Rear fender

This is a project that I have been working on for a couple of weeks, getting the rear fender how I want it. Here is the fender right after I took it off the bike. Doesn't it look beautiful.......





Next I took the fender with my new sparto taillight and seat to the bike. I had to mock up the bike to see where I wanted the light. Originally, I thought I was going to cut the fender smaller but when I mocked it up I realized that it needed to stay it's original size. I think that's perfect placement.



Then with the taillight on the fender I marked the location of where it is going to go. Thank you sharpie.



With the fender back home I could see if my markings were straight. They weren't, that's ok. With the location marked out I centered the light and mark the holes that I needed to drill. So I got my drill and bits and went to town. This was a pretty fast painless process. However, on the underside of the fender there was a tunnel (that the wires run through) that I needed to cut back. Here is the holy fender.



So I fired up the grinder and went to work. Goodbye tunnel. I cut it back far enough so I could get the tail light screwed on but let enough on top so I could protect the wires coming from the new light. Look at those sparks fly.



Then I switched to a wire brush and started to do some clean up. My brother joined in to help. This is him putting a little elbow into it.



Here is what it looked like after we grinded it into submission. Much better.



Next I sprayed rust fix to the underside. Then I used the bench grinder and cleaned up the top a little bit more. Here is the fender with the light installed and ready for the bike. I'm slowly making progress.

More parts. More work.

So last week I took the rear tire and rim along with my new tire to Mission Motorsports to get mounted and balanced. A couple hours later this is what she looked like.



Like I said last time, the brakes looked kind of dirty so I was going to replace them. Not only did I order new brake pads but I also ordered new grips and my new tail-light. The grips and pads came from "old biker barn" and the sparto tail-light came from J&P cycles. Feast your eyes on these goodies.







So here I go. The first thing I had to do was replace the old brake pads with the new ones. It wasn't that hard to get the old ones off, though I did it a different way than clymer's recommends. You know it wouldn't be my bike if something wasn't difficult. What I had problems with was the brake arm. It didn't want to come loose. Then went I loosen it it didn't want to come off, so I had to work around it. Then when I was done it didn't want to go back on. Here is the brake taken apart. Look how dirty the housing it. Brake dust- Mmmmmmmmmm.



After cleaning it as much as I could without throwing it in the shower I managed to get the new brake pads on. Now doesn't that look nice.



Next it was time to head on out to my storage unit to install the new tire and brakes on the bike. My first task was to get the tire in place. The tire was wider than space I had because of the final drive. Taking off the final drive would have been a real chore so with some squeezing , pushing and pulling I was able to get it in. Then I had to align the wheel hub splines to engage the final drive. Next it was time to install the axle rod. Remember, it is always good using lubrication when going into tight places.



After the axle rod was installed I had to reconnect the brake torque arm and the brake rod. I had to play around with putting the brake arm in different positions to properly connect to the brake rod to get a good stopping/brake response. I had to work with three factors the brake rod, the brake arm and the brake rod adjustment screw. After a couple of minutes I think I got it right. My excitement quickly turned to frustration when I realized I forgot my torque wrench. Some of the bolts require specific torque measurements so I will have to go back and do that later. Well, here is a picture of everything installed. Next I will be working on the rear fender and tail-light. Stay tuned.