I have a few days off so got a move on with an improved front end for my current FE project.My intention is to ride this bike next year and giving me a chance to do a refresh on the R.
I’ve already fitted the known good rear end parts I salvaged from bitza so the front end needed an upgrade to match.Bitza used damping tubes and valve emulators in the forks which were a mix of firestorm lowers,NC23 damping tubes and 650 dominator stantions.
This time I’ve gone down the route of extending the firestorm cartridge internals to match XLR650 stantions.The result gives me both preload and rebound damping adjustment.
Both the tube and needle rod required an 80mm extension,this is shown in the foreground.
So out with the old
And in with the new(ish)
A fuel tank is with the paint shop as of Monday,to complete the black and silver livery that the bike will be sporting.
This is not a full resto job just a tidy up and sensible mods that I’m now used to.If I have time I will swap the switch gear for more up to date parts as I did with bitza.
The engine will stay standard with the exception of taller primary drive gearing and a larger clutch slave cylinder to lighten the clutch action,with only 30k on the clock it sounds sweet as is.
Best regards Bif