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Thanks Leon and Aaron, has to be done this week. Or I won't be able to make Panama City Beach. The relay is responsible for putting a lot of heat under peoples rear ends to get their bikes ready to roll. That has been one of its nicer unintended benefits.

i remember a thread has anyone road this month or something like that aimed at all the works in progress that never get finished glad to see the relay has helped put a few of them on the rd.

"That has been one of its nicer unintended benefits." That aint no joke! I'd be swinging a hammer and running wiring on the new house right now, the little woman is letting me off the hook to finish my bike. I'm going to owe her BIG time!
Your doing some fine work there! Keep up what your doing, it's looking good.

Les

Joe, you got this. Bike is looking really nice. Weather in Panama City Beach is looking good for this week. Ive got brakes, engine, wheels on mine and not much else. Just wondering if you are going to be sporting the handlebar gas tank or the one that came on the bike for crusing the strip?

Thanks JyDog, will try to finish it up again tonight. Spent half the night yesterday after putting the kids to bed. Back wheel and front fender installed, carburetors slapped on. Will first try to do a gravity bleed on the brakes, and if that doesn't work do a reverse bleed. Assuming that this works, then just a matter of mounting the new (used) shocks. Trouble with a bushing that won't come off left from the old shocks. Then slap on the tank and body work (along with emblems) and hope for the best. Oh, I got the new front tire mounted today as well. Working on very little sleep.

P.S.: I am retiring the handle bar gas tank. Good idea, but I should have put a shut off valve on it cause I ended up getting gas in my crank case.

Looking good man... your gonna make it!!

Joe, most importaint make sure those brakes are 100% and get some sleep before you head out! I know the pressure is on but safety comes before anyting else. This adventure is about to start. That flag should move almost 600 miles by the end of Sunday.

Tried to finish it up tonight. Bled the brakes (gravity and reverse bleed) but no luck. Put on the cables I needed to (new Speedo, tach and attached throttle ones to carbs). Replaced shocks with an eBay set. And put on all the body panels along emblems. Will try to fire it up in the morning.

Still need to finish:

1. Front brake.
2. Fix left side emblem screw hole (apparently rust had enlarged the hole.
3. Install petcock (first make sure no debris left in tank).
4. Put cotter pins in side covers.
5. Double check everything.

Replaced the black shocks in the picture with another temporary set.

Tried to fire her up this morning. Didn't get very far with my new petcock leaking. Need to address that unfortunetly. Took some outside shots in the mean time.

the bike looks really good.

leon

Thanks Leon. And thank you for all the kind words through out my build. Always helps to get some encouragement. Still not running yet. Had a fuel (new) petcock leak issue. Turned out to be that cylindrical strainer filter that came with it (the one that gets inserted into the tank). Kept the petcock from seating correctly. Removed that filter and all is good. Then tried to fire it up with no luck. Finally, checked the spark. Doesn't seem to have any. I had removed the points plate since the last time the bike ran. It was bent (bike must have got hit on the points cover because the points housing had been cracked as well), so I hammered it back flat and reinstalled it. So it could be that or something I didn't plug back in. Anyhow, need to do some diagnostics today and check the voltage at the coil primaries. Once she fires up I plan on taking a video ride on its maiden voyage.

Joe

So I finally got the bike fired up again. I had replaced the points housing since the last time and of course never had the opportunity to make an adjustment. Figured it may be O.K. since I a put everything back as it was. Here is what I had replaced:


The points plate inside had also been damaged. So I hammered it flat and put everything back a few months ago. So all I had to do was readjust the points this morning and she fired up. Here is my semi maiden voyage. Couldn't go out on the open road because I still have very little brakes. So just a quick jaunt around the hood. Will work on brakes tomorrow.