Something Blue

[renobruce]

I'm sure Renobruce will get his titanium plated or something so I'll have to spend most of the winter playing catch up...

LOL! You crack me up!

Mine's done for the year, too. Well, except for a few little things. Maybe some playing cards in the spokes. :mrgreen:

VERY nice job. Love it!

[8trackmind]

Your 1000 looks great with or without the fairing ..

Thank you, but I really need to thank all the people that helped, even if they don't know it. Lot's of inspiration came from other folks here. Firstimer, Renobruce, Sharpy, TomMLC, SoloSuzuki and many others. I would like to thank all those guys for their influence and attention to detail. I couldn't have done it without them. :-D

[Craiger]

8trackmind....what a beautiful bike! Very tasteful.

[PAULYBOY]

8trackmind....what a beautiful bike! Very tasteful.

Hear, hear! Any chance of running the striping on the tank forward so it wraps around the front of it? The continuity between that and the fairing would complete what you were discussing previously.

[Planecrazy]

Say, Jeff, looking at the pic again it occurs to me that the "line" of the bike would look better if you leveled off the fairing rather than having it canted down in the front. Then the "flow" from the fairing to the tank would straighten out and look "right," at least to my eye. Primarily the thin blue stripe on the bottom of the fairing is what's grabbing my eye and making it lose the "flow," because it isn't matching up with the level crease on the bottom of the tank. I'm not suggesting that you lower the fairing so it lines up, but that you level it so that both body lines are parallel. I'm assuming, of course, that this is an easy adjustment. The idea of taking the line from the tank and wrapping it forward is an interesting one as well, but I like it either way.

D@mn beautiful job - the more I look at it the prettier it gets!

Regards,

[Billyboy]

Your 1000 looks great with or without the fairing ..

Very true.

I continue to be awestruck by this bike.:shock:

Your humble admirer,
Billy.

[viperg]

Bike is beautiful as it is, it will undoubtedly be a continuing work in progress as mine has been over the last 10 years. It will NEVER be finished as I have found because you will be experimenting with different set-ups i.e., shocks, exhausts, pegs, carbs. You have done a great job, hop on and ride for a while.

[8trackmind]

Say, Jeff, looking at the pic again it occurs to me that the "line" of the bike would look better if you leveled off the fairing rather than having it canted down in the front. Then the "flow" from the fairing to the tank would straighten out and look "right," at least to my eye. Primarily the thin blue stripe on the bottom of the fairing is what's grabbing my eye and making it lose the "flow," because it isn't matching up with the level crease on the bottom of the tank. I'm not suggesting that you lower the fairing so it lines up, but that you level it so that both body lines are parallel. I'm assuming, of course, that this is an easy adjustment. The idea of taking the line from the tank and wrapping it forward is an interesting one as well, but I like it either way.

D@mn beautiful job - the more I look at it the prettier it gets!

Regards,

Thanks, Steve. :-D
I wrestled with all the various ways to do the fairing color scheme for months. Each way had it's own set of problems.
If I had simply reversed the colors of the "S" I ended up with a white stripe down the middle, and the fairing would be mostly blue. (like my 550)
That would have worked, but I would have ended up with the lower "wings" being solid blue. Had I painted them white, they would have faced down and would have really looked strange since the tank stripe faces up a bit. Besides, I wanted them to stand out like on the real "S". Seeing the stripes in 2d also hurts the overall effect.
The fairing is actually mounted just like a stock Suzuki 1000s with the downward cant. Of course the way they striped it, nothing really has to line up. If I re-mount mine to be level, I would have to find a way to move the headlight.

On the Cooley racebike, the fairing is mounted to the frame, not the fork and the fairing sits more level. It's also mounted higher. I think they raised the rear of the tank too, (which helps) but I can't confirm it.


Again, Thanks to all for the comments. :-D

[8trackmind]

Bike is beautiful as it is, it will undoubtedly be a continuing work in progress as mine has been over the last 10 years. It will NEVER be finished as I have found because you will be experimenting with different set-ups i.e., shocks, exhausts, pegs, carbs. You have done a great job, hop on and ride for a while.

Thank you. :-D
Your 1100 was another source of inspiration. Very nice bike indeed. :-D

[Planecrazy]

I see what you mean, Jeff. It's all good! I'm a little surprised that the mold for the original AND the aftermarkets wasn't tweaked to follow the lower line of the tank. I was also unaware that the headlight wasn't adjustable, so you're obviously faced with having to mount it "correctly" for visibility and safety before you can address aesthetic issues.

I suppose if one were going to do a "Chip Foose" makeover (he's such a perfectionist no matter what he works on) that lower line on the fairing would be "massaged" so that it looks the way it should have right from the beginning - hehe! Now if I were going to do something similar to my dressed "G" I'd have to completely remake the Vetter - HAH!

Anyway, I have to say again just how sharp your bike looks! I sure hope you're able to fit your head into your helmet this season!!

Regards,

[8trackmind]

I see what you mean, Jeff. It's all good! I'm a little surprised that the mold for the original AND the aftermarkets wasn't tweaked to follow the lower line of the tank. I was also unaware that the headlight wasn't adjustable, so you're obviously faced with having to mount it "correctly" for visibility and safety before you can address aesthetic issues.

The headlight is still adjustable, the fairing isn't. Besides, if it was going on a real "S", it wouldn't matter.
Speaking of visability, thats a lot of the reason I wanted plenty of white on the front. I think it helps make it a little more visible to oncoming traffic. Dunno.

[Planecrazy]

The headlight is still adjustable, the fairing isn't. Besides, if it was going on a real "S", it wouldn't matter.
Speaking of visability, thats a lot of the reason I wanted plenty of white on the front. I think it helps make it a little more visible to oncoming traffic. Dunno.

Got it! Thanks!!

Regards,

[witttom]

The headlight is still adjustable, the fairing isn't. Besides, if it was going on a real "S", it wouldn't matter.
Speaking of visability, thats a lot of the reason I wanted plenty of white on the front. I think it helps make it a little more visible to oncoming traffic. Dunno.

I think you should put some of these on it and it'll stand out even more.

[8trackmind]

I think you should put some of these on it and it'll stand out even more.

I'll need two sets. One set for my bike, and one set for Scott's bike.

[byrdman76]

Man that cowl really sets that bike off - all it needs now is a number plate :-D