Monster 900 restoration

[koko64]

The forks look like 96-97 Marzocchis. No compression adjusters down near the axel and just blue knobs up top? Then Marzocchis. The "interim" model 900 carby forks between non adjustable Showas of 93-95 and adjustable Showas of 98+. Can't remember if both blue adjusters do rebound or if one fork does compression. Speeddog might remember. I may have a spec chart somewhere.

[buzzer]

Here are the forks...

my wife will often say I am definitely on the spectrum  :lol:  :lol:  today I fitted the side stand and noticed there was more play than I liked...  so I made a new bush, and bronze thrust washer as I knew it would niggle me if I didn't!

[koko64]

Yep, that's them.

Nice work on the sidestand.

[Speeddog]

Those are rare, no idea if they're good or not.

[buzzer]

Its funny how to me progress seems slow, but when you come to put it all together you realise that all the little jobs you have been doing over the months are now paying off as it becomes an assembly job! One thing I have done in the last few days is to check the loom over… its in great condition apart from one area… It looks like someone has fitted an alarm at some point…, and someone has subsequently removed it! they didn't do a bad repair, but I hate the tape over bare wires, and I wanted to check the integrity of the joints, so I pulled the soldered wires apart and re-soldered them, and covered the join with shrink wrap. To finish it off nicely I took the terminals out of the blocks with my terminal removal tool. this is a fantastic little set of tools, and very cheap to buy.. I have lost count of the times I have used them over the years! that meant I could use some braided expandable sheathing which most cars seem to use these days. it means it can go over the terminals and then fit tight on the wires. this is finished off with some hear shrink, and if you use the glue lined stuff it makes a good repair.

probably my last update this side of the holiday...  Merry Christmas!

[koko64]

Looks great. Merry Christmas.

[stopintime]

probably my last update this side of the holiday...  Merry Christmas!

Ha ha - we know you better than you know yourself    Six days without a word? 

[greenmonster]

Forks are Marzocchi, original on my -97.
Rebound on leg, comp in the other. Not so good.
Have the adj Showas now, better w Öhlins springs,
but adjustability, not so much.
They are wrong made w almost nonworking needles.
Torbjörn (Monster HPD) can tell more.

[buzzer]

thanks Greenmonster 

back after the break...   I did relent and have a few hours in the workshop    next the hydraulics … I stripped everything down and cleaned the callipers and master cylinder up. the callipers came up well, but the anodizing on the master cylinders were poor… so I bead blasted them and have decided to leave them silver… All the seals were perfect, so I have reused these. I cleaned the callipers up in petrol with some very fine scotchbrite, being very gentle, they came up a treat.

looked at the switchgear and although its in great condition, the plastic sleeving was tatty… so I used some of the braided stuff, and some glue lined shrink wrap to finish it off…  the braided stuff expands a lot, so no need to remove the terminals off the wire which is a bonus.

[buzzer]

starting to go back together, I am pleased with the way the exhaust and silencers polished up… Polishing always hurts my wrists these days… must be getting old 😟

[greenmonster]

Although very shiney, silencers too bulky,
your  fabbed conical will look better IMHO.

And, a bite late since you've painted spring,
2 tips for driveability:
1. Stiffer rear spring, original very soft.
2. Raise wishbone 10mm at swing.
These mods will give bike a MUCH more planted feel.

[buzzer]

Although very shiney, silencers too bulky,
your  fabbed conical will look better IMHO.

And, a bite late since you've painted spring,
2 tips for driveability:
1. Stiffer rear spring, original very soft.
2. Raise wishbone 10mm at swing.
These mods will give bike a MUCH more planted feel.

thanks,  I may change the silencers...  we will see...

Time to start up soon… I am always aware that a rebuilt engine needs oil at first start-up, and while I always fill the filter before I screw it on, the oil cooler and pipes are empty, as are the oil ways, and the oil pump. I have therefore always used this method of giving the engine the best start in life I can and inject some oil into the system via the oil pressure switch port.

I used to do it on many of the race engines I have built in the past and it was always satisfying to take the oil filler cap off and see oil seeping out the rocker shafts or cam bearings. Either way I always turn it over until the oil warning light goes out… which unless you prime the oilways can be a worrying amount of time!

[buzzer]

well it started first time!  I screwed in my oil pressure gauge and it went up straight away… sounded nice! I like to start builds on a dummy tank if I can…. I made that tank over 40 years ago, its started a few engines! its still got an original laverda tap on it!

[greenmonster]

 

[buzzer]

been out of action for almost 2 weeks...  strained my left hand, taking off a lid off a jar of all things, so thought it better to rest it... getting there now...  sigh of getting older I guess...

Started preparing the tanks and bodywork for painting… I know the tank hinge on the monster is a weak point, and it did show evidence of being strained… I didn't want to paint the tank and find out it soon failed, so I decided to take the bracket off and strengthen the area and TIG weld the bracket back on… I normally have tanks blasted but the guy who does it for me is off with Covid at the moment, so it may be a while before he is back, and I don't trust anyone else after having some shocking jobs done in the past….