Junction Box

Wiring the junction box is a breeze if you do it like this...

Go to Radio Shack or what have you and buy (1) shrink tubing and (2) the smallest as possible connectors -- pictured below:

Note the larger ones.  They had tubing on them and I tried to install with those the first time and I had to cut the tubing off and crimp them vertically to get them to fit.  It was SLOPPY.  It is important that they are as small as possible in order for the junction box to close properly.  Plus it looks a lot nicer and who says that no one will ever see them -- you just did.

Cut a proper length of shrink tubing off and slide it onto your wire then crimp the connector on it.  Afterwards heat the shrink tubing so it constricts and protects the wires from coming into contact with anything other than the terminal you screw it into.

I could not find the original junction box screw since I purchased my bike disassembled, so I replaced it, but Home Depot does not sell metric galvanized hardware which I wish it did, because the stainless doesn't look good here.  Of course, that is an easy fix in the future.

Final stretch to completion

Here's a sneak peak of where I was two days ago . . .

The race is on to finish assembling the bike by Monday, May 26th.  On the 27th the bike is due to the paint shop for touch paint before I move back West on June 10th.  The bike is coming along quickly and smoothly.  I am working on it for about 3-4 hours per day.  I will continue to work on it on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  I believe I will be able to complete the bike.  

Pictured above is the floor rail kit installed.  Note that the kick stand bolts will need the stamps on the heads ground off.  

Many posts to follow from Tuesday on.

Hand Peen Rivet

Sadly, this is a poor quality video taken from a digital still shot camera.  I don't own a high quality video camera that talks with my Mac -- so this video will have to suffice.

My goal is to introduce newbies to the art of hand peening rivets for the floor rail of your scooter.

The process goes like this:

Preparation: file the holes in the frame out with a circular hand file and coat the bare steel with a thin coat of paint so it does not rust in the future.

1) Drill a hole in a refridgator magnet to protect the paint around the rivet (thanx Tom G.)

2) Stick the rivet through and measure some where between a 1/8 to 1/4 inch (depending on the size of the hole the rivet goes through -- ie did you drill it out?) of visible the rivet and cut off the rest.  

3) Put pressure on the rivet head (anchor it) with a cone shape to preserve the "button" on the rivet head.  

4) Tap straight down on the rivet until it gets a little lip on it.

5) Now tap at a downward angle.  Walk around it 360 degrees.  It will mushroom.

6) Flatten it out again.  Steer the rivet if you need to move it in one direction or another.

7) Angle it again and "walk around the rivet".

-- Repeat, repeat, repeat! --

Once the rivet is compressed/expanded go ahead and leave a small mushroom.  Now take your waffle punch and give it one or two good wacks with the flat side of your ball peen hammer (do not use a larger/heavier hammer or you will dimple your frame).

Viola!

Cowl Installation

The cowl trim rubber was easy to install. You need to cut a "V" in the rubber around the peg at the front of the cowl to get the rubber to fit properly.
Once the cowls were on I was shocked to see how wide the scoot's butt was in comparison to some other scooters.  Note that the seat is NOT correct.  The flip is missing and I will have it added at a later date.  In the archive I did a big write-up about the seat and how upset I am over it.  That's an easy fix though.  The seat frame is original.  The seat is not installed.  I just put it on so my wife could see pictures of her bike.
Make sure you remove all rubber grommets before it gets painted. I found that the white grommets for the cowl pegs were still in my bike and I carefully drilled them out using a stepping system with the drill bits. When the grommet was thin enough I very carefully used the needle nose pliers to pull it all the way out before installing the new ones.  Beneath the engine cowl is a properly wired junction box.  A blog entry to follow on that.

I used Ariete rubber. I am not as happy with the trim pieces I bought long ago for the cowls and the front fender. I am not sure of the quality yet.  They are too shiny to look stock in my humble opinion.
It sure looks nice to see the scoot with cowls on, as-if progress is being made.

Hand Grips

Piece by piece the bike is coming together.  I am now able to work on some of the small odds and ends.  I recommend that you keep a small box of everything you aim to polish and clean on your restoration and take it inside when you are watching TV and such.  Polishing is tedious no-brain required work.  I wish I was not wasting my time with it at this point in the game.  I move back West in 26 days and my painter needs time to touch up the paint.  The bike was due in 3 days, but I bought myself an extra week.  I hope to have the bike no less than 95% complete if not 100% before it goes to the painter.

Before you install your hand grips thoroughly clean the headset bars and you can even sand with very fine sand paper the rough or rust of it. Sand perpendicular to the grips so that grips grab better. You can heat the grips up in some hot (not boiling hot) water to make them more pliable. That was not necessary for me. Use a good and rubber friendly glue and bead it from the half way point back around the whole circumference. This way you will have little to no excess glue as the grip comes to the end. Once it's al the way on check to make sure that the logo is centered in Neutral on the clutch and idle on the throttle. Now working from the midway point to the inside corner work the grip like an accordion so it will stretch out properly . Repeat for the full length of the grip now.

Note: make sure that your throttle grip does not have glue on the inside end, because it needs to spin freely.