Got a few things to update. Starts off with welding the license plate bracket, then painting it and the front brake parts.

Then I was able to remake the electronics tank brackets and did a test fit. Only thing left is to drill holes for cabling to pass through. 

Today I received a few boxes from USPS. Got the master cylinder, tail light ('33 Ford replica), used charging rotor that measures the correct resistance, and a housing for the speedo (the one originally on the bike was in bad shape).

Took 2 steps forward and 5 steps back this weekend. The rear fender is painted on the underside with black appliance epoxy paint and the top side is sanded/brushed and rubbed down with WD-40. Also painted the exhaust with VHT flameproof silver paint on Saturday. Sunday I mounted the exhaust and did a couple rounds of curing the paint by idling for 10 min, let it cool, idle for 20 min, cool again, idle again for 20 min.

Here's where things fell down hill. During that last round of idling to heat up the exhaust paint, I was utilizing that time to balance the carbs. Part of the balancing causes the engine to die. During one of the restarts I randomly struggled to get it running again followed by backfiring and smoke out through the left carb. WTF. It finally fired back up and I finished that idle run. Few minutes later with the engine off I noticed gas dripping out of the carb. I know what that means because that is something I saw the first time i tried to get the bike running when I first bought it. The bowl float has pin holes in it so it must be full of gas and not stopping the gas flow causing it to over flow out the carbs. ARG!!! So now I need to buy bowl floats for both carbs because I know they both have holes but during the rebuild I tried to avoid new floats by flipping the old ones upside-down - I guess that didn't work. So there goes $30 just for floats!

Also found that during all the kick starting this weekend, the bolt I used for my brass kick pedal bent. I'll be up-sizing it to 1/2" and probably welding it to the arm instead of threading it through.

And for my third step backwards, I planned on finishing the e-tank completely this weekend. That is until I test fit it to the bike. The brackets I welded to the tank are too short so the holes don't line up because the tank hits the frame. I have no idea how I'm gonna fix that now and keep it looking clean.

While trying to find something that would go well for me I found more things I need to spend money on. I forgot that the front brake caliper I have is frozen, so I got that apart and need to buy a seal kit for that.

Step 5 - because I am using a Triumph throttle I had to shorten the inner cable and solder a new cable end. I did that last week and worked perfectly. So perfectly I had the chance to ride the bike around the yard remember? Well today when I started the bike the throttle cable was tight and holding it at about 25% throttle. After all kinds of wiggling and head scratching it appears that the outer cable sheath grew from the engine heat and now I need a new throttle cable and re-solder the end.

What an exhausting weekend... all I have to show for it is a painted/sanded fender and painted exhaust, and a shopping cart with $77 worth of bike parts to order. yay...

Borrowed a timing light today and straightened out the ignition advance. Now it goes like a champ. Took a few rips up and down the yard/driveway while taking a couple stops to dial in the idle mix screw and clutch adjustment screw. Getting very anxious to get this thing finished up!

Alright got the clutch taken care of! Opened it up, rotated the pressure plate to the alignment mark and BAM all is well. This fix also fixed the kick starter. Pulling the clutch lever must have un-done any alignment I had before causing the kick starter to stop working and free spinning the clutch housing.

So I hopped on the bike to take a quick spin around the yard but as soon as I start to re-engage the clutch the engine dies. Of course another OOPS on my part. When I threw on the ignition module and fired it up, I was so excited I forgot to get a timing light and dial it in. I will take care of that tomorrow night and hopefully get a real ride out of it. Should also finish up the e-tank and mount it.

Made a ton of progress this weekend. Finished up the wiring for the electronics tank. Just need to drill out passages for the cables to go through. Also threw together the main harness that will go from the tank to the front/rear of the bike to distribute power. Now that there is wiring for power, I installed the ignition and coil. Took about 11 seconds to put on.

While thinking about fuel delivery, I had a great idea. Most OEM fuel petcocks have a 'reserve' position where in normal ON it opens a little higher into the tank then when fuel starts to run out you switch it to reserve and there is enough gas to get you to the gas station. I thought this was a great idea but how could I do that with the tank I have without buying $100 worth of valves.... Well here's what I came up with. It should work great. I'll run only the one valve with the tubing, when fuel starts running out I'll turn on the other valve without the tube that is lower in the tank and head to the gas station.

So with the ignition all wired up, fuel delivery straightened out, hm what's next? Oh right fire it up! This video was taken right after I was able to stabilize the idle. Shortly after I adjusted the idle mix screws a little more and it runs even better than in the video. 

After taking the video I get a phone call from a friend Howie saying he wants to stop by on his bike. Jim was over helping with the bike, and we decide "well, it won't take much to get the chain and clutch cable on...". So the chain goes on, Jim puts on the cable and side cover, Howie shows up, I put my foot on the kick starter and practically fall on my face because the kick starter wouldn't engage and was just free spinning. WTF?!?! After a quick spin on Howie's bike, I rig up the electric starter, engine fires up nicely, pull the clutch lever and got nothing WTF - again!!! That's what I get for rushing it and trying to take it for a spin around the yard. So here's my new project for the week.

EDIT: ok found out I put the pressure plate on the clutch wrong - oops. The pressure plate has splines (29 teeth) to mate it to the clutch housing, but also has 6 mounting holes. That means there is only 1 of 6 ways that it can go on correctly. If it is on wrong the clutch wont engage fully and always slips.  

It's been a while: we finished moving out of the apartment, I had a stomach bug on Easter, followed by calling out of work Monday and Tuesday, then the first two nights of my motorcycle license class started Wednesday and Thursday. So of course no time spent in the new garage, but good news is I got a 100% on the written test and now we do the riding portion on Saturday and Sunday.

Bike related - I have all the cables in and the Pamco electronic ignition delivered, so wiring will be the main focus for now. Might throw the ignition on and fire it up for fun, it's only 3 wires and it hasn't run since the rebuild in January.