I don't think I mentioned that I ran into a major obstacle with the swingarm bolt. The bolt itself rotates within a metal sleeve within the swingarm pivot and with bearings at both ends. I knew from reading about similar projects that the SR500 swingarm bolt was prone to seizure and that there were a number of methods for removing the bolt. Well, I tried all of them and it just didn't work - so I had to resort to cutting the whole swingarm into pieces to remove it! As dramatic as this sounds, it was bloody good fun, sparks everywhere wheeeheee :D

(oh, and in case you are wondering, that is a bread mixing machine in the background, not mine)

I have finally managed to start making some headway on the bike again after quite a long pause. Mainly because I have been busy every weekend, but it was also bloody cold for a couple of weeks! I proudly present...a spanking clean fuel tap :)



a cleaned and repainted front disc...(still with the masking tape on)



and wheels without the tyres (which were rock hard and useless) waiting to be cleaned and powder coated

An Honorable mention...

I paid a visit to the Street Fighters shop in Interlaken last week, and I have to say that you would be hard pressed trying to find nicer and more helpful people! I must have spent an hour in the shop just chatting with Andreas about the project and asking silly questions, and being patiently and competently answered. These guys are excellent, if you are ever in Interlaken then go and visit the shop, or check them out online Street Fighters (make sure you have a look at their 'TEN' custom build, sick!)

First problems

Now that I have had the chance to have a look at all the parts, I have also found the first few problems. The first being a bent fork stanchion which will need replacing. After I got the motor out of the frame and could get a good look at the underneath of the bike, I noticed that one of the center stand mounts had been ripped away from the frame. Not really a big issue as I was going to chop them off anyway! :)And last but not least, the bl***y oil filter bolt just will not move, plus it's a b*gger to get to! Patience...

Down to the last few bolts...

So, the bike is now totally disassembled with all the parts strewn under my workbench in the garage. Something that I have realised a bit too late is that I should have given the bike a good steam clean before I started taking it apart, as now I have grime and sump oil all over my garage floor. Oh well, I'll have to save that bit of wisdom for the next project!

The end result...

Should look something like this:

Finally down to the nitty-gritty

Just look at how tidy my garage is! It hasn't been this clean since we first moved in (though this is also partly due to my landlord asking if he can store an oven at the back). This is a Grease Monkey's dream, loads of space, loads of tools, and an old bike just begging to be taken apart :D

This was on the way to the customs office in Bern. Because I came back so late from Germany I couldn't do it there and then when I crossed the border. But it has to be said, the chaps in Bern were very friendly and helpful, and apart from the cost, the import paperwork was painless.

Some more pictures of the beast

This was how the bike looked when I first picked it up, well almost. I couldn't resist it and had already stripped some of the stuff off of it. I'm not keen on the seat, that will be the next thing to go.

Twitter didn't really work...

So, my experiment with blogging the project on Twitter didn't really work, mainly because you had to host pictures on Twitpic. So here goes again...