Pistons

Way back during the tear down, I messed up a piston due to a stuck wrist pin so I ordered a NOS piston and two NOS pins.

 

 

I forgot to take a before cleaning picture of the old piston I'm keeping, but here's an old picture showing the condition.

 

 

Using the dremel abrasive buffs to remove the carbon. Love these things!

 

 

Scrapping off the rings.

 

Cleaned up with the rings on. I used my fingers to slip on the rings. I think there is a special tool for that, but its not really needed.

 

Old pin and new.

 

Which one is NOS, which one is old?

 

In place on the rods.

 

 

Hmmm, not sure what these pics have to do with the pistons. I replaced o-rings around the jugs/sleeves. I tucked them in tight with a screw driver. I hope that's correct!

 

Inspiration

Some inspiration bikes to keep me motivated. I was leaning towards a burnt orange like the first bike below, but now I'm thinking a black and cream color combination. Bobbers with a cream color really give it a rich classic old timer look compared to pure white in my opinion. I'm sure I'll change my mind a few dozen times more before its all  said and done.

 

 

 

Magneto & Starter Clutch

Cool word- MAGNETO.  Below is the magneto stator I believe. Its a bunch of coiled up copper wires, and it bolts onto the inside engine cover. The wiring is frayed and held together with some old electrical tape.

 

 

Bolted in place.

 

 

The rotor is really two things in one. The rotor itself which contains permanent magnets which creates the magnetic field so the stator coils can produce alternating current. And then the starter clutch. Below is the clutch on the backside of the rotor. Those three shiny rollers (effectively) "lock" onto the crankshaft when the electric starter is engaged. When the engine starts, the crankshaft spins faster than the electric starter and those rollers spin the other way and disengage from the crankshaft. Nifty.

 

Here you can see all the marks where those rollers grab onto. The sprocket is for the starter chain.

 

Not sure why, but I disassembled the starter clutch.

You can see where the rollers roll back and forth in the oil tracks.

When I put it back together, I was missing a pin that pushes against the one of the rollers via a spring. F*ck. I looked high and low for 15 minutes. Nothing. Low and behold, it was under my nose (or rather the rotor) the whole time! Thanks to the magnets, it didn't get very far!

 

Now since I'm eliminating the starter and going kick only, I thought I could also eliminate the starter sprocket. And I did just that until I noticed this little oil passage hole. The sprocket covers this and without it, the oil pressure/flow might be altered too much. Heck if I know one way or the other so I had to remove the rotor again and put the sprocket back in place.

 

 

Tightening the rotor on with my make shift holding tool. I let the wrench press against the bench top so I don't have to fight against my own arms.

 

Cover on. Making Progress. Hell yeah.

The Voodoo Vintage KZ750 Twin Hardtail

I scored big time with the hardtail. I had my eye on Voodoo Vintage for a long time. Dave is doing a lot of great work for vintage metric bikes, but nothing for the KZ750 twin (until now). I sent him an email about making a hardtail for my bike, and he offered to do it on the cheap as a prototype for larger production runs. I sent my frame in the very next day.

 

I think it turned out perfect. Thanks Dave!

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