In motorcyclica. . .
I looked into the various ways I would strip the bike down. Removing weight seems a lot easier than it is. Sure, I can just tear the heavy superfluous parts off the bike and be done with it. But I would like the bike to have an aesthetic appeal as well. Tentative budgeting suggests that even the cheapest reworking of the cycle will cost several hundred dollars, depending on price and availability of parts.
The current plan involves the following:
1) The 6.3gal 'Standard' gas tank. This tank fits a more cafe-esque style as well as gives me a more room (surprisingly) to work out the various gaslines and whatnot. I have a lot more spare parts to properly fit this gas tank, as opposed to the 'economically-engineered' fuel line situation I currently have going on (which isn't working well).
2) The removal of rear fender. Regardless of whether I am able to procure for myself a good cafe racer seat, the rear fender is going to be removed. Currently, until I can either build up the money to get the cafe racer seat, I will most likely just remove the fender and place the current taillight at the connectors for the fender, after I make, or modify, a bracket to mount it and the license there.
3) Major carburetor work. I will be doing several things to rectify the current fuel situation. As of right now, the lines leak and are allowing a mostly unfiltered gasoline to enter the carburetors. Which gums up the carburetors. Floats stick open, jets get clogged. Due to the original design of the bike, and the ridiculous amount of work required to remove the carburetors, the airbox must go. So, I will be purchasing individual, conical filters for each carburetor, so that I may remove them and tweak them as needed much easier than the current setup. The choke needs to be looked into. The rubber on the butterflies need to be rechecked. A lot of work will have to be redone on the carburetors as I realize that while I did a good job for my first attempt at rebuilding such things, it was an overall failure. I've learned much from it and will apply it to my future attempt. In addition, they will be rejetted as the conical filters and the headers will lean out the bike considerably.
4) Rewiring. To clean up the harness(es) going to the headlight and gauges, I'm going to consolidate the forward wiring harnesses into one awesome bundle of un-obtrusity [made-up word, I know]. I also need to put 24W bulbs into my blinkers.
5) Sidecover removal. It's a possibility that the sidecovers won't look right without the airbox. If so, I'm going to have to remove them and reroute the electronics under them to different locations and put the battery inside a black plastic box, for aesthetics. This will add to the 'cafe racer' theme and give the bike a very stripped down look.
6) Oil cooler action. I will remove the oil cooler and give it a good clean. Might not be necessary, but I've often wondered how well it's working and how much crud is built up in it.
7) Rebuilding the forks. This may possibly be a bitch, as I've heard, but I suppose it just depends. The springs are most likely shot, but I'm not going to worry about replacing them (as that would run me drastically over-budget), but I would like to have the lower forks powdercoated matte black. As well as both triple trees. The horns will also be removed and probably replaced by a single, good horn, underneath the tank or somewhere on the frame.
8) Gauge cluster. Last but not least, the gauge cluster is going to be lowered and bent forward, so that it doesn't seem so out of place. I'm also going to look into a possible quarter-fairing or flyscreen to cover the gauges should this not work.
So, there you have it, boys and girls. That's the current idea shaping in my head. Whether it pans out or not. . .only time will tell. But I'm willing to put the time into it. And the money.
The current plan involves the following:
1) The 6.3gal 'Standard' gas tank. This tank fits a more cafe-esque style as well as gives me a more room (surprisingly) to work out the various gaslines and whatnot. I have a lot more spare parts to properly fit this gas tank, as opposed to the 'economically-engineered' fuel line situation I currently have going on (which isn't working well).
2) The removal of rear fender. Regardless of whether I am able to procure for myself a good cafe racer seat, the rear fender is going to be removed. Currently, until I can either build up the money to get the cafe racer seat, I will most likely just remove the fender and place the current taillight at the connectors for the fender, after I make, or modify, a bracket to mount it and the license there.
3) Major carburetor work. I will be doing several things to rectify the current fuel situation. As of right now, the lines leak and are allowing a mostly unfiltered gasoline to enter the carburetors. Which gums up the carburetors. Floats stick open, jets get clogged. Due to the original design of the bike, and the ridiculous amount of work required to remove the carburetors, the airbox must go. So, I will be purchasing individual, conical filters for each carburetor, so that I may remove them and tweak them as needed much easier than the current setup. The choke needs to be looked into. The rubber on the butterflies need to be rechecked. A lot of work will have to be redone on the carburetors as I realize that while I did a good job for my first attempt at rebuilding such things, it was an overall failure. I've learned much from it and will apply it to my future attempt. In addition, they will be rejetted as the conical filters and the headers will lean out the bike considerably.
4) Rewiring. To clean up the harness(es) going to the headlight and gauges, I'm going to consolidate the forward wiring harnesses into one awesome bundle of un-obtrusity [made-up word, I know]. I also need to put 24W bulbs into my blinkers.
5) Sidecover removal. It's a possibility that the sidecovers won't look right without the airbox. If so, I'm going to have to remove them and reroute the electronics under them to different locations and put the battery inside a black plastic box, for aesthetics. This will add to the 'cafe racer' theme and give the bike a very stripped down look.
6) Oil cooler action. I will remove the oil cooler and give it a good clean. Might not be necessary, but I've often wondered how well it's working and how much crud is built up in it.
7) Rebuilding the forks. This may possibly be a bitch, as I've heard, but I suppose it just depends. The springs are most likely shot, but I'm not going to worry about replacing them (as that would run me drastically over-budget), but I would like to have the lower forks powdercoated matte black. As well as both triple trees. The horns will also be removed and probably replaced by a single, good horn, underneath the tank or somewhere on the frame.
8) Gauge cluster. Last but not least, the gauge cluster is going to be lowered and bent forward, so that it doesn't seem so out of place. I'm also going to look into a possible quarter-fairing or flyscreen to cover the gauges should this not work.
So, there you have it, boys and girls. That's the current idea shaping in my head. Whether it pans out or not. . .only time will tell. But I'm willing to put the time into it. And the money.