Not sure what to say or think about this. But, it’s amusing to watch, and they show excellent adherence to timing and speed. It’s impressive, weird, and interesting all at the same time.
Category Archives: Motorcycles
A little paint test on the KZ400
Conducted a little paint test over the weekend. Hung up the parts, on a makeshift suspension system and shot some paint.
One panel, much like the gas tank, is still giving me some trouble. There are pits from the plastic welding that just do not want to fill. I have a new filling/sanding primer I’ll try out on the next round.
Here is a little closer shot of the panel that did work out really nicely. The welding is not visible with the final paint color.
I know I can achieve the desired result with the other panel, I just need to keep working on it. So far I’m very happy with the paint color choice. But I can tell it will take a lot of work to get a good polished result with this paint.
Cafe 400 – final concept test 1
Despite a wild week at work, I did get a little work done on the KZ.
I have enough general paint supplies to start doing some color / idea testing on the bike. After much deliberation, the first color I am going to try is a very dark green, with light metalic flake. I’m hoping the flake is subtle enough that the bike, does not look like some sort of carnival ride attarction (or worse yet, a Bass Boat).
Test installation of the bars and grips complete, I’m very pleased with both the look and ergonomics!
It is also time to set down another guide coat, which will be sanded off to find any low spots in the fillers or outstanding dents in the tank. With the coat applied, it provides an excellent preview of what bike’s final look will be, with the dark paint I have selected. Some additional graphics will be added to the tank, but the overall look will be the same.
I don’t hate it.
SOLD – KTM 950 Adventure S – $8500
Yes, I’m clearing out my stable, consolidating and building a war chest for other acquisitions. Thus, the least ridden of my bikes is up for sale. Motorbyte had some nice things to say about the KTM 950
Bike was fully serviced at 8600 miles by Cliff’s Cycle Center (KTM authorized dealer). That service included:
– new battery
– valve adjustments
– carburetor cleaning and syncing
– recall check and service
– oil and filters
Also done at the same time. New tires front and rear. Also included in purchase are 3 sets of spare tubes. These were originally very difficult to source, but supplies have become more available in the last couple of years. I’ve never had to replace them due to flats. Tubes were replaced with the tires by Cycle Gear, Tacoma.
SPECIFICATIONS:
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
PHOTOS
UPDATE:
The KTM was sold on Aug 28, 2009 in Vancouver WA. I’ll miss you big girl, that’s for certain.
Installing throttle on KZ400
A little more work done on the KZ400 today!
Yesterday while test fitting parts, I discovered that the powder coated Clubman bars are too thick and interfere with operation of the trottle.
At first, I tried to sand it all off. I sanded and sanded. All that provided was a scratched up, equally thick version of what I started with.
Then the lightbulb went off! I probably still had the paint stripper I used to removed the powder coating on the wheels of my VFR (that project came out looking sweet!!!). I did not use much of the stripper, and I seldom disposed of chemicals that are pefectly good, so off into the depths of my ‘chemical warehouse’ to locate the stripper.
A few minutes later I wheeled the bike out to the garage door (proper ventelation you know), donned some gloves and started working on the bars. After the 2nd application it still looked like this! I have to hand it to the manufacture of these bars, they REALLY used some tough paint!
In the end, I had to use a file to finish off removal of the paint. BUT, remove it I did, and viola.. I was able to install the throttle and grip (sorry, no photo yet) and it worked like a charm!
A major hurdle out of the way. Next post.. picking some paint to trail….. I have…. an *angle*… 🙂
Cafe racing – test fitting some new parts
This week, I have been working with my son on the little Kawi.
While I was vacationing in The Gorge, this past week, a pile of parts arrived for the Kawi. Along with starting some bodywork on the gas tank, I also performed the first test fitting of a number of new parts:
- rear turn signals
- aftermarket rubber grips
- new stainless headlamp bucket mounting hardware
- new stainless handlebar mounting hardware
- bar end mirrors
- clubman drop-bars (powders coated black, which is turning out to be a problem)
Here are 4 photos of where I left it last night, when it was bedtime for my helper.
Rude lesson in painting primer on fuel tanks
While filling dings and dents in the gas tank, I applied a few guide coats (primer applied with the intent of sanding all of it all to surface level, which will leave any high or low spots easy to identify) and was relocating the tank on the painting table, at which point the worn out (unknown to me until this point) seal on the gas cap let fuel leak out onto me, my clothes and the tank.
The raw primer was immediately bubbled and lifted off the paint underneath.
Gas and paint not playing nice with each other. Not a big deal, not totally shocking but.. wow.. if I spend all this time painting a tank, only to have my first fueling mishap (and it will happen) bubble up all the paint.. I’ll be sad.
Here is the good news (I think). What happened is perfectly normal. I don’t have the ‘wrong’ primer, I just need to be careful with raw unsealed primer around fuel. The paint shop where I’m buying supplies indicated that the rest of the guide coat would likely have been damaged by the spill and I should be sure to sand ALL of it off, then re-prime when ready.
Lessons on body work, right? Upward and onward!
KZ400 – custom tail light search
Custom, such an over-used word. What I’m looking for is a non-stock off-the-shelf tail light assembly I can use for the bike.
Saw this one on Amazon.. solves a couple of problems. Tail light and license plate mount. Leaning PRETTY hard towards this one:
Custom Motorcycle LED Rear Tail Light.
It’s $30.00 which beats the previous front runner seen at a local bike shop for $80.00
Maybe I can find something that will work for me here. Probably have to buy them by the shipping container load. :/ Still might lead me to what I want.
LED Motorcycle Tail Light Manufacturers & Suppliers
Work progressing on the KZ project
Finally off the ground and moving forward!
I had some help Thursday taking off all the big old 70’s chromy bits and bodywork. It took a few hours but I ended up with a big box of parts that I probably won’t use again on the final product.
This how the day started:
Of the three gas tanks that I have, only one of them is serviceable. The other two are full of rust and are useful only as aesthetic ornamentation for the shop.
Here is my helper, diligently working on the rear fender and signals.
Another photo of what the rear end before most of the parts were removed. Awesome for the 70’s but oh so heavy and chromey. Must go.
After a couple of hours of work, this is what we have. The tank is mounted (this is the only one that is usable). Not visible in the photo is the spot rust on the top of the tank. That will all needed to be sanded down to bare metal before I can even think about painting.
It’s a little difficult to see how much fat was removed from this last shot. More photos will follow. At least progress is being made.
The question is, will this be ready to go before summer ends? Time will tell.
Plastic welding on the KZ400
Progress continues on the KZ400 project. Today’s work was focused around using my new plastic welder to fill in holes on the side panel.
The plastic welder came with a number of welding sticks, to use with a variety of plastics. After quite a bit of melting, and trying the PVC, ABS and PP welding sticks, the results looked less than ideal. None of the plastics seemed to flow well, but they eventually did bind with the stock plastic (type unknown).
The back side of the panel, having used the green ABS welding sticks
I later discovered that the plastic I have for model building (a poly styrene blend) seemed to weld a lot easier than any of the supplied welding sticks. I’ll be trying them again in the future.
Once the plastic welding was complete, I used a sharp exacto blade to trim off most of the plastic above the surface of original panel. That was followed by wet sanding with 400 grit sandpaper until the welding ‘slag’ was level with the surrounding plastic.
The last step was several rounds of glazing putty application, followed by more wet sanding with the 400 grit. I later found that switching to the 220 grit dry paper did not produce significant scratches and, obviously, let me complete the rough sanding quicker.
Finally, another ‘current state’ photo of the bike. It’s slow going but that’s OK, it’s all part of the plan.
