Ok onto the Ariel Huntmaster yokes, after blasting the old paint off and removing the old bearing race it was time to remove a very very stubborn steering damper cotter pin as the rod needed replacing, now this bugger was not going anywhere fast. I tried heat and a drift...and nothing, so I turned to my trusty tin of Plusgas and sprayed it every day for a week and then attacked it again with the drift...it moved!!! so I carried on and out she popped.
I now have the yoke's back from the powder coater's and they look splendid. I have zinc plated the top nut, bearing cover and the two stem nut's as well as replacing the two bottom yoke pinch bolts and the four top clamp nut's.
I have also given the handlebar top clamp it's initial polish, on a build like this I will not be mirror polishing all the aluminium but I will be giving it a good shine. I don't believe in taking all the history and character out of a classic British bike. So the aluminium will have a shine but will also retain some old battle scars.
Just a few tip's when you take yoke's for powder coating. Even if your local coating company is used to doing motorcycle parts I would always mark the area's you want masking off. Area's I have masked are; main stem, lower bearing seat, inside the fork tube clamps, all threads and the handlebar seat. One final thing to do is make sure after blasting and powder coating you clean out any threads using the correct sized tap. Small pieces of blast media and powder coat will play havoc with your threads.