finally starting a project thread, been putting this off because I wanted to wait til I was able to actually work on it for a solid chunk of time. but it will just have to be a little bit at a time for now. I am busy with work and all the damn bills eat up my parts money.
so I got this bike a few years ago and did a quickie lo-budget overhaul, not touching the engine at all. I used what I had layin around and did it in my back yard and kitchen at my old house. needless to say it was somewhat half ass. it looks really cool, though. I rode the hell out of it and raced modern bikes. rode it every day until a gasket blew and I lost compression.
here she is:
time to do it for real. I now have a killer garage/lounge, spray booth, blast cab, most tools I will need. no welder but have friends who weld and can do stuff over there. the plan is to have a bike that will go, stop, handle as well as possible. this will not sit in the garage. I intend to keep this bike forever and will ride it to Seattle and back a few times a year, and to work every day I don't need the truck. and every time I go anywhere basically. this is the utilitarian part, it must work. well.
on to the transcendental. I have a few different ideas for the end look, but it will be more or less the same style as what I have now. I like exposed bare metal a lot, so there will be a bit of that. I am going to use a bit of jade green/british racing green but mostly black and metal. I am a painter so I will be doing all of that myself, no powder coated parts on this one. unless I buy a PC'er and a toaster oven, but I don't see the point.
not into the 16" wheel anymore. I will use 2 18" wheels most likely, possibly 18 and 19. wider alum rims for wider tires. like a 110-120 front, 130-140 rear. I want the front and rear wheel to be close to the same size. I have a GL front end I am using and nissin brakes (cbr style) with big dual discs that I got from another sohc member, fishead. he is a great guy and lots of help.
I also have a frame kit by Gordon, thanks to Hednut via Heyjones that will be put on the frame. gettin rid of the passenger pegs/mounts. my gfriend is a real woman, she rides her own bike. I may have Hondaman refurbish my swingarm, but I am considering an upgrade for better handling. a boxed swingarm would be nice. Carpy makes one, don't know if anyone else does. wondering if one from an early CBR would work. don't want anything too bulky or obviously modern, though. think Carp's my best bet. I also really dig his Yosh style exhaust. my Mac eats up a lot of ground clearance and just all around kinda sucks. I like my bikes a tad low but want good clearance. no rearsets, I don't think. I do like low bars, though. I'll prob use lo rise clip ons. I am short with long monkey arms, so stock foot pegs/lo bars suits me well and I have used that set up since I was 16 on all my CB's. (I've had a dozen or so) I want to use race tech emulators in the GL forks, and set up the air caps then get some real rear shocks. not sure which shocks to use. the rear is definitely sagging as is, but I don't want it super high either. as low as is reasonable for good handling and ground clearance. maybe you guys have some ideas on that.
um, I have a 750A tank that I kinda dig. I'm gonna put some knee dents in, and I have a japanese design themed paint job in mind for it. I either want to make another seat similar to the one I have now, which sits lower and hugs the tank better or make a seat with the end of a kz750 tank that I have. it is a good shape and the rear is the shape of the top of a tire, so it could hover right over the wheel. I'm going to get the engine, frame, wheels, electrics and handling stuff done first and have everything set up for the best ride then worry about what would look good with what I have. and I can always use my current tank and seat, which ain't so bad.
here's the tank on the frame and the kz tank that may make a nice seat:
I also got a better stator cover, (mine was roadrashed bad, fixed with jbweld to not leak oil). and a set of stainless bolts from member cubg1: