Mezo`s 1988 XT600Z 3AJ Rebuild Thread (Project Ténéré)

[Mezo]

Well then came the bit where i was crapping myself about, laying the graphics.

I had the graphics custom made, at the time there were no side panel graphics so i had to have them made special & the sponsor logo`s.
I was told by the graphic guy to float them on wet, spray bottle with just a drop or two of dish washing detergent, the also supplied me with
a rubber squeegee to get the air bubbles & excess water.

So the painted parts came back "Scotched" (flatted down with a Scotch cloth) so the graphics would adhere nicely & then they would be clear coated over.











So i thought for practice id start with a small part to gain confidence & if i cocked it up it would be cheaper to have more made.













Then on to the tank & fairing with the smaller graphics (confidence factor at 80% now)

First the right side of the bike,,,





Then a mirror on the left side of the bike,,,







Then one of the side panels, each color had to applied separately & slid in to position.



I could hardly believe i had turned these shabby panels in to works of art.





Then it was on with the first layer of blue, very tricky getting it to fold around that curve in the tank.







Then the same on the left side of the bike,,





I measured my distance between the two blue graphics and put tape on to give me an upper guide of where the graphics had to slide to.





Then it was just a matter of sliding the yellow to sit on the bottom blue graphic.







Again it was a case of the same on the other side,,



And here`s my mate Tony enjoying the show so far (its Tony`s garage im working out of)



By this time (after i had put the yellow stripe on) i realized there was something missing.



I said to Tony "there`s to much blue & it needs something to tie it in to the rest of the bike" i told him my plans to put a pinstripe through
the front guard diagonally, Tony thought i was mad.

So i rang the graphic guy & asked him to knock me up to pinstripes (yellow 5mm wide & blue 15mm wide)







Then with what was left i put two diagonally across each rear corner of the tailpiece.







Phew, that was the hard bit of the build & was well happy with the outcome.

So off they went back to the painter for two coats of clear coat.

Mezo.

[Dirtybrit]

Yeh Mezo I have to admit that you did an excellent job with the Graphics!

[Mezo]

Forgot these pics in the above post so ill chuck them in here in random fashion.













Mezo.

[Mezo]

Everything on this bike was pretty crappy/rusty/buggered & the starter motor was no exception.





I cleaned the armature with the wire wheel & picked the crud out of the slots.





Gave the parts a sandblast & paint.



Here`s a fiche of the components, i just got parts 16 & 23 and 17, from Boats.net.



And Mezo`s handy tip for holding in the brushes whilst pushing the armature through, you could use two small children to achieve the same results.



Be careful with the wire positive wire that is indicated by the arrow, make sure the insulation is protecting the wire.







Make sure the fibrous washer is intact, that prevents a short between the body.









Mezo.

[Paulba]

All looks great.

Where was the over zealous bit of paint that stopped the starter from working??

Paul

[Mezo]

Stripped the carbies down & gave them a general clean.















Assembled & fitted.











Next up was the oil tank, again it needed to be restored.











I had a few problems with "Blooming" (to cold to paint).





I just waited until next day (warmer) and gave it another coat.





Gave the oil cooler & clean & paint with VHT as well.



And the side stand.





Gave the sump guard & blast & paint, then fitted it.





Sandblasted, painted & fitted the pegs & foot controls.











Also cleaned up the rear brake switch, couldn't afford a newie so had to fix what i had, the arrows point out the contact areas.



Contacts were worn but still usable.









I do enjoy making things work again, and the cost ? a couple of hours work.

So then i decided to refurb the rear brake master cylinder.











Reservoir form a DR650.



Mezo.

[Mezo]

All looks great.

Where was the over zealous bit of paint that stopped the starter from working??

Paul

Yeah good point Paul, i had problems with the starter getting a good ground & the reason was i had put to much paint on.

The lip at the top of this pic was the main culprit, i scraped back the paint & got a much better ground, also where the starter bolts to the engine casing was suspect so i removed the paint from there as well.



It was working but not at full grunt & that was because of a poor ground.

Mezo.

[GeoffD]

Those transfers are fucking superb Mezo, second time around & I'm just as amazed how you got em on in piece..

[Mezo]

Some before & after pics so far.









Mezo.

[Mezo]

Right, everyone's bit they hate, the dreaded wiring loom/harness.

Mine like most had been chopped, hacked & butchered.

First thing i did was clean it, first with de-grease & then an acidic solution to clean the copper connectors.







Any that were really bad (corrosion) i removed from the plug & cleaned up by hand, the arrow is how you remove them.
There is a special tool you can buy for this job, i did it the hard way with a watchmakers screwdriver.

Right tool for the job.







Don't you just love bits of electrical tape, i wonder what its hiding ?







And yet more quality connections.







And this one, just twisted, no solder or crimp.



So i printed out a full color diagram & stuck it together on a bit of cardboard (which the dog has since eaten) little bastard.
This diagram is available in the "Hot Links" section as a PDF download.



I found it much easier to see the color drawing, but there is a black & white also there for download.



Virtually every part of the loom had been chopped about & the easiest way was just to lay it out & remove the offending joins and make good.







So anyone think they have a crappy loom, look at my pile o crap, so out with the cutters for a swift haircut.



Then it was time to start putting in new bits of cable with a proper join, some guys prefer to crimp i like to solder, your choice.



But please don't be slack, use heat shrink after whatever join you do not electrical tape.



This was the front lighting part of the loom after i had chopped the shit joins out.



And after some soldering a working loom (tested with a continuity meter) prior to wrapping.



Some more horrors.





Handy tip for soldering, put your iron (heat) under the job & warm it up then apply your solder.



Slide your heat shrink down & warm with heat gun, mini blow torch, or fag lighter (but not the soldering iron).





You cannot cheat when it comes to wiring, there is only one way to do it, the right way.

If you bodge it your going to have problems down the track with reliability even worse you may end up with a fire,
try disconnecting your positive under your seat in a hurry (no chance).

And the golder rule with anything electrical (Mezo with his electricians hat on) always use a fuse, never just run a wire from the battery to power
things like extra lights, heated grips, GPS etc etc.

Mezo.