Progress on "te Chingas"
Affectionately named "Te Chingas" my 650 is finally running. Not many original parts survived the motor rebuild by Andy Dunn in Garden Grove. After seizing the little sucker last summer, I sent the motor to Andy and started working on the chassis. Parts were stripped, a few powder-coated. An old Triumph front end from Wes at Four Aces got rebuilt and coated, chromed slip-over plumbing pipes make it about the shiniest thing on the bike. Some early prototype Biltwell Keystone bars keep things low up front. I welded tabs onto an NOS Wasell tank and secured it with a safety-wired brass wing nut up top, and button head allens below. Wes at 4A supplied the oil tank too. A 36 Ford donated the spare tire ring for the rear fender, and fender struts and bungs are modified Bung King units. An Anvil Customs seat bought on eBay years ago sits right on the bolt-on hard tail. Stylish, if not exactly plush. Headlight mount I made from some scrap and a couple of bullet-shaped bungs. Andy's dad did the cloth wiring job, and it's clean and tidy. One fuse under the seat and everything runs through the frame. The magneto came from Oklahoma Chris' Triumph 500 that threw a rod just outside of Ensenada last year. Works great on mine, thanks Chris!
Lots to do still:
• Build/install some head steadies
• Mount new tailight/license plate with LED bulbs (less drain)
• Trim up a Biltwell seat pan and then recover it in something?
• New Amal clutch lever on the way
• Rewire to negative ground, so LEDs will work
• Find a mirror that doesn't completely suck
• Make a proper breather set up
• Relace new back wheel after powder coating hub and modified backing plate
• Find petcocks that don't leak
• Fab up a new mount for under-seat document carrier
• Paint? If there is time Mitch Maciel is going to lay down some Lime Gold
• Change out front tire to new knobby unit from Engelbrecht
• Bend up some custom foot pegs
There are probably a hundred other little details left, but at least she's running! Break-in miles are happening this week, with daily re-tourques, then the wheels are coming off and the To-Do List gets assaulted this weekend...
-Bill