Shadow Build

[John H]

Yes, I will double check next time. I'm lucky to have the extra flywheels, just have to wait for a new oversize main shaft before I can proceed.

[John H]

The girdraulic fork parts are all finished except for the tapered bearing mod on the new steering stem which will happen when the bearings arrive. The bushings in the upper and lower link have been pressed in and pilot reamed. These are adjustable reamers and accurately align the bores to get the links to float freely when assembled.

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[John H]

I tried powder coating some brake parts to day with the Eastwood kit. It was easy to set up and with a bit of testing on scrap metal I achieved a satisfactory finish. Don't know why I haven't used it before. I've had the kit for almost 10 years. It's important to have a good coarse (sand blasted in my case) finish to get good adhesion.
Masking is important and the kit came with an assortment of hi-temp silicone plugs and caps. The hi-temp tape was dead so went with some foil tape that worked well. I'll be coating all my small parts from now on, or just about anything that will fit in my electric oven.

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[John H]

All Balls tapered bearings arrived so first step is measuring and comparing thickness and diameters for the modification.
The lower bearing requires the stem to be turned down to 30mm and the steering head needs to be bored out to 51mm.
The upper bearing requires a sleeve pressed into the bearing and finished to 1.126" ID. The steering head gets bored the same in both ends.

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I would like to use the seal that came with the bearing, but this will require that the lower bearing race in the steering head be bored .100" deeper. This may interfere with the steering stop as well as the steering damper bracket. Need to do some more measuring first.

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[Lotus54]

How did you pick the bearing? Sounds like a kit for something else?
Or maybe you just measured and found the closest tapered setup.

I would have liked to convert my sei over- but didn’t really think about modifiying it to fit.

[John H]

https://www.allballsracing.com/ Has bearing kits for several modern bikes but also have a size chart so you can buy individual bearings. They are all metric so British bikes most likely will require machining. Click on the 'size chart' if your bike isn't listed.

[Lotus54]

Thanks, I have not seen that before.

[John H]

The steering stem is finished so next is boring the steering head for the outer bearing race. The upper end is easier than the bottom. Not only is it bored out for the bearing race, it must be bored .100" deeper to allow the bottom seal to fit inside the steering head.

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Meanwhile, the 2-stroke mower is together so time to mow

[John H]

I sand blasted the steering head today, plugged all the holes and bearing races then powder coated it. Turned out nice so when it cooled down I placed the waterslide decal in the original location.
Now comes the assembly of all 95+ parts. Should be fun.

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[John H]

Assembly of the links requires shims. Books have practically been written on the girdraulic forks, including how to rebuild them. I've found some ideas that are helpful while others are questionable. To do the job right requires special tooling which I have. Shimming the lower link requires the bushings be line bored as well as faced.

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The eccentrics are designed for changing the rake and trail for side car use and also the attachment point for the spring boxes. This is where the shims are used and come in a range of .003" to .015". When the eccentrics are bolted to the steering stem the link must move free with a small clearance. Measuring and testing is awkward as the shims, spacers and cams go inside the link while the eccentric inserts in from the outside. I made two short sleeves to sub-assemble each side, then offer it up to the stem. This helps hold the shims and spacers in place.
Once in place the short sleeves are pushed into the stem to hold the pieces firm. If everything fits the spindle slides through, pushing the short sleeves out. Sorry it takes almost as much time explain as to complete.

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