Fixing the Fizzer...

[riffer]

You could also price new ones,costs nothing to do that.

Yep. Done. $300 each. Although there's a crowd in England that do them for 78 quid. Although with postage you'd probably come to the same price.

Come to think of it, there's a complete R6 front end for US$699 on ebay too.

Damian at Cycleworks is going to have a look at them on Saturday (and my tripleclamps too).

On a brighter note I just finished watching the Catalunya MotoGP...

[White trash]

What do you all reckon?

Buy a Gixxer

Wasn't Fizzerman either, it was brother number 2.

And I ahve your keys in my pocket

[riffer]

Buy a Gixxer

Wasn't Fizzerman either, it was brother number 2.

And I ahve your keys in my pocket

Excellent! Did you find my bar end too?

[riffer]

Okay, I've done a bit of ringing around and a heap of emailing and I've now got a few solutions...

1. going to see Damian at Cycleworks tomorrow with the forks and triple clamps. He's going to give me a definitive answer on the fork tubes and whether we can get them straightened. If we can, this is the preferable option as it's within the budget.

2. Talked to Keith at Victorian Motorcycle Wreckers in Aussie. Can get some forks for AUD$540 delivered. Oh well, I suppose I could use some of the money that the old HVEB is sending us in July if the CDFO will allow...

3. I can get some new fork tubes from Sawyers for about $350 each tube. Will take about ten days to arrive, and I will probably have to do the seals again. Of course it might be an opportunity to put some Race Tech Cartridge Emulators (if a hoard of flying pigs drop a wad of cash in my lap).

Of course I haven't checked if the tyre is okay (its flat) or the rotors are warped yet.

This is turning out to be a bit of an expensive exercise. Maybe I should cut out the lanesplitting for a bit.

[riffer]

Oh, and add to that $70 for a mirror, $30 for an indicator, and $85 for new steering head bearings and races.

My pockets are feeling empty...

And to add to that, I got royally fucked again at family court.

I need a and a

[FROSTY:Me]

[erhaps time to concider option 2 -alternative front end

[merv]

Oh, and add to that $70 for a mirror, $30 for an indicator, and $85 for new steering head bearings and races.

My pockets are feeling empty...

And to add to that, I got royally fucked again at family court.

I need a and a

Bike not insured then?

You were OK with your gear on the house insurance though, right?

[wkid_one]

Bike not insured then?

You were OK with your gear on the house insurance though, right?

I don't think an insurance company would pay - he was engaged in an illegal activity at the time of the accident

[riffer]

I don't think an insurance company would pay - he was engaged in an illegal activity at the time of the accident

If you look at the scrape marks on the road you will find out that I was in the centre of the road whem I went down so to you.

Actually my clothes are covered by my insurance policy as "household goods in transit"

And yeah Merv, TPFT on the bike. Thinking I might go for fully comp after this but will have to check about the cost.

But how to find the money for the forks?

[riffer]

Okay, been to see Damon (not Damian) at Cycleworks.

Nice guy. Absolutely brutally honest about the forks.

One is marginally repairable. The other is a bit over the margin most likely. They also have a bit of a funny feeling when you push them all the way down too, like something (probably damper rod) is scraping against the inside of the fork.

The bottom triple clamp is out about 2 degrees.

So, I'm looking at about $300 for forks that may never work properly anyway. Or will work properly but will never have the fork seal working.

So, looks like option 1 is out.

So that leaves options 2 and new option 4, courtesy of XJ/Frosty, which is to use different chromes. Either way, my triple clamps need to be fixed and Cycleworks can do that for $60-80 (cool).

So do any of you guys know where I can find some 41mm fork chromes? This could work out to be the fastest (and cheapest) way to get back on the road again.

Failing that, its finding about $250 from nowhere to get the ones from Aussie.

Although I'm kind of looking forward to potentially doing a complete front end rebuild on the fizzer. Got the bearings and races for the steering head today so that's a definite goer (and met up with Robyn behind the counter who I hadn't seen since I used to hang out in New Plymouth at least 13 years ago )

Appreciate any help with find parts everybody

[FROSTY:Me]

dude could ya send me a bit more detail re the chromes.
Total straight lenth,damper rod thread dia would be enough to go on the hunt for ya

[riffer]

Okay, the first test:

The bike starts and runs fine. A good start.

Secondly, the fork chromes are rooted and will need to be replaced. I have found some second hand forks at Victoria Motorcycle Wreckers in Brisbane that I can get for $600 delivered but for the same price I have found this place that makes NEW fork chromes:

http://www.motorcycle-parts.com.au/fork_tubes.htm

Sent an email to them enquiring about availability and prices and got this reply:

"Hello Simon
For the 87/88 Yamaha FZR1000 Tarozzi list the P05-0219 fork tubes as being 43mm diameter and 615mm long with a Yamaha part no 2GH-23110-00 but the 89-90 is listed as P05-0166 41mm x 615mm long part no 3GM-23110-00..... could be a misprint though.
Export price of the P05-0219 is AU$265.50 per tube and the P05-0166 is AU$255.00 per tube. Postage to NZ by Air Mail would be around AU$32.50 the pair
Hope this is of help and thanks for your enquiry."

So for the same price as some worn out secondhand forks I can get BRAND NEW tubes to rebuild my forks, so I'm leaning in that direction. Can't go wrong with brand new, can you. And this way I get to rebuild my forks and now they are all new.

My brake rotor on the left side is obviously twisted. I have scored a replacement XJR1200 rotor off trademe (same rotor) for $40 which is a bit of a bargain. Pretty sure its identical. Hope I'm right.

Took the steering head races out of the bike today. As expected, there's scoring all over them. Thank goodness I decided to replace them as even though I regreased them (thanks to pete376403) they were old, so new bearings will be nice.

The tripleclamps are to be straightened by Damon @ cycleworks next week hopefully so I'm kind of hanging out for either the IRD to get their act together and give us our tax refunds or the Power Company to send us our $1500 cheque.

There's a light at the end of the tunnel!

[bungbung]

...I'm kind of hanging out for either the IRD to get their act together and give us our tax refunds...

I got my refund on Friday. I got all excited till I realised that it was my money in the first place :sneaky2:

[James Deuce]

Good stuff celticn06. Can't wait to see it all going again.

bungbung. You are so right. According to the IRD website they owe me $473. According to the letter they sent they owe me $78.

They could at least split the difference.

[riffer]

Okay, an update for those who don't already know (all two of you )

I have the steering head bearings. Just awaiting the triple clamps being straightened then they go into the bike complete with nice new races as well.

I have straightened the gearlever and windscreen bracket, so I can get away with using the windscreen until I can afford a replacement.

The forks have been ordered. I sent off a money transfer today to Metro Motorcycle Wreckers in Sydney who made an offer I couldn't refuse: $540 airfreighted to my door, including postage and insurance. I will replace the oil in these. Depending on the state of the seals, these may get replaced too.

I have had my custom-made boots repaired by The Last Footwear Company. They are looking good. They have put some leather over the ripped up toes so it sort of looks like a toe cap. And brand new soles that look like work boot soles. Nice and thick. Great.

The every-helpful Mr White Trash saw me right at WMCC this afternoon with a nice black Nitro helmet and Motor-Tech Jacket and gloves. I'm keeping the dririder pants in service and they suffered almost no damage. I'm going to see how many strikes with a 3.5 lb axe kills the old helmet tomorrow, as I don't want anyone using it, especially as how it took a real wallop on the front.

The replacement brake rotor arrived today with an added bonus: a spare brake rotor. According to the fellow I got them off, the spare had been straightened, was ok for a while, then developed a shudder. They are both off a 1998 XJR1200, identical to mine with one exception: they are about .5mm thicker. Choice!

Incidentally, the bloke I got them off may be known to some of you: Brian H Rusty, of diesel bike fame. Check out:

http://www.rustynuts.co.nz/default.aspx?PageID=30

Interesting to see the front of their webpage has them at the Bridge to Nowhere. My ex's father used to run the jetboat service up to the bridge so I remember the area (Pipiriki, Whanganui River) fondly.

Anyway, the to do's (once I have all the parts back):

1. bronze weld bracket which holds the reserve/main switch to the frame
2. Put races into steering head, grease the bearings and reassemble the steering gear
3. Replace the oil in the new forks and put them back on the bike
4. Put the new rotor onto the front wheel and chuck the wheel into the forks
5. Put the brakes back on and bleed them
6. Put a new indicator on
7. Double check all my work (especially torque settings)
8. Check it all again (I'm paranoid)
9. My favourite. Road test
10. Get some sandpaper and clean up the scratches. Find some touch-up paint that's damn near the same and hand paint over the scratches (hey, it's a 17 year old bike!)


I'll see you all on the road soon!