All in the prep

Before:  not bad, but there's no reflection.  It's SHINY, yes, but it needs to showcase the amount of time it took to MAKE the fender in the first place, right?   There were thousands of scratches from working it, so after hours of filing and bumping with the bullseye pick, it was time for wet sanding...



Lots and LOTS of sandpaper later it was time for the compound and buffing wheel....



Well worth the effort!  It's not easy to get a chrome finish on aluminum, but it's little details like that everybody notices.

Gettin' Jiggy With It

Doesn't look like much, but this pile of drops will be a motorcycle frame jig shortly-  now admit it, you laughed at the title!

End of an Era

Alright folks, this is it, your last chance for a thousand years-  Lindsay Publications will be no more come February 28, 2013, due to retirement.   Get your technical books while you still can!    Don't say we didn't warn you......    http://www.lindsaybks.com/

Hair Dryer

Whipped up a little heat shield for Danny's XS650.  This thing is almost ready for a full photo set with the new paint, it's a real looker.....

HOT DOCK!

So very honored to have received some stickers from one of our favorite builders, Keiji Kawakita of Hot Dock Custom Cycles.

This one fits the Ironhead perfectly!

Halloween is scary!

Shinya dressed as the third Busch Brother, bushy hair and all!  LOL

http://shinyakimura.blogspot.com/2012/10/at-thrift-store.html

Alien Autopsy

 

 Got some serious X-files stuff going on here-  nah, just kidding, it's the "paint booth" we made up.  The first paint job was wet sanded because of some dust and orange peel, then recoated, but it immediately peeled up.  Bad mojo when you're using spraycans to paint.  So, it was taken back to base, re-primed, wet sanded, painted, annnnnnd...... a bug flew in the paint job.  OK, no prob, just a little bug.  Well, then the can malfunctioned and would only spray upside down!  ARGGH!!!  Kicked some stuff across the driveway, cussed it out, and STRIPPED it AGAIN!!!!!  OK, this time,  decided to build this dust free environment and go for it.  Well, it turned out bloody amazing, smooth as glass-  the 10 hours of sanding and prepping it paid off!

R.F.F. F.R.F.

ProgreXSs... Get it?

Oooooh yeah, tail light coming together.  The space inside is TIGHT, so we will probably need to make a custom LED board with running, brake, and even turn signal lights built in..... 

Not your typical style-  it's hard to capture without blitzing the camera, but it is a single (not crosshatch) knurl. 

The Yamaha tank after initial paint coat.  I'm marvelling at how amazing this shade of red turned out!

However, there was a dust bit that got embedded on the right side, and orange peel on the lower left side that needed to be addressed after a few days.  Here it is after wet sanding, ready for more!

BEST. BAREND. EVER!

Wait.... what?!?!?!  REVERSE beehive?  Oh yeah, that's right.  Needed something to cooler than the Moose barends I had, and something that matched the art deco stepped/ribbed feel of the bike.  So, of course I enlisted Danny to machine me something that I haven't seen before- a reverse stepped barend.  Yup,  out of the park.  He even finished it off with a custom expander setup for retention.

 

 

 

Made a chain tensioner....

Had all the pieces on hand to make a tensioner for the Ironhead (spacers, spring, plate, bolts, nuts), except the wheels and bearings.  Was a hefty chunk to buy these, but I figure we can make three more and sell them to recover the cost.....

 

 

 Simple design-  mousterap spring provides constant tension on arm with the wheel, pushing up on the chain and absorbing irregularities. 

 

The large torsion spring came from a brake drum, and I was able to use one large spacer welded to one arm, with another spacer inside that welded to the other arm, that way there is plenty of support on the pivot.  (Nut to be replaced with nylock)

 

Mounts to the lower hardtail bolt, and a tab welded on keeps it from rotating.

Cooooool.........

Little teaser:

Just a teaser shot of Danny's XS650, broke down, frame finish welded, painted, engine painted and detailed, reassembled, next up:  tank paint, tail light, pegs, and minor details.

 

Fourth time's the charm!

Finally got an air cleaner that really fits the rest of the bike- with three previous completed versions and a couple more scrapped in their infancy,  this one really feels right-  it's a mirror image of the tank,  even has blasted stripes instead of brushed stripes, and carries the finned look into the opneing.  Should work well with that Mikuni as well.