1984 Katana 7/11

[storm 64]

Wow, Pete! What a beautiful motorcycle. The red, black and silver look awesome together! Simply beautiful👍

[zuluwiz]

Cheers Pete, and congratulations. This is what you've been working towards for the last three and a half years. Your Kat is unique and beautiful, none like it in the world. We have all enjoyed watching you build it, and are waiting till can put it on the road, though not as eager as you are I'm sure. Good Work, and keep the rubber side down.

[Dogma]

VERY nice!

[pete]

Well the weather cooperated, so I got the wash/polish/wax done as well as getting the TSCC engine cover decals on, so that's it, she's ready!

I even got a bit of sun for some final in the driveway happy snaps...

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Hopefully only two more weeks of waiting...

[pete]

The final piece of the puzzle arrived yesterday so the Kat is now complete with hand grips.

I'm hoping to give it a good wash/polish/wax tomorrow providing the weather cooperates and I should be able to get some happy snaps.

Then it's a matter of hurry up and wait while I get all my ducks in a row to get it trailered down for the import compliance check etc. Maybe early to mid June.

[pete]

Yes indeed Larry! The itch isn't too bad just yet, but once those hand grips are on and its had a coat of wax it'll be a different story...

Hahaha glad the GS is good to go! Get out and enjoy! I've at least got my 450 still getting me to work and back

[nvr2old]

So very close, Pete. Must be like an un-reachable itch to have to wait till next month to finally ride a bike you've put so much time and effort into.

I just fired up mine today. First time in almost 8 months. It lit right off and is begging to go for a ride tomorrow morning..not to twist the knife or anything..

[pete]

Well it looks like my dodgy fix worked, no oil leak! I'm thinking I might not tempt fate and leave it in place as I really can't see it being an issue leaving it like that.

The 17.5 pilots seem good too, seeing low 13's on the AFR gauge now with the air screws set 3/4 of a turn out.

So now it's time to be patient which is going to be real tough. All I need is hand grips and it's ready for import compliance, safety certificate, and rego which all need to wait for next pay and probably June's pay also.

In the meantime I'll give all the fasteners a once over as well as giving the paint job another polish and its first coat of wax.

[pete]

Congrats on the baby steps, Pete.
Sounds like a Honda DOHC clutch rattle caused by out of synch carbs.

I meant to quote this back after my carb sync'ing exploits... while the rattle's still there due to that broken clutch basket spring it's definitely much improved, so looks like you were on the money after all

[pete]

So I learnt a valuable lesson on the VM33 smoothbores yesterday... bench sync them!

I gave them a cursory glance initially and they looked ok, but after still not being able to get a happy idle I took them off yesterday and went from square one from the Sudco guide, and re-read on balancing them.

To start with, they were hugely out of sync with 1 and 2 pretty much closed while 3 was a little open and 4 quite a lot:

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

I smoothed the end of a straight bit of wire and set to balancing. Number 3 is the static one on these carbs, and now all four are set the same.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

The difference is night and day! Instantaneous improvement to the idle where it was stable, although kept climbing as it warmed up and got richer and richer.

Now they're too rich full stop, ended up with the AFR at ~12.5 with the air screws a full turn out, which tells me I likely never needed to go up from the 17.5's in the first place.

I went back to the 17.5's last night and will start with the air screws 1/2 turn out, but it might be a couple of weeks before I get back to it yet as this coming weekend will be a busy one.

So that was a huge win but unfortunately my oil leak is continuing, so I need to solve that one yet.

[pete]

Yep Dan, I only ever use the highest quality safety gear when working on my bikes

And there we go!

Now I've gotta be patient until Sunday morning when I can see if it still leaks or not.

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

[salty_monk]

I see you have a pair of those safety flip flops.. I've got a pair of them for garage work too

[pete]

Haha yeah... at the time it was very but now it's definitely more

I'm still waiting for it to arrive... good old Australia Post and their "express" overnight service is regularly not overnight... although I did get the pair of 22.5 pilot jets installed so all four carbs are now setup the same.

[Skinner]

Don't beat yourself up. No rebuild story would be complete without a few of these incidents thrown in.

[nvr2old]

I'm chuckling as I post this, Pete..that's a funny story we can all relate to..