Running

As promised a little video of the bike running. Kinda weird to just be able to hit the button and it fires right up. There isn't any gas in the tank so it dies when the bowls empty. More on the fuel system in the next post.

I even took it down my "test track". This is going to be a fun bike.

I feel pretty...

All my other bikes have a healthy amount of stainless steel hardware. The Cagvia will be no different. There are a few good opportunities on this bike. The first set that I couldn't stand was the handlebar clamps. Of course the nerf pad had been removed at some point, not that I mind. 

Which one doesn't look like the others? 

All better now. Ironically on my Norton I left the handlebar clamps un-refinished to remind me of what the bike used to look like. On this bike the shiny bolts here will remind me of what the bike can look like.

A bad picture of the original cover screws. Pretty uninspiring. 

These are a flat and are a little more sunk in than I like. I'm sure there are some other options but they look good for now.

Assembly is the reverse of removal

Final chapter in the starter adventures, at least for now. This is going to be a little lacking in details as I was eager to get things buttoned up. I don't have a lot of free time so I have to take advantage of any time I do get.

I got the starter off and it didn't look like it was leaking too much if any, which means the alternator cover is a more likely suspect. I still cleaned the surfaces and gave it a light smear of threebond. I shouldn't have too much more trouble there I hope. Popped back on the starter gear and then the ignition pickups. I made sure they lined up exactly to the score marks I had made earlier. Then the flywheel spacers, shim and bearings and lastly the flywheel.

I assumed the flywheel was keyed but it turns out it isn't. There was a registration mark and I lined in up with the key on the shaft, this also corresponded with the picture I took when I took it apart. See how important that is?

The alternator rotor is keyed so that went on without fuss, although I had to look at the marks to see which end was which. I then tightened the nut with the impact wrench and knocked over the locking.

Here's everything ready for the cover. I only put the threebond on where the gasket was split and several inches to each side. If that doesn't do it then the gasket will get tossed and I'll just threebond the whole thing.

All buttoned up. Next is to refill it with oil, throw in some gas and see if she starts. Before I tore into it I did hit the starter button briefly and it seemed to spin nicely.

Thus endth this part of the Alazzurra saga...

Starter Removal Part 2

 First thing to do here is straighten out the lock tab. Some quick work with a selection of screwdrivers and a hammer took care of that.

One of the crucial tools for removing nuts on moving objects (and I'm not talking about knocking off Alazzurra owners from their bikes) is an impact wrench. The other choice is to find a way to lock the engine but really an impact wrench is so much faster. I believe this nut was 30mm.

 The rotor came off, it's keyed to the shaft. Then the flywheel which just rides on double caged needle bearings.

So I won't forget, and trust me, I will, here is the order of the parts. Spacer, bearings sit on top of the spacer and then one shim. Apparently the number of shims may vary by bike? Luckily I just have one to keep track of.

 So the last thing I want to mess up is the timing. To make sure it goes back on like it came off I scribed marks around the washer on the retaining screws. If all goes well I should just reassemble and line up the marks.

 I marked both screws but in theory you would only need to do one. Theory always works out great, in theory...

 Sorry I didn't take more pictures but I popped off the circlip on the starter gear and slid it off. Then I removed the two screws hold on the starter. There's a third screw but it's on the outside of the engine. I'll get to that when I'm ready to remove the starter.

 I found this tear in the gasket, it's in the right location for the observed oil leak. There is a good chance it's not actually leaking at the starter as I assumed. But really at this point I have to pull the starter to check. I'm down to one screw.

This is how I left it last night. It was really not that hard. Just taking bits off. Of course the challenge is always to put it back together and not have too many parts left over...

Prescience

So the chicken or the egg question. I've had this Cagiva coffee cup for many years. I thought it was my brother's but he doesn't remember having it. I'm guessing it's preceded having the actual bike by a good 20 years.

Centerstand

So one of my first challenges was getting the center stand back on. Some people don't like center stands. They can hang down too much and they usually weigh a lot.

But if I'm to stuff another bike in my garage I can't afford to have a bike that leans on it's side stand. I thought I was very fortunate to find the center stand in the box of parts. Heck, it even had the mounting bolts and springs nicely zipped tied to the stand. So I put the stand on and thought I was all good. But then I noticed that the stand wasn't going up. Going to the left side I see the left foot hitting the muffler. Well, it shouldn't do that so I pulled the stand back off. You can see from the picture that the left leg is really bent in.

So with the stand off I drove a floor jack on it and simply jacked it up. I then held the stand up to the bike to check my progress. Once I thought I had it right (or at least better) I was prepared to put the stand on with the springs. Centerstand springs are notorious for being difficult to get on. When the springs proved to be too strong for me to just pull on with my spring puller I went to Plan B. I loosely assembled the left bolt. With the left bolt able to provide leverage I could get the springs on and then pull the right side enough to get the bolt in. Then it was just a matter of tightening the bolts.

I don't think I have it perfect, the extension hits the muffler. I think it needs a little more tweaking. But I may just leave it on the bike and use the jack on it's side. But at least the center stand works. The springs are definitely strong enough to prevent the stand from coming down unintentially.

Joined the Alazzurra club today

Dr. Peter Venkman: Whoa! Whoa! You can't park right here! 

Dr Ray Stantz: Everybody can relax, I found the car. Needs some suspension work and shocks. Brakes, brake pads, lining, steering box, transmission, rear-end. 

Dr. Peter Venkman: How much? 

Dr Ray Stantz: Only $4800. 

Dr Ray Stantz: Also new rings, mufflers, a little wiring.

So the good new is that I didn't pay $4800 but I'm sure I paid more than I should have. But with only about 1500 ever made they aren't everywhere, especially considering how many seem to have been altered or parted out.

The biggest known issue is a leak at the starter to engine junction. Unfortunately that means the flywheel side needs to be disassembled. That will be documented in a future post.

The bike recently had a top end job, at least the rings are fresh.

But the first task is to re-install the center stand. This will make maintenance easier in the future.

Someone replaced the original Cagiva logo with the Ducati logo with the Cagiva elephant. Probably from the Ducati 750 F1.

One of these days I'll get some SS brake lines.

No idea of what this logo is. I don't think it will last long.

The rear shocks have been upgraded to Works Performance shocks.

No idea what the red rocker switch on the right side of the dash is for. Yet. There's no mirrors, I have a bar end mirror spare that will go on, but that will get replaced by bar end mirrors for both sides.

The clutch master cylinder was replaced at some point. Because the handlebar pad was removed the ignition switch was moved to the right of the dash.

Included with the bike was a box full of parts that had been replace or removed. The air box is complete (there are K&Ns on the bike).

The ignition key doesn't work on the helmet lock or the seat lock. Luckily it's not hard to release the seat with the right tool.

A nice surprise was this tool roll. I assume it's original, and full but I don't know how complete it is.

There may be another box of parts, but there is a full fairing still coming with the bike. Once I've tidied up the engine I'll look forward to putting the full fairing on.

So now I clean it up, fix the oil leak, start it up and see how it goes.