27 JD Restoration

[Steve Swan]

Bravo! Well done! Words can't describe how much I admire your craftsmanship! I wish we lived closer. It would be an honor and a privilege to ride with you on
our JD's.

Thanks John, for your very kind words and your support. That would be fantastic to do a ride together !

[Steve Swan]

ain't no ridin' for a while. Springtime in the Rockies. been snowin' for nearly 24 hours now, over 8 inches of heavy, wet, tree branch breaking white yuk.

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[Steve Swan]

Well, a week ago this past Monday, my buddy Wiff brought his trailer and we took the JD to my garage at home. I can't really express the feelings i had bringing it home at last. Relief, excitement and just plain flat out really happy. To have spent so much time to come to the point the bike could leave the shop and finally be at home with me. sounds mushy, but wtf, i LOVE motorcycles. anyway, today i got up the moxie to take a spin with the old fellow. Let me preface, May 4, i had my 1st cataract surgery, so i have 20/15 vision at 2 miles in my operated eye and and 20/20 vision at 2 inches in my not yet operated eye. to deal with the disparity between the 2 eyes, i took the left lens out of the glasses and left the lens in the right side. so, everything looks larger out of my left operated eye and smaller in the right eye that i still use a lens to see at a distance, not the best depth perception. anyway.... the day was beautiful, sunlit and 75 degrees. i took my crusty little 1965 Yamaha YG1-K Rotary Jet 80 and scouted out a 2.8 mile route in the neighborhood, good thing i did, as one part of the route had a 4 way stop that cars would blow through without stopping. Fore-warned is fore-armed, as they say. so, i took the JD out on this route, not much opportunity for much high High Gear work, but still....... WHAT A BLAST !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything seemed to work like it was supposed to, the trip-meter on the old Corbin odo recorded 7.4 miles and the top speed needle locked in at just over 28 mph.

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[TechNoir]

Wow Steve another great milestone, your first ride after it is finished. What a great day.

John

P.S. I think you may be running low on oil supplies!

[Steve Swan]

Ha ! thanks John ! the oil tank's full and i have 15 quarts on hand ! Shell Aviation 50W ashless dispersant.

[Steve Swan]

looking at my rear wheel speedometer angle drive and looking at these 2 pictures, is my drive in the wrong position ? should the drive be above or below the frame tube....? i can see the cable housing runs straight on the 26 and the 28 whereas my housing has a bit of a bend in it.....

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[Steve Swan]

the more i'm looking at my pictures, the more convinced i am thinking my drive gear needs to be above the frame tube, not below......26JD sailor.jpg

[TechNoir]

Hi Steve, I think that on your 1927 it probably needs to go on top of the top tube based on your pictures.

On my 1920 the cable for the hand operated second brake goes in this position so in my situation then the speedo cable goes on top of the bottom frame tube.

However if a second brake was fitted on your bike then the speedo cable would need to go where it would fit. (if that makes sense)

I am willing to bet that, in 1927, where people had a second brake fitted then the speedo cable went either where you have it at the moment or on top of the bottom tube.

John

[Steve Swan]

Alrighty then ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtuptEAlU30

Rode 29.2 miles this morning. Fair weather in neighborhood. Soon as got up to Horsetooth area, began pouring rain. Certainly my thoughts were recalling the story Dad told me when he caught the wash of a truck he met at an underpass in the rain and he cracked the front cylinder. The old fellow putted briskly along, not missing a beat throughout the rain. After Masonville, the rain let up, turned around at Hwy.34 and caught rain again from Masonville to Horsetooth. The outing was absolutely superb.

Getting closer to dialing in the mechanical oiler output. before the outing gave hand oiler 2 pumps = 80cc. when i got back, i dropped 150cc, so i removed the .012" shim. I am now down to 2 thin shims = .0275".

[Shaky Jake]

Nice.


Kevin

[painterdale]

Very well done!

Dale

[Steve Swan]

Nice.


Kevin

Thanks Kevin !

[Steve Swan]

Very well done!

Dale

Thanks Dale !

[TechNoir]

Cool!

John

[Steve Swan]

Cool!

John

Thanks John, really looking forward to seeing your 20J come to life !