Sunday, August 31, 2008

Here are a few pics




This is the bike before I re-worked the exhaust for style purposes.




Will post some "final" pics soon.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Dog days of Summer

Are fading fast. I looked back to this time last year, and said something like, "I don't think I'll get the bike finished in time for the '07 riding season." Fast forward a year and I am in the same boat. As it stands, the bike is running/has run... even illegally on the street! Still fiddling with pipes (off again to Cycleboys for some Tig attention), but that should be the last step. The end result is a custom exhaust system, cobbled together from a PS1000 kit, and like nothing else on the road. I posted a pic to PBforum, and got a good suggestion and photo shop idea, again from "Uschi". Heeding his advice, adjusting the pipe 3" made a pile of a difference. Interim pics to follow, as soon as I get a chance to do it. It'll likely be a "before" and "after", showing how the version 4.6 pipes look the best.

And that'll be it for the major fabrication. The bike runs, turns, stops, and operates like it should, but this being late August, I won't bother licencing anything until next spring. I'll finish the pipes (cosmetic stuff like header wrap, hi-heat paint, and stainless ties), and then stick it under a tarp for the winter.

It should be "done", but these projects are never totally done. I want to get a rear hugger to protect the shock, and the only one I've seen is a carbon fibre one from the states, at nearly 200 bones. Yikes! That can wait. As well, I may have already mentioned that my "awesome" paint job I was so proud of was flawed. Bubbles in the paint! After thinking about it, it could be from two reasons...
1. The winter of 07-08 was bitterly cold. Will water-based paint stick to anything at -50 degrees Celsius? Did a bit of water trapped between coats expand and cause the blisters?
2. The clear coat was a new type I tried. All of the 4 year old stuff I did was done with a crap gun, outside in the fall, and still sticks like glue... this "new" paint job, expected to be superior after all the practice, turned out pretty poor. Hmmm. Can I blame the clear for being incompatible? Or did I rush a tack coat? As much as it will bother me, I have no intention (unless I fall into some spare cash) to "fix" this flaw anytime soon. I need to ride the darn thing next summer and enjoy it before it becomes a never-ending "hangar queen".

Initial inquiries are met with frowns and groans when I tell a shop what would need to be done for a proper prep for a re-paint. The tank could be bead blasted, the front fender is small enough to hand sand, but the tail section, although fortified with extra fibreglass, can't be blasted... that water based paint can be a pain to remove... it just balls up and gums up sandpaper. One guy suggested a new spray-on chemical might work, and still not "melt" the tail section. The reality is, when it does come time to prep (and I will need professional help at this point), the cost to prep the panels may be such that for them to then shoot it in a single-color, single stage paint while it is there, with the associated guarantees, might be the cheaper option in the long run. To try again myself means more primer, paint, and clear...

That decision can wait.

So, all winter with nothing to do...? Keep an eye on this page for the birth of another project...