Saturday's progress

Well, things went pretty well this Saturday. I put about 12 hours into the bike and things are looking good. I got the chain all cleaned up, all of the painting done, and the new wiring harness run. I'll throw some pictures up on Monday when I get home.

Another spending spree

Just got back from Wal-Mart. I got:
-Battery
-Terminal connectors
-Chain lube
-Electrical tape
-Zip ties
-BBs

That's about $50.

Design Ideas

I'm kind of shying away from the jolly roger theme. I like these ideas though:

Lunch Break

Phew...just taking a quick break for lunch. It's 78 and sunny outside, a tad warm for me but it's still nice weather. So far, I have the frame cleaned, sanded, and touched up, the old wiring harness pulled, fenders off, and chain all cleaned up. I had to soak it in degreaser for a quite a while alternating with scrubbing it with a wire brush. I really should have gotten a good "before" picture - it was awful.

The before and after pictures of the whole frame do show a pretty good difference as well. I also cleaned up the sprockets and the front rim and suspension. I think all of the chemical fumes are making me a bit woozy...

Goals

Goals for Saturday:

-Finish cleanup/paint touchup

-Clean the chain

-Run the new wiring harness

Once I get my new handlebars and stuff I'll be able to get a battery and maybe start it!

The CB200 and CB200T have different harnesses, but luckily this one was for the T. I checked a good number of the plugs for continuity, and they all look good. It also came with the ignition switch, condenser, rectifier, blinker relay, seat lock, and a couple of other things, which are nice to have as spares should any of mine not work, minus the ignition switch that I was missing anyway. I'll be pulling the old harness and replacing everything tomorrow.

Woo hoo!

What did people do before eBay? I'm going to check each and every line for continuity, then put all of it on the bike.

Design

My vision for the bike is somewhat inline with the cafe racers from the '70s. I like the stripped-down no-frills idea, but I still plan on keeping the stock seat for now. I'm planning on a flat black paint job with these cut out of vinyl in some sort of silver or chrome color:

Once I get it running correctly I'll look into a couple little air filters directly on the carbs to get rid of the bulky airboxes, then pulling the toolbox and whatever else I can to get the stripped down feel. I'm looking at a flat black helmet to match the bike...I think it'd look pretty sweet with a tinted visor and decals that match the bike.

I think my inspiration for this paint job came from the car in the movie Death Proof. Maybe I'll go with something that looks even more like what's on the hood:

A bit of cleaning

Well, here's what it looked like when I started. I pulled the gas tank off and hit the engine with some degreaser. Then I wiped down everything that I could. 

I hit the bottom of the gas tank with a 3" wire brush on my drill, and I'll be coating it in some rustoleum flat black.

Here it is after the initial cleaning...looks quite a bit better, but there's still quite a bit of room for improvement.

Lowe's Trip

I just got back from Lowe's. I picked up:

-Rustoleum flat black paint

-Rustoleum metallic silver paint

$10

-3" wire brush/wheel for my drill

-small handled wire brush

The first three are for removing rust from various body parts and chrome and covering. The fourth is for cleaning out the exhaust ports...they're utterly caked with crap.

Good News, Everyone!

I should have everything I need minus the exhaust system coming in the next week or two. After that it's just a matter of time!

Rain

Not much progress today, partially because of the rain, and partially because of freaking classes getting in the way. I went through the brake system and took inventory of parts I'll need. The rear brake looks good minus the linkage between the brake arm and the brake pedal, and the front caliper, though complete, will need a rebuild - it's in pretty bad shape. I also went to buy an outdoor bike cover today, only to find that the cheap one at Wal-Mart was $40 - no way I'm spending that much when the bike cost less than twice that...so I picked up a tarp and some bungee cords for $8, and they do the job fine.

Parts

I'm currently watching 27 items on eBay, and I'm talking with an eBay seller about a CB200 parts bike he has. Right now, the list of parts I think I need looks something like:

-2 complete carbs
-complete handlebar accessories: switches, levers, and cables
-headlight
-one drivetrain adjuster and adjuster bolt
-rear axle castle nut and cotter pin
-complete exhaust system
-right side plastic intake cover
-main switch and key
-complete wiring harness
-petcock

I will probably need some brake pieces too, I'll know more tomorrow.

Progress for today

I made a bit of progress today. I got a compatible compression tester and saw 90-100 psi on both cylinders. Not the best ever, but workable.

I went to work on the carbs to see what needed to be done in that area. I began by cleaning everything out with carb and choke cleaner, and lubricating and loosening stuck parts with the penetrating lube. After consulting with the manual, it appears that I'm missing a few pieces, namely a throttle valve and both carb caps. I'm looking into getting a donor bike.

Compression test...not yet

Well, it appears that the genius at Advance Auto decided that because my spark plugs take an 18mm socket, then the compression tester I needed should have 18mm threads. As he was holding a spark plug in his hand. Oops. I guess I'll be going back there a little later today.

The seizure is over

Woo hoo, unseized the engine! It's been soaking in liquid wrench for the past couple days, and I'd try the kick starter every once in a while to no avail. I pulled the generator cover today and put my 18" torque wrench on the crank bolt. I barely even tried at all, and it turned. I thought it was a fluke so I pulled out the (already loose) spark plugs and turned it again, to see lubricant squirt out the plug holes and dribble out the exhaust ports. Sweet!

Next up, rebuild the fuel system. I'll need to put the carbs back together, get a new petcock, and get some new handlebar controls. The air filters could probably use replacing too, but that can wait for now.

More parts!

I just picked a couple new spark gloves, a new pair of mechanic's gloves, an 18mm deep socket for the spark plugs (we had a 17mm and 19mm...go figure), and a compression tester. I won't count the cost of the tools since I can use those later.

My first task will be to rebuild the carbs and get those installed, find and install all of the correct handlebar controls, and get some sort of exhaust system for it. The fuel system should get a good cleaning and the wiring harness needs checking. At that point, I should be able to see if the bike will run or not. I've sprayed the penetrating lubricant inside of the cylinders to make sure they're not seized up.

Spark plugs (Advance Auto): $4

The Bike

I bought it for $75 from someone locally on Craigslist. My hope is to get it working reliably enough that I can use it to cruise around Ames and on short trips as well.

Step 1 is getting it running. Before I splurge on a seat, brakes, tires, etc. I need to make sure the bike will at least run. There are quite a few missing parts like the exhaust, controls, and quite a few nuts and bolts, so figuring out what's missing is going to be the hardest part for now.

I picked up some penetrating lubricant, motor oil, and engine degreaser at Wal-Mart. I'll need new spark plugs as one's broken off inside its boot, plus new plugs would be a good idea anyway.

The carbs came separately in a plastic bag. They'll need to be rebuilt and put back onto the engine.

And hey, if the engine doesn't run I'll just convert it to an electric bike.

Costs so far:

-Bike (Craigslist): $75

-New clutch and brake levers (eBay): $19.90

-Misc fluids: ~$12