Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/757317
December 2016 39 Enough on the fi nancials, but I do want to hit pause for just a second to dive into some more background on builds in general. This is low budget build and I, like most guys, don't own every piece of equipment or have every hard skill needed to perform every task associated with a build. I am a guy with a hobby, a garage, and some, but not all, skills, so some por on of work will get farmed out to vendors I have used over the years and others will be done by or with buddies that have equipment or skills that I do not possess. We all have a network of friends, each having diff erent skills. The more work you can collaborate on with your buddies within this network, the be er. In the short term, this t for tat allows all of us to get projects over the fi nish line without bus ng the budget, but more importantly, over me you and your buds will pick up addi onal skills via collab- ora on. Bo om line here is that it's a win-win situa on when we get out and network with friends and acquaintances on projects. Back to the build! Not a lot of eye candy this month, but things are pro- gressing nicely. First, the engine. Between scavenging parts from both bikes and buying a few new bits, it will breathe again! The cylinder I am using had some broken and bent fi ns, which I repaired. The photo below shows the progression. Star ng with the broken fi ns, I just cleaned up the edges with a Dremel and used a piece of stainless fl at stock as a backing bar, then built up the broken fi ns with weld. Be- cause stainless and aluminum are dissimilar met- als, the aluminum does not s ck to the backing bar and the missing por on of the fi n is replaced with weld. A er weld-repairing the busted up fi ns, it was off to the machine shop (Ken O'Connor Racing) to get an expert opinion on what I needed for a piston. The par cular jug used from Roach 2 was already on second over bore and had some corrosion, so Ken determined it would be best to go with a 55MM piston which should be arriving short- ly. Beyond that, the only other items that will be replaced in the engine will be some case bearings along with all the gaskets and seals. The crank and crank bearings were actually in great shape so they are good to go. Everything else will just require a really good cleaning. The other component I made measurable prog- ress on were the forks. Roach 1 will be the donor for these, but I will be using the heavier/wider triple trees from Roach 2 with them. The forks are 32MM Ceriani's and while considered spindly by today's standards, they were some of the best back in the day. I got lucky with these as they actually look great; tubes are straight and are pit free, sliders were not all gouged up and the dampers were s ll in great shape. The rebuild process was pre y simple; drain off all the old oil and then refi ll them with kerosene and let them sit for a few days. While extremely low tech, I use kerosene as a degreaser and as a solvent for cleaning the sludge and crud from the inside of both forks and engine bo om ends that have been si ng and the results always amaze me. Best thing is, it's not so horribly toxic that you need to think about how to dispose of it. A er le ng them soak, I stripped them down and gave everything a good fi nal cleaning. All these will need are new seals, dust covers, a few circlips and screws and they will be good to go. - That's all for now. I hope your restora on is progressing as well!