Hi. Using stainless steel bolts in aluminum structures can be problematic due to a phenomenon known as galvanic corrosion. Galvanic Corrosio occurs when two different metals are in electrical contact in the presence of an electrolyte (e.g., water, especially saltwater). The more anodic metal (aluminum in this case) corrodes faster than it would alone, while the more cathodic metal (stainless steel) corrodes slower. This then make the aluminium to corrode quite hard and you can loose structural strenght in the threads. Howewer by sealing the threads with Loctite that should help alot. Thanks for a great video. Greetings from Norway
Yes, I know about this danger, I would think using lock tight at least helps a bit, but I guess I should try to find zinc plated bolts instead. Doing s bit of research tells me that stainless steel bolts might not be strong enogh eiter, recommended to use 12.9 grade steel 😬
This is true, manufacturers do it all the time, think about magnesium alloy castings with stainless steel screws. A tap with a punch works to releas rather than rounding them off with a tool.
24 years ago I worked as a suspension tech (averaged about 6 forks a day and a couple shocks) ~ I've lost the fine details, but here are the broad strokes: The fresher fork oil in one leg was almost certainly due to having a fork seal replaced. Given the dust boots, you should NOT have a lot of fork seal issues but pull them up and feel the chrome tubes for Any kind of ding ~ that's what chews up fork seals. You can sand them down with some fine emory cloth (like honing a cylinder, 220~300 is fine), just do it in a cross-hatch pattern. Dried bug guts can do the same damage. I'm really not a fan of oil changes like you did because there's a sludge left behind. You could have Sort of addressed it by filling the fork legs with cleaner and working them a few dozen times, draining, allowing to dry, and refilling. That'd get you about 80% of the way to fully cleaned internals. But not checking the inner and outer bushings in the forks, especially on an older bike, just seems like asking for trouble down the road. Your forks are probably unobtainium now, you're not going to be able to replace them if damaged... over a few dollars in parts and an hour of time if the bushings are done and start allowing advanced wear. Not urgent as in don't ride, but a project for when you Can't go out and ride. As for moving the fork legs with new oil, that's for those who measure fork oil Height instead of Volume (more precise, gives you the ability to more accurately adjust the air spring by adding/removing oil). It's just part of fork tuning, though it looks like you have a schrader valve that allows the same tuning. The first time you ride the bike the oil will be where it needs to be. As a side note, I happened to notice that there are cartridge kits for the forks in that Elefant. They will be a HUGE improvement in function. Something to add to a "wish list" for the future once you get to using the bike (along with an upgraded rear shock, something that can be rebuilt and offers rebound and compression damping).
Thanks a lot for thorough feedback 🙏 I agree, this was a "quick fix service" 🥴 I plan to do a better service to the winter where I take them apart. The rear shocks will be serviced as well then. I did not know about upgrade kits, it will be investigated 👍 Thanks a lot for very good tips!!!
Also just like engine oil, fork oil should be changed at about the same interval, but most don't do anything till they have issues, as the performance degrades just like you saw with the first leg you changed.
The level of details in this video, and all your videos is just insane. I'm sitting clued to my chair and try to suck it all up and learn as much as possible. Really liked the new design of the front fender. Love that you take good care of this old classic, and I really can't wait for us to go on the trip. 👏🏻
Looking good! As the owner of a 13 year-old Ducati Monster, I'm a big fan of the old air-cooled Ducati/Cagiva v-twin motor. So it's great to see you keeping this classic model on the road.
The Elefant is looking better and better. Your mudguard job is superb. But I’m not sure about the stainless bolts in the disc. Proper steel ones would be stronger, and we don’t want you sheering off the bolts under hard braking, do we? That would probably bring a swift end to some great M/C videos. I am looking forward to seeing you out with your friend and upholding the honour of old bikes versus new ones. Les in UK 🇬🇧
Thanks 😊 I thought stainless steel was pretty strong, but now that I check it's actually a bit weaker than 8.8 grade carbon steel bolts, and for disk brakes it's reccomended even stroger 12.9 grade bolts 😬 Will be replaced!
Loving the videos! I like the attention to detail, aiming for a high standard, ensuring you have a nice work space and proper tools. I wouldn't mind seeing another oddball motorcycle getting similar treatment in the future. Hopefully it is one another oldie, but goldie. Having said that, I wouldn't mind if it was something else too. Keep it up! :)
Thanks! 🙏 I have currently total four motorcycles, the others are a bit older than my Cagiva. It's a lot more to come! I'll continue my Honda CB400 cafe racer build as soon as I am satisfied with the Elefant, and after that perhaps a very extreme custom bike build based of another 80s bike 😬
Nice work,interesting new format,voice over is nice,but it's less alive than your comments while you work. You can imrove brake bleeding by just redirecting the bleed hose back to the master cylinder reservoir and just hand pump to move bubbles,then pressure bleed it.
I though perhaps it would speed up the process working in the garage not having to think of what to say, and just add voiceover later. It was also some kind of experiment, fun to try different things. Hovewer the time saved in the garage was less than time spent adding voiceover later, so I dont' think it will be just this experiment 🫤😝I know about the method you suggest, it's smart if it takes forever to get rid of bubbles in the system, I hovever could not get pressure at all, I coud barely get fluid into my bottle. As soon as I got pressure I quicly got rid of the bubbles.
@@kihestad Give a suck with a vacuum cleaner to prime the hose then ,or even a some plastic medical seringe thay you can get at the pharmacy,it's what i do to empty the reservoir before filling it up with new fluid. I even use engine vacuum to bleed brakes lol
Think those “wrong” new pads were the ones for the rear. FA134 are the ones for the front of my early Aprilia which looks like it shares the caliper with the rear of your bike. Over the years, on bikes I have had 3 rubber brake lines fail. All 3 were the original rubber lines on Cagivas!
I think you are right, seems like I have messed up my order there. Well then I have a spare set 😁 I think this rubber hose I replaced was the last one to be replaced on my bike as well. I can see the hose for the clutch and rear brake are both steel braded lines. Well, they probably did not know any better back in the 90s 😅
09:48 - Not sure I'd be using stainless bolts for my brake disc - do you know the strength of the bolts? Some stainless if pretty soft (weak)... Personally I get Pro-Bolt Ti bolts that are designed for the job :)
I think the bolts I am using are almost as 8.8 grade bolts, after some research I have found that I should have used 10.9 or 12.9 grade bolts, so I will get new ones. Thanks for the tips 🙏
Good job! Maybe i will se this in town som day. I have a old suzuki that i want to make in to a cafe racer. But i dont have time. So the bike just stands collecting dust 🙈
@@vegardstakvik3983 I hope so myself 🤞 just spray over a thin layer of Biltema Multispray X4 on metal parts to avoid rust and make sure it's stored safely and the Suzuki will wait until you have time for it 😊
Good content as usual though I have one comment to do. When you say that some faster came loose reason for using loctite, I am not against loctite at all but I think proper tightening using torque wrench is at least as important as loctite. That's only my own opinion ;)
I think if the road is bad enough (as it was where I was driving 🥴) small nuts like M5 can come loose even if torqued to spec, it's limited how hard you can torque small bolts 😞
Hang on... When did that intro start saying "Summer"? 😉 Looking good, but just be careful with that front disc, I saw you paint the mounting surfaces on the hub, so check it's still running true, those were machined faces. If you get a bit of judder, you might have to revisit and clean the paint off.
I thought nobody was going to notice that (switch from saying 'spring' to 'summer' in the intro), well done noticing it 😊 You're right, I better check if the paint has come on a bit thick and perhaps uneven where the brake disk is attached. I will switch to high tensile 10.9 or 12.9 grade bolts as well so will take a look! Again: well noticed !!!🙏
I don't know how much of a coating Loctite gives the SS screw, but you should replace the washer closest to the aluminium with a plastic one to avoid galling on the outside. And you might have to drill those screws out when it's time to replace the disc.
@kihestad if you on the road and need to take front wheel off are you going to carry Loctite? In this respect nylok is superior to me as its re-usable.
@@waynettarin that is very true, I have to admit it was nylock nuts on there when I got the bike - probably for a reason 😬 the downside is the possibility for the stud bolt to be damaged, scratched and starts to rust since it's pointing forward. Perhaps lock nuts with caps exist? An alternative could be a protective cap put over the nut. 🤔
I think the problem with stainless steel and aluminum is electrolysis. I have had to drill out stainless screws. It doesn’t go well. I was just going into 6061 T6 aluminum and 18-8 stainless bolts.
Yes, I know about this danger. Not sure if having plenty of lock tight helps enough. I better try to find the "correct" type... It's just very convenient to use stainless, steel - easy to get, not that expensive and the best - they do not rust 😅
Thanks 😊 I think maybe restomod is the right term. I have at least given up on the original plan to restore it as original. Too many of the original parts are missing, and difficult to source. I'll try to keep some of the old school look and charm, but modernize and improve it.
@@kihestad I see you point and because I am restoring a old Peugeot truck I can only stand on your side regarding impossible to find parts and restomod ^^ Again Thanks for the content, top quality here !
Hi. Using stainless steel bolts in aluminum structures can be problematic due to a phenomenon known as galvanic corrosion. Galvanic Corrosio occurs when two different metals are in electrical contact in the presence of an electrolyte (e.g., water, especially saltwater). The more anodic metal (aluminum in this case) corrodes faster than it would alone, while the more cathodic metal (stainless steel) corrodes slower. This then make the aluminium to corrode quite hard and you can loose structural strenght in the threads. Howewer by sealing the threads with Loctite that should help alot. Thanks for a great video. Greetings from Norway
Yes, I know about this danger, I would think using lock tight at least helps a bit, but I guess I should try to find zinc plated bolts instead. Doing s bit of research tells me that stainless steel bolts might not be strong enogh eiter, recommended to use 12.9 grade steel 😬
This is true, manufacturers do it all the time, think about magnesium alloy castings with stainless steel screws. A tap with a punch works to releas rather than rounding them off with a tool.
24 years ago I worked as a suspension tech (averaged about 6 forks a day and a couple shocks) ~ I've lost the fine details, but here are the broad strokes:
The fresher fork oil in one leg was almost certainly due to having a fork seal replaced. Given the dust boots, you should NOT have a lot of fork seal issues but pull them up and feel the chrome tubes for Any kind of ding ~ that's what chews up fork seals. You can sand them down with some fine emory cloth (like honing a cylinder, 220~300 is fine), just do it in a cross-hatch pattern. Dried bug guts can do the same damage.
I'm really not a fan of oil changes like you did because there's a sludge left behind. You could have Sort of addressed it by filling the fork legs with cleaner and working them a few dozen times, draining, allowing to dry, and refilling. That'd get you about 80% of the way to fully cleaned internals. But not checking the inner and outer bushings in the forks, especially on an older bike, just seems like asking for trouble down the road. Your forks are probably unobtainium now, you're not going to be able to replace them if damaged... over a few dollars in parts and an hour of time if the bushings are done and start allowing advanced wear. Not urgent as in don't ride, but a project for when you Can't go out and ride.
As for moving the fork legs with new oil, that's for those who measure fork oil Height instead of Volume (more precise, gives you the ability to more accurately adjust the air spring by adding/removing oil). It's just part of fork tuning, though it looks like you have a schrader valve that allows the same tuning. The first time you ride the bike the oil will be where it needs to be.
As a side note, I happened to notice that there are cartridge kits for the forks in that Elefant. They will be a HUGE improvement in function. Something to add to a "wish list" for the future once you get to using the bike (along with an upgraded rear shock, something that can be rebuilt and offers rebound and compression damping).
Thanks a lot for thorough feedback 🙏 I agree, this was a "quick fix service" 🥴 I plan to do a better service to the winter where I take them apart. The rear shocks will be serviced as well then. I did not know about upgrade kits, it will be investigated 👍 Thanks a lot for very good tips!!!
Also just like engine oil, fork oil should be changed at about the same interval, but most don't do anything till they have issues, as the performance degrades just like you saw with the first leg you changed.
Your mud-gaurd mod is fantastic.
Glad to hear that, at least then we are two who thought that was a good idea 😉
The fender looks good, and the bracket reinforces the fender, though may need to raise it if you go offroad with muddy trails.
The level of details in this video, and all your videos is just insane. I'm sitting clued to my chair and try to suck it all up and learn as much as possible. Really liked the new design of the front fender. Love that you take good care of this old classic, and I really can't wait for us to go on the trip. 👏🏻
Thanks bro🙏 It's getting close now, but I need some more days in the garage before I can hit the road 😬😬😬
Looking good! As the owner of a 13 year-old Ducati Monster, I'm a big fan of the old air-cooled Ducati/Cagiva v-twin motor. So it's great to see you keeping this classic model on the road.
Ducati Monster is just a legendary bike 🤩🤩🤩 Have to agree about the engine 😊
The Elefant is looking better and better. Your mudguard job is superb. But I’m not sure about the stainless bolts in the disc. Proper steel ones would be stronger, and we don’t want you sheering off the bolts under hard braking, do we? That would probably bring a swift end to some great M/C videos. I am looking forward to seeing you out with your friend and upholding the honour of old bikes versus new ones. Les in UK 🇬🇧
Thanks 😊 I thought stainless steel was pretty strong, but now that I check it's actually a bit weaker than 8.8 grade carbon steel bolts, and for disk brakes it's reccomended even stroger 12.9 grade bolts 😬 Will be replaced!
@@kihestad Good move, right choice! I’m reassured👍🤣. Les
Thank you very much for the video
You are welcome 🙏
Loving the videos! I like the attention to detail, aiming for a high standard, ensuring you have a nice work space and proper tools. I wouldn't mind seeing another oddball motorcycle getting similar treatment in the future. Hopefully it is one another oldie, but goldie. Having said that, I wouldn't mind if it was something else too. Keep it up! :)
Thanks! 🙏 I have currently total four motorcycles, the others are a bit older than my Cagiva. It's a lot more to come! I'll continue my Honda CB400 cafe racer build as soon as I am satisfied with the Elefant, and after that perhaps a very extreme custom bike build based of another 80s bike 😬
SPRING is long gone, and so probably Thomas for his ride aswell, so, it had to change to SUMMER 🤣
Exactly - very well obseved, I did not really think anyone would notice - but I could not keep it as it was any longer... 😝😅
Nice work,interesting new format,voice over is nice,but it's less alive than your comments while you work.
You can imrove brake bleeding by just redirecting the bleed hose back to the master cylinder reservoir and just hand pump to move bubbles,then pressure bleed it.
I though perhaps it would speed up the process working in the garage not having to think of what to say, and just add voiceover later. It was also some kind of experiment, fun to try different things. Hovewer the time saved in the garage was less than time spent adding voiceover later, so I dont' think it will be just this experiment 🫤😝I know about the method you suggest, it's smart if it takes forever to get rid of bubbles in the system, I hovever could not get pressure at all, I coud barely get fluid into my bottle. As soon as I got pressure I quicly got rid of the bubbles.
@@kihestad Give a suck with a vacuum cleaner to prime the hose then ,or even a some plastic medical seringe thay you can get at the pharmacy,it's what i do to empty the reservoir before filling it up with new fluid.
I even use engine vacuum to bleed brakes lol
You can also leave the leaver squeezed overnight and the microbubbles come to the top.
@@wobblysauce yes, that is a nice trick 👍
Think those “wrong” new pads were the ones for the rear. FA134 are the ones for the front of my early Aprilia which looks like it shares the caliper with the rear of your bike.
Over the years, on bikes I have had 3 rubber brake lines fail. All 3 were the original rubber lines on Cagivas!
I think you are right, seems like I have messed up my order there. Well then I have a spare set 😁 I think this rubber hose I replaced was the last one to be replaced on my bike as well. I can see the hose for the clutch and rear brake are both steel braded lines. Well, they probably did not know any better back in the 90s 😅
09:48 - Not sure I'd be using stainless bolts for my brake disc - do you know the strength of the bolts? Some stainless if pretty soft (weak)... Personally I get Pro-Bolt Ti bolts that are designed for the job :)
I think the bolts I am using are almost as 8.8 grade bolts, after some research I have found that I should have used 10.9 or 12.9 grade bolts, so I will get new ones. Thanks for the tips 🙏
Good job! Maybe i will se this in town som day.
I have a old suzuki that i want to make in to a cafe racer. But i dont have time. So the bike just stands collecting dust 🙈
@@vegardstakvik3983 I hope so myself 🤞 just spray over a thin layer of Biltema Multispray X4 on metal parts to avoid rust and make sure it's stored safely and the Suzuki will wait until you have time for it 😊
Good content as usual though I have one comment to do. When you say that some faster came loose reason for using loctite, I am not against loctite at all but I think proper tightening using torque wrench is at least as important as loctite. That's only my own opinion ;)
I think if the road is bad enough (as it was where I was driving 🥴) small nuts like M5 can come loose even if torqued to spec, it's limited how hard you can torque small bolts 😞
Hang on... When did that intro start saying "Summer"? 😉
Looking good, but just be careful with that front disc, I saw you paint the mounting surfaces on the hub, so check it's still running true, those were machined faces. If you get a bit of judder, you might have to revisit and clean the paint off.
I thought nobody was going to notice that (switch from saying 'spring' to 'summer' in the intro), well done noticing it 😊 You're right, I better check if the paint has come on a bit thick and perhaps uneven where the brake disk is attached. I will switch to high tensile 10.9 or 12.9 grade bolts as well so will take a look! Again: well noticed !!!🙏
Nice, not the only one on both counts.
I don't know how much of a coating Loctite gives the SS screw, but you should replace the washer closest to the aluminium with a plastic one to avoid galling on the outside. And you might have to drill those screws out when it's time to replace the disc.
That was a smart tips, but I'll probably replace them with zinc plated learning I should have higher strength bolts as well.
Great video series.
I would not trust those Cap nuts on the pinch clamp on the front axle.
I would go with a nylock nut
@@waynettarin Thanks 🙏 I have added locktight to them, would think that is even better than nylock?
@kihestad if you on the road and need to take front wheel off are you going to carry Loctite? In this respect nylok is superior to me as its re-usable.
@@waynettarin that is very true, I have to admit it was nylock nuts on there when I got the bike - probably for a reason 😬 the downside is the possibility for the stud bolt to be damaged, scratched and starts to rust since it's pointing forward. Perhaps lock nuts with caps exist? An alternative could be a protective cap put over the nut. 🤔
I think the problem with stainless steel and aluminum is electrolysis. I have had to drill out stainless screws. It doesn’t go well. I was just going into 6061 T6 aluminum and 18-8 stainless bolts.
Yes, I know about this danger. Not sure if having plenty of lock tight helps enough. I better try to find the "correct" type... It's just very convenient to use stainless, steel - easy to get, not that expensive and the best - they do not rust 😅
Nice :) looking good. Are you going for a restomod ? ( with the digital stuff )
Thanks 😊 I think maybe restomod is the right term. I have at least given up on the original plan to restore it as original. Too many of the original parts are missing, and difficult to source. I'll try to keep some of the old school look and charm, but modernize and improve it.
@@kihestad I see you point and because I am restoring a old Peugeot truck I can only stand on your side regarding impossible to find parts and restomod ^^
Again Thanks for the content, top quality here !