15 February 2004 - Today I started to assemble the front end. This includes replacing the front roller steering bearings with tapered ones. The photo below shows the tapered roller bearings and the machined adapters for using them. The adapters are made out of very hard steel. I purchased all of the parts from Vech at Bench Mark Works.

This is the inner bearing spacer prior to pressing on to the lower yoke.

Here is the new bearing.

16 February 2004 - Tonight I pressed on the lower yoke bearing. I tried to get the outer races in the steering housing and finally gave up. The lower race was going in pretty good, but I could not get the upper one started. I need to get the proper tool to install these (stop while you are ahead, read below).

17 February 2004 - Well I had a late night brainstorm that resulted in a cracked race. I decided to try and press the bearings in using my press and homemade jig. One of the washers in the jig slipped and being under a lot of pressure knocked a chip out of the race. I am now going to have to order a second set of steering bearings. I also found out after doing this there is a nice tool that is specially made to hammer races in. I found them on ebay for about $30.00.

3 March 2004 - The race-installing tool that I ordered off of ebay came today. With the right tool things go a good bit better than if you don't. Here is the upper race installed.

Here is the lower race

The next two photos show the steering yoke in place. Freshly greased steering bearings. As a side note, no matter how careful you are. Beating races in with a hammer leads to a paint chip here and there. It's kind of painful on this nice new paint job, but I can never seem to avoid it. A few touch ups here and there at the end will make it almost unnoticeable.

11 March 2004 - Today I received the forks. It has been a few months, but they did a great job. The outer legs are off to the painter now. The seal contact surfaces were polished to remove scratches, one fork was straightened (now straighter than the non-bent one), and new lower bushings were made.

Here is a photo of the new lower bushings. They are made out of Ampco Bronze. The outer diameter is ~33.4mm.

Here is a photo from the end showing the spiral fluting. This allows oil flow.

Here are the forks installed. The top of each fork has a groove for a small key that locks into the top yoke plate. I inserted the keys into the top of the forks and slid them through the lower and upper plates. After I tightened down the nuts on the fork tubes I installed the lower fork covers. Things are coming together nicely.

This photo shows a small gap below the top yoke plate and the steering bearing nut. I am going to put a small spacer here. That way, when I install the nut that goes on top of the yoke plate the yoke plate will not be pushed down and stressed.

Here are both upper and lower covers installed. Handlebars too!

Here is the front yoke plate with a custom spacer underneath. This will keep the whole assembly level and under no stress. No breaking yoke plate.

May 12 2004 - Here are the lower fork tubes repainted. I should have one of the small fork valve springs I am missing in the next week. Then I can complete assembly of the front end.

May 18 2004 - Today I received the front fork spring that was broken. Darryl Richman attended the Veterama in Germany and brought a set back to me. The photo below shows the original broken spring and the new spring. They feel about the same tension wise and look identical. I am now in the process of completing front-end assembly.