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Post by chris900divvy on Aug 26, 2015 22:35:24 GMT
Have been busy with my Diversion 900 the last few months with little bouts of enthusiasm returning to it as and when I could muster the strength and courage! My main intention was to fix the jumping second gear which is easier said than done! First hurdle was removing the Sandy's exhaust system with its badly decayed fixings which eventually budged having forced a bigger sized allen key into them and proceeding to whack away! The second major hurdle was removing the engine itself, the seized rear engine bolt was a real chore to get out though a cordless multitool with plenty of spare blades made it far easier to cut out... Have since fitted my replacement gearbox to it and am due to get the engine back in this coming week though have had plenty of time to get everything else I want to do done with it too (wasn't rushing) - little things like replacing the clock lights with LEDs (after removing the corroded fairing fittings!), painting the oil lines and swingarm etc. Had also rebuilt the forks with new bushes as they had continued to leak despite new seals (twice!) All in all the bike should be a lot nicer to ride after the work, I'm also intending to remove the shock linkage and replace as the bearings in there are well and truly knackered and of course its seized! Its amazing the amount of trouble rust causes on a motorbike, the majority of the issues with the bike have been way harder to rectify simply due to this. Copperslip all the way from here! The bike has done 150k miles and I kind of feel I owe it something in return for the many trouble free despatch miles it did for me with no complaint! Its certainly been the most reliable bike I've ever owned. I'm less concerned about improving its cosmetics than knowing its mechanically sound and everything works as it should really, its getting there now after a lot of effort.  |
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Post by cam7777 on Aug 27, 2015 6:45:32 GMT
looking forward to seeing the progress pictures. I am thinking of buying a 'project' bike, and the 900 is on my short list
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Post by bev on Aug 27, 2015 7:48:22 GMT
I wouldn't mind doing a 900 but I have too many projects and not enough time at the moment.
I don't even get time for riding at the moment. Must start commuting again.
Jr has a notion to stick an XJR1300 front end on his D9, but he still has some work to do on the VT500 first.
Keep the updates coming.  |
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Post by Doom on Aug 27, 2015 8:11:01 GMT
If he stuck an XJR front end on it and then later replaced the rest with the remaining XJR frame, engine, rear end etc. he would end up with a nice bike.  |
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Post by bev on Aug 27, 2015 8:28:54 GMT
If he stuck an XJR front end on it and then later replaced the rest with the remaining XJR frame, engine, rear end etc. he would end up with a nice bike. 
He has a nice bike, even though it's a D9. He just can't leave things alone.
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Post by Doom on Aug 27, 2015 16:11:48 GMT
I have owned a D9 and part exed it for the Mighty XJR (which I love) and I really can't imagine grafting the front of one onto the carcass of the other. A bit like sewing a tiger's head onto a lion's body.
I would be sincerely interested in seeing the result. (Even more in riding it.)
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Post by chris900divvy on Aug 27, 2015 16:29:15 GMT
To be honest as I have a ZRX1200 as more of fun bike all I seek from the Divvy now is renewed reliability and this is why I started off with stripping down the gearbox, doing the fork bushes to resolve the leaky forks etc.
I bought it simply to dispatch on and for that it was exceptional, can't think of a large cc bike more suited to the role. The only problem with dispatching of course is that you never have the time to fix things properly and the majority of repairs end up being quick fix bodges!
That and the fact that the bike gets bombarded with road salt, rain and other crud on a daily basis means things quickly rust up which has been the biggest problem in terms of sorting it out but I'm glad I've done the work as its satisfying to get everything as it should be.
Much as I admire the XJR I don't see it as being in the same league as something like the Divvy, reliability wise and in terms of practicality and ease of use I think it wins hands down for big mileage!
If I didn't choose the ZRX1200 I'd have been looking at something similar to the XJR, I reckon the aircooling to be a definite attraction. Functional simplicity always seems better to me.
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Post by bluevinny on Aug 28, 2015 10:48:21 GMT
Great to see a D9 restoration! Looking forward to reading about progress My main intention was to fix the jumping second gear which is easier said than done! What was causing the gear to jump? |
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Post by chris900divvy on Aug 28, 2015 16:48:13 GMT
Great to see a D9 restoration! Looking forward to reading about progress My main intention was to fix the jumping second gear which is easier said than done! What was causing the gear to jump? Hi, its more 'renovation' than 'restoration' for me to be honest! Just so many accumulated issues over 150,000 miles that haven't really ever been resolved that I have wanted to sort out (and am glad I got the will together to do it!) The gearbox basically had started skipping in second gear under power basically, you'd get it to around 5k revs or so and it'd skip as if it was trying to jump out of gear. Nothing unusual, just wear over 150k miles really - I could see the state of the dogs on the old gear and corresponding damage to the selector fork it had next to it. I had put up with it for a while as you could just ride around it really, shifting earlier into 3rd gear but I didn't want to risk ruining the crankcases by leaving that way as potentially the gearbox could lock up on you and do serious damage both to the cases and to me! I'll be a lot happier with it after this work, I know the engine to otherwise be good basically. I took the precaution of replacing the oil pump for a much lower mileage secondhand one having looked at the old one internally. I'm quite happy for the bike to look like a 150,000 mile bike, I just want to return it to a dependable sort of state really and one in which maintenance becomes easy to do without all the resistance of corrosion! |
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Post by cam7777 on Aug 28, 2015 18:14:02 GMT
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Post by chris900divvy on Aug 28, 2015 18:39:43 GMT
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Post by m40man on Aug 28, 2015 19:13:49 GMT
I turned down a 2001 one today, 30K, full Givi luggage, colour-matched fairing lowers, heated grips, power, stainless exhaust, decent tyres for £1250. Amazed you consider that one at that price - it's Fazer 1000 territory  . |
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Post by cam7777 on Aug 28, 2015 20:17:49 GMT
I turned down a 2001 one today, 30K, full Givi luggage, colour-matched fairing lowers, heated grips, power, stainless exhaust, decent tyres for £1250. Amazed you consider that one at that price - it's Fazer 1000 territory . You're probably right, a tad overpriced for an old divvy. |
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Post by chris900divvy on Aug 29, 2015 19:55:42 GMT
Engine bolt and spacer I had to remove:  Replacement tube and rubber mushroom:  Engine is on its way back together now...Its surprising how clean and shiny it is once all the muck is removed, most of the original paint is quite good on it. I put a new cam cover gasket in there after replacing a couple of shims as didn't want to have to return to it if it started leaking on me, a bit of expense but feel its worth knowing its right.  One mistake I did make...The breather tube on the cam cover's nipple broke off when I flipped the engine over to do the gearbox. Luckily some JB Weld I had handy did its job, alternatively was going to drill it out and tap for a threaded brass nozzle. Not the prettiest repair but its functional and it won't be seen at the end of the day anyway.  LED bulbs in the dash to replace the originals, most were blown so not much view of the instruments at night.  A threaded bar (galvanised) which I hope won't rust into place like the original with some self locking nuts, think I will use copious amounts of copperslip within the tube to keep things good with it...  Another corrosion related problem, the fairing bolts were rusted into the chimney nuts making removal impossible (part of the reason the blown instrument bulbs hadn't been replaced...) Had to cut the ends off to remove the fairing, will replace with some nice black ones I have and lovely new bolts.  A lot of work really but its all coming back together now, looking forward to getting the engine back in although I still want to do a few bits with the chassis also, plus the Sandy's exhaust needs a patch of welding at one of the joints. I think I'll be happier using the bike after this, nothing better than resolving niggly problems. Reaper has said he'll knock up some AIS blanking plugs, I was impressed by the ones shown on here. Seemed a good opportunity to junk all that while I was doing this, used a rubber blanking grommet and some silicone to seal the one connection to the airbox. Seems ridiculously complex for what it is! |
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Post by chris900divvy on Sept 9, 2015 19:22:06 GMT
Spent some time rubbing down the swingarm, quite a few rust patches I wanted to remove and coat before refitting it. Also a good opportunity to replace the swingarm seals and grease the bearings before it goes back in shortly. I used Loctite rust remedy on the areas that were rusted up after a lot of sanding and wire brushing - it was pretty bad underneath. Put a couple of coats of silver engine enamel over the swingarm after as had some left from the engine having sprayed the fins (most of the engine paint wasn't bad enough for me to want to touch it.) Should look a lot tidier than it did previously and will keep the rot at bay too being the main thing.     Having a bit of welding done on the Sandy's 4:1 tomorrow after that will be putting it all back together, looking forward to riding it again as I began all this back in April! Few more minor bits on their way to me, needs a new oil filter for one as well as the swingarm seals and one indicator... |
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Post by cam7777 on Sept 9, 2015 21:08:23 GMT
Nice progress and pictures, good work!
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Post by chris900divvy on Sept 13, 2015 18:29:09 GMT
Engine back in and exhaust fitted today, would have finished it off today if it wasn't for the fact I'd thrown out the oil cooler bracket with the old one (had started leaking after I did the oil line mod, has anyone got one?!) Nearly there now!   |
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Post by bluevinny on Sept 16, 2015 8:00:47 GMT
Good progress . Your pictures of the painted swingarm reminds me about stripping the swingarm of my newly bought bike to replace knackered bearings and repaint rusty areas! |
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Post by satnav on Sept 16, 2015 9:53:03 GMT
Swing arm should have been grey.
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Post by bev on Sept 16, 2015 11:03:06 GMT
Swing arm should have been grey. Surely nobody in their right mind would do that. |
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Post by chris900divvy on Sept 16, 2015 17:45:07 GMT
Good progress . Your pictures of the painted swingarm reminds me about stripping the swingarm of my newly bought bike to replace knackered bearings and repaint rusty areas! Cheers! I replaced one of the swingarm bearings as it was in a state, I think water was getting in past the inspection cap for the universal joint so I've put a nice flexible new one on it which should keep the muck out of the bearing. It was confusing as the oil seal on the bearing itself was good! Had a go on it today after getting everything back on and gearbox feels nice with no skipping which is the main thing, would say the handling feels better too having done the forks and swingarm bearing. I still want to replace the linkage when I get around to it (seized front bolt and its beyond repair really!) but it doesn't seem to affect the rideability of it much. Hopefully I've now got a nice reliable Diversion again which is as it should be! |
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Post by chris900divvy on Sept 16, 2015 18:45:24 GMT
Swing arm should have been grey. Well it was a sort of silvery grey colour to begin with, I had some engine enamel I'd just done the fins with so thought it'd do the job! I think it looks better than flaky paint and rust sprouting anyway which was the main thing I wanted to rid if of! |
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Post by satnav on Sept 17, 2015 8:42:46 GMT
Swing arm should have been grey. Well it was a sort of silvery grey colour to begin with, I had some engine enamel I'd just done the fins with so thought it'd do the job! I think it looks better than flaky paint and rust sprouting anyway which was the main thing I wanted to rid if of! Sorry didn't really mean it about it being grey, it's a bit of an 'in' joke from when I painted mine grey as it was the only colour I could get in the paint I used. See Bev's response above. |
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Post by satnav on Sept 17, 2015 8:44:44 GMT
Swing arm should have been grey. Surely nobody in their right mind would do that. I have it on good authority that soon all swingarms will be grey. I read it in UFO Spotting Monthly so it must be true. :-) |
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Post by chris900divvy on Sept 17, 2015 18:43:48 GMT
Sorry didn't really mean it about it being grey, it's a bit of an 'in' joke from when I painted mine grey as it was the only colour I could get in the paint I used. See Bev's response above. Fair enough I thought it was a but of humour anyway! Silver/grey are very similar colours! |
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Post by GAv on Sept 18, 2015 15:18:38 GMT
Swing arm should have been grey. Surely nobody in their right mind would do that.    ![]()  A bit of Red , topped off wid a nice matching Grey frame &Cagiva VRaptor Seat...ps my first Sachs had a Grey frame too  and I seem to recall Frizt Egli who also designed frames around Vincent VTwins, and other Jap Bikes favoured Grey, and he was indeed a clever fellow Sorry well done on the progress of your Divvy, another bike saved from that great breakers in the Sky |
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Post by chris900divvy on Sept 18, 2015 18:42:07 GMT
'Sorry well done on the progress of your Divvy, another bike saved from that great breakers in the Sky'
Cheers Gav that's how I tend to see it! I get too attached to my bikes to want to get rid of them, as I see it if its fixable then fix it it'd have made me sad to see the thing just dragged off and sold for spares. Breakers though do have their uses, this gearbox rebuild wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the cheap usable secondhand bits. Have been riding the bike the last couple of days and its nice, gearbox doing what it should now and save for a few small glitches (sticky throttle cable for one after standing) its great. I'm intending to angle grind off the immovable old shock linkage this weekend and replace with the good Fazer one I've got hold of (looks perfect inside and out) as the one on the bike makes a hell of a lot of clanking noise over bumps!
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Post by chris900divvy on Sept 29, 2015 19:58:15 GMT
Back on the road again!  Looks just as it did before, a little smarter in places but crucially it works far better than it did! Have been quite impressed with how well the bike is going now, starts easily, gearchange is much smoother and quicker than with the tired old gearbox and its pretty keen on the twisties too. It even did an indicated x35mph a couple of times too! Feels like the work has paid off. Just received Reaper's AIS blanking plugs which will fit soon, they look a very neat solution to getting rid of the clutter of the AIS pipework. |
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Post by chris900divvy on Oct 1, 2015 22:09:30 GMT
Fitted the AIS blanking caps Reaper made for me, really neat little solution for when you're junking it - was difficult getting them to seal up properly with the remnants of some of the AIS hose but now its stopped blowing and looks really smart too I think.  My girlfriend has been using the bike for a little 'big bike' practice in a car park near us, she's riding a GS125 Suzuki on L plates at the moment but loves the chance to have a quick go on the Divvy, maybe she'll be riding it a bit on the road after her test.  |
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. Diversion 900s certainly hold their value though, I paid about £1200 for mine when I bought it close to five years ago, they seem to be appreciating if anything and still plenty of tidy low mileage examples out there.
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