Paint and brakes

Poor man's spray booth.  $100 from a local surplus store.











Tank and tail getting cleared, as well as the 18" rear wheel hiding in the back.

 With the repositioned pegs, I needed to tweak the shift lever, as well as the brake lever.  Stock, the brake lever was too long, putting the pedal too far away from the peg.  I mocked it up rough to get the correct angle and distance, and then set about trying to find a piece of curved tube that would work.

With no pipe bender, I was stuck trying to find something myself.  In the end, I cut a section out of the stock handlebars, and it actually lined up great.  I then broke out the torch and welded the curved tube in between.  Pretty cool scavenging parts I was just going to discard!

Finished Seat

I came to eventually realize the previous owner mullered the wiring harness so badly that it made sense to find another one and start from scratch.  In the interim, I decided to tackle a few other projects.

Here is the seat, properly and professionally covered by a local upholstery guy... did a great job, quick turnaround, and a cash transaction which likely saved both of us some hassle.  Note battery box behind the rear of the seat, which will be covered under the seat hump.







New carbs -- these are the "Murray's Carbs" -- set of mikunis, with new manifolds, a splitter, and cable made to length.  An awesome setup that fit quite easily... I'll have to be patient to try the carbs with the engine running.  Need the harness first!

I thought I'd try to do a simple, homegrown solution to the paint.  With only the tank and tail hump needing to be painted (at least by me, anyway), I simply picked up a spray can of primer, and two cans of "hammered" paint.  I really like the look of some of those "copper" bikes, so a can of that and a can of gold, some masking tape, and a simple stripe job is done.  For some reason I still can't eyeball a straight line (as in centering the tape perfectly), but I think I am getting better.  I used to purposely offset things, knowing I would never get it straight!  Next step is once the paint has dried, to clearcoat the tank and tail with proper automotive clear... stuff I've used on my racebikes in the past.

Progress

I've been puttering away on this project when time allows.  I've been maintaining the racebike, making some arrangements with the XS project, and certainly have SOME responsibilities outside of the garage.  The seat pan was finished, and based on some information on the net, I used camping pads and yoga mats to create the padding.  This stuff is glued down with some 3M spray-on glue, and will likely not go anywhere!  Its actually kind of neat in that the edges can be sanded with 80 grit paper, so the rear hump of the buttpad (which bumps up against the tail) has been smoothed out/contured after this pic was taken.  Next step is to get some marine-grade vinyl and get a professional to cover it!  Hopefully my design did not make it too difficult.

I also snagged one of the last 2-1 systems available for these bikes.  I think twin exhausts sound better, but the benefit of some weight loss could not be overlooked, nor the simplicity of the design.  It was listed as used, but the chrome was in excellent condition. The finish on these MAC systems is not known to be that durable, so likely over time some header wrap or another coating will be needed.  Note that the rear brake pedal needs considerable modification to work with the relocated footpegs.

I also guessed at whether these shocks would fit -- they are from a Honda CB1, and are about an inch longer than stock.  These appear to be "proper" shocks, made by Showa (and even have a "honda" sticker on them as well).  I needed to press out the bushings from the stock shocks and insert them into these ones, but they all fit.  They are in pretty rough shape, so new ones will be ordered when I get the chance.
Currently I am working on the tedious front wiring loom.  I've got everything working (in a stripped down way), but I just need the right connectors to make it all work.