Chop what you got and run what you brung!

Over the last few days I've seen two unique custom bikes.  The first was a Yamaha V-Max.  I'm always interested in talking to owners of V-Maxes as it is probably the only factory turbo cruiser and a rare enough bike in stock trim.  So when I saw one pull in to the Mira Mesa Bike Night (MMBN) last Thursday, I walked over as the rider got off.

Well, this was anything other than a stock V-Max!  First noticeable change was an LED light kit installed along the main "backbone" and under the tank.  There were also former polished parts that the owner had bead blasted which gave them an almost powder-coated appearance that fits this model bike well.  The custom touches weren't all cosmetic though.  The owner mentioned that the bike had required lots of maintenance and repair to get running properly, so while he had everything apart he removed the valve that kept the turbo-boost from kicking in at low RPMs.  Basically, he said, it comes on as soon as the throttle opens everything up and doesn't stop.  He shared his other ideas and plans for the bike with me, and I plan on having a camera in the future to get some pictures as it is a sharp bike.

Then on Saturday I'm waiting to turn right as traffic passes.  Here comes what looks like a standard Honda but it doesn't sound quite right.  As the bike rolls by, I notice the rider is a petite woman and the bike seems to have straight pipes.  When I can turn, I head the same way the rider was going as that is the way home.  After two lights I have a chance to lane split up to the red light (both safer, and to see what mods have actually been done to the bike).  Sure enough, it's got straight pipes, and the bike looks like a bobbed Honda Nighthawk.  OK, that's cool, both the 650 and 750 in-line fours are solid motors and back in the first custom motorcycle craze this engine was one of the three customizers used.  (Do you know the answer to the other two makes?  Answer at the end of the post!)  So I pull up and realize not only does this bike have a custom exhaust, it also has upgraded rear shocks.  Not sure which brand they are, but they are blue with an external reservoir and definitely would keep this bike hugging the road.  The rider/owner seemed to be a young woman and maybe weighs 90 pounds.  So I'm sitting at the light on my Connie-we're about a half a ton of fun compared to this chopped Nighthawk and tiny rider.  So I'm thinking we're going to launch out from the traffic, but since I pulled up to her, I'll wait and ride in the number 2 stagger.

Well, she eases the clutch out, and while smooth, pulls out fairly slowly.  What?   She's not riding like a nervous or new rider, but this repeats at the next two lights.  Now I'm really puzzled, but a slight hint is shown when we reach the first light with cars stopped.  This rider barely slows down and easily pulls through the stopped cars to the red light.  My guess is she may race/drag or dirt race, and as small as she is may have to keep from standing this bike up (unless wanting to!).  Unfortunately I'll have to ask another time as we went opposite ways at the next red light.  Very well done custom touches to this bike as well.

OK, in the 70s it wasn't only Harleys that were customized.  Honda 750 engines, Triumphs and Harley Pan- and Shovel-heads were all popular bikes to chop/customize.  Custom frames were made for all three engines, unlike the recent craze where almost all frames and parts were for American v-twins.

Does it count as motorcycle maintenace if....

You work on your truck at a motorcycle dealership?

I took the truck today, a 1975 Chevy stepside, to our Bike Blessing event at San Diego Harley-Davidson.  About 2 miles from the shop, the exhaust noise changed noticeable, but the truck still made power and I didn't see any smoke.  That's a good sign, right?  So I pull into the dealership, set up our booth, and get to performing bike blessings as groups from the California H.O.G. Rally pull in.

A little later I get a break, so I go over to the truck to make sure nothing is falling off or there isn't a new big puddle underneath it.  Turns out two out of the three bolts holding one of the exhaust flanges  have backed out and gone away somewhere other than on my truck.  No problem right?  Call a friend who was coming by, have him bring ramps and tools, and move one bolt from the other exhaust flange to have two and two until I can get a replacement.  Oops, one of those bolts is missing it's nut!

The good news is I'm at a Harley dealership, and they have fasteners.  I get a replacement nut, slide under the truck (now up on ramps) and put the exhaust back together.  With two bolts holding each side, truck made it home and I'll replace the bolts and add another nut on each bolt to lock them in place this weekend.

Not the project I planned to do, but I can sand the Sportster gas tank later in the day tomorrow and hopefully paint it next week.

Until then, have a great weekend riding!

Custom Kawasaki Concours Windshield project

If you aren't familiar with the Kawasaki Concours "C10" model made from 1986 until 2006, it was one of the original sport-touring bikes.  In 1985, Kawasaki punched out their Ninja 900 (AKA the Top Gun bike) and made it one of the first production liter sport-bikes.  At the same time, they fitted the basic Ninja 1000 frame and engine with a shaft drive, hard bags, a slightly mellower cam, and a barn-door fairing.  While the fairing works for a sport-touring bike, the windshield is huge!  I've seen Harley dressers and Gold Wings with smaller windscreens!  It also has an early attempt at a lip that doesn't work terribly well for most riders.  I sit right in the windflow from the lip, so it really was a problem.

When I got the Concours parts bike a few years ago, the windshield on that bike was completely clouded due to age and exposure.  I salvaged it, and started researching what I could do with it.  Many other Connie owners have cut windshields down or made their own, and I've always liked the blacked out windshield look on both sportbikes and Harleys.  So I though, what is the big risk-the windshield is junk as it is.

Done cutting the top portion and lip off the Concours winshield

The first step was to figure out how much to cut off the windshield.  Here the adage, "Measure twice, cut once" was applicable, as too tall could be re-cut, but too short and I'd be back using the huge windshield or have to cut it and not go back stock.  I tried a few heights by putting masking tape at the edge of where I would cut, and decided on 14 inches from base of the screen at the fairing to top.  Since I can't draw a straight line I enlisted my mother-in-law to mimic the existing top curve.  Then it was time to have fun with power tools.  A jigsaw with a multi-purpose blade was in the saw and seemed to work on a test cut-I think it had 10TPI but could have had 12.  I then sanded this edge and shaped it a little more with 150 grit sandpaper.  You can see in the photo above how much was taken off-about 5 inches and the offending lip.

Since I still had the improvised paint booth up from the rattle can paint job, I hung the windshield up by two mounting holes and proceeded to spray it with some old Krylon black plastic paint.  How old I have no idea, but it covered the plastic.  Unfortunately I got a little heavy handed the first go-round so I had to let it set up, then wetsanded the windscreen with 800 grit paper to get the runs out, and then added a few more coats.  Solid black-which is ok as I look way over it and anything I could see throught the windscreen would be milli-seconds from hitting the bike anyway.  I'd better have dealt wtih it by then!  Also the mounting holes in the new-old windshield were smaller than the bolts to the old-old windshield, so I filed them out.  I could have used a drill as well but wanted to file them.

The next step was to remove the old windscreen but many of  the bolts were seized as they possibly had never been removed.  So I sprayed them with break-free and called it a night.  The next morning they all came loose without too much drama.  Note:  a 13mm box end wrench would have been helpful.  My tool kit and the Kawasaki factory tool kit doesn't have a 13mm wrench so I used a socket where it would fit and pliers were it didn't.  The top two bolts on either side also hold on the inner fairings and the top bolt is fastened by a 14mm flange nut-don't ask me why, I don't know.  Well, I discovered two new problems when removing all these parts.  The joy of riding old bikes!  First the top right mounting hole on the main fairing is damaged and the cracked parts long gone.  9 out of 10 bolts will mount solidly and since this bolt also goes through the right inner fairing it should be ok.  Also the right mirror was missing two nuts on it's mounting bolts, but I caught it before it started wobbling.

All that was then left was lining up the new windshield to the fairing (it actually holds the fairing under tension) and mounting the bolts.  This was relatively drama free and when the new fairing was in place I re-installed the inner fairings and the little grille piece that sits between the instrument cluster and the fairing covering the horns.  I'm pretty happy with it and have ridden just over 100 miles with the new windshield installed.  Let me get a couple more rides and I'll publish a ride report/review and any more tips I may have forgotten.