License plate mount for the Pinto

Before I register this bike, I want to get the license plate mount and the tail light figured out. The last couple of nights I worked on the license plate mount.

My goal was to mount both the plate and the light under my seat. However, the seat is super low and it doesn't leave me a lot of room. I knew the plate mount would have to be shallow, but I figured it would still be somewhat visible.

I started by making a nice cardboard cutout using an Eggo waffle box.



I then transfered that over to a piece of 1/8" aluminum and added the brake with my vice and some clamps.



I was super happy with how it turned out. However, as I suspected, I couldn't put much of a brake in the part. It was getting too close to the tire. I thought I could get away with it as you see it in the pictures, but when I put the seat back on and sat on the bike, I could tell it was going to be too close no matter what I did. Damn. I really wanted to mount the license plate here. It would have been clean, sleak, and out of the way.





From there I moved on to plan B. I modified the piece of aluminum to make it fit the lower shock bolt. I really didn't want to go with a vertical plate, but I didn't see another way around it. Oh well...I don't think it looks too bad for a compromise. I checked the fit after I finished it up and with my feet on the pedals everything clears just fine.

Radium City work day

A few of the local crew came over yesterday to work on some projects.

Josh was re-sealing his E50 case with Yamabond. He was paranoid about the RTV failing and didn't want to risk having any issues. He also drilled out his clutch posts for a MLM clutch brace.



Kyle put a new condenser on his Hobbit. I guess it died on a recent long ride and he suspected that was the issue.



I worked on getting this Newport started. This ZA50 is giving me trouble.



We recently found out about a local guy that had built up his Newport a few years ago, but has since neglected it (life, family, etc). I invited him to stop by so we could see what it would take to get it fired back up again. It mainly just needs some little things, but the main issues was the starting clutch cable. I found a random cable I had sitting around and modified it enough to work. It really won't take much to get this thing going again.

He did a good job of building it with a Metrakit 65, 15mm Bing, and Tecno Estoril. It should be a good runner very, very soon.

E50 clutch brace installed

While I was out at MLM a couple of weeks ago, I decided to pick up a clutch brace for the Gila'd E50 on the Pinto. I haven't really had issues with bent clutch posts, but the engine hasn't really ran correctly until now either.

I initially made an attempt to drill and tap the posts myself, but I ended up breaking both a drill bit AND a tap in one of the holes. I tried to salvage it, but decided to scrap it when I found out a new one was ~$12 shipped from Treats.

The 2nd time around I decided not to mess with it. I brought it to a machinist friend at work and let him finish it properly. He shaved down the posts to a minimal clearance over the top of the clutch arm. And he drilled/tapped the holes at the same time. It turned out great.



Before I reinstalled the arms, I checked the weights. They are all right around 73 grams. I know some of the stock arms can be close to 100 grams, which is too heavy. And I know some guys will cut theirs down to 55-60 grams, but I'm concerned that may be too light. So, I decided to leave them alone for now and just work with the oil and spring settings.



When I picked up the clutch brace, I forgot to get the fasteners with it. I went to two local hardware stores and this was the best fastener I could find. It's close to flush, but it isn't perfect. However, I think with how far my posts have been shaved down, the minimal amount the fastener is sticking up won't be an issue.



I've got the Paz orange springs in this clutch. I ran the set screws down 2.5 turns from the top. I'm not sure if that will be enough or if I'll have go more. We'll see.

I used Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF this time. I know there has been discussion about all kinds of different oils, but I'm going to start here and see how it does. Up until now I've only used whatever ATF I had sitting around. This has to be better.

Picked up a Newport from one of The Guns

I found a Puch Newport on craigslist in a town that is about an hour or so from me. I emailed the guy back and forth a few times and we agreed on a price. While I was making arrangements to drive down there to get it, I googled his email address to make sure I wasn't meeting up with some crazy person. Well, it turned out that I was meeting up with some crazy person...and he just happened to be a member of The Guns.

Matt was great. We had fun reviewing some of his projects...cars, motorcycles, and mopeds...and going through his vast collection of random parts. By the time I left there, the Newport was almost complete.

Here are a couple of pictures of it. It was/is pretty ratty. I went through it over the weekend. I fixed the cables, chains, pedal clearance, and engine mounting bolts. I cleaned the carb, the wheels, the petcock, and the frame. It needed a lot of work. It currently isn't running, but it does have spark. I'm not sure what is going on with it yet, but I'll figure it out soon.







Since Matt isn't too far away, I'm hoping we can get together for a couple of rides over the summer. I think he needs to finish up one of his bikes first though.

Regeared the Pinto

The rear sprocket on this bike was super beat down. The previous owner of the rear 8 spoke had a really janky bike, so who knows what happened to it. Earlier this week I ordered new front/rear sprockets and new gold chain. I went with 18 x 45 for this bike. I'm looking forward to trying it out once I get the clutch finished.

MLM intake and cleaner wiring

As I mentioned in my last post, Devin from Motion Left put a much better intake on my Gila'd Pinto. It's a cleaner setup with no more restrictions. Check out the before and after.

Before:


After:


In order to put a new stator on the bike in a hurry, we basically destroyed my wiring. We used wire nuts just to get the thing running...and I couldn't leave those on there. So, last night I went through it all again and cleaned it up even better than it was before. I'm happy with how it turned out this time.



I'm on to clutch tuning next.