Finally

Well for some odd reason, it was 74 degrees outside today, so I decided to take the bike outside and snap a couple of pictures. The show this weekend was awesome, except for the fact that I crutch around the place (my pits hurt)...... There were lots of cool cars, trucks and bikes. Tons of harleys were there. Tony, Rickie and I had some of the 10 odd step children there. People really seemed to like them though. It's been over 2 years in the making, but it's finally done. I'm sure there will be some tuning and problems that I run into come spring time, but I'll keep you posted. Until then, enjoy.

Ready to Race.... almost

I was able to put the number decals on the tail section today. I'm still on crutches, so I couldn't position the bike for better pictures. I've been ordering parts off of ebay and am itching to get them installed. Hopefully I'll be able to do some real work next week. Until next time....

Sneak Preview

After long neglect to the ole 81, I'm back at it. I got the tins painted and pinstriped. The bike is ready to fire after a couple of wiring issues are sorted out. Here is a sucky picture of the almost completed bike!

Paint- 2011 Mercedes McLaren SLR Silver. It is the closest thing that I could find to polished aluminum. The tail section is gloss black with white number plates. I'm pleased with the way the paint turned out. I sprayed lots of light coats to give it a deep metallic look. I did the stripes myself, and misplaced the Honda wings, they will be in the center of the tank.

Fabrication- A big thanks to Anchor Motorcycles (Tony) for doing all of my welding on the tail section, rear-sets, etc.

Finish up- There are just a few things to finish up on the bike. I'm considering putting mesh on the headlight for a vintage road race look. I'll also be covering up the muffler welds with a cover of some sort. I'm sure a few other small things will annoy me.

Tony asked me to display my bike with a couple of his at the World of Wheels car and motorcycle show in February. So come take a look!

I just had ankle surgery this week and will have some time to post pics, so expect more in the next few weeks! Thanks for being so patient with me this past year. I've had a lot of projects aside from the bike consume my life, but it's good to finally see that light!

Pete

Carbs and Pipes Oh my.....

I have mocked up the carbs and head pipe. It was the first time either have been on the bike. The carbs look awesome. The manifolds fit perfectly and the carbs stick out the side at an angle. They look great. I'm really amped about the head pipe. I love the look of the crossover pipes! They are something you don't see often on a cafe bike (Usually people run a MAC 4-1 or similar). These have a pipes that "cross over" and have an equalizer tube that is just behind the oil pan. I have yet to pick out mufflers for them though. I'm going to look for some small ones that are not too noticeable. I also got some fork "gaitors" off ebay. They look pretty good. I have yet to attach them to the lower fork cases. The bike is looking meaner and meaner by the minute. I'm still at a loss when I think about paint. I can't make up my mind.

Engine En

I have waited a long time to post this update. The engine is finally in. Man was that thing heavy! Tony and I put it in tonight with the help of a floor jack, but it sure was a tight fit. I think I'll be icing my back tonight! From here on out, I have a lot of odds and ends to tie up before I try and start it. I got my cyclex carbs in last week. Ken is extremely helpful up there in Wisconsin. They look great and I can't wait to put them on! Here are some updated pics.

Tony has taught me tons the past few months.

Thanks Tony! (He's opening his own shop soon- Anchor Cycles)

A shot of the engine installed

A work in progress, and finally a place to work on it other than my back porch!

One small step

Well she's about buttoned up! the engine would be completely buttoned up, but I forgot to buy an oil filter! It's been about 4 months in the building, wait..... 4 months!?! Well, we have been taking our time with this beast. It also didn't help that Diana and I bought our first house and have been fixing it up for the past few months. Tony and I finished adjusting the valve shims today and were finally able to see the fruits of our labor. Here are some stats on the engine:

-Wiseco 890cc pistons
-Cylinders resleeved to accommodate larger pistons
-CB900 cams
-CB900 oil pan, sending unit and oil cooler
-Valve job
-Heavy duty clutch springs
-Cycle Ex dual carb system
probably forgot some other stuff, it's late...

On Thursday, we plan to do some welding on the frame and install the engine. Then, it's back to my house for the finishing touches (which may take 3 more years). Let's hope not though!
Here are some pics of the engine.








Almost done!














Tony wrenching









Tony's newest project: CB750 bobber

There she is...... Better pics to come....

Been Awhile!

Here's the deal. I've been super busy with work and a couple of other things during the past month! I've been a huge slacker! I've recently had a little bit of time to start work on the engine. My friend Tony and I have been working on assembling the engine in the past couple of weeks. I have a crazy schedule so our free time seems to only match up once every week or so. I have also been doing some painting on my engine. I'm pleased with the result of the 2 tone color. The paint/powder coating on the engine was in great condition but I wanted to add a little something to it. I've been using VHT brand gloss black to accent some parts. More pics of the engine build are to come, but here are a couple of painting pics.

Tail section mock up

Well, I posted to my blog this afternoon before my tail section arrived in the mail. I mounted it up tonight. Here are some pics. The tail section will be welded onto the stock frame where it was cut. Like the tank, I'm extremely pleased with the quality of materials used. Thanks again to Benjie at http://www.benjiescaferacer.com/ for these awesome parts! They look really great...... and the seat is actually fairly comfortable.

It's here!

Note I said it..... I got the tank in the mail last week. I've been busy with family stuff all weekend, but had a little time to work on the bike today. I mounted up the tank to see how it looks. I'm very pleased with it. I'm still waiting on the tail section and battery tray. I had to do little cutting on where the stock tank mounted to make the new one work. I was very interested to feel how heavy this fiberglass tank was. It is heavy! probably nearly as heavy as the stock tank! The tank seems to be extremely high quality fiberglass work. If you will notice, it has a really cool modern gas cap flush mounted on top! It's a very nice touch that Benjie added to go along with my very clean industrial look. Now, my headlight is still chrome. I will either be sanding it down to a dull satin finish or powder coating it black (it clashes right now). I like how low it sits though!

I also mocked up the rearsets I got off of ebay. I think they are some CBR1000 rearsets. They seem to fit very nicely. I'm going to go ahead and mount them where the passenger pegs were located. It puts me in an "extreme" racing position, but I like the feel of it. I did some grinding on them to give the pegs that machined look that will be found in various places on the bike. Hopefully the project will be picking back up in the next couple of weeks and I'll be posting more frequently. Until next time!

Sneak Preview

I received some great news this morning. Benjie has completed my tank, seat and battery box. They will ship out next week. I'm still struggling with choosing a color, so if you have any novel ideas, please share (really, I need some ideas)!

Here they are:

Lucking Out

Definition:

The force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities

During a weekly trip to True Auto Paint (Now also known as Turkey Creek Cycles), I was sharing my plan of getting a mini speedometer with my friends there. Tony let me know that he had one from a project that he had awhile back. Turns out, it's one of those fancy digital ones. "Real nice Clark"

I have been scouring ebay for sometime now for a mini speedo and all of them are cheesy, junky, or way too expensive. Thanks to Tony being an awesome guy, he let me grab it for a front end that I gave him awhile back. (I still owe him big time)

Anyways, I've been working today on fabricating a plate for the speedo to fit on my handlebar clamp. It turned out better than I expected. I decided to leave it aluminum looking. It was really shiny, but I sanded it down to a more rough, machined look (Should have let Dave do some turning on it!).

Tank and Seat Update:

"Pete, Just finished the fiberglass work and metal bracketry. The battery box is all done as well. I'll send it to the painter tomorrow to get everything smoothed and primer prep ready for paint. Sorry took awhile. Had some difficulty making the dye for the metal press that makes the mounting for the new gas cap. It was harder that i thought but we got it to work. We're gonna try to finish everything this week."

-Benjie

Here are some pics of the speedo build:

Started out with a small sheet of 1/16" aluminum

Cut a 2" hole in it

Cut out the aluminum plate with my dremel

Cut out brackets in the fuse/clamp that were in the way

Screwed the plate to the clamp with machine screws

Looks very minimalistic

It's has a lower profile than the fuse holder that went there!

Still need to get that stainless hose.

Updated pic of the bike....