dark`s mill
From two stroke to pipe smoke.
Archive for June, 2010
Weekend warrior tales
The Red Bull Romaniacs has started and already some of the riders are wondering what the hell they are doing here. If looking for more photos and the current standings look on Red Bull Romaniacs` site – here.
I think this T shirt from KTM is going to be a top seller for a short period in Sibiu.
Loic and his friend are in Egypt and it seems that they are stuck there for a short period due to an injury. Read the complete story – here. Best wishes to Loic.
The Honda XL 250 R is starting to look like a motorcycle again. I have to wait till the 3rd of July for some parts to arrive. I have a longer post almost ready about the assembly of the engine and the markings.
Work in progress 4
With the miraculous help of a Dremle tool I managed to get the clutch basket new and shiny again.
From this:
Step one grind it down.
Step two polish it to this:
The rest of the work is posted on Advrider.com more exactly here.
Share on FacebookWork in progress 3
With the help of the “special tool” the clutch basket is down and ready for an inspection.
Unfortunately I have seen clutch baskets in better shape, the edges are all worn and the clutch plates can hang in the edges and perform less smooth. A new one is out of the budget so with the help of the Dremel tool I am going to grind down the edges.
The bearings on the rocker arm are also used so they are going to be changed with new ones. The bearing part number is 6003. It is a few bucks so no big effect on the budget.
The oil used in the bike was so old that it turned sticky, the clutch plates were stuck together, the ceramic plates have to be changed, the metal ones are still good to go. I have to find a reasonable priced set for the clutch plates.
Share on FacebookBuilding a special tool
The work on the XL250R reached the part where the clutch basket had to be removed. Te shape of the nut asked for a special tool or a red neck approach. No luck buying one and not being a big fan of the red neck approach I opted for the third solution – build my own special tool. Not the smartest if you use it only once but if more XL250R`s are down the waiting list then it starts to make more sense.
Step one – take a imprint of the nut with silicone.
Step two – make a mould out of gypsum
Step three – without picture, done by my father, die cast the part out of s strong alloy.
Step four – the special key fits on the nut and in a 27 socket wrench. The size fits the1/2 air wrench.
Step five – make some adjustments with paper.
Step six – the nut was open in five seconds. It is reusable, it is not the red neck method and at re-assembly I will be able to use the torque wrench to tighten the nut.
The rest of the work on the Honda XL250R in a future post. If still no clue, the red neck method is with a hammer and screw driver. Judging by the sings the engine was under this treatment at least once.
Share on FacebookWeekend warrior tales
Ride the word reached Egypt after some problems at the border. Their story here.
Friend Remus G. got the 4th place at the Supermoto race this week end.
Actually he is not Mr R, just a mini rider
He is Mr R before ending in the 4th place, the KTM Cafe racer project has to wait.
JTWK8V9MVTVM
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Emergency room
This workshop is cleaner then some hospitals over here. And yes, that is a lathe mill.
Racefit`s workshop via Sideburn.
Share on FacebookGo fast! Turn left! Exit the city!
Before this blog life was simple, I had one mail and one phone number. I wanted to spread the news from the blog in the virtual world, so a Facebook account had to be created, but it was not enough, pondering if Tweeter is going to be better or not the assbook, I made an account there too. Having some short clips on my laptop I thought it is a nice idea to have them posted on YouTube, so Dark`s Mill made an YouTube account, what I did not know is that the YouTube account is the entrance to a new Google account. Great! Earlier this week I was pondering to start a Flicker portfolio with the pictures I have on the blog. But Flicker is related to Yahoo, so … wait for it, now I have a Yahoo account! What a joy!
And now to something completely different.
Events from this week-end:
Individual Speedway European Championship – Ljubljana/SLO – 19.06.
Supermoto European Cup – Arad/ROU – 20.06.
RedBull Romaniacs – Sibiu/ROU – 25.-30.06
Individual Speedway European Championship – Lviv/UKR - 26.06
If not convinced that some of these races are worth a look check out this blog (Speedtherapy) – about a racers experience at Erzberg. It is a blog about enduro events, cafe racers and pin-up chicks. Hmmm! Familiar?!?!?
Share on FacebookWork in progress
The Honda XL 250 now has a clean carburetor , new air filter and a new shinning front sprocket.
Weekend warrior tales
After so many days in rain I forgot what it means to ride in a hot sunny day. I could do this on any Sunday.
Loic is in Egypt and his tales from Libya are worth a read. Keep feeding our dreams.
Roland Sands finished his KTM 560 Café racer. I had a similar idea a while ago.
And for sure all the motorcycle races had a winner. Except for sidecar races – they had two.
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Go fast! Turn left! Exit the city!
Events from this week end and the following one. If any of the events are canceled it is not my fault. Please check in advance for any updates.
EMX2 European Championship – Holice/CZE – 13.06.
Supermoto European Championship – Villars sous Ecot/FRA – 13.06.
Supermoto European Cup – Arad/ROU – 20.06.
Individual Speedway European Championship – Ljubljana/SLO – 19.06.
Vintage Endurance European Cup - Rijeka/CRO – 11.-13.06.
RedBull Romaniacs – Sibiu/ROU – 25.-30.06
Share on FacebookWork in progress
Work in progress on the Honda Xl 250 R from 1984. Unfortunately I have lost the pictures taken during work so I had to do a new photo session.
At the first glance it did not appear that the bike was rotten from the inside, dripping oil all over. Opening the air filter boz I was glad it did not start. The foam from the ail filter was rotten away.
The next steps went easy. Till I opened the oil fill plug. Oil started to flow, it was more then full. The next was to drain the old oil. Judging from the color and touch of the oil, not to mention the burnt smell it was a very old oil.
The oil screen from the engine was full of metal parts, unfortunately I have lost that picture, I only have this one – a partially cleaned oil screen.
With all this problems adding up I took the decision to make a top end rebuilding of the engine. Working late into the evening more sing of neglect started to appear. Like this picture with hammering marks on the clutch basket.
I need some help with the valve settings so a detailed journal of the work is going to be posted here on the AdvRider forum, waiting some remarks.
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Dark`s Mill
A blog like site about a motorcycle garage filled with enduro stories,cafe racers, pin-ups, vintage collectibles and everything from two stroke to pipe smoke.
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