Scoop is getting close to the finishing line!
Progress is being made despite Yamaha’s book of myths and legends that stump our Scoop!
I’m beginning to think my never ending association with Project Stinger may have prejudiced my feelings towards restorations. With the Suzuki, if anything could go wrong it generally did but (rotor removal aside) I’m actually making better than expected progress with the 1970 street scrambler. The front guard mentioned in the last report went together okay even if one of the U-shaped mounting brackets was totally and utterly different from its three siblings. Rather unhelpfully the parts book gives no name or reference number for the brackets so I’m stuck with what I have. And missing part numbers allied to some questionable drawings and misinformation is, apparently, this month’s reoccurring theme. With the guard and wheel in place, I tackled the rear-end and it all went together swimmingly but I kept having this nagging doubt that I’d missed out something. Two days later it dawns on me there’s no rear sprocket on the hub which is a fairly crucial component. Digging through my box of used parts I found one and attempted to fit it but without success. The CS3C runs four-bolt-hole steel sprockets so the six-holed aluminium one in my hand won’t fit: where this toothed interloper came from I have absolutely no idea. I mention my situation to spares guru Andy Tempest at Webbs of Lincoln while I’m ordering up some float bowl gaskets. Amazingly, he has one in stock and I can have it for £15 plus postage rather than the frankly outrageous £78 Yamaha now reckon a new one is
worth. It gets bolted to the cush-drive with some thread lock and new tab washers from Yambits. The rear guard mounts on a pair of small bolts at its lower front edge and two much larger at approximately two o’clock. For reasons that aren’t apparent Yamaha chose to pack out the threaded bosses with a pair of loose steel collars that really don’t have any real or obvious purpose. With the spacers in place and the guards loosely mounted at the front I realised I didn’t have large bolts! When I’d stripped the bike down there were loads of random fixings that were obviously neither Yamaha nor metric so I dropped then all in the waste bin… as you do. Sometime later but the same week via ebay a bag of long 10mm, 1.25mm fine pitch, stainless steel bolts arrived. Heads suitably filed and sanded the rear guard finally got mounted. Next some of the black work: the oil tank lower mount, carrier and air-box are all mounted at one time with one bolt often carrying out two roles. Which would have been fine if Yamaha hadn’t mixed up the part number (and sizes) of the two bolts that hold the air-box and front half of the battery carrier in place. Still, we live and learn etc. Feeling positive, inspired and enthused all at once it was time to build up the footrests. The front pair run off one bar that also homes the side-stand. Just one 6mm bolt holds the whole assembly in place until the engine is installed; its mounting bolts also hold the foot rest bar in place. Sorry, this accounts for the screw driver in our opening shot temporarily keeping everything in place. The pegs themselves are of the folding type for supposed off-road use… if anyone was brave or foolhardy enough! They’re secured to their mounts via bolts that have a blind hole drilled into the ends. The purpose of the drilling was to allow the assembler to take a punch and hammer then dumb the ends over to prevent the bolts unscrewing themselves. With the advent of thread lock fluids I’ll steer clear of the big hammer thanks: and so the right footrest is duly fitted but not the left, oh no, not the left. Allow me a brief moment here please. If a nut comes off a bolt you’d like to think that the bolt would stay in place yes? Logical and sensible etc. and with one side of the mount or pivot bolt threaded for the bolt it’s all rather reassuring. So why please is the mount for the left footrest arse upwards? Yes exactly. When Numpty-san welded the pivot point to the left side of the footrest bar he picked up a second right-handed pivot mount! So I now and forever more will have one correctly fitted footrest and one that’s the wrong way around! The rear pegs also required assembly but are thankfully not handed. Fortunately I’ve rebuilt similar so know how it all goes together; which is just as well seeing as how the parts book gives no reference for the sliding washers, clevis pins or split pins all needed to complete the assembly. Oh, and as I’m not a fan of slicing my hands on split pins I’ve used stainless steel R-clips – so there Yamaha! Looking for something less taxing tasks to waste some time on I turned to the rear light assembly. The all-important grommet that protects the cable as it exits the front of the rear guard was long gone and the outer sleeving cut through. The wiring itself was fine so rather than replace the sleeving it simply received a reinforcing
repair with some heat shrink sleeving. With everything cleaned and degreased some vaguely oversized heat shrink was massaged into place and only gently warmed. Useful tip here – you don’t have to incinerate heat shrink to get it to do a great job; it’s perfectly fine to only partially reduce its size. The back of the rear light unit is chromed but most of what’s there is never actually seen. So why spend money on getting it re-chromed when most of it won’t even be seen? Fitted to the freshly painted tail light bracket I reckon it looks fine and I’ve save myself time and money: happy days. Oh and yes I did fit grommets throughout. And even if there’s a few issues this month they can’t take the gloss off what seems to be Herculean progress compared to the Stinger and even when I get some negative news it’s really not as bad as it could be. The CS3C’S seat had gone off to Phil Turner at P&K Seating for a full refurb. When the bike was uncrated there were two seats. One was really dog rough from corrosion to the base but the one on the bike looked okay, well upon first inspection at least. When Phil took everything apart the seat base had rotted considerably on its lower left side where, presumably, water had trickled through the foam and nibbled away at the steel base. According to Phil it’s totally retrievable and I don’t need to worry, he can sort it…phew! So all in all a good month for the CS3C and fingers crossed no more hidden surprises. Yeah right. Who am I trying you kid?