1984 Katana 7/11

[nvr2old]

Do you plan on painting it a light Grey satin finish so it sort of replicates the look of the original seat? You could even throw on the grab strap just for grins. Maybe it would be hard to convince the seat police it's still a solo saddle though....

[pete]

Yeah the grab strap could be a bit of an issue

It'll be upholstered front to back to look like it's a stock seat, but of course no foam over the pillion area. The definition here of a seat is material over foam, so that'll be fine legally.

Colour wise, not sure if you saw the earlier photo I found on Google but the Kat will be all gloss black with a red frame (like came on the rare '87 SBE Kat) so to tie in with that the rider's seat will be red and the pillion area will be black.

[nvr2old]

Ahhh..I went back and looked. Must've missed it earlier. I like the red and black combo. It has a more sinister look to it. You know now though, Pete, every single panel has to be laser straight.....

I have complete confidence in you, man.

[pete]

Hahah cheers Larry! I think I'll be ok with the straightness. I've learnt to be a lot more patient with paint prep since doing the 450, that taught me a lot.

I don't think I'll have issues with lumpiness after repairing the front cowl and the side covers and tail piece look to be in good shape in that regard. I think I'll get the tank professionally panel beaten though so it should come out good as well.

I really like the red and black too so I'm keen to make it work well.

[pete]

Managed to make next to no progress on the seat yesterday unfortunately after buggerising around with one of our sliding doors for hours. They don't seem to slide real well when there's only half a wheel to roll on...

However, an acquisition was made on Saturday... thought I had no dust boots but turns out I do, they're just sitting there at the moment, not sure what to do about them at this stage but the fork brace fits perfectly.

[pete]

From all the searching I've done it looks like that might be a "Chivo's" fork brace. Funnily enough the only pic I could find with it on a bike was a black and red Kat just like I'm planning... except the seat is all black and I'm not sure on the red stripes around the place.

This is from the Aus Streetfighters forum.

He somehow got dust boots to work...



And back to the seat...

After all the sanding and patching efforts, I've still got some bits that are a bit thin or have gone back through to the foam, and I wasn't happy with the gaps between some of the layers either side at the front. I think that would be compromising the strength of the mould.

The last thing I need is to be trying to separate the first pan from the mould and have the mould start falling apart.







I decided to try a trick learnt during the 450's tail piece creation (thanks again Dale!) and make a bit of a slurry using some trimmed up offcuts of matting.



Got it into all the bits I'd identified and also shoved some strips of matting in the gaps at the front.







I also used some to build up the sides of the toungue that sits in the hook behind the tank. The corners were recessed in a bit which would make releasing the pan from the mould a bit of a nightmare.



I'll see how it looks tonight, but hopefully that's the end of the patching and a quick rub down of those areas should be all that's left before coating it ready to wax and use.

Oh! Nearly forgot I do need to re-drill the holes for the mounting points yet.

[pete]

Much better! Sanded until I was dripping with sweat and couldn't sand any more last night.

Happy with the patches, so a final once over, re-drill the seat latch holes, and it'll be good to coat ready for wax and use.

[nvr2old]

What grit sandpaper are you using, Pete? 36-40 grit would cut that back pretty quickly.

[pete]

Just using what I have on hand Larry... 60 and 80. I'm trying not to sand it back *too* far on the corners, but just enough.

I tell ya' what, every time I do some of this my admiration for your patience with the Corvette just keeps increasing, I would've sent myself insane with that I think!

[nvr2old]

Haha..Pete. Sanding fiberglass sucks, to be sure. That's why I suggested the 36-40 grit. The less you have to sand on that stuff, the better. Those grits make short work of it. 80 is perfect for getting out the 36 grit scratches.

The Corvette took 3 solid years working on it 5 days a week..almost drove me mad. Had I not owned that car for 40 years and had such a sentimental attachment to it, after the accident, I should've maybe taken the $28,000 insurance money and the salvage price offered and just bought another one. You do crazy things for the ones/things you love...itchy as that can be sometimes.

[steve murdoch]

...."you do crazy things for the ones/things you love...itchy as that can be sometimes"....
Spill it Larry, what was her name? And i don't mean the Vette.

[nvr2old]

...."you do crazy things for the ones/things you love...itchy as that can be sometimes"....
Spill it Larry, what was her name? And i don't mean the Vette.

Lol..a gentleman never reveals those things... I can say that I rode from Albuquerque, New Mexico through the Mohave desert in the dead of night to Roseburg, Oregon non-stop..only to have missed her by 4 hrs....

[pete]

Now that's keen!!!

I haven't seen anything less than 60 grit in my travels, but truth be told I haven't traveled far or looked hard

I'm all but done with it for this application I hope but will keep an eye out for when I get the first pan done and need to tidy it up.

[pete]

So much for getting to the point of the first coat on the mould yesterday... started drilling the holes where the mounting hardware will go.

Front ones all good, although they look a little crooked in this photo. These ones are really just a guide as there are two nuts at the front, so I can work with it at least.



The two back ones are a problem though. This is where I built the area up and flattened it out with plastercene, but apparently that meant when I sanded it smooth I took almost all the fibreglass out leaving just the plastercene under a very thin layer.

When I re-drilled the holes, it all gave way.



So I inserted a couple of crappy old cheese head stock M6 screws from the 450 wrapped in tape and coated in release agent.



And built it up again with some slurry this time, and you can see I put a little in some other spots I'd managed to sand a bit thin also.



I'll be watching Silverstone MotoGP tonight so hopefully tomorrow night I can get back out there and finish it up.

Incidentally Larry, I ducked out after that to pick up some nuts and bolts to make the mounting hardware, and I spotted some 40 grit paper, so I grabbed some

[nvr2old]

You'll thank yourself next time you start sanding, Pete. It's coming along nicely. Enjoying the process.