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The Nightwatcher

Day one:

The donor bike is completely stripped off all unwanted parts, the seat is removed followed by headlamp and as much of the electrics as I can get to. then the indicators were removed along with the mudguards and tail-lamp. any more plastic trim I could find was ditched and other little bits like helmet locks etc were discarded. this took a good few hours as many of the screws were seized. The chain and rear wheel assembly were removed. The back of the frame was then quickly cut off with an angle grinder so I could see what I had to work with. it would be neatened up later.

Day two:

Most of today was spent trekking around looking for parts. A new set of metric Allen keys was purchased to fix the welder and to start removing parts from the bike. After a trip to some steel place, I returned with 6 metres of some tube that fits the 3/4 BSP die and about 3 metres that would fit in a 1/2 BSP die. A second trip was then made out to Buzzard Motorcycle Engineering to sort out some missing parts for the bike. After driving round in circles for ages due to the AA route planner missing a turning I found the place and got my tyre put on its rim, a sprocket ordered to match the chain pitch, a fuel tank cap and a petcock. I hope they should be here soon but I'm not counting on it as its Xmas. When I got home it was too late to do any grinding so I farted around removing the kick stand and the rear brake pedal sensor

Day Three:

After a bit of a late start I started work. I promptly ripped my thumb open on a burr which pissed me off so I got the grinder out and ripped the last of the rear frame off. the angle grinder then started playing up and looked to be burnt out so I went and bought a new Bosch one which should last a while. the kick stand mount which is stupidly over engineered was hacked at for a bit but ill leave the rest until I get the engine out of the bike for the rebuild before removing the last bits of it. The centre stand mount was neatened up and a few other old welds for brackets were cleaned off. The bike was then sat on a celebrations tin so I could take the centre stand off which was a surprisingly easy job considering how much crud was built up around the retaining nut. After trying the bender on the new tube which fits the dies perfectly and nothing I decided to give up on bending as the bender is crap for any pipe/tubing under about 35mm OD. I managed to quickly fabricate the base of the rear frame with cut and welded bends instead of the flowing bends I was looking for and thus I am going to have to completely redesign the frame.

Day Four:

The ends of the original frame were notched and then the new rear frame base was tack welded in position and lined up before some full tack welds were done. The axle mount plates were then fabricated from steel plate. this was done by cutting the shape out roughly with a cutting disc in an angle grinder. After setting myself on fire and a load of metal dust later the plates were cut, I then clamped them together so that the plates would be identical and drilled out two 17mm holes at either end of the plate. To make a slot for the axle to slide in so the chain could be adjusted I took a hacksaw to the plates and cut out the slot between the two holes. The plates were then filed smooth and the slots were filed out so that the axle had very slight play and was a smooth push fit. The axle plates were then fitted to the rear of the frame welded in position and the rest of the rear frame was fabricated around the wheel.

Day Five:

After acquiring an m16 nut the rear axles thread was cleaned up with a thread file and then some temporary rear wheel spacers were fabricated from some spare tube off cuts. The wheel was then fitted and tightened for the mock-up. As the engine is a stressed member and normally drops out of the frame the lower section of the frame for the kickstand and forward control mounts needed to either be detachable or built in a way that would still allow the engine to drop out of the bottom. To do this I built a front section the flares out around the engine and tucks back in to meet with the down tube at the front. As the pipe bender does not work I had to cut and notch the tubing and this took much longer than expected. Tomorrow is Christmas so there will be a day off but the day after I will get to work on the seat pan

Day six:

After a late start the seat pan template was made from a bit of paper folded in half and cut out so that when I opened it an equal shape was revealed. this was then transferred onto the thick sheet steel I had and cut out with an angle grinder cut-off wheel and then finely finished with a half moon file. the back of the pan is then slightly bent up to clear the rear wheel better and give it a nicer shape. to hinge the seat it must pivot on the front mount at the backbone and this is done by drilling holes in two bits of steel bar which is then welded to the backbone, a block with a matching hole in is then welded to the front underside of the seat pan and a bolt is passed through the backbone mount and the seat mount and this works as a simple hinge. Springs were then mounted to the back of the seat and a small adjuster was mounted on the frame so the seat height could be set to the wheel position. Finally after checking clearances the foot pegs were cut and mounted in a comfortable suitable position.

Day seven:

Today I fabricated the new forward control shifter and linkage. to do this I cut the old shifter pedal about an inch and a half from the mount point and rounded its corners so it was all smooth. I then drilled a 6mm hole in the very end of it. Using some 14x4mm hot rolled steel bar I cut out a peg to mount use as the pedals pivot, rounded the corners on one end and put another 6mm hole in it. this was then welded to the frame in align with the shifter on the engine. a pedal was then fabricated from more steel bar this time with two holes in, one at each end. one for the pivot and the second for the push rod. To connect the pedal to the gearbox I made a linkage from a length of candy twirl bar with a plate on each end with a 6mm hole in. The push rod was connected to the gearbox linkage and the pedal via 6mm stainless steel button head bolts and some nylock nuts. finally I eyed up the pedal in the most comfortable place and welded the other remainder of the pedal back on, the position can be fine tuned by connecting the gearbox linkage in a different position on the spline.

Day eight:

Today I started work by making the mounting holes for the fuel tank. this was simply done by locating the holes against the fuel tank mount points then drilling two 6.2mm holes in the backbone. An M6 nut was then welded to the frame over the hole and a button head screw can now be set down through the tank mount holes into the frame. I then started work on the exhaust. As the bender I have doesn't work I decided against dual drag pipes so a simpler single sided dual system was fabricated from the original pipe. the old pipe was cut off from the manifold and then I cleaned the manifold up with a dremel to remove the rust etc. A new bit of pipe was then welded to this and I reworked the outer skin of the old system down and under the alternator cover and out to the back where dual slash cut pipes were welded on. Finally before packing up for the day two mate shift plugs where made for the pipe to silence it for the MOT, one sealed and the other with a smaller outlet.

Day Nine:

The exhaust plugs were fitted with a screw to hold them into the exhaust to stop the blowing out. Then the rear wheel adjustment mechanism was finished. this was simply a bit of studding welded to a bit of tube that would fit around the axle. the studding can be wound back and fourth through a hole in the axle plate which pulls the axle fwd and backwards. It took a while to fabricate though.

Day ten:

Today I started fabrication on the fake oil tank to hide the battery. This was made from sheet metal folded of some formers made from some thick steel plate as I do not have a box pan bender which I would need to bend the housing up. Before work could continue on the housing I decided to mount the brake as this would determine exactly how much room I would have and due to there only being a very limited space with less than 5mm clearance in places I had to be careful. After getting the brake link assembly fabricated I decided that my original idea for the battery box would not look right and decided to change it. see more tomorrow.

Day eleven:

As the older battery box idea was not going to look right and I only have very thin galvanised sheet steel that I couldn't weld I decided to hunt around for some scrap at work. I found some old machine guarding that had nice boxed corners on. I cut these up on the band saw and then pieced them together to fit the dimensions of the battery box space. They were then TIG welded together. to make the electrics accessible the lid of the battery box was going to be another smaller box that would have to halves which could be attached above the main box. each side could be removed separately and the components would be exposed underneath them. I mig welded the second box up at home, the box will not be fitted until the bike is partially stripped as I need more access to drill etc.

Day twelve:

With the battery box ready for mounting all that is left is to make and mount the rear mudguard and to finish the brake off. The brake was simply a bit of candy twirl steel bent to fit around the engine and then swoop up to the front of the right footrest where a pedal surface was welded to it. The candy twirl steel was reinforced along the back length with some flat bar to stop it bending, and a spring was located to the back of the mechanism to return the pedal when depressed. The last bit of the brake that needed attention was for the drum itself. there was nothing to stop the hub rotating so a bit of bar was attached to the frame on a pivot and then to the drum centre. they were pivoting so that it could take up the slack if the wheel was adjusted forwards or backwards to tension the chain. The mudguard I bought was too wide and had to be modified, this was done but cutting an inch out of the centre with a cut-off wheel in an angle grinder and then welding it back together. once it was welded back together I ground off the welds reinforcement so it was smooth and there was no sign of the weld.

Day Thirteen:

today the mounts where made for the mudguard. this was done by laying two bits of hose over the wheel to get the spacing right and then setting the mudguard down onto them. mounts where then made from the frame to the mudguard and welded in place. Before I could strip the bike down I needed to make the kickstand though. this was made from some 10x10mm candy twirl as the other metal I had would not support the weight of the bike. A plate was welded to the frame and a hinge was the fabricated and welded to the twisted steel, the end of the steel was then bent so that it would lay flat on the ground when the bike was standing on it. Finally to finish the stand a return spring was added, the mount for the spring was put in such a position behind the pivot that when the stand was pushed forward the spring would pull it forward but to return the stand to the drive position the spring would be taken past the pivot point and then pull the stand back up.

Day Fourteen:

The bike is completely stripped and parts are boxed up, then the frame is welded around all of the joints, and the two front gussets are fabbed out of some thick sheet steel then welded in place.

Day Fifteen:

with a wire wheel in an angle grinder the frame is cleaned and ready to take primer, the steering lock is removed and other little tabs that I wont be using such as the old centre stand mounts were removed, finally before paint 4 discs of steel were welded to the end of the frame to cover the open tubes which I then smoothed over with a grinder and a file. a good coat of acid etch primer was then added to the frame. once dry a few coats of high build grey primer were added to build up the protection.

Day Sixteen:

After the primer has dried overnight it could be smoothed over with fine wet and dry before added several coats of rover Tahiti blue. will these were drying inside I cleaned, masked and painted the front wheel in smooth gloss black Hammerite spray. also the mudguard was smoothed, filler added and sanded, then a good few coats of high build primer were added to it.

Day Seventeen:

The frame was given several coats of clear lacquer, The rear wheel was masked and painted, the rear mudguard was painted and lacquered

Day eighteen:

The petrol tank is rubbed down and re-primmered. The forks have the mudguard mounts removed from and I set the tappets on the engine.

Photos of it after paint and at the moment on hold for a few weeks:

Final piks of it before I start on getting the wiring all sorted out. need to rethink the battery box as its a mess too

At last I get back to working on the bike and within an hour have the battery fitting in the box and the nearside cover fitted. Also the front electrics and storage bag is added under the headlamp, only loosely fitting at the moment.

With the engine loom done after a good few hours of being pissed off and numerous foul words leaving my mouth it now looks like it does below. will be adding a new exhaust as soon as possible to replace that poo one.

New exhaust completed and looking spiffing I must say,