Like a hole in the head...

[nvr2old]

Hey, Steve. The brand of shocks are TEC. I found them on eBay. Great service from the seller. I think they fit the personality of the bike more then the stockers did, even though those are in great shape. I'll just stash them away with the other stock parts.

[pete]

Wow Larry she's coming along real well! I love your attention to detail, that chain guard is awesome! I should be inspired enough to do something with mine one day instead of my hacked up repair to the stock plastic guard...

I do understand there's a lot of effort getting that seat right too, I remember all too well the hours I put into getting my tail piece shaped right with the glass then smoothed out properly with the filler... all hours of enjoyment though of course

[nvr2old]

Thanks, Pete. Always nice of you to visit this thread.

[pete]

Always nice to have a thread of yours to visit

[nvr2old]

Spent another Sunday in the garage locked away for 8 hrs... I wanted to get this tail section finished and ready for primer next weekend.

A ton of itchy, tedious sanding..but the results are always worth the effort. I changed the stock lines from this Ducati tail a bit. It swoops a little more now.






It would have been so much easier to cut the stock factory seat hinges off, but I really want to leave them on, so these blisters are a necessary evil. They won't show much after the seat is on. I kinda like the curves, though..



I reinforced the 'glass inside along all the edges. It's hell for strong now.





Tail light looks killer..





All of the edges have been rolled and sanded smooth.



I'm really liking the look of this tail section..





On to the gas tank. Pull a few dents, smooth out a couple of dings..should be the easiest part of all.

[pete]

I'm with ya' Larry, I like it too! Top work as always

[nvr2old]

Thanks, Pete. You seem to be the only one interested anymore..

[tkent02]

No, I'm in here following it. I just hate typing in "Great Work Larry!" over and over and over again. Need to get my own project going again, you are truely an inspiration.

[cowboyup3371]

I agree with Tom, it's hard to come up with new words when everything you do is top-notch. How much longer do you think you have?

[SVSooke]

+3 on that,just watch your post count go up every time you add something.Hey didn't I read something about keeping this one stock somewhere

[nvr2old]

Thanks guys, I guess I was just being a smart-a$$. I really do appreciate your interest. Should have the parts ready for primer by Saturday, block sand them over the course of the following week, prime and block sand one more time and then they should be ready for paint. I'm hoping to have it all done by the end of April. The biggest challenge at this point is not having access to my shop. My wife just can't take the vapors of spraying which get into the house because the garage is attached. She barely survived the fiberglass work. I have to use my friends shop to do all the spraying and I have to drive 50 miles to and from to get there on the weekends.

Yeah..I thought about restoring this one because it was so complete. It would've been the only correct restoration in my life...but I just couldn't leave well enough alone. I'm justifying it by trying to make it look like what might've been a 400F if Honda had made a special European-only "R" model..

Thanks again for the kind words.

[rustybronco]

Larry, whom do you know that doesn't follow your work?

Always...

[nvr2old]

You're very kind to say that rustybronco. One of the biggest reasons I start threads is not to get praise for the work, but to have open conversations with the friends that I've made on this site. You guys are really about the only link (lifeline) I have to like-minded individuals. This is such a small town and the people who do ride bikes here are, for the most part, Harley owners who don't give a flip about vintage Japanese bikes. Me and my wife both feel like we're on a deserted island sometimes. This 400F is therapy for me, and I'm glad to be able to share the progress. Thanks again for the continued interest.

[steve murdoch]

Larry, i agree about these old bikes being therapy.
But more so these days it comes from riding and not so much the wrenching. So i have to get my fix from following your threads.

[rustybronco]

You sir, need a project bike.