This is less of a new year's resolution and more an attempt to plan for what to do in the coming year.
Let's start with my own bikes:
XV-sidecar (still unnamed)
Obviously finishing the XV sidecar will be a priority for the first one or two months of 2021. At the point of writing it's on its wheels and I plan to do a swan-dive into building a subframe and subsequently an exhaust for it. Geometry-wise (as some will ask surely): track-width is between 125 and 130cm, lead is spot on 30cm and toe in is 5cm on 250cm and yes the sidecar will be unbraked. Never needed it on the XS-Triple-sidecar anyway.
Bumblebee the Everyday-TR1
Will get a new exhaust, because the ever-so-social Mr. Nick has bought my current one. The new exhaust will be more or less be the same as the current one, but I will also build a second center section with t a bigger diameter in an attempt to increase top-end performance a bit more. Also I have a reground camshaft from Webcam coming in some time in January and I am currently rebuilding a set of XV750SE heads, which I want to weld up and modify to have a 3 degree angle on the squish-band. The idea behind that is, I could increase the compression a bit and still get away with regular fuel. Other than that just some maintenance like a new brake-pump and a fork service and obviously repainting the fuel tank.
Dre-XT-Stück
This will be a bit of a bigger project. I am starting to lean towards installing the old 500 4-valve for now to make it usable again as overall the performance of the 600 left a lot to be desired even with all the new components. I fully expect the Wiseco 96mm piston to be kaput, I really just hope it's not the crank that has taken a hit. Aside form that I have all the tubing to make a proper pannier rack for it and most likely I'll switch the harder Tenere shock back for a softer (lower-mileage) XT shock.
Stinkerle
On the penultimate day of 2020 I received a parcel, which said "Hydraulic Press 12T" on the outside, so I guess, I'll have to make some tooling and finally get that crank done and then throw the bike together and see how it goes. I might actually consider selling this one or convert it to be at least theoretically usable on the road.
Turbo TR1
I bought an AMR500 for it and I still have enough parts to make a new Turbo-Kit. I guess this will be a Summer project, unfortunately I have to admit this has to take a bit of a backseat compared to some other stuff.
XS Triple Sidecar
Once the new XV-side is up and running this one will be for sale including a lot of the parts that I have for it. (Some interchange with XV and RD stuff, those parts will obviously stay.) The engine needs a bit of a cleanup and the bike some cosmetics before being sold off, but other than that she was a good girl for the time being.
And then there's a shorter list of my dad's stuff that I want to take care of, which is a bit shorter in the number of items, but the actual work is probably not to be underestimated.
Bandit
My dad's Bandit 1200 is due a proper service incl. adjusting all of the valves and I secretly hope we can get away with not overhauling the 6-piston Tokicos for another year, because the bill for all the parts required would be rather hefty.
Goldwing 1200
This needs assembly and then an exhaust by yours truly. It's really more a case of "get your arse up 'n' do it" kind of jobs. One of the bigger tasks will be to get rid of the integral brakes as neither my dad nor me kind of like those a lot.
CX500
I have to get a set of VM34s and make a decent stainless exhaust for it. The suspension is a lot better than I initially gave it credit for, but the engine is massively strangled by its stock components at the moment. The ignitech helped a little with the power curve and as such I somehow foresee, I'll daily this for a few weeks at some point to dial it in with the new carbs. (It's a fun little bike, once you simply accept the fact that you absolutely have to thrash it, like it is going out of style, it's even rightfully considered quick.)
Moto 6.5
Should be good apart from sorting out the battery drain issue.
Pretty one (XT 500 4 valve)
Could probably do with a service, but other than that I consider this one to be in perfectly usable shape with little to do in terms aside from a bit of regular maintenance.
Other projects on the list:
A new workbench
My current setup is cobbled together from my old workbench (good) and a folding table (terrible), which doesn't lock very well and is wobbly as sh*t. Also there's about one extra meter of workbench I can fit in there and that's a world's difference, if you only have around three meters in total at the moment.
A new mill
I have set my eye on the ZX7045's little brother, which is mostly identical except for a MT3 spindle, which would allow me to re-use my tooling. As it has the same footprint and mounting hole pattern it should simply fit on my current stand. Admittedly I am also constantly on the lookout for some 626-type mill or something a bit older and less home-owner but the small and clever stuff rarely comes up for sale.
Rhino lathe
Needs two new spindles for the cross slide. One is bent and both are imperial. You get used to it, but it's no fun working this way. Still debating with myself, if I shouldn't throw some paint on the old girl.
Re-organize my spare part storage
When I moved in into my new workshop over a year ago, my dad donated quite a few storage trays. Unfortunately they are too small and too flimsy and the parts have to be grouped better as during the sidecar build I noticed that I have so far spent about five to six hours in total looking for parts that I absolutely knew I had.
So that's it for 2021 - should be plenty to keep me entertained. 😉
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