My project '91 ST: A UJM for the 90's

[ST_SHP]

SHP is fine. I'm a privacy nut.

My error on the temp gauge. It's a generic eBay model from China, if you search for "digital thermometer pc mod" on eBay, it will turn up for about $1 plus $3.19 (currently) for shipping. I buy a bunch of them at a time since it takes a couple weeks to get them. They're not advertised as waterproof, so I don't know how durable it will be. It's made to plug into a computer harness, but you can cut off the plug and run it on 12V. I don't post eBay links since they deactivate after 90 days and this thread will outlast that time frame. Make sure you get the one with the picture showing the button on the back if you want to display Fahrenheit (AMHIK ).

 

[John OoSTerhuis]

Thanks for the info, SHP. Continued good luck with the project. Thanks for the 'ride-along'.

Regards, John [no angry ex-wife, creditor(s), and/or the law looking for me! ]

 

[ST_SHP]

Thanks, [I'm 2.5/3]! Here's a short related video to break up the monotony of this thread:
[video=youtube;wvJiYrRcfQo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvJiYrRcfQo&feature=related[/video]

The front wheel returned today from the rim-straightener (Will). Great value for $65. I read about the bearing replacement & was a little concerned. Turns out one side popped right out, then the other was easy to tap out. The center spacer had rusty fur on it! The bearings looked the same on the inside, although they still turned OK. I think the odometer shows like 106K on this bike.

I wire wheeled the spacer, sanded it, and painted it with some black Rustoleum. Not that anyone will ever see it, but it seemed like a good idea based on the condition.

I'll work on putting it back together with new bearings tonight, then I can try my Harbor Freight tire tool in reverse.

 

[ST_SHP]

I fought the tire today & finally won! The hardest part was getting the bead to set on the rim- had to run the compressor up to 120 PSI. The band around the tire didn't do the trick. Anyhow, the new bearings & seal along with the refinished spacer are in, so next up are some brake parts on order. I found (posted in another thread) that I was missing all 12 of the "damping shims" between the rotor & wheel. Another member advised they were a fiber or gasket type material. They're also $2.25 each! I found a lot of 50 at McMaster-Carr for under $9.00. They're called M10 fiber washers and appear to be the exact size needed (10.5mm ID, 21mm OD and about 2mm thick). While it occurred to me I could go ahead & install the rotors and put the wheel back on and install these later, I think I'll wait for everything to get here, and I'm still waiting for some caliper clips that needed to be replaced.

Weather looks to be a little warmer the next few days so I may try & get some painting done, and will also replace the rear wheel bearings & seals. Once I get the wheels back on, I can then work on the exhaust, which is basically ready to go.

 

[ST_SHP]

The front wheel is back on & I made the mistake of trying to cut down the longer caliper pistons. They didn't come out as clean as I'd like, and I scuffed one while dressing it on the bench grinder. I took the plunge with the e-machine shop caliper pistons I designed and ordered a couple dozen. I'll be selling the extras once I get mine in & tested. My research shows they will fit the 91-02 non-ABS ST1100, and maybe some other bikes.

I've decided to take my time on the brakes, it still bugs me to put on rotors that are .8mm away from minimum when everything else is like new. If the pistons work out OK, I will invest in the e-machine shop rotors. I've found I can be a vendor here fairly easily, so if I can pass along some savings (and offset the production cost) I'll be glad to do so.

I got most of the vacuum & air (?) hoses on top of the motor removed and have cut some silicone ones to replace them. I suspect these were all 20 year old OEM parts, they were incredibly crusty. I found a hole in one of the vacuum hoses, so I've got one repair out of the way. Had to pull off one of the coolant hose pieces on the right head to get to the air hoses, and the o-ring seal on it was petrified. Fortunately, I had an o-ring I can replace it with.

 

[Bigmak96]

Had to pull off one of the coolant hose pieces on the right head to get to the air hoses, and the o-ring seal on it was petrified. Fortunately, I had an o-ring I can replace it with.

SHP, you will find the other one in the same shape naturally. I was amazed mine were not leaking given their condition.
It's been a good read, thanks.

 

[ST_SHP]

I have made a little more progress this week:

• Rear tire replaced. This was a tough job- I ended up using a spoon with the wheel on the floor since the bead wouldn't stay in the center on the tire changer, I was able to use my feet to press it down and spoon it into place.
• Rear bearings removed & replaced, cleaned the rusty grunge off the spacer & painted it like I did the front spacer.
• Calipers assembled (small parts, still waiting on pistons).
• McMaster-Carr fiber washers installed under front rotors.
• Front wheel installed (may have already mentioned this).
• Shelter, tail section, and front fender painted- used some Krylon plastic paint after the spraying of the Rustoleum/mineral spirits mix didn't come out so well. Still have to tape & paint the side covers.
• Installed the Airtex fuel pump along with the submersible hose and new seal.
• Installed the sending unit with new seal.
• Air hoses test fit.
• Laid out the power wiring for the fairing, ordered a fuse panel & relay
• Ordered an "IPF" 7" headlight.

I cannot find a decent 7" projector housing for HID. I found one site that sold a projector style housing with a small LED in it. I tried it on the GS1000 and was not really happy with the beam pattern, plus the LED is in the way of the Vetter lamp adjuster. I did some reading and saw the IPF was a popular headlight for trucks, as well as being reasonably priced ($62 for a pair of the housings & $34 for the bulbs). It has a good whiter than halogen output and retains a decent cutoff. Here's a pic from a 4x4 site showing the difference between IPF (left) & OEM (right) :

I'm switching service providers so I can have more download capacity. 5GB/month doesn't cut it for me.

 

[George]

McMaster-Carr fiber washers installed under front rotors.

When we replaced STrayCatt's discs, we sourced some fiber washers from Ace Hardware, about 10? each.

Yur doing a great job on this bike, and quickly. Personally, I'd procrastinate more if I could find the time.

Hope Trosty is wathcing this, looks like the right way to refurb an older ST. He doesn't have your luxury of time, tho, as his 1300 is his main vehicle.

 

[ST_SHP]

Time & more importantly money have been short, so this has been back-burnered for a while. I got the valves checked today and found 6 out of spec. This was a good sign for a motor with over 100K and no known maintenance record. Using the shim calculator on another site, I found I needed 4 new shims (was able to swap 2).

Still waiting for my machine shop caliper pistons, and am working on some added rear lights- not sure if they will go on the trunk (problem there is a curved surface) or on a bracket under the trunk (easier to do & puts them in about the same place).

All my panels except one of the cover plates for the bags are painted. I'll paint the last piece (which arrived today along with some o-rings I needed) tomorrow. I need to work on replacing the air & coolant hoses & then get the fan and radiator reinstalled. I'll cut the clutch hose to fit when I do the fan & radiator. I did a test fit on the rear panel with the tail light in place and it looked pretty good.

 

[ST_SHP]

I plumbed the clutch hose today & reinstalled the fan. I found another P.O. "gift" in the fan's wiring- two wires twisted together & held together with electrical tape. Better to find out about it here than at roadside though. I'll replace that with some solder & heat shrink and some proper terminals all the way around.

I'm running into an issue with the tail piece & bag holder covers- I thought I had what I needed to reattach them, but after John O. posted a picture of what it's supposed to look like, I see I'm missing parts from the tail piece. More used parts.

I set in place some of the panels I've painted- shelter, left side cover, and tail piece with the junk fairing sitting in place. Here's a pic:

I'm looking forward to seeing the black & white paint scheme when everything is in place, but it seems like I'm not making much progress lately. It was hard to work outside when it was so cold, and now that it's warmer, it's hard to stay off the GS1000.

 

[ST_SHP]

Good eye. I actually have three air-cooled vehicles: Two made by Chevy & one by Suzuki. The Corvairs are 1965 & 66 Corsa models. Not quite as rare as the 1969 Monza convertible, but the '66 is a very rare factory AC Corsa convertible...

We now return to regular programming.

The main hangup right now are the brake caliper pistons I designed & ordered from the machine shop. The time frame they quoted will be up soon, so I'll follow up on them next week.

Yesterday & today I worked on the trunk mount and some auxiliary rear lights. The trunk is an eBay special I got a really good deal on since the latch was damaged. Had to file the opening a bit but it's good as new now. After looking at the layout, I decided to use a 3/8" aluminum plate to bolt onto the ST, and then mount the trunk on it. The plate attaches via some longer 8mm bolts, and I tapped the plate for 8mm bolts to mount the trunk's plate. I had to space it away from the plate with some 10mm nuts. I initially wanted to add tail/stop lights to the trunk, but the curved surface made this too difficult. Instead, I'm adding them to a bar under he trunk. I have a wig wag on order that I will wire in when I mount them. I use this on the GS1000's Vetter trunk lights & really like it.

Here are some progress photos:

I've gotten the tail section put back together thanks to some tips here. The brackets where the springs go on the tail piece were gone, so I made my own and attached them with some #10 button head screws. The end result is not too bad:

The back end is actually starting to look like a motorcycle again.

 

[George]

opcorn:

 

[ST_SHP]

A little more progress today and a small update... I decided to start on the carbs. I think this is definitely the reason why the bike would not start. I found the slider in one was just about seized, and the throttle shafts were gummed up. I took one apart and wow it was Crusty (note the capital C ). I stripped it down and it's now soaking. More to follow...

 

[ST_SHP]

I need some help with a carb question. I took the carbs apart one at a time & have been soaking one per day. When I went to put the first one back together, I managed to break off the main jet in the extended tube it threads into (both pieces are removable, the tube is the part with the hex head). The parts fiche lists #122 and #128 as options for the main jet. Mine is stamped 136. I know in 100K miles, some stuff has been changed (i.e. all the screws on the carb top plates to not match, mix of hex heads & Phillips). Of the 3 carbs I've taken apart so far, all main jests are #136. The bike has a K&N air filter, so I'm figuring it was re-jetted for this.

Does this make sense? Next, since the only factory options are 122 & 128, where do I find a #136?

Thanks.

 

[ST_SHP]

I'm making some more progress. I got a good bit of info in the tech section as to the carb jet issue. Plan A is to buy 4 of the 135 jets from Jets R Us and give them a try. Plan B will involve getting a set of used carbs and an undrilled airbox lid (or maybe some rubber plugs for the one I have).

I got an email today that my caliper pistons have shipped from the machine shop. If they work OK, I'll have 18 others (3 complete sets) to sell for about 10% less than the discounted price for new ones (probably closer to 20% since I won't gouge on shipping). I'll measure & photograph them before advertising them- I've checked with the forum admin & gotten the OK to sell them here.

My 4 valve shims have arrived so I can get that part of the job buttoned up now.

 

[Paul]

Looks like you will have a nice ride when it's back together. Here is a link to a set of carbs if you go that route.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/sdf/mcy/2246241765.html

 

[ST_SHP]

The carbs are back together with 4 x #135 jets (for now). It's funny how the smallest part will stop you. I broke one of the beyond tiny cotter pins on the linkage. Turns out the hardware stores sell 1/16" and up. The pin needed is about a 1/32". Necessity being the mother of invention, I took a 1/16" one and a pair of pliers and a file and eventually made it small enough to work. I'm replacing most of the hoses with good quality silicone, so it will hold up to the heat & not dry rot like much of the rubber did. I was able to recycle the plastic sleeves on them by wetting both with water and pulling them through. Super tight fit though. Here's a pic of the carbs with the new hoses on.

The choke linkage was the trickiest. It works properly if the carbs are aligned correctly. Time will tell if this is the case when they are installed. The rod that runs between them is rather puny. Speaking of the choke, due to the higher bars, I bought a used choke cable from a mid 80's V65 Sabre. It looks to have the same fittings and is several inches longer.

I'm replacing the fuel hoses past the filter also. I'm going to get some 90 degree fittings so I can use regular fuel hoses vs. the molded transitional ones from the dealer. The filter I bought is a universal one with 1/4", 5/16", and 3/8" output fittings. I'll use the 3/8" one.

The regulator has undoubtedly metric barbs, but they translate to a 1/2" inlet and a 3/8" outlet, with two 90 degree bends in the OEM inlet hose.

The outlet hose has a 90 degree bend and transitions from 3/8" to 5/16".

The distribution block has a 5/16" inlet and dual 5/16" outlets. Trying to find all of this stuff in one place (plus 1/2" fuel line) was difficult. Fortunately, McMaster.com has what I need. The parts are as follow:

1 each 44555K185 Brass Double-Barbed Vacuum Tube Fitting 90 Deg Elbow for 3/8" Tube ID $3.26 each (this goes after the filter to turn the hose 90 degrees)

1 pack 5463K711 Durable Nylon Single-Barbed Tube Fitting Reducing 90 Deg Elbow for 1/2" X 3/8" Tube, Black, packs of 10 $6.06 pack (this goes from the inlet fitting and turns the line 90 degrees to line up with the hose from the filter)

1 ft. 5288K134 Choose-A-Color Hose for Push-on Fitting Buna-N, 1/2" ID X 3/4" OD, 250 PSI, Black $1.48 ft. (this attaches 5463K711 to the regulator)

1 pack 5346K123 Brass Barbed Hose Fitting 90 Deg Elbow for 3/8" Hose ID X 1/4" NPTF Fem Pipe, packs of 2 $8.36 pack

I already had a brass 5/16" barb x 1/4 male pipe thread fitting that attaches to 5346K123, and while they sell these as well (#5346K16) you have to buy a pack of them @ $11. It's cheap to buy one at a hardware store.

I'll post a pic of this setup when I get it completed.

I've also replaced most of the air & water hoses in the valley with silicone ones.

This next week I want to work on some forward braces for the fairing mount as well as mount the thermostat housing. Between the fork tube and the fairing it will be a tight fit from the looks of things.

My new 7" IPF headlight is here and I've gotten it mounted in the Vetter housing. I plan on using one of the ST's sockets for this and taping off the other one.

UPS says my caliper pistons will be here tomorrow (3/21), so I can reassemble the brakes at that point.

 

[ST_SHP]

My caliper pistons arrived & they are not like I wanted. I made the side walls thinner than OEM and didn't get enough of a curve on the bottom- they're too tough to install. I'll correct this for batch 2, and it will be another month's delay. I figure it's worthwhile if we can get some affordable brake parts out of the deal.

I installed the V65 Sabre choke cable, looks like it will be OK to a little long for length. I got the thermostat housing mounted via a small t-type bracket. It's a tight squeeze all around, but looks like it should work. I also cut some 3/4" silicone heater hose to length & got it installed from the heads to the thermostat housing. I need to find some small clamps to secure the small hose from the thermostat housing to the crossover tube. Also replaced the right bar switch unit and throttle assembly with one I had lengthened the wiring on.

A set of used carb boots arrived today so I can get ready to reinstall the carbs once I get the hoses squared away.

 

[John OoSTerhuis]

Keep'm coming, SHP! And continued good luck.

Regards, John

 

[ST_SHP]

A little more progress today. I got the fuel lines all laid out & hooked together. Won't know for sure if everything will fit until the carbs are back on, but it looks very close to the original setup. Here's a pic of it while I was putting it together:

Speaking of the carbs, I got the new (to me) snorkel tubes put in- was a little bit of a job to line them up right. The assembly is back together now, and the choke is working properly. I was concerned it would hang up. I've gotten the hoses under the carbs squared away, but found the rubber insulator was missing. I've ordered a 12x12 sheet of 1/8" high-temp rubber from McMaster and will trim it to fit. The OEM part was almost $60.

I spent a few hours fabbing & welding the front legs for the fairing brackets. Wasn't as bad as I was thinking it would be. I had to grind a relief in the right side one for the radiator hose. They're painted & drying now, so I'll take a couple of pics & add them in later.

I found one of the rotor bolts on the rear wheel had the socket part rounded off, and it's not coming off easily. I have a used rotor to install on the wheel I'm using, but wanted to use the bolts. Looks like the ST1100 uses oddball bolts. The description & part # is BOLT, FR. (8X24) 90105-KL8-741. Almost everything else is BOLT, DISK (8X24) 90105-MV9-003 (replaces 90105-MBB-000). I've looked at pics on ebay of these and don't see a difference. One place that sold titanium bolts for the CBR (which uses the MV9-003) gave specs (10mm diameter shoulder, 6mm high, 8mmx1.25 thread) & they are identical to mine, so I'm going to try a set of the MV9-003 bolts, which are a lot cheaper than buying OEM new.