Slowly, but Scheherazade

    
    

Well, it won't be quite one thousand and one adventurous nights, but I'm learning from her nonetheless. I picked up the wheels a week ago and really felt that tectonic shift from a thousand pieces of metal to a realistic view of an overhauled vintage motorcycle. I had the wheels and hubs that I shined up threaded and trued and the tubes and tires popped on and balanced at the premier spot in Azusa, CA, called Buchanan Wheel and Spoke. Amazing place - all they do is make wheels and spokes - I was taken on a tour tour by one of the elders and witnessed spokes being made on cylindrical presses from the turn of the Century...yes the other Century! Very cool insight. Wheel truing is an art form. Mine are now shiny and beautiful...and on my bike! The photos show the wheels flanking the frame, and then on the bike. The engine block is up on the bench. I've sent the the barrels, heads and reed cages, along with new .25 first over-bore pistons and rings, off to a two stroke specialist in Tennessee. This guy is passionate about these bikes. He is going to do a glass bead pressure cleaning of the parts and then carefully bore and fine tune these parts. The compression will be considerably higher and therefore the bike will offer much higher performance. These other shot is of a pair of old Yamaha shocks that I disassembled and cleaned up. They are now on the bike and looking sharp.