Decided to fix up the parts bike vision. Not in an ordinary way though. It will include the following:
Solo seat, longer end cap/hinged tail piece
All electrics including battery relocated behind the solo seat
Brushed bare tank (clear coat to keep the rust off)
Custom dual exhaust
Drag bars/napolean mirrors
Relocated idiot lights
Eliminated ignition, cutoff switch under the tank
Stripped/clear coated radiator/steel braided lines (covers or otherwise)
Round headlight
Relocated turn signals front and back
Removed passenger peg brackies, relocated pegs
Ambitious, yes. Doable, maybe. Just something to play with. Kinda a cheap project to, other than some fiberglass and foam it's going to mostly just be elbow grease.
Got a stud puller to pull the dents on the parts bike tank (has a massive dent in it), painting that one and putting it on the green machine, then brushing the green bike tank down to bare metal because it's without body work or external rust at all. Trick so far is getting the color even. Looks a bit blotchy so far, not sure if its the metal itself, burn off from the brush, or i'm not being thourough enough.
Anyway, stay tuned!
Concept drawing (excuse the paint and tiredness)
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f40/inanecathode/visioncafeconcept.jpg)
8) Hmmm, looks a wee bit like something I've toyed with for my next "V" project...A Vision cafe racer... ;)
I say go for it inane... 8)
8).......TIGER....... 8)
you'll have to work out something with the brake pedal if you do away with the right side peg mount
Yeah, it'll have its own new bracket further down and behind of the stock location. I'm not good enough at paint to make a new peg and pedal on there, just imagine it's right above the bend in the exhaust going into the can.
You sir, are a mad man!
Yup :D
GOOD LORD! Brushing that damn tank is REALLY hard. Just takes damn forever, my rustoleum job and the primer just melt off, the factory paint is actually quite hard and slippery, so the brush really doesn't dig in it too good. Once the factory paint is off, theres this weird galvanized/plated/anodized layer of what looks like metal over the bare metal thats a real bear to get off. Once i get a spot started it's somewhat easy to move the heat around it seems with the brush and get it off.
I experimented with some abrasives to even out the color and brush lines of the finished brushed areas, and by far those green rectangular scrubby pads do the best job, it's really night and day between un-scrubbied metal and scrubbied metal. Really seems to pop with the scrubby.
Haven't finished the tank yet, lots of bending over is giving me a headache.
Oh, and the coolest thing ever is when the brush throws a wire and it comes shooting off the wheel like a bullet. Left arm has half a dozen or so pin pricks and lines from the wires, one got my face too (eye protection, no worries) hurt like the dickens.
Started pondering what to do about how to mount the bars. Already 90 percent decided on making/finding/getting made clamping blocks to replace the clamping effect of the risers and provide a mounting spot for the flat bar.
swap your risers, right to left, and turn them upside down. instant low boys
...
Actually that's not a bad freakin idea, i'll look at the bike tomorrow.
Really, that might not be a bad idea...
just ran out there and looked, looks like if i flipped the 82 risers the bars would end up waaaaay too low. Maybe with 83 risers, but where am i going to get a pair of those? lol
I said they'd be low
Haha, not that low though :o
Tank about half done:
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f40/inanecathode/halfdonetank.jpg)
If you want to strip that tank much easier, use Tal-Strip. Its a chemical stripper and made very easy work of getting the paint off. I posted about it last summer when I stripped and primed the NOS tank I got off ebay.
David
I actually have some chemical stripper, called 'strypeeze' the heavy duty variety. It works alright, but it stops at the factory paint. I tried just taking the factory paint off and leaving that extra metal layer, but it didnt touch it.
Not like brushing is impossible, it just takes forever. You all are going to like how it looks though :D
Thinking of graphics too. Going to design something when i get home, picture a lemon shaped oval with either XZ550 or Vision in cursive in it, perhaps do some checkered pin striping as well.
I did a bit of drawing on how the bar clamps will work, i believe it's workable if i can convince my girlfriends dad to help me make an cad print of it and have him give it to the machinists at his work. They'll end up being L shaped pieces that clamp the tubes and have a small tower with threads that accepts a top clamp piece to hold the bars in. I'll either go with straight bars in which case i'd just have to buy them, or go to a slightly swept flat bar, in which case i'll probably have to make them or have them made as i dont know of a bar that has such a long straight middle section.
and what about that plenum that goes through the tank
Eh? You mean the one that sucks womens clothes off or?
Thinking of instead of the dual oval/flat cans, i might go with a more retro look:
(http://www.canyontraders.com/Vincent_Blk_Lightning.jpg)
Shorter 'pea shooter' end, slightly wider expansion, but you get the idea.
Have you been sniffing the scooby snacks again?
GlennW
Lol no, but it's tempting honestly
Bwahaha I am the dent master! Along with kwells (making sure i don't get cooked too well done should i catch on fire) i pulled the dents out of the parts bike tank. Pretty interesting process that studwelder. I've never used one before, so kinda a learning process. Load a stud, press it up against the metal until the outer ring touches, hold the trigger down for a second, pull it away and you've a spot welded rod you attach your slide hammer to. Just yank gently on the slide and the dent just pulls right out. I got a bit nuts on the slide hammer and pulled a couple holes in the tank (literally grabs a little circle of metal and removes it) that i'll have to solder up later, but the massive dent in the top of the tank is now gone and the small dent on the upslope of the top of the tank is now mostly gone. All that's left to do to the tank before it goes on the green bike is:
Grind the studs off
Solder in the holes
POR the tank
Strip/prep/paint the tank
I've done two of these things before so it shouldnt take long.
The brushed steel tank is still a work in progress, i've got some holes to solder up, more paint to brush off, and por this tank as well. Should turn out fine.
Something really weird i've noticed. I've had the brushed tank exposed bare steel for the better part of a week and i see no signs of flash rusting, it's as shiney as it's been ever. The parts bike tank though, a single drop of water and it instantly flash rusts. I've had the brushed tank literally overflowing with water for an hour, dried, another hour, dried, and still no rust. Does it have anything to do with the less oxygen up here? Or maybe it's because i've got water thats pH around 8.5 and i assume city tap water runs somewhere under 7
I've got my girlfriends dad real interested in doing some cad drawings for the new triple tree clamps, and i'm seeing if i can't fenagle a deal with a mechanic buddy of mine to bend me up some tube so i might can do scrambler pipes on parts bike. I like these quite a bit: (http://www.cmgonline.com/articles/CMG02/bikes/2003Models/Triumph/Bonnie_Scrambler/BigP/Triumph_Scrambler_rhf.jpg)
Oh, engine doesnt run, should probably figure that out at some point.
PS. This bike's gonna be freakin cool, i assure yall will like it muchly :D
Here's pics of the tank work so far...looks like a porcupine
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/kwellzz/vision/grayvisiontank5.jpg)
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/kwellzz/vision/grayvisiontank4.jpg)
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/kwellzz/vision/grayvisiontank3.jpg)
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/kwellzz/vision/grayvisiontank2.jpg)
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/kwellzz/vision/grayvisiontank1.jpg)
Thanks kwells :D
Just gotta finish brushing the parts bike tank down and solder up the holes on it, por it, and i should be fine
think there might be some filler to get it right also
Lord! Making this fiberglass end cap is singularly the most difficult process i've ever attempted. Theres so many angles that have to be right, so many parts to cut out slots for, so many different ways things can go wrong. I'll be happy when this is over with. The right side panel of the end cap is done. All i have to do is fit up the left side, angle and cut the tops of both sides down to accomodate the top portion. Cut the side angles of the top down. Sculpt and sand the proper body lines, glue the pieces together, reenforce the pieces together, glass the mold, melt out the foam (all that hard work gone :'() trim the glass down, fit the glass on the bike, mount hinge brackets on the bike, mount hinge brackets on the end cap, mount a latch on the frame, latch on the cap, remove the end cap, prime it, paint it (black, of course), install water tight foam molding all the way around it and THEN i'm done.
Yikes.
Parts bike tank hasn't been touched since a few days ago, i'm trying to figure out the process of how to finish it. Should i brush the whole tank down to the metal, exposing holes and rust spots, solder the holes, leave the rust spots THEN por it? Or should i solder the holes i have uncovered, por it, then brush it down to metal?
Opinions?
http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product?storeId=10101&Pr=p_Product.CATENTRY_ID%3A2006251&TID=231000000&TID=231000000&productId=2006251&catalogId=10101
Yarrrr! Now all i need is to figure out where i want my exhaust to be, two sided? one sided? straight back and low? Straight back and high? out the front as kwells suggested?
Anyway, parts bike tank will be pored, then finished brushing (non flammable after it's pored), then clear coated. Still have to
Hmmm, am i weird for wanting to make everything myself?
Im thinking that isnt the reason
:P
I was thinking that it had something to do with those scooby snacks.
That's definitely a possiblity :o
I discussed this with kwells already, but would it be easier to replace the engine in the vision rather than find out why theres no compression then possibly replacing the offending head?
If the engine is otherwise good, figure out what's wrong & fix it. There are quite a few people with extra engine parts. No sense in tossing an entire engine that just needs a piston, cylinder, valves and / or head.
Just my $0.02
H2O
I would probably replace the engine if it needed a piston, i wouldnt want to split the case to be honest..
Pictuuuuuuures!
Tank going on the green bike getting some bondo work (kinda difficult on a giant wavy section like this, ended up putting 2 coats on the thing to rectify the pittyness the first coat had, not sure how it'll be after the second coat but:
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f40/inanecathode/bondotank.jpg)
The vetter fairing headlight someone taped on the cb750 looks like it'll be pretty much a bolt match to the vision, i'll have to relocate the electrics in the bucket to a rubber boot or something i'm sure:
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f40/inanecathode/headlight.jpg)
I've ordered 2 orange (turn signals) one red (oil light) one blue (brights) and one green (neutral) and one more blue (illuminate the gauge) prewired 12vdc LEDs to replace the idiot light box that's going away on the parts bike. http://www.theledlight.com/wired_leds.html is where i got them.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Item=220126145166 is going to replace the entire gauge assembly on the parts bike (one on the green bike is trashed, and the one thats on the parts bike looks really nice, so it's going on the green bike
I'll be making a foam enclosure that fits both the leds and the bicycle computer, i'll then impregnate the foam with resin to make it solid and drillable, then i'll put a piece of plexiglass over the whole thing with pins to operate the computer without letting water in :D
Quote from: inanecathode on June 30, 2007, 01:38:44 PM
...but would it be easier to replace the engine in the vision rather than find out why theres no compression then possibly replacing the offending head?
I'm sure samsr would LOVE to let you take his sitting in his garage. ;)
That's a good point you know... It IS just sitting there... Good head on it too :D
Due to the dual front down pipes and single Y rear pipe i think i'm going to go for a 4 into 4 with each pipe being one port off each head. I dont really have a way of making a front Y pipe is the reason. Not sure if it'll affect performance or not...
Woot! I've got my bike computer in:
(http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f40/inanecathode/gauges.jpg)
It was really cheap, 5 bucks, off ebay. I like it cheap though, because all it is is a calculator, it accepts wheel sizes up to 9999 millimeters, goes up to infinite speed (not infinite, but same difference). It's got average speed, top speed, distance traveled, timer, odometer, time, date, and a bunch of other stuff i can't remember. Anyway, it's bitchin, and its super small. Just waiting on my led's to wire up a new gauge cluster for the V :D
Got my led's in today. Focusing on the mystery machine until it's rideable, then monkey around with the parts bike at night or when i'm not riding.
Tank thats going on the parts bike! I cant seem to solder the holes closed, so it's JB weld on it...
JB weld on a brushed steel tank? Well you'll just have to wait to see what it looks like after i'm done ;)
Are you soldering or brazing? Brazing is similar to solder and easy like solder, but a lot stronger. and it would fill lose little holes in a few minutes. I know they sell kits on ebay with a tube full of brazing rods (AKA mystery metal) and an instructional CD-ROM. I bought one for about $25 and after a little practice, i was fixing all kinds of stuff.
Soldering with a soldering gun :D
Works alright with small non rusted holes, but only jb seems to cover and stick good enough.
Yeah, I bet brazing would work well for you, but so would JB
Gotta knock off a bit of solder still left and seal it off with jb. Should be good to go with the por at that point, then it's on to finishing and clear coating.
Looks like fridays the day i get my clamps made.
Clamps are almost done in solid works, just have to shave off a bit at the fork tube clamp (exact diameter wouldnt clamp, have to be a bit shorter than a perfect half circle). Looks good so far :D nice and easy to machine so hopefully the guy at my gf's dad's work wont freak when he gets the BP.
Tank has been epoxied (clear epoxy, can barely see it) and pored, curing the por as i type. Also i've got a coat of clear on the top portion of the tank, i'm freakin sick of flash rust.
I have the foam mold (if you can call it that) of the rear piece and the surround of my new gauge cluster saturated with resin and curing at the moment. Looks pretty good, just a few spots that need to get soaked again. I think i'll bondo over the whole thing once the resin is dry, should even it out alot better, might end up lookin pretty sharp!
I also got the bike speedo up to 104mph by hand today, i think it'll work fine :)