Rear End

So I have been trying to work on the bike as I find time so only small thing are happening, but at least things are happening. Everytime I move the bike it's a killer on my rear, moving a bike with no seat is not much fun, let me tell you. So I brought my original seat to put on the bike so I can move it around in comfort. Tonight I put on the back fender and bullet turn signal lights. The wires are a little short so I have to buy more wire and extend them. Here is what it looks like.



With the rear in place and the seat on the bike, I figured "why not throw on the tank and see what she looks like". Well, the seat was too big to begin with but with the smaller tank it looks even bigger. Also, the seat is so big that I have to use my tip toes to move the bike, I liked being closer to the ground. The seat also adds a lot of weight to the bike as well. Looks like I am going to have to deal with it till I figure some thing out.





I am currently wiring and putting the headlight section back together, as well as putting the brakeline together. When I get my carb back from Saia engineering I will start putting everything else back on the bike. My biggest challenge is going to be relocating the coils, which hopefully is not that much of a big deal. I also have to paint the tank and side covers. Everything is coming together slowly. Thanks for everyone's support and help so far, it keeps me stoked on this project. Thanks everyone.

PARTS Galore

Today I got the package I was waiting for, parts. Essential parts that will let me move forward a little bit faster. Here is what I got. First things first here is my new helmet, black metalflake. This was a great eBay buy. It is used so it has some scratches on it but you have to look very close to see them and the liner is not the best but it was a great deal. Check it out.





Here are the goodies I was telling you about. This is a bullet light extension kit from Kuryakyn. This was kind of a shot in the dark. I needed these to attach my bullet style turn signals to the headlight. The bolt runs between both and the headlight bracket that is attached to the forks. So these bolts hold everything together. The bolts that came with the lights were too short and I was having a hard time finding ones at all. After a lot of searching I came across these, they were good deal and they fit. Halelula.



Next up is a stainless steel brake line and fittings by Goodyear. Need I say more.



Last but not least is my Sparkplug wrench keychain. Many people have problems with spark plugs when they ride and have to change them out on the road. In my set of tools I had a 5/8" spark plug socket but it was too small so I needed to get a bigger size. So I killed two birds with one stone. Pick one up at J&P cycles.



Well, that's all I have for today. Stay posted for more goodness.

A little more work

Hey everyone, I haven't got to work on the bike much lately but that will hopefully be changing soon. This last weekend I bought a motorcycle jack to lift the bike so I could take off the front tire to change the tire and rotor. Because my storage unit is so tight there was no way I would be able to get the jack in there to lift the bike. I will hopefully be working about of a real garage soon so I busied myself with some other little projects. A couple of weeks back I drained the brake fluid so I could disconnect the brake line to rerun it. So first things first- disconnect the brake line. There was still some fluid left in the caliper so I was careful. Here is the disconnected line.



Next I wanted to take a look at the brake pads. Like I said before the description in the Clymers was different that the actual brake caliper. To take out the pads I had to take off the caliper. Like I suspected, the pad was completely worn away and the brake was running metal to metal- not good. Here is my naked wheel.



Then I switched it up and reinstalled the starter motor and the shift lever.





Remember the mess of wires I was talking about on the front of the bike. Well the brake cable was wrapped around electrical wires that were wrapped around the throttle cables and clutch cable. First thing I had to do was take the brake off completely. This made my life a lot easier. With the brake line out of the way I reran most of the wires so they were clear of each other and didn't catch on anything. Here are a couple of shots of the in-progress mess. I didn't take a picture of the finished result but trust me it's a lot better.





I made the decision that I am going to get a new brake line instead of cutting the old one. I measured for the ideal length of the new line. For a new stainless steel brake line and new banjo fittings I would be spending less than $60. This will be a cleaner set up and will look cool on the bike. I also have a list of many other parts but I am going to hold off until I get the new tire on and move the bike. Check back soon because I just got my jacket and my vintage metalflake helmet is in the mail. I will keep you guys posted with all the happenings.

Cafe bobber?

So here are some images of the new tank placed on the bike. The more I look at it the better I like it. I knew the new tank would be shorter than the original tank before I bought it and you can definitely see it in these pictures. The tank is shorter and narrower- just what I wanted- but it's a little taller. Looks like I am going to have to place the tank a little lower down the frame looking at these pictures. No matter where I put the tank I am going to have to fabricate it. The back mounting tab will have to be extended and bent down following the curve of the frame. The front will either have extended mounting brackets from either side of the front of the tank to the mounting holes on the frame or I can just drill straight through the frame where the front of the tank is, I am not sure. The tank is also sitting a little high due to the coil mounts so it is not fully sitting on the frame. The easier said than done solution- cut them off and relocate the coils. Whatever I do to make it work will be worth putting that cool tank on the bike. Remember, when I started this blog I said I wanted to make a cool chopper cafe bike. With this tank, my proposed exhaust and my refurbished back fender I have the bobber chopper style down. With the frame, suspension, handle bars and front end I will have my cafe elements. I think this will truly be a one of a kind bike when I am done. Can you say cafe bobber?

****NEW TANK****

Here it is, my new gas tank. It came today while I was out so I didn't get to mock it up, but you will be seeing mockup pictures soon. Without further ado here she is...







Other things on the chopping block: Nick from Saia Engineering is rebuilding my carb and cleaning it all up. Your the man Nick.