New shop. New project!

When I last left you, I was getting the basics of my shop setup after receiving my final shipment of household goods from the west coast. This last shipment represented several things. 1, we finally have everything we own in one place and mostly unpacked. 2, this was the last major part of our move back stateside and out of the Navy. Having it done means we are well and truly 'done' moving. Lastly it represents my chance to finally setup my shop and to start getting onto my projects. Let's take a look at what was first on the docket.

In the last post I got both of my motorcycles back. I also got all of my tools and a few other niceties too. Above you can see that I've been able to not only get my tools out and working, but also make the shop a bit better looking. After the moving truck was unloaded, I had several house related projects to get done including a bunch of unpacking and rearranging. Soon after the majority of unpacking was done, I worked on getting the FZ1 started. When I left the last post, the Yamaha still wasn't running. I resigned myself to remove the carburetor bank and clean them up. I broke out my manual and started with the tedious process of undoing all of the fittings and hoses related to an early 2000's carbureted bike. In between steps, I decided to bypass the fuel pump and connect the carbs straight to the tank. The bike started right up. It seemed to run fine leaving me to figure out what was initially keeping the bike from starting in the first place. While it was running on the bypass, the fuel pump outlet to the carburetors started throwing fuel all over the place. I reconnected the fuel system completely and gave it another try. This time it started like normal. A few more test starts confirmed that I had actually fixed the issue. I believe that when I prepared the bike for storage, I ran the fuel system so dry the fuel pump was air-bound. When I bypassed the system I somehow got the pump properly primed curing the issue. I did some riding tests, got the new plates and rode the bike to school. FZ1 ready! I'm glad that went easier than planned.

My next big mechanical project, and the main reason for this post, is my CRF450R flat track rebuild. This bike has been very solid since I got it in 2019. Even though it has been solid, I know nothing of what is going on inside the bike. I don't know the number of hours or what spec the various parts are. I bought it from Jim Wood of Southland Racing over in Redlands, CA. It belonged to a local racer that used it in 2016 to race in some AFT Singles class races. I got Jim's number from Eric Bostrom after attending Eric's training camp. I spoke to Jim and gave him my size and flat track history (none at the time) and he changed out the spring rate of the suspension and changed the cam to a milder tune. Supposedly it has a built engine with some better rods and a better than stock piston. All of this is what I was told, but can't confirm. I plan to break down the bike, clean it up, replace and worn or suspect parts and maybe even make it look better. I don't know if I will race flat track again, but getting the bike in tip top shape has been on my list of projects since I first bought it. I got the CRF flat tracker started the day after it was delivered and rode it around the block a bit to make sure I remember how to ride the beast. Now it was project time!

I could have taken more pictures during the process, but honestly it didn't take too long to get to this point. In between herding my 6 year old around on her bike and taking care of honey-do items, 

getting the bike to this point took maybe 4 hours. I just started with the easiest pieces to remove and little by little the bike was reduced to the core frame and engine. The Harbor Freight dirt bike stand finally came in handy in its intended use case. The flat track bike came with an underslung exhaust. I've never been able to use the stand as a stand. I use it only as a step when loading or unloading the bike. The ratchet strap kept everything secure during the disassembly. As I removed the various components the bike became unbalanced. The strap kept my toes safe. The radiators were a bit of a pain, but otherwise everything was straightforward. Important for putting it back together later.

 

And voila, a bike in the box kit. Once the radiators were out, I dropped the bike off the frame and removed the engine. That took a bit of wriggling, but easy enough. I have a 27 gal bin full of my bike with some of the bigger items placed on my wire rack shelves. My plan is to take a piece out of the bin several times a week. I'll clean, inspect and refresh each one. Once all of the pieces are done, I'll start the reassembly process. In the end I'll have a bike that looks great, functions perfectly and will be a known quantity. Since both my flat track tires and supermoto tires are shagged, I'll replace at least one set. I'm leaning towards towards the supermoto setup for the bike. That way I can try taking it to a track day sometime in the future. 

There will be much more to come from this project so stay tuned for what's to come. I have another post almost ready that is a little different. My school schedule is situated and my shop is ready for some action! I should be able to start pushing out posts more regularly. I have some tool acquisitions in mind as well. Plenty of decent content coming your way. Ride safe friends!

Mat