Can I ride without the front motor mount...?

[zektiv]

Took it to a welder last Wednesday. Had a long conversation with him and included all the information from here including the suggestion to convert it to a stud. He said that's unnecessary, and that he'll fill it, drill it, and tap it. He said it would take him a few days to get to it (he's very busy), but he can definitely fix it up right.

This guy is a vetted and reliable welder that my work has leveraged for decades. His father did the work before him and he's very well known and regarded, and he's worked on everything you can imagine. Very interesting guy to talk to.

Anyway, that's the update so far. Once it's back in my hands the bike should be ready to go. Hopefully early next week!

 

[Dellinger]

Good to hear, :up:

 

[zektiv]

Got it back from the welder, he did real nice work. Fixed it up and I'm back in business on the front end. Got it back into the garage and started putting all the parts together (took a bunch of stuff off so the welder could have a 'clear' area), when disaster strikes *again*. WTF.

I'm putting the belt on so I took the rear wheel off. I put the rear wheel back on and slide the axle in, start screwing it in, and then it gets kind of tough to turn. I back it up, take it out, try it again, same thing. Gets really hard to turn. And not at the end - like, with a solid 3-4 inches of axle sticking out on the right side. I'm thinking "is it cross-threaded? is that even a thing on a rear axle???" I pull it out, visually inspect, and the axle threads seem fine. I look in the swingarm and it seems fine. I take the rear wheel out of the equation and just try threading the axle on and still very, very difficult to turn. I inspect the threads again, this time more closely and I'm able to pull out a silver thread with my finger (just one) but that seems to indicate cross-threading to me. Thoughts?

I'm not willing to start beating on this thing without some guidance. Is there anything I can do without having to trailer this thing *back* to the welder? Can I thread it from the outside and (hopefully) fix the thread? Is there a tap I can stick in there that'll work? What can/should I do at this point?

Sigh, I just want to ride this thing someday.

 

[TPEHAK]

Pictures please. Did you clean the treads and apply antiseize lubricant on the rear wheel axle threads and bearings inside surfaces before assembling? Do you use Buell service manual to assemble the things back?

 

[Chicknstripn]

Did you remove the pinch bolt from under the right side of the swing arm?
That could make it difficult to get the axel back in.
Not so hard to get it out. But definitely hard to get threaded in again.
I've done it before. Only reason I mention it.
And I'm a self certified Buell expert.
Till someone proves me wrong. Then I'm very humble.

 

[zektiv]

I'll get pictures tonight.

Yep the pinch bolt is fully loosened, anti-seize lubricant applied to the threads of the axle. I use the manual for everything - best tool in my kit. I try to avoid forcing anything.

I'll get some photos after work and post them up.

 

[zektiv]

Update: cleaned out the threads as thoroughly as possible, ran a pick through trying to get out any detritus or crossed threading, etc. Tried it again and it seemed to lock in more smoothly. Still took a little bit of effort but nowhere near what it was when stuck. So I got the rear wheel and axle back on.

Then I bled the rear brake. Previous owner probably never used the rear brake because it was frozen in place. I had already unstuck the rear master cylinder and the caliper pistons, and once I bled the brake system it works charmingly well.

Reassembled what was left, torqued down the pinch bolts on the rear, tried to torque down the front axle (but stopped because it seemed to be coming out the other side instead of torqueing down), torqued down the front pinch bolts, and fired her up.

Spent about twenty or thirty minutes on short, slow rides making sure nothing falls off right away, then went a little further and went off to get gas. Everything seems to be running pretty dang good at this point. Just a few little things:

Finding neutral became progressively more difficult over time. First few short rides it was easy enough. At the end of the night when parking it was nearly impossible to find. Is this a primary chain adjustment issue? Also, shifting from first to second at higher rpms pops right into neutral. Again, maybe I need to revisit the primary chain adjustment?

Also, the headlight is weird as hell... It looks like there's a big shadow right in front of the headlight. Illuminates fine into the distance but for maybe fifteen feet or so in front there's a big bullet shaped dark spot. At first I thought it was the front wheel or something but there seems to be plenty of clearance. Didn't really put a lot of investigation into it - I was already tired and the light worked fine. Just wondering if that's normal for an xb.

Other than that she runs sweet and fast as hell when flogged a little. 4th and esp 5th lack a little oomph but I suppose I expected that. Very happy I could at least ride last night, after months wrenching away!