Hi All,
Just thought I’d put my 0.02c worth into the forum. I’m doing some refurb and detail work to my already “not too bad” RE. Hopefully I can show what has been done and what I’m currently doing etc… First up, I fitted a new YSS rear shock and YSS fork internals, repainted the lower fork tubes with “Fighting Red” paint and clear coat over the top, hopefully this will have the old VF handling a little better. We all know the OEM rear shock was essentially rubbish, even when new…and the front end wasn’t great either. here’s
a pic of the new YSS rear shock, “sprung for my weight”.
DonR wrote: Nice. Are they the ones Ian Scott was selling?
Yes they are, very spendy but at least they’re available. I had a very slight “ticking noise” at wheel speed when coming to a stop light or just stopping in general…turned out one of the original bolts was broken, it was still held in the wheel by excess loctite…took me a while to figure out which one it was though.
Looks good Smithy. Your restore looks to be coming along nicely. I’m at a snails pace… You’ve motivated me to spend a few hours on the project today!
Where are you located? I’m in the Adelaide Hills.
New high output 3ohm coils, new leads, spark plugs & caps. Also fitted a pair of Carmo ignition boxes unter the tail section, should get the old girl firing nicely with revised power output to the coils, ignition timing an upgraded advance curve, here’s a link to them:
New front & rear tyres, front rotors, pads, braided brake lines and fresh paint on the forks and front mud guard…new indicators front & rear…new tapered roller steering head bearings…the old stock ball bearing ones were toast.
Will also be getting some new RE side covers from the “Italian Mold Lab”, they should turn up next week hopefully…New “stainless” bolts everywhere I can.
Now in the process of doing a little repair and paintwork on the lower fairing due to some small cracks and stone chips etc…:
The whole project should “hopefully” be finished within a month. 95% of the mechanical work is done…just a little bodywork and some more new parts to arrive should see it done and ready to ride. And it will be ridden, these old bikes are too nice to have as a garage queen…they should be seen in public.
Yes it was, turned out to be one of the short rim/spoke bolts which was broken, it was still in the wheel though, was held in with some excess loctite. Was just a slight tick when going slowly coming up to a stop light etc…
Lower fairing chips and cracks all repaired… painted, Shasta White, Fighting Red, and Candy Aleution Blue, new decals… and now ready for final 2k clear coat. Coming along nicely…might even be ready to fit back on the bike this coming weekend.
Bike is all but finished…just a few minor things to “clean-up”. OEM mufflers need repacking but that can wait for another day. This was the first ride after several weeks of weekend fettling. New MRA screen fitted too, seems to fit ok. Doh…forgot to refit the oil filler cover…
Had the old girl out for a nice pedal on the weekend just gone, ~210km or so…she runs sweet as a nut and everything works, no overheating, silly noises or rattles. Clutch, brakes & gearbox are all perfect… She pulls hard to ~8k rpm, I didn’t take it past that though, too much police presence around my area. Tappets are “just” barely audible, which is how I like them.
