YAMAHA YZF-R1
He may not be the best spanner-man around, but he can ride a bit, and he’s good at cleaning, too!
Niall Mackenzie strips and cleans
I’ll never be an authority on classic bikes. I’ll always be an enthusiast and dabbler with basic mechanical and restoration skills, fortunately blessed with talented friends and contacts to help out when I get in trouble. I think my best skill has to be choosing bikes, even it is from a few words and images. It makes it easier as I like standard stuff so I tend avoid anything modified, which may be expensive to bring back to original. I bought my latest R1 based on a few pictures and trusting the seller when he said it was straight and a sound runner. He also gave me the impression that it had mostly been used as a workhorse, commuting to work, along with the occasional blast in the Welsh countryside. Zooming in on the photos, she looked like an honest bike with all the exposed bits fairly clean, but I did wonder what might lie beneath. The good thing about twenty-year-old Japanese bikes is that all you need is fuel and brake pads. They’ll just keep going. The downside is they only need fuel and brake pads, and if that bike has full bodywork, there is very little in view that ever appears to need attention. Being regularly around race bikes that are constantly completely stripped and cleaned, I’m probably a bit too particular, but I still like to know everything is in good working order. To summarise, basically, all is good with my 4XV, but after twenty years of service she’s definitely in need of some serious pampering. The motor really does sound sweet, but as I watched the temperature get over 100 degrees there was no cooling fan kicking in. I’ve since removed the radiator and found the fan to be working on the bench, so I’ll have to make sure everything is in order during the re-build. There are, however, some age-related mechanical issues that are in need of attention. After whipping off the exhaust the EXUP valve appeared stiff with corrosion, as were the cable ends, bracket and pulley. I didn’t actually ride the bike or notice any tacho fault warning before stripping, but I doubt very much if anything was functioning down there. Two clicks on my phone and £9.95 directed to ebay got me used, but mint cables in the post. It still makes me smile, realising what you can organise with today’s smartphones while you’re waiting for the kettle to boil. Desperate for the odd garage fix over the Christmas festivities, I managed to continue stripping and cleaning between mince pies and Glenmorangie. Mindful of an incident in James Whitham of Huddersfield’s garage when a trolley jack let itself down and a GSX-R1000 fell to the floor, I was being extra careful. Not careful enough, it appears, as my semi-stripped 4XV also decided to take a dive off the bench. Not having proper footrest stands, my makeshift apparatus failed as I got over-exuberant with the wire wool on my swingarm. Incredibly, my bike was undamaged. I’m still getting extensive stick. however, from the two Mackenzie offspring that helped lift her back into place! First up on the cleaning front were my three blue spot brake calipers, and all came up nicely with minimum effort. My oldest son is quite famous for toasting his nuts on the WD-40 superbike, which wasn’t good (check out https://
youtube/x-bil5wikvg). What was good was that part of his deal involved some products, so I’m still using his free WD-40 brake cleaner. Although the pads looked slightly weathered, they also cleaned up well and have plenty meat left, so with pins greased they’re back in and will easily see me through the year. This time round I’ve found that when there’s aluminium or brushed steel involved, the restorer’s best friend is good old wire wool and steel brushes. I’ve never had so much fun rejuvenating things, and even better, both items are as cheap as chips. Until now all of my restos have been mostly painted steel, so this has been a whole new world of enjoyment. My foot pegs and hangers, swingarm and linkage, general brackets and engine cases have all come up like new after hiding underneath twenty years of grime. It was a particularly good feeling cleaning normally inaccessible areas like the rear of the motor with the swingarm removed. Checking and re-greasing bearings and bushes was a good job done at the same time. Interestingly, the bottom bush in the suspension link was in the worst condition, I imagine because it has the most exposure to road grime and the vagaries of the British weather to contend with. I couldn’t tell if the rear shock had been replaced or was just well protected. Whatever the reason, it cleaned up like a new pin, so that’s another good result. My other new friends this time round are Hammerite Smooth and Matt and Gorilla glue. The glossy stuff has been perfect for rusted, hidden parts like the horn, brake hose clamps and radiator brackets. After breaking two front cowl mounts during dismantling, I found the Gorilla glue gave a rock-solid bond and the matt paint was a perfect match. Being heat resistant, it was also just the job for the ‘good-as-new’
look on my front discs, result! On the professional paint front, I’ve plumped for a risky strategy. My two-stroke Yams and C70 projects have all been full nut and bolt restorations, as realistically I knew they were never going to be used on a daily basis, so would always remain mint. This time I feel there are still a lot of road miles to be done on this bike, so I decided on a freshen up rather than spending big on a top-to-toe paint job. My plan has always been to have a fresh, mechanically sound, modern classic road bike as opposed to some ornament only kept in a glass case. The seat and belly pan have some damage on them, so I’m having both repaired and painted by Race Paint in Derby. I’ll also have some scuffs blasted in on the front mudguard, caused by the braided brake lines rubbing. The remaining bodywork is pretty immaculate so will get scrubbed and T-cutted to the max, then I’ll be praying things don’t look too odd after the re-build. If it does turn into a hideous mismatch, I’ll have to bite the bullet and have the whole lot done. In the meantime, I’ll carry on fettling, cobble a list of parts to get her complete and report back real soon. With Bertie threatening to use me on some ‘Ride your classic better with Mackenzie’ days, you’ll hopefully see me and the 4XV soon.