I should have extended the fender out a bit more to allow some extra room for the tail light and license plate. My next fabrication will involve building the truss for holding these bits. It will bolt directly to the underside of the fender.
Pardon the ailing calla lilies; they were just transposed from another location where Sarah and I plan on sheet mulching.
Yeah, I can hear the insides rusting too. I myself just got my Wiseco piston the other day. There is one noteworthy piece of advice my machinist passed on to me about using a forged piston, which is that you should let it heat cycle, a process that someone with your level of patience should have no problem with, jusdging by your pace so far. Then again it seems to be more about the working on it than the riding.
ReplyDeleteYou have everything in place and ready to run the bike. Start it and let it get up to operating temperature, 200 degrees or so should do it. You can rev it up if you like. Let it cool all the way down to ambient temperature again. Repeat this process twice and it is ready to start up again and ride normally. More details as to why tomorrow for you.
Good work. One step closer to glorious ass cushionery. You should spend a good bit of time considering license plate bracketry that is a little bit playful. Not like these guys who are begging to get pulled over because you see their bike and say, "was that bike even plated?", but just a little flip up angle. And with that headlight you've got, a little round taillight seems to be in order. I know you better than to put on some damned flush mount sportbike garbage signals, but I've got no ideas for you there, pal.
As for the ailing calla lilies, what is sheet mulchine, mang? ees that like manure? Using sheet?
thanks for the commentary joel.
ReplyDeletewe'll be doing a comprehensive sheet mulching exercise this weekend documented here.
aft lighting harness with plate holder will be a challenge. I don't see much a way around having the plate tilted up a bit which does annoy LEOs but usually riding like an idiot is what really pisses them off so hopefully I will not be on their radar. I don't like the lights that much (you never really know what you're gonna get with mail order) but will try to make the assembly appear cute.
Before that, tho, I will be plumbing the tank and sealing her up, so maybe a heat cycle will be on order in the not too distant future.
Great job you've done there so far. I've been patiently following you build all the way from far away in India. I'm building an RD Cafe racer myself and use the internet as a source of inspiration and patience. I usually do things in a very hurried manner, my age probably has something to do with it, but this time around i'm taking it slow. And you're my inspiration for patience and proof that anything is possible with it.
ReplyDeleteI have a question though and wondering if you might oblige. How do you intend to get the seat cushioning on. Will you have a separate seat base that bolts on to what you have or will you just stick the sponge on to the current setup. Or should i just hang on, master the art of patience to see what must follow ;)
Cheers
Josh
buggedshutter.blogspot.com
Thansk for the kind words, Josh. You can surely go at a faster pace than me and still keep the project under control by a) not having a job, and b) not having a girlfriend. Presto! I kid, I kid.
ReplyDeleteThe seat cushion will be the easy part and probably the last thing I'll do for the bike. For now, i'll just duct tape an old teddy bear to the seatpan and call it good.
When I get around to it, I'll form another layer of fiberglass around the existing seat pan with some PVA mold release so that it comes off easily, and use this molded piece to glue the seat foam to. Attachment will be Velcro. Shouldn't be too hard. Lot of cafe guys do the same thing I think.
Definitely take your time with the RD. That bike should be almost there for a nice cafe build. Just get it running really well first, then go about modding it and you'll be fine.
Like your photo blog.