1984 Katana 7/11

[pete]

Cheers mate, yeah we do learn from our mistakes, just wish they weren't so embarrassing sometimes!

Definitely nothing wrong with an 1150EF but yeah I understand that... the Kat has a certain magical appeal... just nothing quite like a Kat!

[pete]

Had a reasonably successful morning yesterday.

Bolted the engine mounts together ready to finish up.



After a bit of time on the bench grinder then finishing up with a hand file they seem to be a pretty good replica of the template.





And in fact they seem to work pretty good! Just need powder coating along with the rest of the engine brackets and frame.



Then I drilled and tapped the holes in the headlight housing, seem to be in the right location.



The headlight still seems a little low but now that I have seen others I'm not so concerned.

Looks a little left of centre in this photo but that's easy sorted also.

The location's the same whether I use my cowl needing repair or the loaner one.

[pete]

10 colours of 10m rolls of 3mm x 20A wire arrived yesterday along with 2m each of red and black battery cable and another micro relay base.

[nvr2old]

Go, Pete, go.....

[pete]

Haha cheers Larry!

Gotta get back on the seat this weekend.

Once I get the seat pan done it will open up a whole new avenue of progress... and actually being able to finish some things up.

[pete]

This took a bit more time than it looks, but got some shaping done on the mould yesterday.

I think I need to taper it in some more, and I'd forgotten I'd run out of spray adhesive so I had to call it quits a bit early, but it's definitely getting there.

Sanding that foam's bloody messy though!

[Big Rich]

I'll let you in on a secret Pete..... when it comes to sanding foam, tell your buddy that your air compressor broke / wife has allergies / the shop is getting sprayed for termites / whatever. And ask to use his shop!

Keep it up Pete!

[pete]

Hahahaha damn good idea Rich! Now let me think who I can ask... haha

[pete]

Finished shaping the foam yesterday... or at least I hope I did anyway. I'll really only find out when I make the first seat pan.

Got it all trimmed down to a size and shape I'm pretty happy with so I can put a couple of layers of fibreglass over it ready to finish the mould off.





I used some plastercene to straighten up around where the seat latch bolts on.



And wrapped the foam in a layer of tape to protect it from the resin, but of course no need for release agent etc. as the two layers that will go over the foam will be a permanent part of the mould.



I have some work to do tonight but hopefully before that I can get the matting cut to shape ready to lay down. I doubt I'll have enough time to actually lay it though.

[pete]

Ended up having more time than I expected last night, so I got the two layers down.

I didn't do a good job with the corners/overlaps this time, so I figure the best way to deal with that is to let it cure then trim/sand those bits back and patch them up as necessary.

I'll see how it looks tonight but if I can get those areas sorted then it should be cured enough by the weekend to get stuck in to sanding it down ready to finish off and make the first pan.

[nvr2old]

You've put a lot of effort into this and it looks like it's gonna turn out great. This may sound like a stupid question, Pete, and maybe I missed an earlier post, but why are you going this route with the seat/pan instead of using the stock setup..?

[pete]

Cheers Larry! Yeah I think it'll work out ok.

As for why, basically cheaper running costs. Over here we pay annual registration which includes a component of compulsory insurance to cover other road users and road facilities in the instance you have an accident and cause injury/damage. That insurance component changes if you have a passenger, so a single seat setup means almost half the cost to keep a bike registered. To keep the 450 on the road and get the Kat registered, I'll need to take both to single seat setup to keep the registration/insurance costs down.

I trimmed the excess from the rear of the mould last night then started sanding until my arms ached.

While it's not good, it's nowhere near as bad as I feared it might be.

Some more sanding and it'll be right to patch up. Mostly it follows the shape of the foam which is excellent.

I need to do the front yet but it's nowhere near as bad as the rear ended up.





Lining up the seat shows me the width and height should be ok, so for now I'm happy to proceed as is and finish the mould up.

[nvr2old]

Higher insurance cost for a passenger seat bike..interesting. Thanks for the explanation, Pete. Makes total sense now...carry on..

[pete]

Yep, we like to do things differently here... not always for the best of course!

[pete]

Beginning to feel like this is my life's work... again doesn't look like much but spent a few hours yesterday rubbing the whole mould back part by hand and part by the orbital finishing sander.

I got it to a point where I'm 95% happy to finish it up ready to use but will give it another once over yet.

I did the patching on the four corners of the pillion area where I screwed that up too, so I'll finish those areas up once they've cured too.

With any luck this is the home stretch on the mould and I've got the shape/size right.