Starting my own thread

[drhach]

The work continues

The work continues

I'll try to get some pictures up this weekend. I got my caddy tailights installed. I'm pretty happy with them. I'm still considering making a new tail section. I got my front and rear master cylinders rebuilt as well as my rear caliper. I had to reorder the parts for the front calipers. Bike bandit sent the wrong seals. I also had to reorder new main jets. I didn't catch that there is a small size and a large size for Mikunis. I got the small ones. I ordered the right ones from Z1 and they showed up yesterday as well as my new chain and sprocket. I still have a ton of little work to do but I'm picking away at it. This weekend, I want to try to get the carbs sorted out, bleed the brakes and may take for a spin up and down the street.

I have two tanks for the bike, one is pretty nice and the other one has a lot dirt in it. I'm going to take the dirtier one to a radiator shop and have them clean it and seal it. I decided on flat black for all of the body work. A trip to Home Depot and a can of BBQ paint later, things are looking good.

I checked my compression when I got it running and it was a little low. I had some scratches in the cylinders that i tried to hone out. I'm not sure I got them all. Maybe the rings aren't fully seated in the cylinders. Also, I didn't run it long so maybe it wasn't fully warmed up. I may be whistling in the dark here. If it's not ok, I'll ride it for the rest of the summer and then take it down and do a big bore kit. I may do that either way. I've got a spare cylinder block so I can do it piecemeal.

More to follow....

 

[drhach]

Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage

I got the carbs reassembled, bled the rear brakes and took her for a quick spin. It's still got a way to go. Still no front brakes and I'm going to have to fine tune the carbs as well.

I tried to drop the gas tank off to be cleaned relined and the guy said that because someone had already lined it once, it needed to be boiled out first. So, I didn't get to drop off tank today. The radiator shop recommended someone else for the boil-out. So, I have to drop it off there and then bring it back to him. Luckily I have two gas tanks so I could put the cleaner one on today for the test ride. I'll probably seal bothe of them and just keep the other for a rainy day. As rare they are, I don't see a problem with having two.

I also still need to sort out the taillights and the headlight. The bike is far from road legal so, I didn't go too far. Just to the corner and back a few times. It sounds good though.

The seat is another issue. Originally the bike was setup for touring and it has that jumbo seat on it. I think I'll try to cut it down and recover it. It's a shame because ti's pretty plush but it just doesen't go with the bike.

I'm also still up in the air on the tail section. I think I may need to make something a little swoopier to go with those taillights.


The seat is another issue. It looks goofy as hell. It's pretty plush but it just doesn't go with the bike. I may see if I can cut the foam down and recover it.


More to come as it develops. It's getting closer.

 

[drhach]

Forgot the pics

Forgot the pics

 

[drhach]

A few more

A few more

 

[simon_C]

hey thats pretty cool! all i gotta say though: get a seat to match!


im diggin the lights and the frame

 

[ron bayless]

I think it is looking good.Those taillights are cool.Yeah, the seat definitely doesnt go with the theme of the bike.

 

[drhach]

After reading a few threads here, I may try to cut the foam down. I've seen mixed reults on that. New seats seem to go for a pretty good chunk of change on ebay. At tjis point I guess I don't have much to lose. The current seat is not going to work at all.

 

[Guest]

nice

nice

hey dr,

love the taillights. listen, im sure you have checked out bhappy's thread, but i think you should really consider glassing a new seat and tailpiece. the lights are so cool, but you are right, the seat aint right. glass work isnt that hard (im working on a woodstrip kayak right now) and you could make it just right. bhappy --and many of the other threads on this forum--has/have inspired me and rekindled my love for my motorcycle. when winter comes along, i am going to start making her my own. this site is AWESOME, thanks to everyone for all the knowledge and inspiration.

greg

 

[beergood]

Some thoughts:

Everything south of the tank looks great. I really dig the green frame, the wrapped exhaust and the flat black.

Destroy that seat.

Chop that rear plastic fender off.

oh yeah, and get it riding right (many people overlook that last one)

I really like where you are going with this. It's very unique.

 

[beergood]

Forgot to mention I like the gators.

 

[drhach]

I got the headlight installed and I'll be damned, it works. The post office deliverd my new front caliper seal so I got those done and mounted too. Still no brake lines though. I also took the cover off of the seat and the pan underneath is rusted through in a few places. So, at this point, I think I'll be making a new seat pan. If I do that I may as well do the tail piece snce it isn't really right. I've done fiberglass and carbon fiber work before, so I have a little experience. I just wasn't sure if I wanted to mess with it. I think it is called for though.

I've put a lot of work in to this thing. Every step of the way I've tried really hard to make the choice to do it right. Some things may pay off more than others. I have literally cleaned and inspected, replaced or repaired every component on this machine. Like I said earlier, getting the frame powder coated really raised the bar for me. I started this with the intention of making a rat bike. I was going to do the frame in black and just slap it back together. After it came back deom the powder coater, I knew i had to do it right.

Hopefully this week I'll get some glassing supplies and some foam for a mold and we'll see what we get.

 

[solo suzuki]

lookin' good my man!

and you would be what! 6'4''...

 

[rustybronco]

I like the look and i'd try for the b.o.m. when your done with it.
Just loose the seat first.

 

[drhach]

I picked up the foam this week. Home Depot sells 4'X8'X2" sheets for about $20. If I can convince my wife, I'll start shaping the rear cowl this weekend. As usual, pics to follow.

 

[drhach]

Foam and brakes

Foam and brakes

I got the foam and started shaping it. Things stalled pretty quickly. I really just couldn't picture how I wanted to do this. I got the front brakes done today so I now have brakes. so the bike goes and stops, I just don't have a place to sit. I have an old version of Pro Engineer. I started drawing the part using that; hoping to get a sense of how I want this to go. It's been really helpful, I can sort out all of my ideas before I start cutting foam apart. There's still a little bit of a learning curve because I was never great with this software. I have two thoughts in my mind. One involves placing both tailights horizontally and the other actually involves stacking them and offsetting them a little, so that the top one is a little more towards the front of the bike. I thought that might might help to accentuate the fin idea that is so prominent with these lights. I'm almost done with the first drawing. I'm going to order the resin and fiberglass this week. Once I finish the drawings, I'll get them posted. Hopefully I'll get this done soon. I really want take it out before Summer ends. Its been too long and I want to move on.

 

[drhach]

Drawings

Drawings

Well here's one drawing. It's not complete but it should convey what I'm thinking. My plan is to do a couple of full-size printouts so that I can make patterns for the foam.

 

[Billyboy]

My personal opinion: I don't like the tail lights.

Feel free to ignore me, it's your bike.

 

[justin caise]

I took the liberty of chopping your photo - just to show my preference, an idea. The taillight s recessed a bit to sort of understate them. It's just my taste.
I never really liked big abnoxious breasts either.
But I REALLY like the showy frame - being a frame guy I would.
Bright colorful frame, flat black body... yeah!
Go man, go.

And a big puffy overstuffed lounger on top to watch the game! You WILL install a big screen TV won't you?

 

[drhach]

First of all, I love huge breasts, so ya lost me on that one. I thought about recessing them like that. I kind of like the chrome on the sides though. That cowl is going away. I actually thought of another way to mount the lights that makes them look less breast-like (my wifes words). I'm still struggling with drawing the surface in Pro/e but I have it pictured in my mind so I may not bother. Mostly I was using the software just to experiment without cutting up a bunch of foam. I placed my order today for the glass and the epoxy.

I'm definitely sticking with these taillights. I love em. I really haven't seen much in terms of new and different cowl designs on this sight or any other. I like the standard "hump" cafe cowl, it's just not what I want to do. I think I'm on to something though. I've been mulling this over for a while and I think I got it. more to come....

 

[drhach]

Another try

Another try

I rethought things a little and I think that I have decided on the direction that I want to take with this tailight cowl. It hit me that maybe the thing to do was to stack the taillights and offset the a little bit. This would give the fin look that was appropriate for this type of light. I had a hell of a time drawing it, but I think I have the intent of the design and I believe that I'm ready to get started. I had a professor that told once that, "if you can't explain what you're thinking, things probably aren't as clear as you think they are". He was right. When I actually tried to draw what I was trying to envision, it wouldn't come out. It was kind like an MC Escher drawing. Anyhoo, here is what I have in mind. Bear in mind that my Pro/E drawing skills don't really do it justice, but I think the general idea is there.