Pics are in!!!

Non-Proof pics have arrived!

Plus this one below shows the paint in the sun, plus notice there are no badges, they were my dads idea I prefer no badges it leaves people guessing what it is.

Shocking News!

The Bros rear shock has finally arrived from Hagon they have a build time of 4 weeks and it costs around £400. Other than looking really cool in red it has completely transformed the bike's handling characteristics for the good. With stronger brakes, stiffer forks and now a new rear shock the bike really does handle alot better than it ever has. This along with the new front tyre make it a treat to ride.

SHINY!

My Dad has decided to go touring on the bike to the South of France, I have fitted a 12V charger onto his bike this can take a satnav or phone charger it was a very simple part that simply bolted on a took a bit of chopping and routing to make it look as standard as possible.

New Footpegs

On my last couple of bikes I customised the original footpegs. This firstly adds detail and hopefully good aesthetics to the bike but it also sheds weight which is a huge bonus.

On these footpegs I wanted them to follow the contours that the seat unit will have, I wanted them to be sharp and shiny like the frame.

I started by covering them in masking tape and marking out design ideas over the top in biro this took many attempts to find a design I liked. Finally I decided on a random pattern using random sized holes. I found either clear lines all of the same size holes or random lines with random holes sizes works well. Straight lines with random hole sizes dont look right. Maybe thats just me.

I marked out most of the holes I wanted and centre punched every one of them, once the drilling was completed I cut off two sides of the foot peg so they ended at a point then I ground down the other side so at either end there was a point.

After deburring the holes I started rubbing down the surface from 120 to 1200 wet and dry. Then polished up the side. Due to a simple and small surface area this only took an afternoon to polish both.

Below you can see how I tried to make to foot peg follow the lines of the chassis.

Rubbing Down Begins

A huge job on this bike is the frame which has been previously polished but not very well it has to be said. The previous attempt left the bike with a few gauges alot of random original paint and all together a bit of a rush job.

I plan to start this job again but will take alot more care im my preparation. I will start by angle grinding the air vent welds and the cast parts of the frame. I will progress onto 120 grit paper and begin to rub the rough spots of the frame by hand.

 I will remove as much of the original paint as I can and I also plan to rub down and paint parts of the frame that aren't being polished to make the whole frame look fresh and new.

The engine mounts that comedown off of the frame will be rubbed down and painted satin black.

These air vents have no function on this bike, I have decided to smooth the welds around them and spray them satin black I think this will contrast well with the polished frame.

Clearance issues!

Once the clock mount was on the yokes could finally hold the new bars for the bike. However with a bigger master cylinder off of a Hayabusa there was an issue with clearance.
With the bars central and the throttle grip flush with the end of the bar the master cylinder banjo bolt was fouling the top yoke.
I decided to cure this with extra spacers or risers, I went to a friends workshop in Swanley (Steven Fellows Engineering) There I used his lathe to produce four ally spacers all around 20mm high which is more than enough. These were made to be within a +- 0.1mm tolerance.
Another job that required the lathe was the top nut. The original was in poor shape so a replacement was bought however it didnt have enough clearance to tighten down it would bottom out because it is a domed nut. This was put into a lathe and skimmed along the top until the hole was big enough for the screw to come all the way through the nut. I prefer the aesthetics of this to a domed nut, it looks alot more industrial and custom.

I will explain all the dust in the next post!!!

Clock Mounts

My next job on the bike was to make mounts for the clocks, The originals bolts onto the headstock, this means the clocks needed to clear the forks and stuck out at the front of the bike. This looks silly on a naked bike so I decided to make a new mount that used two M8 tapped holes on the top yoke as a mounting point.

This means the clocks will now turn along with the bars and it will all be alot neater at the front end. I used two ally spacers and some 20x3 steel flat bar to make the mount, I started by welding two plates onto the original clock mounts so the bolts holes were still in the correct place once all the MIG welding was complete I set about chopping all the bits off that were no longer needed.

Once they were mounted they needed more trimming to stop them fouling the ignition barrel but other than that they fitted a treat and the 30 degree angle for the clocks is perfect when sat on the bike.

TIG Time

 This is a plate that needed to go on the back of the seat unit, it will mount the rear seat unit, unlike the BROS i've decided to make this a removable part so I can take it off and grind bits down and clean it up a if needs be.

The edges have been bent up to add a bit of rigidity to the plate. The plate needed two holes drilled so it can be bolted to the subframe. This may need extra brackets welded onto it to hold the brake light which is yet to arrive. Or the seat unit that maybe made from ally of steel im not yet decided.

Freshening up the Front End

The stantion bottoms on the EXUP were looking very dated so I decided to rub them down and give them a lick of paint plus new chrome or stainless bolts.

 This is a front wheel i had lying around its there holding the bike up whilst the original rim is getting a new bridgestone tyre.

The locking bolts at the bottom have been replaced for stainless allen bolts.

 The rims were given a good clean with the discs off. The calipers have new chrome head bolts just to make it look a little fresher.

New rubber to match the back, the only thing left is the mudguard that needs a lick of paint.

Giving the Yam a Nip and Tuck

Work on the subframe has begun, fist steps were to smooth down all of the lugs where previous bars and mounts had been cut off. Then sloppy welds were smoothed over. An L section bar was welded across the back to make it rigid. This may act as a mounting spot for the brake light which will be a unit off of a Yam yzf 125 r.

This is andys over head welding which was a tad messy but air tight which is all that counts.

This is TIG welding at its best no filler rod just heat continuous seam of even welds.

The plastic under tray was chopped to make it flush with the subframe this will improve the lines of the bike and make it appear slimmer.

The undertray is bolted to the subframe at the rear and the front. The next step is to make a rear bump stop for the seat and start to make templates for the ally panels either side of the subframe.

Smile!!!

Last Sunday me and Dad were invited to go to a bike meet at Vikind Vinyls Seat Covers by Lee Hutchings hes a great guy and has done all the custom and standard seat units for all my bikes, hes fast cheap and really good.
He has a plot in Swanley right next to Brands Hatch.

Anyway at the meet there was a photographer that wanted to get a few pics of the bike, here they are!!

Welding Begins!!!

After depriving the Yam of its rear end I decided to give it all a good degrease and clean around the frame mounts and on the front sprocket cover. It was covered in the usual mixture of road gunk and chain lube.

The bike will be getting a new Hagon rear shock that will look very nice with new cleaned frame mounts and a fresh finish on the swinging arm.

The original exhaust mount had been bent and corroded out of recognition so i decided to cut it back until there was good solid steel to weld onto, then clean it up and TIG on some 50mm diamter pipe 12swg.
Thankfully my best mate Andy is a dab hand at TIG pipe welding. Hes normally working with much thinker gauge steel so it was a challenge. Plus the join had literally no clearance. I like to challenge him!

The pipe looks like its sticking out pissed and that's because it is. I will cut it down and re weld it once i've put the old swinging arm and shock onto make sure we have clearance when the suspension is at max extension, also to make sure it doesn't melt the riders right foot.

Yamaha Cleans up Nicley!

Parts off to Crawley powder coaters always use them never let me down!!

So with the rear end off of the yam and the bits leaving me for powder coating I was left with the messy job of degreasing and greasing which sounds less satisfying than it is. The main suspension linkage was first and needed to be cleaned with brake cleaner and a rag then greased with lithium grease. All the bolts were given the same treatment.

The rear wheel has just had a new tyre Bridgestone Battlax BT016the front will has a new one waiting for it. I cleaned up the paint on the wheels and they come up lovely.
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Nice balancing act on the EXUP valve!

The chain had loads of life left in it but looked a state so I degreased that too and will cover it on every side with spray on chain lube.

T

The main bearing that went through the bottom of the shock needed taking out and cleaning because it was a 360 degrease ball joint and completely seized!!!

I used a threaded rod and a socket to push it out and regreased it on its way back in along with the rubber seal that had a clean up and a smear of rubber grease.

Yamahas Coming Along!

So the new RHS switch gear has turned up for the EXUP the carbs are back in the heat sheild is polished up and all the mounts have been given a wire wheel and paint. Plus new rubber hoses just to complete the refreshed look.

With a splash of new fuel and alot of choke the bike was running today and it sounded lovely maybe because it didnt have a silencer fitted yet.

This is the silencer we have bought to go on the bikeit will poke out just under the riders right foot.
Its a straight through cone made from titanium. Its made ny TYGA performance and is called a TYGA maggot moto and it just looks so sexy (I think!).

And yes its the same end can as the Bros 650.

The next job on the EXUP is to get the sheet metal and welding rods for a mate of mine to TIG up the subframe and finish that off so I can start designing and making the seat unit out of sheet ally.

Also the swinging arm is going off to be powder coated gloss black and were getting a new rear shock the bike is balancing on the bench for now. All the linkages will need to be taken off degreased and painted and then regreased and assembled.