My 500 is on the road at last!

[penman]

I chose to have the tank, etc painted professionally this time and the result was a wait of over 3 months - I was tearing my hair by the end! However, I must say, I'm well pleased by the results, it looks fantastic. I did my best to match the original colour and I think it's pretty close, however, at the last minute I decided to leave off the pinstripes - I think that was a good decision, though others may differ!

The bike is going really well, though inevitably I do have a few minor issues to iron out. I think it was off the road for about 20 years before I got it and there were plenty of problems to deal with.

Just one question to be going on with, is there some secret to getting the exhaust headers to seal properly to the head? I have cleaned everything up, located the "split olive" or whatever you call it carefully and done my best to ensure it all seats nicely as I tighten it up - but the L/H header blows like mad, and I think it's causing popping in the exhaust when you blip the throttle. I'll go and have another go at it now, but if anyone has a sure-fire way to seal these, do let me know!

Joe.

[MickeyMoto]

Hi,

Looks good, another Morini on the road. I must admit, I prefer the 6 speed tank detailing to the 5 speed, so maybe leaving off the stripes is a good idea.

For the exhaust, go for a ride and get it nice and hot. Come home and you should be able to get more turn on the exhaust spanner. I would say that I find it best done with the silencers etc loose as I have noticed the pipe can exit not square which does not go well with a tight seal.

Are you sure they are blowing, the air filter system is not as, er, sealed as a modern bike. I find there is a lot of induction noise.

Mike.

[penman]

Mike, thanks that worked a treat. I must admit I gave it just a smear of "gungum" as well, I think that scared it into submission. No blowing at all and it has completely cured the exhaust popping. Actually the bike sounds a lot nicer now, so I'm pleased and that's another minor snag ticked off. More serious issue with the front brake to look at next!

[penman]

Well I just took the bike out and put another 65km on it. I'm very pleased with the way it goes, it's a more relaxed ride than the 350 and I'm a lot more comfortable about overtaking with those few extra bhp. I still have a few outstanding issues:

1. The front brake is slow to release. I thought I'd fixed this once, but no. It has improved slightly with use, but I'm not happy about it, so I'll be stripping down the calipers again. If anyone has seen this problem before, please let me know, it might save me some time and effort!
2. There is a mid-range flat spot, which feels like it's going rich to me (I may be wrong!). I suppose I'm in for a bit of fiddling, but if anyone can tell me their carburetter jetting, I'd be very pleased.
3. The rear suspension is very bouncy, I presume the rear shocks are shot - any advice on this, or do I do what I always do, and buy a new pair of Hagons?
4. I need to re-cover the seat, it's got a couple of splits in it - does anyone know if you can get ready made seat covers, or do I take it to a specialist?
5. Just like my 350K2, when I set off from cold, the engine is idling a bit on the slow side, and threatening to stall when I stop. Once it is fully warm though, the idling goes up to about 1700rpm. No danger of it stalling then, but it just feels a bit too frantic. If I adjust it for a slower hot idle, that's fine, it'll idle quite happily at 1000rpm - but it keeps dying when it's cold or half-warm. Is this normal? and is there anything I can realistically do about it, other than finding the best (i.e. least annoying) compromise.

Hmm, that sounds like a load of gripes, but it's not meant to be, I love riding this bike and it's currently enjoying joint pole position in the garage with the Bonneville, another bike I just love riding! At least one of these has to be moved to let any of the others out.

[AntietamClassicCycle]

4. I need to re-cover the seat, it's got a couple of splits in it - does anyone know if you can get ready made seat covers, or do I take it to a specialist?

I bought a new seat cover from Nisa for my K2 and had it installed locally. Very pleased with the end result. Nisa also offers a seat restoration service.