numist
what I don't even
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2009
- Location
- Oakland
- Moto(s)
- SR/S, R12RLC, NC23(J)
- Name
- Scott
- BARF perks
- AMA #: 2762043
So on Tuesday I visited aram to check out the NC23 he had listed in Moto for Sale. I got there at 9pm, and everything looked like it did in his pictures, just darker. Since I don't have a cage here, I rented a truck yesterday and came back during daylight.
aram had a whole lot of spare parts and sundry, some of which are going to be really useful (like the spare engine), and some of which were more to get them out of his garage and into a dumpster somewhere (like the wrecked Ninja (probably?) race tail and three tires). Should have charged a waste removal fee!
Into the shop and onto a lift it went. Pictured on the left is thenewwazoo who, along with MotorToad (who took this picture and the one after), are responsible for me doing this dumb.
The three of us swarmed the bike for half an hour inspecting, removing stuff like the race rearstand, and installing other stuff from the bins like the left rearset and kickstand. After a while it was starting to look like maybe this thing won't cost me my marriage, it's actually kinda pretty.
As night fell and my frenemies went home to their warm dinners and beds, I started in on testing compression on the main (as opposed to spare) engine. Since it had been sitting for a time, I pulled the airbox and carbs (dirty!) to derestrict the intake and marvelled at the tiny valves.
While the wiring harness looks complete, plugging in the ignition and starter switch and hooking up a battery wasn't enough to get the starter relay to wake up. I didn't want to troubleshoot wiring all night (I've got the weekend for that!), so compression testing moved forward by applying power directly to the starter motor. Big sparks!
And bad news. Things started out strong, with cylinder 1 reporting 165psi and 2 making 185, but then 3 came in at 60 and 4 a meager 50. Drained the oil and fetched a dolly, this engine was going directly into surgery. As of this morning, the frame is looking pretty spartan. I'll probably take the opportunity to take apart the rest of the chassis and clean things up a bit while I'm rebuilding the engine on Thursdays.
The todo and parts-to-order lists are growing. As you can see it needs a front wheel, and that 18" rear is going to be impossible to get decent shoes for, so I'm on the prowl for a set of NC29 wheels, or maybe F2 wheels (the front will fit, the rear is a possible but unproven fit). It's pretty obvious that I'm going to have to find some people with access to parts.
aram had a whole lot of spare parts and sundry, some of which are going to be really useful (like the spare engine), and some of which were more to get them out of his garage and into a dumpster somewhere (like the wrecked Ninja (probably?) race tail and three tires). Should have charged a waste removal fee!
Into the shop and onto a lift it went. Pictured on the left is thenewwazoo who, along with MotorToad (who took this picture and the one after), are responsible for me doing this dumb.
The three of us swarmed the bike for half an hour inspecting, removing stuff like the race rearstand, and installing other stuff from the bins like the left rearset and kickstand. After a while it was starting to look like maybe this thing won't cost me my marriage, it's actually kinda pretty.
As night fell and my frenemies went home to their warm dinners and beds, I started in on testing compression on the main (as opposed to spare) engine. Since it had been sitting for a time, I pulled the airbox and carbs (dirty!) to derestrict the intake and marvelled at the tiny valves.
While the wiring harness looks complete, plugging in the ignition and starter switch and hooking up a battery wasn't enough to get the starter relay to wake up. I didn't want to troubleshoot wiring all night (I've got the weekend for that!), so compression testing moved forward by applying power directly to the starter motor. Big sparks!
And bad news. Things started out strong, with cylinder 1 reporting 165psi and 2 making 185, but then 3 came in at 60 and 4 a meager 50. Drained the oil and fetched a dolly, this engine was going directly into surgery. As of this morning, the frame is looking pretty spartan. I'll probably take the opportunity to take apart the rest of the chassis and clean things up a bit while I'm rebuilding the engine on Thursdays.
The todo and parts-to-order lists are growing. As you can see it needs a front wheel, and that 18" rear is going to be impossible to get decent shoes for, so I'm on the prowl for a set of NC29 wheels, or maybe F2 wheels (the front will fit, the rear is a possible but unproven fit). It's pretty obvious that I'm going to have to find some people with access to parts.