Ride report: Cycle Gear San Marcos Bike Night and light show on the long way home

I'll get back to motorcycle maintenance posts this weekend but wanted to post a ride report about the bike night I went to, parts on sale and then the good ride home afterwards.

The fourth Thursday of each month the San Marcos Cycle Gear hosts a bike night and our local Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA) chapter and I either set-up our booth or at least show up and shop, look at the "ride-in bike show" and generally hang-out.  Last night we had 5 CMA'ers and 1 family member show up, as well as a smattering of independent riders and a few sportbike clubs.  There was an interesting assortment of bikes-one classic Kawasaki Concours (hmm, wonder who's bike that was?  hee hee), some Harley's, some custom motorcycles and even two dirt bikes for sale that made the trip in the back of a pick-up!  One of the customs was a chopped Honda UJM that was clean, and another was a stretched Hayabusa with more chrome than all the bikes I've owned put together.  Sweet bike, but man I bet it's a hassle keeping it looking that good!

As usual Cycle Gear had door prizes up to a $50 gift card, but I didn't win any.  Oh well, can't win every month.  They also had the normal large amount of their products on 50% off sale, and one part I really needed-a 12 volt (aka cigarette lighter) outlet with wiring!  The replacement left inner fairing for my Connie had one in it, but no wiring, so for a whopping $9.95 I got a new plug, mounting accessories, and a wiring harness.  Will make that project much quicker when done sanding and painting the Sportster parts.

Near the end of the Bike Night we saw a cool looking cloud forming out to the east.  As the sun set, heat lighting started jumping across the cloud, and as I headed through Escondido to Ramona, the light show got better and better.  I could watch it pretty well, as I never cleared enough traffic to push my speed, and also I haven't ridden CA 78 after dark before.  I'm still slow in the twisties, so between traffic and nightfall I opted to go easily and enjoy the rare Southern California lightening.  Once I got to Ramona, a quick (well for a Connie gas tank, added 5.5 gallons!) stop for gas and then down 67 to Poway and the Poway Grade.

More riding this weekend, and probably sanding the Sportster fenders too.

Update: Sportster rattle can paint job: Prep Day One

Last night I started sanding my custom Sportster's rear fender.  This is my third motorcycle to re-paint primarily with rattle cans, and I've learned the hard way to sand at least an hour longer than I think is necessary.  Time spent sanding pays a huge dividend in how the final project looks regardless of the paint used.

So last night I spent about an hour rough sanding the rear fender.  It's really beat up from having different bags mounted on it while I have commuted and traveled on this motorcycle.  Also there is wear and tear now that the bike is 14 years old.  I started with 150 grit sandpaper to feather the area my neighbor stripped to weld the tab back on, and some deep chips in the existing paint.  I moved to 325 grit for the last few minutes as most the deeper marks are coming out.

I also picked up some plastic sheeting at Home Depot for my "redneck paint booth" I'll make using a pop up.  Don't know where I got that idea, but think it will work well instead of masking off part of my garage.

I'm shooting some video and pictures and will add them as I go to complete this motorcycle maintenance/customizing project.

Update to motorcycle maintenance list: Project One will be painting rear fender

It's time to get busy on the list of projects.  I've decided to tackle sanding, re-painting and re-installing the rear fender on my semi-custom Harley Davidson Sportster project one.  That way I can get it back on the road, figure out what is up with the forks, and keep working on the projects on it and the 1986 Kawasaki Concours.

Did some searching tonight and couldn't find a good video quickly on rattle can paint jobs, and I have a couple of ideas that might make for a good first youtube video.  At a minimum I'll snap some photos and post them here.  The first one will be of the tab my neighbor wielded back on to mount the taillight assembly-that piece breaking when I was replacing the tail light base is what started this project.

Lots of maintenance to do to my motorcycles, but you have to start with the first step, right?