So,  at the end of the Phase 2 thread, some of the Ryca parts had been delivered.



Soon after, I took the battery box, seat plate, gauge brackets and taillight bracket to the powdercoater. He's backed up, so it will be a while before he can get to it.

Last night I took the tank to my painter buddy and discussed what needed to be done and how I'd like to be as involved as possible. There are some dings to fill where the PO let the badly positioned windscreen mounting hardware hit the tank. And another ding was from a fall. These are no big deal, just standard bodywork.

The bigger deal is replacing the whole gas cap with a standard old, twist on/off, non-locking cap.



I'm doing this because I don't like the stock cap, and I don't need a lock. I originally thought about a flush cap, but after looking at them, the openings were smaller than I want. I like to be able to watch the gas level when I fill up. So the first step is to remove the stock filler neck then weld in the new one and pressure test it. That will happen when we can arrange a time when the two of us and his friend with the TIG welder are available. I will document the process.

Later today, another friend is coming over to help me put the engine temporarily in the frame so I can test fit the chain drive/swingarm/rearset bracket clearance. I will document that, too.

Meanwhile, I have some homemade tacos to eat.

It holds less gas since about an inch of the bottom was cut off and the tunnel moved up.



I don't know the exact volume. But this bike will just be for scooting around town, not long rides.

My friend, Doug, rode over on his Bonneville to be a second set of hands in getting the engine back in the frame.



I have a 17 tooth sprocket in front and a 43 tooth in the rear—for  now. With the suspension at full extension (no load) the chain just kisses the swingarm at the weld bead. Meanwhile, there's about a chain thickness between the chain and the bottom of the rearset mount (maybe less with the chain properly tightened). UPDATE: With the chain tightened, the chain no longer touches the swingarm. There's about a 1/16" gap. Chain slap might make it touch once in a while. Meanwhile, the gap between the chain and rearset mount is reduced to about 1/4", meaning the notch will be very necessary.





With a load on the bike, the chain wouldn't touch the swingarm but would probably touch the rearset mount. So my plan is to notch the rearset mount and grind a bit off the swingarm. I might also go up to an 18 tooth front sprocket with a 45 in the rear.

Oh, and this is with my 12.5" YSS shocks. Your results may vary with different shocks.

thanks for the photos. this is good to know!

this looks great and appears all that is really needed to fix the issue

just a thought....while you've got everything apart you might ought to drill and tap a hole for a grease fitting on the swingarm. After finding my swingarm bent and the bearings pretty much seized I dont intend to 'uck with them again. Same goes for the stem.

Got a call just before I left for Mexico. The first load of powdercoating that was supposed to take 1.5 weeks are done already. But the guy is a couple of cities over, so it'll have to wait until I get back. Then I'll drop off the frame.

Cut off and/or ground down the unneeded tabs for the belt guards, etc. I'm still going to take a little off the left pivot for chain clearance.