My Cat .... work in progress

Bought this in December and it was in serious need of some TLC, heres a few pics of the progress so far:

A bit of accident damage:

Repaired:


Frame repainted and coming back together slowly:


Swingarm repainted:


Tank & Fairings painted (not laquered yet)




Starting to put her back together



I know the graphics arnt original but I wanted something a little more subtle.

So far pretty much everything ive removed has been replaced (mainly with Yam original parts too), swingarm bearings and bush were knackered so yam originals went in, rear wheel bearings, dust seals etc, new DID X-ring chain and new sprockets, replaced all the disc bolts. Some of the casings that were tatty have been rubbed down and repainted/laquered (aerosol jobby) and fasteners removed and replaced with new stainless items.



Indicentally found a company www.a2stainless.co.uk that are dirt cheap for stainless fasteners provided you measure up what you want as they dont really do bike specific stuff.

Anyways, thats as far as i've got with it so far just waiting for the sprayer to finish off the nosecone and 2 side panels

Tidy looking cat there

Good effort with all the work and hope you have many happy miles together

Thanks,

I'm just looking forward to actually riding it as I havnt even started it up since I got it lol

Picked it up from one of the guys at the club I belong to as he just bought an SV1000, so it didnt really cost me much but like I said, needed quite a bit of TLC. The only downside is using Yam original parts is costing me a small fortune i.e. swingarm bearings and bush £85, wheel bearings at £13.xx each but I hope the end result should be well worth it since with the amount thats been replaced should ride like its brand new.

Oh and hand polishing the back rim was an absolute a**e took me 2 days (since someone had sprayed it a few times over powerdercoat) and my fingers were bleeding at the end. Still got the front to do

Nice work the end result is going to be a very nice bike.

Hi Tom,

Looks like you're putting in a lot of hard work to bring the bike back. I must say it is looking great. I noticed the rear wheel in the pics before reading your post - knew it would be hard work but bleeding fingers!

Well hurry up and get if finished!

Then you can show it off to the group. Hope I get to see if for real sometime.

Chris

Looking good mate......hope it starts after all this work!

Welcome to the site.

Cheers
Rosco

cheers guys...i hope it starts too, gonna try it later this week/early next week, just waiting for a new lock washer for the front sprocket as I ordered the wrong one and want to get the sprocket cover back on first.

Wow that looks fab, great job

Your bleeding fingers will be worth it though, must be satisfying to see it coming together

Lins

Looking really good! Im a fan of understated graphics, I much prefer them.

Ive just 'face-lifted' my bike too and its great to see it taking shape. Makes it unique also.



Looking forward to the finshed result!


Ellie :evil2:

Good work, looks like it will be a beaut when you are finished

Tried to start it today but no luck at first, had fuel getting through and fuel pump was running, good spark on 1 & 4. Charged battery then this happened:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqZQMCA19S4

Yes...this is actually the first time i've started the bike up since i've had it.

Just noticed that the can i refurbed is made by Harris, is that the standard can or an aftermarket one?

Hey Tom ......... it's looking good (for one thats not red/black/white )

suzie

Tom wrote:
Just noticed that the can i refurbed is made by Harris, is that the standard can or an aftermarket one?

Not standard.

Cheers

Thought it sounded a bit throaty for a standard can. The can was badly damaged when I got the bike, had big gouges down the side and a bloody great big dent in it. I removed the ends and wadding, had to cut nearly an inch of each end of it, knock out the dents, and sand it back and re-polish it, cut the inside down by the same and re-rivet it all back together again.

Great reading about your progress , I wish I was as handy as you .

espaceman3 wrote:Great reading about your progress , I wish I was as handy as you .

Cheers

I'm not that handy though, popped the pistons out of the rear caliper today, cleaned them up and replaced the seals, removed and cleaned the reservoir and pipework. Now one of the damn pistons is sticking....looks like I know what I'll be doing tomorrow, taking it all back off and trying again lol

Top yoke didnt come out bad after painting it and polishing the bare ali out:


Also had some bits and bobs turn up today from a2stainless:


Any some more new Yamaha bits


Still to do:

• clean and reseal front caliper
  
• strip, reseal and replace oil in forks and repaint stanchions
  
• refurb front whee
  
• Balance carbs
  
• Any other bits and bobs i find to do
  
  So just a little work left before I can get the fairings back on
  

An update,

Did a bit of polishing and painting a few days ago.



Front sprocket cover repainted


Brake lever, footpeg and scuff plate polished


More New Parts:

Also got new front wheel bearings, dust seals and spacer, a litre of fork oil, fork oil and dust seals.

Spent the last 5 days straight working on the front end. Took the forks off, top and bottom yokes and knocked the old bearings out, replaced the headrace bearings with the new items, also took the oppertunity to repaint the bottom yoke:




Just as well I ordered the new fork seals as I was only really planning on changing the oil and not fully stripping them however when i drained the oil, what came out looked a bit like thick black wallpaper paste so it's probably safe to assume that in its 27K miles its never been done. Ended up completely stripping and solvent washing all the fork internals then rebuilding with new seals and fresh oil.

Thats all ive managed so far

I have said this before tom but really nice work you sure are going to have a cracking bike.

Looking great , what polish did you use ?

Autosol, but I cheated for soe of the detail work, used a polishing bit in the Dremel. I found an old pot of Dremel brand metal polish yesterday and that actually sems to give better results

Well, its finally finished...sort of, it's been down and MOT'd and tax'd and had it out on the road, first time i've ridden a cat and gotta say I am impressed with how quick it is compared to my previous 02 plate 750 kwak.

here's a piccy:



Unfortunately my sprayer made a bit of a ballsup with the nosecone and its a different shade to everything else so im taking it back to him at some point for that to be corrected as I point-blank refused to take it back off given what a PITA it was to put on. I also tried putting some halfords brilliance bulbs in as i know the headlight is a common issue but this didnt really seem to make that great an improvement, so i'm contemplating getting a normal car HID headlight conversion kit so i'll have a spare bulb and ballast left over.

Hi Tom

Glad to hear you are suitably impressed with her.
Sorry to see the paint-man's blue boob (does that sound right?)
At least one or two peeps on here have HID conversions - I think Sooty might be one but not 100% sure.
I've a feeling that splitting the car HID kit wasn't an option for some electrical or heat reason but I'm sure they'll know better than I.
Good luck in completing the project......It is great to see and hear all about it.

Cheers
Rosco

hi tom
try this shop on ebay doin kits for £46 got one on ma cat plug n play now i can see in the dark

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-Motorbike-Motor-cycle-HID-Xenon-Conversion-KIT-/110291699913?

davie

Cheers Ratty, I'll have a look, I'm gonna need to sort those broken images out (the bike club I am with have recently moved servers). Just embarked on another project bike now...A thunderace