Silver Cafe V

[Ron_McCoy]

Good job on the baffles Lucky.  I can't really tell that much about the paint.  Maybe you could ride over so I could see it in person.  Burgers and Beer and great riding weather and roads await you.   :) :) ;)

[Night Vision]

looks grreat from here..... the "chrome" down tubes look good against the "chrome" engine...

.... however, it would probably go faster if they were just plain silver  ::)

nice catch on the switched bulbs! that's the kind of stuff that drives 'ya nuts....

[Rick G]

Lucky , it looks much better than I thought it would . I might try it on my XL350.

[Lucky]

Rick, found out today that the paint isn't fuel proof, i put a bit of gumout on a rag and took to the paint in an inconspicus area, which it removed, but i'm going to paint something off the bike with it, let it dry then spray some clear laquer over it.  hopefully it won't crinkle.  if it works i'll clearcoat the paint.

i changed the o-rings on the coolant tubes and had some other adventures too:

http://xz550.spaces.live.com/default.aspx

--Lucky

[Lucky]

BTW, took this thing up & down the side road a couple of times today, i'm still amazed how light & powerful it feels compaired to the weight of the tourer..  almost disconcerting...

I have no doubt it'll pull the front wheel up but not untill:
1) i get used to it,
2) not while it's wearing these tires (they have 1/8" cracks in the sidewall!  :o ) &
3) i gotta find a fork brace

--Lucky

[h2olawyer]

I noticed the same performance difference betweeen Silver V & Tractor.  Is it possible the full fairing takes away THAT much performance?!?  I was going to do a carb swap between them to see if Tractor's carbs are just cleaner - but I haven't since I'm doing the 83 carb swap anyway.

Maybe it's your low back pressure modified stock exhaust.   ;)

H₂O

[Lucky]

Spruced up the guages before work. i'll replace the 25+ year old bulbs before they go back in.
--Lucky

http://xz550.spaces.live.com/default.aspx

[Rick G]

Lucky , just for s***s  and grins  try a small amount of gasoline on it ,  Gumout is a lot more ferocious than gas.

H2o, I had  my  fairing off  for 3 or 4 months (I missed it!)  and didn't notice  any performance differance , maybe it was just me. :D

[Lucky]

my 99c fairing & $32. windshield came today. gotta get a 7" round headlight & fab up mounts for it, but here's a quick test fit:

[Night Vision]

yep, needs a round light. what are you using for a dash there?

[67GTO]

Who says you can't put a square peg in a round hole :)

[Lucky]

NV, you mean that charcole color on either side of the instrument cluster? that's just the inside of the fairing.

[Night Vision]

ok, looked like there was something like the 83 dash behind the speedo

[inanecathode]

Lucky, what kind of tire is on the front?

Are LEDs too focused to use as gauge lighting?

[Rick G]

Got to hand it to you Lucky, you have a great touch . Its really looking great!

[h2olawyer]

Lucky, what kind of tire is on the front?

I'll answer that one -- the front tire appears to be a Cheng Shin Hi-Max.  Looks very similar to the Metzeler ME-33 (older) or Lasertec (newer).

H₂O

[Lucky]

Thanks to NV for alerting me of a 7" round headlight & bucket off an R350 on Ebay, that looks like it was made for the Vision.
I won those with a combined shipping of $35 & change...
pics are on my blog, linked below.


can't wait till they get here!  i'll have to take some last pics of the bike with a rectangular headlight....

--Lucky

[Night Vision]

aawww shucks  :-[    I told Lucky that CDNL suggested that I round up on RedSkunk.... but I do like the aerodynamics of the square one..... so I can wait for another... maybe  ;) 

[Night Vision]

pics are on my blog, linked below.

nice link..... "If we can't fix it..... it's not a Vision"   :D :D :D

[Lucky]

Headlight & bucket came in yesterday. i did a quick mount on the headlight, looks good. it's going to be a job getting all the wires in there though...

set the fairing over it, very tight fit around the headlight ring. the 'ears' on the fairing hit the bars/master cyl/ clutch cable, so i'm gonna have to do some trimming of the fairing & windscreen.   :(  the good thing is that since it's solid plastic i won't have a funny color edge to contend with, just polish it up.

--Lucky