Does this fender make my ass look fat?

Trimmed!

I took about 5 inches off the fender today and an inch off the sissybar mounts. This brought the lower edge of the fender to about 1.5" from the lip of the tire. Makes it look a bit cleaner all in all.



The part that mounts to the frame is going to move downwards about 2 or 3 inches. And I am also going to use a 1 1/4" piece of angle iron for the mount there. That way I have a wider section to mount the fender to get less flex. It is still a bit further away from the fender than I want. But better than the 2.5" it was.

I still have to clean up the parts of the sissybar I cut down. Get the steel a bit thinner so it won't eat up the cush drive and also just to make it a bit more presentable. I will wait to finalize the mount for my fender until I get the angle iron on the frame. So I will do the mounts and the fills just right.



See that twisted square stock just looks killer. I also dug out an old side mount for the plate. I will get a cheapo taillight to mount to it from some chain store. I think Wal-Mart carries that stuff. It looks like that money and all my plans will be going to pot. So what parts I can recycle or at least cope with are going to stay. And only in the worst cases will I bother with a replacement. Really it is either that, or wait. And like I have already said. I need to ride, dammit.

Update

I went and took the paint off the fender. I thought I had cut off the worst of the damage. Apparently not.

That's right under the paint and putty were a few more holes.

And


It looks like I will have a fender to weld up to.

But a plus is that I cleaned up the end cut on the fender so it looks a lot better.



And while I was grinding I figured that I would get the sissybar straightened out also. So I cleaned up the mounts and took a bit of the extra material out where the bolts mount. Now I have some actual clearance between the cush drive and the bolts.



This means I can move the tire further in without making contact with anything.

I also began the primering on my girder but I ran out of rattle can. I will get some tomorrow and post some after pics then.

A list to end all lists.

I am getting to the end of the worst of this. Now it is time to finally compile the list.

I need to get this list out, so I don't forget or get surprised by something stupid and simple. 'Cuz I would lose my ass if it weren't attached.

So here I go...

9 feet of 1" tubing.

3 feet of something to use as a plugs. Both of these are for the frame repairs. Plus a little extra 1" stuff to make a broomstick bar and risers.

Gaskets for the shifter and kickstarter. They look pretty ratty and I am sure they will leak from first kick. I have material to make the rest of the gaskets.

I need a throttle assembly. I have a beat to death Honda one, but I would like to ditch it. Then again depending on how my wallet does I may have to just run it. And if I do, I will need 7/8" tubing for bars. Shit.

I am planning on making a new manifold for the carbs. I want to ditch the four carbs and go with a single stock one. But being the headcase I am, I am not going to build a log manifold. Thankfully I have enough room behind the motor to do a 4-1.

Cheap Autozone or Kragen exhaust tubing. Yep, gonna make them myself. And no I don't care how they look, so long as they fit and are long enough to keep from cooking my valves.

I need a set of sprockets and a chain.

I also that damn nut and washer that hold it together. Maybe I can get over to Pick-a-Part next week and filch one from a CB500 or something.

I need a new throttle cable, front and rear brake cables, and something for a clutch cable. Though I think I may just pilfer a parking brake cable from the salvage yard for that too. I am going with a jockey set up. Using a 6 iron for the handle. Fuck yeah yard sale freebies rock.

I want to make a distributor ignition for this thing too, but money and time are probably not gonna let me get it done as fast as I want. So I need to get the last pieces of the stock ignition prepped out. A plug boot and maybe an extra set of points.And I guess the plugs and other crap too.

Then of course wiring. Headlight, taillight, and... fuck it, probably nothing else. I am going with a low rent trailer taillight from Wal-Mart or something. Gotta keep the Chinese in Reeboks.

I am going to mount my cheap ass speedometer, but doubt I will bother with a cable. This is enough to keep a cop happy at 15'. And I like to keep cops happy and 15' or more away from me. Because when they get closer, bad things seem to happen to me. Like my mouth tends to open up and spew out stuff that gets me a free ride in bracelets.

Battery, Oil, filter, Krylon, this list keeps getting longer and longer. And I really don't like it.

Lost weekends

I didn't touch anything on the bike this week. Got wrapped up in a little bit of my own crap. Even when you see the train wreck ahead, it can still catch you by surprise. And leaving you wondering what happened to the last year of your life. When did everything change. And why it happened.

I am waiting on some cash to come my way soon and I have already found a steel supplier that has the stuff I need to get my frame situated. I am gonna hopefully see the money this week. Then spend a few days getting all the pieces ready for welding.

I also got my title situation mostly figured out. So if it all comes together I will have new plates and a repaired frame before the month is out.

I need the bike on the road soon. I need to get some time to think and I have always felt closer to the world when I am on the road. When I can toss the miles and memories to the side and think about that next turn in the road and the next mile before me.

A dud of a weekend.

My wallet thinned out on me this weekend. So my work was kinda limited. Grabbed the rear wheel and began to fit the fender and seat. And it is confirmed. The seat will not play nice with the sissy bar.



If you sight it, the mount for the sissy bar and the rear of the seat are off. No matter how I set the seat it will not line up right. The only way I can get the rear right is kick the seat and fender forward. And the lines would be screwed up. The seat is really designed for a bike with a longer rear section.

Oh and dammit, if the cush drive doesn't hit the nut for the sissy bar...



Now I have to figure out what the hell I am going to do about that. I am going to try and spin the bolt around and use the hex side to the inside.It is a bit shallower than the nut. But that means I will have to clean up the outside. I bought hex heads to make it cleaner to look at, and now that one went to hell too.

Plus the fender is not quite as wide as the tire. I am going to need at least a 6" wide fender to not have the tire sticking out the sides. I wonder if they make 6" trailer fenders.

I did get the rear drum scrubbed out and cleaned out the cush drive. A lot of grit and grime back there. I also cleaned out the bearings of all the old caked in grease. Now all I got to do is repack the bearings and I will have the ass end unsituated.

I also need to get some extra washers for the rear axle. The P.O. had some screwball ideas on how to set up the rear. Now I have inherited their ideas, and those ideas have to go.

Gutted

The tank, that is. Got up on Easter and started the running around for stuff. I picked up some 1/4 20 stainless nuts and cap screws for the fender, sissy bar and oil bag. Then I went looking for tools I could convert to metalworking use. My first stop was Harbor Freight. Closed... What, you would think today was important or something. Oh well, I guess not everyone can be a godless heathen. So I cruised my way over to Lowes. They are a corporation, so God doesn't matter when there is a profit to be made.

And after browsing around, I got this....

The house brand tack hammer and a piece of baseboard. The tack hammer has nice lightly contoured edges and a small footprint. And the baseboard chunk is a handy dolly. And for less than $10 dollars it was the perfect addition to my tool bag.



You can see the bondo repairs from before on the left of the tank. One was pretty deep. Almost like a chunk of metal or something whacked it. So the filler was thicker than I like. Plus I want to avoid bondo, if I can.



Right now almost the entire dent is out. I have a small low spot to attend to, but that shouldn't be too bad. I still need to get a flap disk for my grinder and get the scrapes out of the steel. When I used the body file, I wound up gouging the metal. I get a bit overzealous when it consists of tearing shit apart.



But there is hardly any rust in the tank. It is very nice shape for a tank that obviously has been around a few days. So a bit of scotchbrite to the innards and that will be as good as new.

I do have some plans for the tank. I want to lower the tunnel, not to the point of being "Frisco" like but just nudge it up a bit in the front and also make the tunnel itself a bit slimmer also. It will also give me a bit more capacity which is always good.



I began to fit the seat and fender last night also and found this little issue. Nothing wants to line up right. I only did a quick assesment but am stuck with just a couple of options.

1. Replace the fender and sissy bar to better fit the arc of the seat. I don't like this one, because I really like the way the twisted sissy bar looks and am a cheap bastard so I don't feel like replacing the fender if I can help it.

2. Replace the seat. Maybe I trade the king/queen set-up for a solo seat and then make a p-pad. Which could be a workable route also.

Tonight, if I have the time, I think I am going to take a real careful look at all of my options. Part of me is thinking I might be able to make some adjustments to the sissy bar to change the angle of the fender, but I am not sure if I have enough room to cut it down.

Just something to laugh at.

I saw this on both hondachopper.com and jockeyjournal.com . I know it is scripted, but still good for a laugh.



The kids are supposed to be spending the night with their grandparents, so I am gonna try and cut open the tank tonight. If I get it open, I'll post some progress pics.