about time to get some work done. Although I'm still waiting for the anti-dive units to come back from the painter I thought the forks were a good place to start.

As this project write up is my first rebuild and I'm a rank amateur, I'm sure many of you hardened veterans will struggle to find anything new in my postings but I hope some of my comments and points will be helpful for other first timers.

One thing I would recommend is buying an ultrasonic cleaner. As I'm only doing small bits and pieces rather than engine cases and carb bits, I spent about £25 on a cheap Chinese made one. It was rubbish with standard type watch and jewelry detergent but with heavy duty carb cleaning fluid and ignoring the recommended top working temperature it does a great job removing grease, some corrosion and residual paint. When I rebuild my 750S3 and need to do engine and carb parts, I'll invest in a proper system but that can wait for now.

On to lubricants. My final order arrived yesterday, the marine/aerospace anti-corrosion application by Duralac. Below is a picture of the four compounds I'm using. In theory I'll use the Duralac for frame components and bits which don't come off too often. I'm assuming as it is primarily used for rivets and bolts on masts, it should be the best corrosion barrier of all of them in extreme conditions and especially to protect against road salt. Copaslip will be used for most other bolts as it has always been my preferred lubricant and as PaulD pointed out, it is a fantastic lubricant to avoid "pick up" on stainless nuts and bolts. Having said that, the Duralac seems to have similar properties. Is remains soft and tacky and when I applied it to the bolts to hold the damper rods, they slid in ever so easily (see the example in the pick - naff colour). The downside is that it is messy to apply as it has the consistency of gloss paint, you really need gloves as it sticks to your hands like gloss paint and I had to use acetone to clean the brush. I have the blue compound which I'd normally use for things like blead nipples but as everyone on the brakes and anti-dive units were seized solid, I may try the Duralac here as well. My final purchase is the silicone grease. I'm using this where there is contact with rubber and perhaps where I don't want it to be obvious as it goes on transparently. As I rebuilt the forks, I smeared this all over the oil seal and the washers which sit above and below it. I also smeared it over the undersides of the dust caps to try to keep the water out.

So back to the forks: When the old forks were completely stripped, quite a few of the internal components were in quite a poor state. The chrome needed redoing of course and the springs were well below bottom limit. As is the norm, I bought new oil seals and bushes but a lot of small components were scored or corroded like the washers which sit above and below the oil seal. Some of the wave washers had actually disintegrated which was worrying and whilst I have no idea what their purpose is, they may have contributed to the horrible ride (alongside the old, twisted frame...). Anyway, along with buying replacement bolts in stainless steel, many internals were purchased from Fowlers or Wemoto. The big expense along with the re-chrome was replacement springs. Annoyingly there was a choice of three good brands YSS, Hagon and Wirth or cheap, reasonable and well pricey if you prefer. As I want the steering, suspension and braking to be as good as it can be to handle the extra power I'm hoping to unleash, I opted for Wirth Federn ones from Wemoto at about £116 or £32 more than the Hagon ones. The forks went back together very easily once I had the right home-made tools. If you attempt a fork rebuild for the first time I recommend getting some plastic tube to tap the top bush and oil seal into place and a big bolt with a couple of nuts on the end to hold the damper rod whilst you tighten the bottom bolt to hold it. There are tools you can buy but in this case I think improvised is best.

Now I said I'm using mainly stainless bolts in the rebuild but I was a little concerned as to their suitability for the yolk considering the loads they might suffer under heavy braking. Having done some checking, the breaking torque levels for stainless seem to be well above the recommended settings in the manual so I'll go with those you can see in the pictures. Most of the visible bolts are polished by the supplier (mainly Inox)) or me where I could only get machine finish. Five minuted with the Dremel gave a decent polish as you can see from the main steering bolt and washer.

You can see the main Cerakote colours against one another, just missing the contrast of the engine in bright nickel and the gaudy gold wheels and brake calipers. Must phone the painter....

It may be a few weeks before you see another update but whilst I'm waiting for the engine and other cycle bits I'll add more frame bits depending on what bolts I have or need to buy. As always, comments or questions welcome and thank you for reading my ramblings.