Testing out new camera.

1500 mile trip and no major problems!

Pictures

-lucky strike mike


-cliff owen

Finished!

Bike has been done for about a month now. No real problems after a few hundred miles and I'm proud of it. I'm not covering the Internet with pictures but look for it in Iron Horse Magazine soon.


-Photo Credit: Ben Stockdale

Thanks again for all the support.
-Ed

Mucho tiny reservoir and new master cylinder.

Yep, that will put a stop to things.

Back from powder coat

Aluminum tank stripping and scratching.

Ready for powder coat

Blasting and some John Deere primer.

Hung out with my buddy Bill and bead blasted some parts. Used some John Deere primer and then I'll finish it with Blitzblack.

Get back, where we started

Need to finish up a few welds and then it's off to powder coat.

Tear down time.

Bag and tag.

Old grips

Oil gauge done.

Almost time to tear it all back down and prep for powder coat.

Shorter bars, levers, coil mount, breather mount and such.

Making some hay before vacation.
The coil mounted below my fuse box.


The breather mount is tacked in.


Got a notched threaded bung from bungking.com to hold the NPT union for my oil pressure gauge. I turned down the end to fit. Overkill I know but the lathe makes me giddy. Thanks again for the lathe time Tom.



Bars are much shorter so the clutch pull was funky to say the least. I had a few extra levers so I heated one up until I found a shape that had an easier pull. Cut, file, more file, wire wheel, scotch-brite wheel, and it's done.





Bars done. Gotta work on ditching that ugly brake fluid reservoir.

Seat done. Thanks Xian!

Sent Christian this:


He does this:


http://www.xianleather.com/

Mars bars.

Newer bars.


From original build.




Gonna stick with these and take 2" off each side.

Momma got a fusebox daddy never sleeps at night.

Aluminum spacers for fuse/switch bracket.



Tight and tidy.

Love pipes.

It took a total of 16 pieces to make this set. They tried to kill me but I prevailed.

Front exhausted.

Front pipe is done. Lots of trial and error.

Exhaust Tabs.

Getting off my arse and back to work on this thing.






Hangers next...

Exhausted love.

Finally decided on the exhaust. Honda's 1966 RC116 race bike will provide the inspiration.

Fender frolicking

Cut, trace, cut.


Fender struts and chain tensioner spacers. Tom, thanks for letting me use the lathe.


Done!

Mucho motor mount and final fender mock up.

Yeah...we have a little problem.


I broke a motor mount on my last build so this one will be a bit reinforced. 3/16" angle and flat bar.




Done


Fender time

Oil tank and fender mockup.

Bzzzzzzzzzz


Brackets


Done


Fender mockup.


The end will be rounded. Old mx alloy front fender brace will serve as fender brace. Probably just mount the bottom to the battery box. That other piece of brace is just holding it up for now.




Long


Shorty

Chain tensioner tight.

Done.




Now for the oil tank.

Brake light and plate holder

Used a Fab Kevin brake light/plate on my last bike. Want something a bit different as well as a detachable plate holder. Mounting to axle interfered with my saddle bag and other long trip gear. Time to hack.




Bracket


Weld light backing plate to bracket.


Almost done.


Plate time.


Flatten your bung.


In place.


Done!

Seat done for now.

Oh the humanity. 3/4" round bar drilled out with 15/32"


The bottom of this piece sits on the air bladder post. The top part is welded to seat pan. Now all I have to do is make another just like this one.


Ready to be covered.

Seat post.

Cut some bolts and make some holes.


Top side finished. Now on to the back side.


Done.

Seat Position

A bit more upright than last build. Time to set hinge.

Half moon.


Ready to weld.


Hinge mount.


Seat hinge.

Air seat bracket and mini air tank done.

Tube that matches frame with some .75" round bar.



Make end caps with .75" round bar. Note little holders


Weld in caps then drill two holes for NPT bungs.


Weld in bungs and test for air tight. Weld in mini air tank to frame and put in the air bladders. Bladders get about .75" shorter when inflated.

Air seat started, radial master cylinder converted and fender.

Started work on the air seat. Mucho thick steal for nada bend.


Now it's DOT5. Hope it works.


Aluminum fender arrives.

Steering damper done

Will shorten the bars even more so this will help out with those 90mph tank slappers.

Strong battery box a bit stronger.

Battery is so tight in the box there's no room for mounting bolts. Took .25" angle and welded it up to box leaving a gap. Put the allen head bolts through the holes in the battery box, screw them in and now they countersink. May use the box to support mini fender struts so it needs to be stout.

Rear tank mount strap.

Need bungs



Bungs and recessed caps. Thanks bungking.com


Metal for hooks


Bend


Bang


Almost there


Just about


Done!

Sprocket alignment

The mother of all sockets!

The forks stop here.

Made some adjustable fork stops just in case I want to use another tank. Then is was off to weld in the mucho nice tabs for my tank strap.









Tabs for tank strap.

Megaphones put in reverse arrive.

My previous build used some megaphones that were 20 years old and showed signs of my ugly welds.

UPS man put these at my door today.





Want a set? Give the guys a call: 714-467-6568.

Brake pedal installed and fumes!

Scored another cover on ebay but it was painted. I see trails...

Yep, pass the Scotch-Brite


Done


Brake pedal and groovy NOS points cover installed

70 degrees in January? Good times yesterday!

Finding those hard to find parts.

So you finally get that funky Aermacchi aluminum tank you want. Now, where do you find the fuel valve and cap for 30 year-old tank? eBay you say. Right but after you get crap that doesn't fit and you spend hours on Google you tend to give up. Now what size cork do I need???

There's this thing called (no pun intended) the phone and sometimes you have to pick it up.
It wasn't on their website but after a phone call I struck gold.

http://www.motomacchi.com/

Hacking up stock brake pedal

Gettin' parts.

Aluminum and stainless fetish

First Tank Mockup

1977 HD MX-250 Aluminum tank. Aermacchi love.

new sprocket

Stuck rotor bolts. Broken bolt extractors. Yuck.

New triple and bars for the ghettofighter.

Stock clip-ons replaced with LSL triple tree, risers and bars.

Ratty GSXR Project

My other project. Picked this up cheap in late September. 1997 GSXR 600. Needed wheel bearings, wiring, carb cleaning, plugs, chain, sprockets, and such.

First thing, throw away all plastics.

Poor Man's Tube Notcher

The cheapo way I notched my mini air tank earlier this year.
Finding all those air leaks. There's no cheap way to do it but I finally got it right.

It turned out great. Too bad it went away with the old frame.

Gypsy Run Video

Includes some old pics of the bike.

Keep rollin rollin rollin.

On the last bike I made a mini air tank that looked like a frame rail. Atlas sent me one with my frame and included a set of fender struts just like the ones I made.

The frame arrives!

Looks good to me. Two inches shorter in the backbone.

Mucho stiff neck.