Cleaning up the tail

I was hoping to save and use the seat latch mechanism but it made the rear look too bulky.  I'm not fond of the big tumors on the back of some of these things.  Like this one.

In the interest of fire safety I used a Dremel to cut the seat latch bracket off.  No sparks, well maybe if it was night and the lights where off, oh well.   
The length of the rear frame of the bike might still be shortened but I don't want to go past the bolt next to the shock.  That will probably come in handy for mounting stuff.

This is what we where looking at before,

.

With a little seat pan over the knee, like a bad over 18 girl, and a little gentle persuasion this is what turned out.

That cleaned up the back nicely.

Here is a little flowchart Mr. Double J shared with me when I told him I wanted to crack open the spare engine.  He also gave me a look very similar to Mr. G, this one meant "you dumb shit" I assume.

I stopped friggin' with the engine.

Fender shortened

Today we tackled the fenders.  The rear fender was media blasted to get rid of the rust and scuff up the chrome.  I'm not fond of chrome so they will get painted.  Once that was done we found one spot that had rusted through the steel.  a little grind and some naval gelly and this is what we're left with. 

The front fender was cut back a few centimeters, I wanted to see if I could recreate the lip.  No chance, the steel is too thick, so it was cut to the final length.  Nice and short.

With that done, I tried to eyeball the finished edge of the fender.  That didn't go well.  It's like shaving sideburns, a little more on the right, oops a little more on the left, darn back to the other side and so on.  You'll notice that I shave my head, that's not a coincidence

In comes Mr. G with a simple solution using basic math and kinder-garden craft skills.
Voila presto, it looks much better.

Thank (whatever deity applies) for Mr. G, he has the knack of looking at me with that amused look and showing me the simple solution, versus the Rube Goldberg solution I had.

Some new tools added to the collection.

I cut the frame

Oh yeah, by the way, I did cut the frame today.  I didn't take much off, just before the seat bracket.  This is the minimum that will be taken off.  If this works out it will give me something to work with when it comes to mounting stuff.  I'd like to put most of the electronics there to give me a nice clean void under the seat.  I might end up cutting more but for now this is the plan. 

I also want to have some copper bits.  I like copper, looks like sparks.  This stuff is not going to do, not coppery enough. 

Only one day off this weekend so most of it was spent cleaning.  Little doggy was peeing on the corner of the rubber floor mats.  I noticed a smell last night as I was contemplating the next move with a little Miles Davis.  Off came the bike, out went the mats and I hosed the crap out of them. 

I'm debating using the exposed shocks at the back or using the sheathed ones off of the donor bike.

I think I like these better.

I had trimmed the seat foam a little to get an idea of shape and size.  This is what I was looking at.

Note the lines, that's about what I was thinking of. A little freehand with the electric knife and I have it whittled down to this.

I still might trim a little more off the seat and pan a little later.

seat on cx500 custom cafe racer

Sparks, I freaking love sparks.  There is a little pyromaniac in all the little boys in us.  Fire, explosions and sparks, fun stuff.  I even like it when they sting your arms.  No fire or explosions today but I had sparks flying everywhere.

I trimmed down the seat pan to it's maximum size.  I still don't know how far back the frame will get cut so for now I left the maximum on.  The frame will get cut right after the seat latching doohickey.  Then we'll take a good look and see if it needs more surgery.

Ok, sorry, that's my ass.  I've already got one of Mr. Double J's ass, I just need one of Mr. G to complete the set.   Aw crap, this means more time in therapy for me.  Honest I don't have an ass thing!

Here is how much was removed.

Give is a test fit on the bike and it already makes a huge difference.  It still might be a little to much at the rear.  ( is that another ass thing, I don't know, I'm getting nervous and confused.)  It's a little high for my liking but that might change once the seat foam is on.

And I got a couple of new little toys.  One is a trigger attachment for a spray bomb, maybe now I can stop painting my own fingers.  The other is a sweet little pinstripe brush.  Whether I can make it work or not is yet to be seen but it should be fun to play with.

Today I figured I might as well drain the fluids

Today I figured I might as well drain the fluids from the bike.  I drained the rad and removed it.  The coolant was a nice fresh green.

Next I drained the oil, it was also fresh.  I guess someone topped up the fluids before storing them. 
I'm not really surprised,  so far nothing has given me trouble, nothing seized or anything like that.

I also went shopping for sheet metal.  I wanted some copper for a fairing.  I thought it would look cool and it would be soft enough for me to learn on.  Apparently copper is not cheap, $30 a square foot!  Change of plan, steel will do just fine.  I bought this sizable sheet for a little under 30 bucks, the same sheet in copper would have cost me over $200.  I had no Idea.  Well, I have plenty of steel.  Enough to screw up a couple of times. 

I put a paint can in front of it for scale.

Didn't do much on the bike

Didn't do much on the bike, only one day off these two weeks so I just removed a couple of things.  One of them is the front and rear fender on the donor bike.  I'll clean them up then start playing with them to see what I can and can't do to them.

The nest of electrical at the front is gone.  That was a pain.  I've also plopped the other bike's handlebars on it to see what it looks like.  not bad, I might keep them.

The carbs where removed, lots of little pieces there that sprung out.  I hope I put them back where they belong.

And here is the outline of where I think I'll cut the seat pan...maybe.

This is what I'm thinking for headlamps

This is what I'm thinking for headlamps.  Maybe stacked one on top of the other.  I like this look better though

By the way, awesome ride with Mr. G

I've taken the spare engine onto the bench

Alright, I've taken the spare engine onto the bench to see what kind of shape it's in.  There is no oil in it, a little bit of very dirty oil in the filter casing. 

I found the access to the crank via the little cover over the oil filter housing.  I gave it a turn and it moved freely, good news, it's not seized.

Credit goes out again to Mr. Double J for getting the crossover pipe free of the front pipes.  After I heated it with a blow torch and whacked the hell out of it.  I could only get  one of them off.  I took the thing to work and Mr. Double J went at it with stubborn determination.  In the vice it went, then it got a treatment of oxcy torch, the the impact hammer, then more heat ( this time to a nice red) then he reamed on it for all the was worth.  Just when I thought his face couldn't get any redder it gave up and out it came.


I also media blasted the H pipe and gave is a coat of primer.  I want to keep the crossover somehow, I will have to figure out how later.

The vinyl was removed from the seat and although the edges of the foam are crumbly most of it looks like I can reuse it.  This is what the naked seat pan looks like on the bike.

The little bit of corrosion at the edge is no big deal, that will be cut off.  I have to figure out how to fasten the new vinyl to the new edges of the seat pan.  The stock edges have little teeth to grip the vinyl but I'll have to do something when those are cut away with the edges.  Anyone have any ideas?

I took the front brake off.  Master cylinder and caliper came off without a hitch. 

I've finally got the headlight bucket off, this took a lot of patience.  I'm still left with a mess up front though.  I hope I can get this back together...somehow.

So lets tally up the cost so far:

$250 for the two bikes, spare engine and two spare carbs.
$80   for taxes and title transfer.
$28   for used gas cap, the deluxe tank didn't have one.
$2.58 for a new gasket / o-ring for the gas cap.

$360.58 so far.  I won't include the tools I buy or most of the chemicals I use.  I will count the paint and the cost of the stuff I use for inside the gas tank.

Enough for today.  Tomorrow Mr. R and I go riding.