xpag6259's rebuild of Vlad the 34L

[xpag6259]

I've made a request for info and help over the past year or so, but have now made an effort to record it, if for no other reason than to shut up ActionMan and BernieBoy who have helped greatly in the rebuild. As stated elsewhere on the site, I bought the 34L because I thought I had tracked down a XT500. I felt sorry for the bike and $300 changed hands. I aquired a TT600 at the same time.
Over lunch and wine, 3 of us decided to ride across Turkey, Iran and central Asia and on to Vladivostok in their summer in 2013.


Much of it was missing. The motor was in my shed with the head off. It had been run with little or no oil by a bunch of teens as a farm bike. I chased down a head and sent it of for a clean up and valve job.
I stripped the motor and found the usual gear damage


The original owner had enlarged the tank for serious Australian travel. He was a German chap who obviously thought Australia was VERY large


I started collecting engine parts for the rebuild.

[xpag6259]

The previous pic shows the 3rd, 4th and 5th gear sets. By chance, my local mechanic had an original NOS 5th gear in his 'incorrectly ordered' box. A million to one chance that he had the one gear that nobody could supply.

An inspection of other bits showed that I was going to have to depend on eBay, so started with sites in the US, Germany and the UK. The headlight was stuffed, but I've managed to get 2, including one from the US which I'll use on the big ride. The one off the bike was plastic, lens and bucket.


Oil tank stuffed as well. It was obvious why the bike ran out of oil


Around this time, BernieBoy had picked up a XT600 that had been 34L'd and I went over for a look in order to hopefully get a few bits. I then spied an ex-armie bike that he'd picked up and had decided that an 'electric boot' would come in very handy for me considering my age and the terrain that we would find ourselves in. So I loaded the '91 XT into the trailer and headed off. Spent a few hours stripping the bike and eBayed what i could.




Around this time I made contact with a guy from the Netherlands (Huub) who'd done a similar ride and we started exchanging emails. He told me that he had a near new ohlins off his late model TT that he would do a great deal on. After many more emails about lengths and spring rates, he had it rebuilt and by chance a mate was returning from Europe who delivered it to my door. Huub had also machined up an alloy block to fit my bike and provided all the fittings and shims to make it work. The pic shows the old TT spring which is much lighter than the uprated 34L one

The shock has a remote cylinder and I needed a spot for it to be mounted. I had a plan to sit it on the airbox under the seat. I heated up the airbox and forced an indentation to seat the cylinder. I also planned to recess a slot in the seat base as well. It was a good plan, but it just wouldn't quite work.

The shock is away getting a longer hose fitted and it will sit down the back like an 1983 TT600

I wasn't too keen on the back wheel's looks. Probably OK for local work, but not for blasting through the Pamir Mountains, so I eBayed a decent wheel from the US, had the brake drum machined and sent it off to John Titman Racing in QLD to be rebuilt with heavy stainless spokes and an SM Pro platinum rim. He also stainless ziptied the spokes for extra strength and protection.

[Bernieboy]

Paul, great to see the story coming to life in the forum . Looking forward to the next installments

[Mezo]

Didn't even know about stainless zip ties?

Wheels look dam sexy though.

Mezo.

[xpag6259]

The plastic covered zipties hold the spokes in place if you break one and stop it doing damage to the bike or your leg! I'm not rebuilding the front wheel, but John Titman gave me a set for it anyway.


This isn't going to be a Eric or Fred restoration. I really admire guys like that who can achieve that degree of perfection. I don't have the skills or drive. This bike is being built for a purpose, and that's to cross about 20,000 km of rough country.

[xpag6259]

The '91 XT engine was stripped and the top end bore as it'd been left laying in the grass with no carbs or header and moisture had found its way in. Discussions with ActionMan ended with me deciding to replace the sleeve and use a new std size piston. Off to ActionMan's cave and with BernieBoy assisting we (after a few beers and chicken wings) applied some head and a couple of tonne of pressure relaced the sleeve.

Bernieboy keeping track of the temperature using a digital thermometer


The barrell was then bored and sent off to my local m/c mechanic (Daryl at PMT in Airport West, Vic.) who skillfully assembled it. I had painted the head, barrell and covers ( not the cases) using high temp brake caliper paint that needed to be baked for best results. My wife was at work, so into the oven they went. It took a huge effort to get the smell out of the kitchen!




While this was going on I was still still trying to sort the issue around the ohlins. Not only didn't I have a solution the cylinder, the top of the ohlins was much larger in diameter that the standard shock. I just wouldn't fit between the snorkels.

[xpag6259]

I decided to move the snorkels as far apart as I could manage. I made up an aluminium panel for the airbox and removed the section and pop rivited the new panel in.

It gave me almost 20mm extra gap at the airbox end and took a bit of the pressure off where the snorkels pass the shock. I have come up with a cunning plan to slightly squeeze the snorkels as they pass the snorkel, but that will wait 'til I'm a bit further down the track. The pic below is of the final fit before cutting out the airbox

.......... and the final jpb.


Meanwhile, I'd cleaned up the swing arm. I had it lightly bead blasted just to get rid of the ground in dirt, and gave it a couple of coats of clear ( mag wheel clear... its really tough). I'm not after perfection, i want the bike to still have signs of its age and use. I gave the forks the same treatment.

I bought all new bushes and bearings for the swing arm and pro-link set up and set about assembly. And 'yes', my wife was a home and very accepting.


Then I whacked the engine into the frame. Sounds easy, but alone, its a prick of a job! My mobile lifting table is an old hospital bed.... works really well


I know its a little out of order, but I'm trying.

[Eric66]

Looks bloody good to me, and when ya riding the old girl on the other side of the world you will know that you created her!
Regards Eric

[ActionManMelb]

Looks bloody good to me,

+1 for that.

Great work, and you have some good looking blokes helping you!

[xpag6259]

As I've never had a Tenere in one bit before, I try on various parts for size and to keep myself motivated.



I was not going to do up the tank as I'm sure that at some stage between Varna and Vladivostok I'll run out of talent ( probably more than once) and put some freash dents in it. But, as the rest of the bike is coming up a little better than I'd thought, I stripped off the home cut stickers and took the tank off to a local panelbeater who, for a slab of Carlton Draught, pulled out the dents I knew about and found a few more when he took it next door for bead blasting.
the area of Airport West over the Tulla from Essendon Airport has a fantastic collection of trade workshops.



I bought a new RHS cover a while ago but had trouble finding a LHS. A blue one came up in Germany so I grabbed it and will paint it white when I do the tank and cowling, if I can ever repair it.


The bike was missing the elusive oil cooler cover, so I decided that after my success with the aluminium section on the airbox, I would fabricate acover. I headed off to Actionman's cave for a carby rebuild and borrowd a cover off him. I had to sign over the deed to my house as security. He's a hard man. When I got it home and tried to fit the cooler and cover, I found out that the starter motor on a '91 XT is right where the oil cooler should sit. I tried various location until I found one that would work for me. The fittings on the std. cooler are hard to get to fit right, so i found another cooler at a wreckers and have designed the appropriate bracket. Its a bit bigger, but will be fine. I've also come up with an aluminium cover that will direct some air through it. Here's my location.

This is a comparrison of the coolers and my 'thumbnail dipped in tar' sketch of the cover.


Alsofitted the Bosley pegs. Very nice bit of kit.