Some Daytonic needed ... seized swing arm bearing

I've been enjoying the opportunity to take my 1200 Trophy out and about in sunny Somerset of late. So there are no new spannering tales to tell there and the trips have been too short to warrant a write up.  However, for the last few weeks, I have turned my attention towards Streaky - my dear old Daytona 900. And my goodness, some attention was needed.

With 70,000 miles under her wheels in all weathers and the passage of 19 years, despite bouts of intensive TLC on my part, time eventually catches up. I started out thinking I give her a bit of a spruce up before winter - cleaning, greasing etc. Well when I started pulling bits of bodywork off and undoing nuts and bolts, it became clear that plenty of attention was needed. And now she looks kind of similar to when I started doing all the work on the 1200. Rather worryingly.

By some strangeness of my imagination, I always think of this bike as new. Well, she is not. I've owned the bike since 1995, when she was just 18 months old and the idea of newness from back then has never really left me. Inexplicable after all the water that has flowed under the bridge since back then.

What, no wheels??

 The general finish has held up amazingly well given the fact that I really have used the bike right through many winters. The powdercoat on the engine covers failed and I had them redone two years ago. The front of the engine has suffered so touching that up is on the agenda. I've already done several jobs I'd planned in advance - fixing a broken alternator bolt and stripping, cleaning and rebuilding the starter motor.

Ruby watches on

I've been fighting with the rear suspension and subframe area most recently. The swingarm spindle was seized in place.

I finally managed to release it last night after five days of dosing with WD40 and whacking with a lump hammer. The key thing was to alternate blows from one side to another with a good solid drift, as it began to move fractionally, and to be patient. It had rusted to the inside of the right-hand bearing sleeve - it looks as though water got around the end of the arm and was drawn along the spindle by capillary action. The left-hand side is in great condition, I imagine because I have always been generous with chain lube (courtesy of a Scott oiler) and the resultant splash coating has kept water at bay.

Mercifully, the needle-roller swingarm bearings are mint though - plenty of grease on them and clean as a whistle. The bearing sleeve was rusted on its inside surface, against the spindle, but is perfect on the outer surface where it supports the needles. That's a relief. I'll need to replace the sleeve and the spindle because the spindle is badly pitted and I can assume the same is true of the inside of the sleeve.

Alternator - sheered bolt and squashed cush rubbers

My Daytona had been rattling for ages from beneath the carbs. I'd noticed it only did this when the alternator was not under load. As soon as I switched the lights on, the rattle went away. Amazing but true. The light switch was a rattle controller! 

Reading around, I'd found people with this problem saying it was to do with a worn alternator cush drive. On a visit to Sprint, I talked to Trevor about it and he said it was far more likely to be a problem with a bolt that holds a rotor onto the alternator itself. It turned out to be both ...

The pictures above show the bolt loose on the driven rotor (23 in the schematic) and the replacement bolt next to the remains of the original to show how much was left in the alternator rotor. The drive and driven rotors have four vanes the fit into one another, cushioned by eight rubber segments as the 'cush drive' (number 20 in the schematic below).

Parts schematic for alternator drive gears

 The pics below show the worn cush drive rubbers in the drive rotor and comparing them to the new replacements.

I'd also had some trouble with the starter motor so pulled that off at the same time as removing the alternator. This meant draining the coolant because the rear coolant hose runs from the back of the cylinder block to the pump and obscures the starter.

Draining the 900's coolant - looking grubby ...

... but the black finish always comes up really well with degreaser and a bit of gentle agitation

The bolt that retains the driven rotor is 'encapsulated', meaning it comes coated with a vibration-resistant coating. As a result, it was hard work to get the remains of the original bolt out. I had to drill it right through. The main trick is getting the drill bit central in the remains of the old one and holding the work still. I don't have a pillar drill but a Record drill stand and press vice. The alternator is a very awkward shape all the same so I had to put a lot of packing around it to get the press vice to grip.

Drilling out broken M6 bolt with a 5mm HSS bit

After drilling and cleaning threads with a tap

 I'd done a fair job but the internal threads were clipped by my drill. Fortunately the encapsulation is meaty enough for me not to worry about that too much. I was able to torque it up carefully to the recommended level so all looks well.

Torquing up the replacement bolt, holding the driven rotor with an adjustable spanner

The replacement cush rubbers make for a close fit between the drive and driven rotor. I held them into the drive rotor with red rubber grease. It was a fiddle to line up the vanes on the driven rotor to get the alternator back in place but eventually went in with zero slop.

Mission accomplished.

A bit of love for my Daytona

 My Daytona has been remarkably robust against the rigours of year-round biking but was overdue for a bit of TLC. Although the headers are supposedly stainless steel, they had a black-chrome overlay from the factory. The 1994 Daytona's exhaust system is three-into-two-into-one-into-two and is in five parts: three-into-two header, two central link sections that join beneath the sump, and two silencers.

 The finish of the headers and central link sections had suffered pretty badly over the 71000 miles and 18 years. It was actually fine close to the exhaust ports, where the radiator has shielded it from the weather. Beneath the line of the oil cooler, the headers get a torrid time with road muck and spray blasting at them from the front wheel.

Stainless headers? Doesn't look like it here

My Trophy's exhaust is clearly stainless and had responded well to a rough polish with a brass wire brush on my drill. I remember they had a reddish brown deposit in places, especially around the link pipe that runs under the engine. It looked like rust but it came right off with the drill brush treatment, leaving a shiny silver finish. I hoped I might get a similar effect on my Daytona so got busy. It wasn't anywhere near as satisfying this time. It appeared as though the plated finish had been mainly corroded away, leaving a rough surface over most of the forward downpipes and the two collectors.

 To shift some of this, I had to use an angle grinder with a steel wire brush. This combination made good progress  - not perfect  but the metal work so revealed was perfectly sound and maybe could qualify as stainless steel.

Exhaust downpipes and central collector after angle grinder treatment

I had previously refurbished my Daytona's silencer link pipes with VHT black topped off with VHT clear and was very pleased with the result. It looks a lot like the original black chrome finish and had come through last winter intact. The finish I obtained is obviously nowhere near as hard as chrome but it does seem to be reasonably robust so far. I had some VHT clear left over from another job. I would have used VHT black again but didn't have any left. 

I'd read somewhere online that barbecue paint can work if it is cured properly so decided I'd give it a whirl - seven pounds from HomeBase on a 15% off weekend. The VHT clear might help to keep it in place. If it doesn't work, I'll try something else. As it happens, my home painting efforts on the Trophy haven't been a great success. Maybe I'll get lucky this time.

Headers coated with BBQ paint

 Before applying the VHT clear over the barbecue paint, I wanted to make sure the thinners were gone and the black coating was at least partially cured. So I used my hot air gun on its low setting to heat up the pipes from the inside. I blew air in through each of the five openings (three headers, two silencer exits) in succession, switching each one as soon as I saw smoke coming off of the pipe concerned. I went around each one twice and then left it to cool for an hour.

Refinished headers: will they cope with the heat of normal running? And winter salt?

 I painted the VHT clear over the BBQ paint by applying just enough to get a shine first pass and then immediately going over the whole thing for a second time. I made sure I got plenty around the collectors. Then I left it 24hours before using my heat gun again in the same way as with the BBQ black. After cooling again, I reinstalled the three M6 bolts that blank off sensor holes with copper grease, torquing to 10NM per the factory manual.

Three exhaust pipe sections back together with stainless clamps

The exhaust pipes are in three sections held together with stainless steel clamps. These clamps came up beautifully. I used a smear of copper grease around the joints of the header sections and inside the clamps to help it all go back together with minimum fuss.

I'm almost too pleased with the way the whole thing has come up. I might try to make up a shield for the headers to stop direct spray from the front wheel blasting them next winter.

Wash and brush up - double time

I had been slow to wash off the muck from the last ride I had on the 1200 before winter. Partly, I guess it was disappointment after the fuelling problems I was beset with at that time. Well, the bike is running well again - not flawlessly, but really very well. She has the odd hesitation just off idle when hot. Anyway, well worth rewarding with a wash.

Meanwhile, my hard working Daytona 900 had been all through the winter with just the odd hosing down so had also earnt a good wash. I got them out together for a splash. It was fun to have them side by side. The 1200 looks a lot slimmer from the front - an illusion given by the single headlight.

 It never ceases to amaze me how well the 900 comes up with a hosepipe and a bucket of soapy water. The finish on the T300s of that time is amazingly durable - '93 model year onwards benefit from coatings applied at purpose-built factory facilities. Paintwork etc. was outsourced at the start of production. I've had some issues with the original powder coat lifting from the cases, where chips have allowed water to attack the alloy and corrosion has crept under the coating. I have had the timing, balancer and crank end covers refinished. I also had the wheels done two winters ago in a satin black powder by Wessex Metal Finishers of Wilton near Salisbury. It has resisted the salt-encrusted roads to good effect so far.

The T300 family resemblance is clear from a rear three-quarter view. Bearing in mind that the chassis is identical, they each give a rather different riding experience. I have them on identical gearing at the moment. That means the 900 is overgeared and the 1200 could pull a higher ratio probably. I like enjoying the low-to-mid range tractibility of the motors.

After hosing down, I took them for a spin around the local bypass to dry the bikes off before locking them away. The Daytona is like an old slipper to me now. I've covered 60,000 miles on her since 1995 so gear changing, throttle control, steering and braking are all but automatic to me. The 900 is a torquey, soulful engine. It always feels ready to play from the off.

Well, if the 900 is torquey, I don't know how to describe the 1200. 'Thrusty'? It is so much more potent than the 900 whilst its responsiveness follows a similar pattern through the rev range. I'm just addicted to riding it. To me, it's like  a magic carpet. I get on and it feels just so easy to motor around. The steering isn't as good as the Daytona but it is perfectly manageable for all that. It is noticeably slower. The front end is harsh by comparison to the Daytona too. This may be because the oil I put into the 1200's forks was too thick. The ambient temperature here is still around 10 degrees C so the oil will no doubt thin as temperatures increase. Both bikes require rider input to change direction. I like that, personally. For me, riding should make demands on the rider or else the experience is uninvolving. The difference is in speed of response. The Daytona is not instant. I'd say millisecond responsive. The Trophy 12 is about half that speed in reacting to my input at the bars.

But then this is where the riding experience is just different. The 1200 has silky thrust the picks up ever more through the rev range. The 900 has a grittier character with power that (currently) tails off as the revs rise through 6000rpm. It needs attention, no doubt. The Daytona's bars are mounted below the top yoke - about 2 inches lower than the original Trophy bars. That means more rider weight forward on the arms, head closer to the clocks and screen. The air blasted off of the screen is difficult to avoid. The Trophy fairing is narrower and has a screen that directs a smooth air blast beneath the level of the helmet so is much quieter than the wind roar of the Daytona.

I wasn't expecting to write a comparison but there we are. Similar but quite distinct to ride and both bring me big smiles. Right now though, I just want to get on my shiny Lancaster Red Trophy 1200 and ride to the moon. She is just mag-ni-fi-cent.