Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and advice! Here's my progress this week.
Taking a break from the carbs for now because I need to get a bunch of other components dialed in first. I know as soon as I get it running right I'll want to ride, so I'm addressing them now since I was able to bring the bike back to life.
I've addressed the rear shocks and went with Emgo progressive shocks. They're like a half inch higher than stock but seem like good quality for the money. I'm a little paranoid about the geometry of the suspension now but I haven't even addressed other factors yet. It is something I'm going to have to keep my eye out for in the future. (Note: is there any sort of algorithms or tests to see how much the geometry has been altered?)
Now although the shocks raised the height a hair, which seems completely opposite of what I was looking for, I went ahead and mocked up a seat pan and laid down some foam on it. It's already a lot better than factory and it's not even covered!I can't flat foot but I come fairly close and at this point I don't think it'll be an issue. I've already become used to walking the bike back and forth in my garage on my tippy toes, having to tilt the bike side to side, so I'm fairly confident with it.
A trick I used when making the pan was starting with cardboard, and make your template so the waves in the board are running along the side of the bike itself. Then, when you try to make a bend, instead of using your hands and crushing the cardboard, just lightly take a box cutter evenly through the board and you will have made your bend just by doing that. What that does is create a score line, letting the inner waved paper become a hinge and all you have to do is now flip over the template and that board will bend very well at that score line. I might have to take pictures of what I'm talking about for you guys to understand, so if anyone is interested, let me know!
I also saw a lot of videos where people just took a sheet of aluminum or steel and cut it with a plasma cutter or a grinder (lucky them!) and used that as their seat pan. Granted, I don't know what gauge metal they were using, so I can't say, but I noticed my pan felt incredibly flimsy with the traditional (is it 12??) gauge metal for autobody that I've used for my Z in the past. So, what I did to correct this was take my edges that were uneven (thanks to my fabulous dremel and super old sheet cutters) and shaped them using my hammer and dolly to sculpt them inward and thus add rigidity and improve the lines. Voila.
Now, I'm going to dial in the styling and modifications of the rear end to make sure it works with current suspension. I don't plan on going too extreme as you can see (No frame loops used here folks!) But it's definitely being changed. The rear fender and tail light hang way too far out for my liking. Not to mention, all my OEM parts are being stored away safe and sound in case the day comes where I want to restore it to factory specs
I'm still drafting designs but you can kind of tell what I'm trying to do with it.
Don't get me wrong, I love the looks of brat seats on CB's, but after seeing the amount of modification that's needed to get that look and the fact that most relocate the tail light, I don't want to do that right now. I'm trying to keep the bike safe, remove weight, but also do little things to gradually take it to the look I want. But there's no way I'm moving the tail light, and if I leave the factory tail light on and try to make it work with a brat seat, it'll just look bad.
Too many old people and folks on their phones for me to feel comfortable with my light down by the axle, at least with it closer to eye level that gives everyone a chance at a better reaction time. I think I want to go with LED as well for that same reason. We'll see what happens I guess!
My Biltwell helmet came in and I truly love it. The color is a little more saturated and red than my bike, but that's also partial to the sun fading on it. I think they still work together regardless. It's so 70's. The build quality is excellent too, especially for the money!
Next on my list is deciding what to do regarding my wheels and tires. I wanted to get them replaced at a shop but places want to charge $120 an hour and quote me 5 hours to do wheels and tires. I think I'm better off just buying a balancer and doing it myself, and investing in the stainless steel spokes as well. I've already been balancing wheels and tires for years on cars so I understand the concept. I'm more so just concerned with getting the spokes right and taking the wheels off the bike correctly. I was thinking about even buying a spare set of wheels so I don't have to disassemble mine until I get the set up right on the spares. Just curious if it's common for people on the forum to do this work themselves. Also, does anyone have tire recommendations? I'm looking for a set that perform very well for a new rider who isn't looking to go too fast, nor will ever ride in the rain or on the highway. And preferably look a little old school just so it's more period correct
