Sep 16, 2009 New seat and tire

Here are the latest pics. (i've since replaced the bad white wall shown in the first two pics, with the tire shown in the third pic).

Anyways, I replaced the seat with one from a 2004 sportster xl (2up). The ride is a lot more comfortable. I also removed the drag bar and added a supersport handlebar turned upside down (I'll switch it right side up for longer rides). It rides like a cafe now.

In addition, I got a new rear tire so no more fake white wall (couldn't find a white wall in the needed size).

I fixed the charging issues and some of the carb issues. But still struggling with the carb. It runs just fine but is rich at idle, but lean at speed. But not terribly so that I'm worried about it as it is a blast to ride and will leave good enough alone for the rest of summer.

I've been riding this bike everyday since the last post. It never fails to turn heads or get great comments.

May 17, 2009 Woo hoo! Almost done (for the moment).

The project is almost complete. Runs... ok, but still need to get the carbs tuned right, fix charging issues, and a few odds and ends. Rode it to church and back today (20 min each way) and it did ok. It started idling too high, somehow the fast idle screw seems to move as I ride.

Anyways the latest mods: New 3-1 header (wrapped), lifted the tank about 3 inches in the front, new petcocks, tail light from a 32 ford "Model A" and of course engine paint.




(FYI, The guy in the top right of the picture challenged me to a race. I declined as I didn't want to be embarrassed if he smoked me.)

Apr 28, 2009 My unwise decision... another bike

I thought I could buy another bike and fix it to sell, but I was a little to eager. I bought an 82 Yamaha Virago. Over all, it isn't to bad except needs new exhaust, starter, batter and the engine is seized. I didn't know about the seized engine and learned my lesson about inspecting before I buy. Not that is was a terribly bad deal, just more work than i had hoped. I think I save this work for next year.

Engine paint

I painted the engine flat black with copper accents. Hopefully this will go well with the army green paint.

Mar 16, 2009 New gas tank, headlight & speedo

Found that the old tank has worse rust than I'd like. Combine that with two questionable petcocks, I've decided to try an aftermarket gas tank. It is not a perfect fit so I'll have to work to make the mounts fit.

Once I find out how to mount the tank, I'll send it off to be powder coated army green.

I've also added a smaller headlight and a real tiny speedometer (got rid of the big ugly speedo/tach/signal box). I hid the wires under the gas mask, but the wiring is not done yet... I hate electrical work!

Maiden Voyage

I took her out for her first real run (more that just the neighborhood street). She runs good, but still needs to be tuned. The seat isn't as supportive as I'd like as I feel like I'm going slide off the back each time that torque kicks in.

There are some electrical issues as well... When I stopped to fill up the tank, she wouldn't start again due to a dead battery (brand new by the way). I think my rectifier is bad.

New seat

I got inspired and made a new seat out of a $10 leather vest found at the thrift store. Foam base is from a $3 kids pool float (think thick exercise mat) and two memory foam shoe inserts for my buttocks and some foam found at the craft store.

I have a smaller headlight and smaller speedo coming. Going to simplify that whole area. Also have manual petcocks coming as the vacuum ones are crap.