I received my full kit easy Rider last week. I must thank MS (USA) for very fast service. I ordered on Sunday off the Spring Sale promotion and received it on Thursday. Really surprising given posts on delivery, etc.

Initially I was not going to do a diary as the machine is well documented but I noted that there were two diary builds but both stopped after page four. The Official Build is complete. I saw Mark's finished build gallery shots and am asking where is the rest of the diary? The other reason to diary is that the Barber Motorcycle museum and Race Park is but 15 miles from me. The have an Easy Rider replica on display. Barber has the world's largest motorcycle collection as well as the most Lotus cars and F-1's around. Indy cars race here along with motorcycles on the 2.4 mile road course. Google it. So, if there is detail to be added I have a source! (As soon as the damned Covid lockdown lifts, that is.)

Right now I am looking at my Stage 3 box. The first two were mainly non problematic but for two areas. One was simple, take the time and effort to clean the hub of the front wheel now. I had a cloudy film on mine.

Allow me a little time to relearn the picture posting process and we will continue with the second small item..

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If you are really interested in this kit, here is the end prior to the beginning.

Summary:

For me this was just such a pleasure to pursue. It is a kit which can be just as hard and challenging as you want it to be. It is NOT a simple build and many work arounds are to be discovered. Mechanical knowledge is very helpful. Overall the quality is close to excellent. The chrome plating is durable and the best i have seen. There are fragile parts which may be left to the end to install. You will see that in my build entries. I was the demon of my own curses on this one, as the decision was made to go full bore for accuracy rather than bells and whistles. A lot of trial and error, rebuilds and searching for material sources. Most apparent is the color of the engine and transmission castings; they are NOT silver but cast iron. A good steel color worked best for me and dirty it up a bit for oil and grime.

Most things fit, some don't. Trust the pictures over the description of the step. Watch peg sizes, usually there is a large and small, very easy to screw up. The pictures show this, words don't mention it! Learn the difference between bolts and screws, coarse and fine thread. They strip easily. Use the little bags for spare parts and mark them per part. You will have a lot left over but that is good as they will probably be needed.

Nuts and bolts will loosen with movement. There are no lock washers. All the beautiful linkage will drop off with movement. Once things are set to your satisfaction, put a tiny drop of CA on it. You will need glue when things are loose.

I was blessed with an Easy Rider replica to go see and photo. Many pictures are posted for reference. This replica was a bit different from the kit's source machine. There is no original left but there are some excellent replicas out there.

I had 450 hours of fun.

Tom

Look forward to seeing your build come together Tom, good luck with it all.....

Regards

Alan

Hi Tom
Good luck with your build. My build diary is all there, I didn’t do a complete rundown of all the parts being put together, just an idea of how it all looks after each pack as the official build diary did just that. As mwb has said, you do remove 6 screws from the frame at a later stage, I did this so not to lose the screws that hold it together or forget which ones they were, but the choice is yours.
Just make sure you keep the screws bagged and labelled as there are so many different ones to get mixed up.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing your progress, count me in as one of your followers.

Regards
Mark

Good to see another build of this great kit. Looking forward to seeing any extra details or goodies you add to it.

Roy.

Let's jump in. So this has been a lot more fun than doing tassets on the Samurai!

Stages 1 and 2 were fairly straight foward. As I stated above, check the from wheel hub for chemical residue and brush it off.

Note that Stage 2, Parts 5 -A ( Part 2-5-A), the Handle Bar Mount is not symmetrical as it seems. There are two holes on the top. Be sure that the small hole in on the left. The pictures are correct but this tidbit is not mentioned. Once you pride on the handlebar clamps, the aren't coming off, I know. Just keep that smaller hole to the left and all is fine.

Part 2-6-B, Handle Bar Mount Cover, fits with the dished out side to the rear of the mount. When you look at the underside of the cover, you will see pegs of two different sizes. These orient the cover correctly on the mount. Small pin into small hole on the mount. But if you do as I did, you will have to remove the big pin and and Gorrilla glue it to the top of the mount.

All the instructional pictures are correct.

I did not expect to be making any comments about Stage 3; how difficult is it to push exhaust pipes and mufflers together?

You need nimble, arthritis free fingers, jewelers tools, and a magnifying ring light to start. 6mm bolts and 4mm nuts!! The clamps will drive you nuts, especially 10-D and 12-D. Most must be expanded to slide over the pipes. Then they must be squeezed together for the hole to along. Use your third hand for that. Then you hold the slippery little nut on the corned side to clamp (look at the pictures!) and use your first hand to insert a slippery 4mm bolt through the band into the nut. Now quickly through the whole damned thing up in the air, grab the T-wrench and tighten the bolt when it comes down. I have learned that these parts are slippery as the devil and difficult to hold (now have latex gloves on hand). The bends on mentioned clamps are so acute I could get a nut in their, much less hold of tighten. The had to be opened up and resent after securing as best as possible. On 12-D I had to elongate the nut side hole with a round jewelers file to align the holes.

Note that the horn cover has different sized pegs - align correctly.

POSITIVE - MS blackened the interior of the exhaust muffler flares. Very cool. Did not expect that.

Hi Tom
I used a tube of Starship Filth (Fantasy) Oil Abteilung 502 ABT510. Diluted slightly then liberally painted on, left to dry for for a few minutes, depending on the conditions, then wiping it off with cotton wool. Leave to dry.

Regards
Mark

Starship filth is more black, than burnt umber. Great for silver and chrome parts as it gives a more realistic feel to the paintwork as it tones the brightness down.

Mark

Some help please:

Note the Tappet Guide in Pack 5, Parts 24-B. The instruction pictures clearly two adjusting cap nuts inserted into the holes in the Guide. There is no reference to them. I have not been able to find these nuts nor do they show up in the official build nor on Marks or Graham's build pictures.

Parts never made? Not much of a problem to come up with a work-around.

Tom

No detailing to do other than use the wash on the parts as you go. You will need some odourless turps to thin the oils and clean your brushes.

With regards to the part in pack 5, mine is the same, hadn’t even noticed it.

Mark