When i joined this site i had just survived the crash that shook my world. I had purchased a second hand CBR 929RR, the bike was off the track with the bare minimum to make it roadworthy, the panels rattled on rough roads but it was mine and i loved it. The GSF 400 bandit that i had learned to ride on had gathered enough dust to warrant a sale. After i had spent almost a year on the Blade i was pretty confident... too confident it turns out, on a ride through the Devils Knuckles between Lydenburg and Nelspruit i lost it around a corner and blitzed my machine, the fact that i was still whole did very little to console me since total write-off was the unanimous verdict. I couldnt accept the fact that it was gone though and so i began to root through the classifieds for spares. That was somewhere around the beginning of 2012...
Quitting my job didn't exactly help my cause but anyone who knows Lydenburg will understand, unless you're on two wheels theres absolutely no reason to be there, it's the arsehole of the world. After a while i had gathered enough spares, which is actually an understatement: i had three bikes. They were all non-runners but i was hopeful, my original engine was intact and another bike had come from Kimberly without a harness or ECU, originally i wanted to throw my US harness in, the bike was delivered to me in Pretoria, thinking i could save a trip in the bakkie i gave the bike and electronics to a mechanic that turned out to be completely inept, after months of not being able to get the bike to turn over i fetched it and brought it back. They had pinched wires from the alternator to the frame and the fuel pump colours did not match up, my US ECU was now fried and they had lost another, also i paid them, like an idiot, for there fumbling. After that i did some panel work but my enthusiasm for the project waned. Apart from my partner taking my ECU to Carmo in the Netherlands on her trip to Europe, the project stalled...
Then in February of 2015 a mate called me to help him run his engineering workshop in Stellenbosch, i took everything with me, the shop had a good amount of space and some decent machines, i set about building an old XL600R belonging to the owner first, thinking it would be a quick way to get wheels under me while i worked on my projects, one of which had seized due to standing. The XL turned out to be quite the mission but i got it done eventually and then my work began. I stripped both salvageable engines because on closer inspection of the Kimberly bike it turned out to be a rebuild and not a particularly good one. I built a tool to skim the Kimberly cylinder block and made the best collection of bearings and pistons that i could because i could not afford to replace them. I learned about plastic guage, did a surface hone on the cylinders, restored gaskets, replaced seals and made o-rings, i bought a torque wrench and a set of micrometers.
Then i hit another obstacle: The workshop was going to split if i could run the Stellenbosch branch on my ace so that my mate could open another closer to his home but my relationship was taking strain due to my obsessive overindulgence in my project and also two serious attempts had been made on my life, i was sick of the whole mission so i declined and moved back across the country. This put a damper on things even though i had managed to get so far already, at this point i swapped the Kimberly engine semi-complete with all the remaining spares for the XL. My first attempt at painting the frame looked great but turned out to be brittle and chipped a lot in the move, another mate offered to paint it for me. He took the bike, did some prep for an expo and painted a whicked dragon on the tank, unfortunately it was over a dent which he failed to notice. After that he dicked around for months making promises untill i went and collected it and then he loaned me a spray gun. Painting was more of a learning curve than the engine rebuild but after a hell of a lot of cursing and sanding i finally got a finish i could live with.
This is what my blade looks like today. She hardly has any of the original bike in her. It's been a convoluted process and i can honestly say that i would not recommend this to anyone, as a newbie i took the long road and could easily have earned enough cash to purchase something more modern with the energy input. Still, even though ive had to make compromises, once again she's mine and seems to be doing well in the running in phase, i dare not take her over 7000 rpm yet but so far she seems to be doing well. What a bloody mission.... but I'm finally back in the saddle.:evilaugh:
Ok, so I'm a little late as usual. Great job of sticking with it and getting back on your own two wheels. Be safe and enjoy!
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