So I've been pretty busy finally getting some more work done on my 550. The engines buttoned up and completed, and now am working on the fabrication of the new tail section.
Here's some shots of the finished engine:
I picked up a solo seat cover from a bike shop for $20, and decided to work around that for my tail section
I then cut off the frame rails at the back and bent some tubing and tacked it all into place for my tail light.
After I got that squared up, I made some templates and stared cutting/welding up some sheet metal
Tacking the taillight housing onto the tailsection
Quick test fit:
Other side cut and tacked into place/ with a test fit
So I needed some bracing for the new tail section, so I came up with this bracing idea
I ran into some clearance problems with the tail light housing, so I ended up cutting the rear brace, bending it welding a new section in to give me some clearance:
I needed a way to secure the solo cover to the new tail section and this is what I ended up coming up with
I then fabbed up an undertail so to speak, welded on some nuts on the back side of it so I could secure it to the tail section.
I had some clearance issues with the rear part of the frame and the tail section so I had to cut a piece out of the tail section then make a piece to cover it up.
Getting closer to being finished with the tail section, I needed to make some pieces for the front of the tail and then weld them in...
Finally it's starting to take shape!
Alright, so the tail section is mostly taken care of... I started on the seat.
I took the foam and upholestry off my existing seat, cut the seat to the approximate length and shape, then grabbed some fasteners from home depot, welded up some existing holes that the PO drilled and welded in the new seat mounts.
I'm sure some of you have heard of Plati-Fix... This stuff is freakin amazing! I have used it so much on other projects and turned out to be handy fixing some existing cracks in the original seat as well as filling in unnecessary holes in the seat pan.
I made a mold with some floral foam, shaved it to what I liked, then used aluminum tape to take the shape and made a new part of the seat!
Here is what I did to get the correct shape from the tail cowl. Laid down some aluminum tape, then put some fiberglass drywall tape for some rigidity, and started making plastic.
Note, the marker line will transfer onto the new piece of plastic being created for reference.
THen I spliced that new piece of plastic onto the seat and started building layers
Then ended up with this!
This is where I stand today... Still a lot of stuff to work on but it is finally taking shape. I ordered some universal megaphone mufflers, and installed two to get an idea how it's going to look. I am going to end up running a 4 into 4 system.
So that is it for now.... I just received my Tarozzi rearsets that I'm going to have to make a bit of a bracket for since they are for the 500's but it should be a piece of cake. Slowly getting closer now!!!