Pressureangle

..and, today begins the stuff I *really* don't enjoy. But at $50/hr even at the brother-in-law rate, I just can't stand to pay for humble work I can do myself. This thing was... mishandled at best, and stored in a few different garages without love for near a decade.

The mounting plate on the tensioner is upside down. Figures I got the bad one. Paint, easy. The trick is of course to prep the uglies, but then to wipe everything down with acetone and let both the item to be painted and the can of paint soak up the sun for an hour before applying, and rest in the sun an hour or forever afterwards. With the temperature and extra spray pressure, it gives a finer spray and the carrier evaporates much faster, allowing a thicker coat without runs. This is my secret to hiding poor prep. lol

A box of Good & Plentys to whoever can tell me why a picture of a tensioner is here.

...as classic as...

With modern upside-down forks it's much less likely that they'll get misaligned. Back in Flat-track days, with old forks- if you were lucky, 35mm Ceriani- after a getoff, the trees would *always* be misaligned, and bouncing was one way to see clearly if they needed more straightening than a kick at the tire could address.

Well, yes, but implicit in the axle going through both sides easily without the wheel accomplishes this mission. Usually I give the fork bottoms a couple bumps with a rubber mallet to this end. Something particular about the 'Sport front end, same as the V11 I have here, is that the axle nut clamps against a spacer over a spacer, eliminating the usual clamping friction of the nut side from the equation. Academic probably, pedantic certainly. Yet considered.

pn 90404255. In stock at Harper's.

Uh, mine's 600 miles away at the moment but... Front caliper bolts, 'tight' lol Official torque spec for a 8mm coarse bolt is about 20 lbs-ft, but care is warranted since they're going into old aluminum that's had any number of repeated R&R on those bolts. Front axle, first of all put it through the forks without the wheel; it should pass through both sides easily. This will tell you that the length of the forks is equal and avoids any bind in operation. It may also show that your fork trees are not perfectly parallel. The fork tops *should* be equal in the top tree, but if they're a mm different better to have the axle straight. Then install wheel, snug axle nut a little to be sure the head is seated properly, snug pinch bolts, tighten axle nut, tighten pinch bolts.

As it goes back together, I have to review a *lot* of material on here, which didn't always sit in a space in my brain because it wasn't all relevant to my 1100 Sport.

That will certainly be a big surprise, more for me than for the rest of you!

If I had every part in-house I could have it assembled in time, but just can't get away. I got a special surprise for next year, though.

The absence of parts necessary to make 'visible' headway allowed, nay forced, me to attend the critical electrical system. Fuse and relay boxes examined and De-Oxit-ed. New Picker relays. No sign of any hardships anywhere, except the ignition switch which had the *very* expected mung and corrosion inside. DeOxit, brass brush, and dielectric silicone grease brings it back to new. Voltage regulator is wired to bypass the harness, so ok...I guess. With new wiring, anyway. Steering head out for bearing exam and service and removal of the... lovely hand-hewn handlebar mounts. Will need some decorative blings to cover the holes in the top tree. Strangely the steering head bearings are perfect, which leads me to believe they were replaced when the high bars were 'installed'.

There's the logistical problem of not actually having one.

Is an MGS-01 a Spine Frame? 'cuz I'd like to bring one to the SSR.

Today's progress, brought to you by FEDEX, UPS, USPS and DHL holiday workers bringing my parts on schedule.

Yes, and the call of the void is never quiet since then. A thread and a couple videos from the trip, if you like the sound of a straight-cut transmission. https://www.youtube.com/@ericlacruze3344/videos

My first trip longer than a couple hours on my '97 1100 Sport was 10k miles. Rode up to meet the guys at the SSN, rode the Dragon etc. Big long heavy bit of work, that. But generally nice. Then I got to Hwy 2 from Kalispell to Spokane. Man, the sweepers... 70-90mph and so, so stable... one long right hander, going *very* fast, saw too late a set of deep groves in the pavement where a semi had overturned, crossing the road at a shallow angle to my path. I didn't have time or space to make a correction. I thought 'Welp this is the end of the trip, at least' but the bike went across them as if they were simply shadows, leaving me stunned and amazed on the other side. Never rode a better bike for 50mph+ riding.

Sew... My V11 is still wearing the OEM relays after 25 years Thought I'd put spares on the shelf, the 1100 Sport uses the same relays Ordered 10 from DigiKey , packlist says 10 ordered 10 shipped Came in a rack of 15. I'd ask WTF but I never look a gift horse in the mouth.

Yup, nope, mine is good. Just the tip, nothing on the seal area and even then buffed off well.

PM me. These seem to be in perfect shape.

Yes you're right, someone above pointed out the bike in question on eBay appears to be a later Sport, not a Ballabio at all.

Cameras. Huh. The pics really don't show what the eye sees here, but. The stock porkchops have turned a shade of purple south of red, noticeably darker than the frame. I bought a set of porkchops from TLM to get the swingarm pivot pins, and they were nicer overall so I cleaned them up and painted them to swap on. I found red caliper paint, much more durable than regular enamel, to be a pretty good match; again the camera doesn't really show the shade well, given the stock trans mount has the sheen off due to age and cleaning, the porkchops not yet dry. I think they'll end up very close, perhaps a half tone brighter and certainly shinier than the frame- though I did paint the front engine mount so most of what you can see will be the same.

The 'production' class H-D 883s were fine examples of CHEATING lol Nobody seemed to think twice if you got a push start, so the fast guys gutted the starters and fitted tiny batteries in the stock case. Removed half the magnets from the generator rotor, shaved the inside of the flywheels where it couldn't be seen without splitting the cases, shaved the inside of the rims where it couldn't be seen with the tires on... All stuff I learned after the class ended, of course. Starter cover weighs nothing, and...appears unmeddled.

Investigation shows the bars are the same height, with the Ballabio mounts being about a handlebar width closer to the fork tube. Cleaner look, though. Probably won't want to drop the front enough to fit them.