Saddle Bags

Well, I was going to have to resort to using the Ammo cans for saddle bags but I just found a great deal on Craigslist. Found a really cool guy in Dubuque that is selling me a set of Kawi bags with lights. I am going tomorrow night to pick them up... I think I am getting a pretty good deal, as you all know that have been following this, it has been tough coming up with money for this stuff. Everyone has been so generous to me on this bike and I really appreciate it. I'll show the bags when I get them.

Blasted Heads

Yesterday I was able to spend abou 5 hours out in the shop. I was able to get the gaskets all scraped off of the cylinders and get it blasted, Here is a photo of the finished blasting job.
Now all I have to do is tape it all off and spray paint it with High temp Engine Paint that I got from J&P Cycles. Part number 910-636 CLICK HERE .

Then I was able to get the head flattened from the blasting job I did on that. That was a whole lot easier than I thought it was going to be, this is the stone that Kody gave me and a can of WD40. It was as easy as wax on, wax off. Run it for awhile, clean it off and re-lube and rub some more. The seat where the gasket goes is now nice and shiny.

Here is a shot of me working on cleaning up those gaskets. That is definately a tedious job.

Kody's dad grabbed the camera and got yet another shot of me working on the bike.

Cool new Chair

Here is a chair that I am going to be getting soon.
This will be great for short or long trips. Expecially for fishing.
It's the Blue Max Saddle
CLICK HERE

Me Working

Ok, so cleaning this thing up is harder than I thought it would be but in the end it will be worth it.
Kody's Dad, Jerry, grabbed my camera up and got a shot of me working on my machine. This will be one for the scrap book, Me, working on a motorcycle. And my own at that.

Removing the Cylinders.

Ok, so tonight I had an hour in the shop, I finished up on some little spots of sandblasting the heads and got that all finished up. Then it was time to remove the cylinders. WOW,easy to do but how can there be so much sand and dirt surrounding the bolts down that far.


It looked like they had submerssed the engine in sand.
THIS IS BAD. Or so I thought, actually, it was just around the Head Bolts, that sand and dirt didn't actually make it inside the engine.



Anyway, now I have the cylinders soaking just as I did the head, I'll take a couple of days to scrub on them and get all of the grease and ---- off of them, then I'll blast them as well. Once they are blasted, I'll break out the Engine paint and turn them completely black.
After the black paint, I intend on sanding down the fins to reveal the aluminum underneath of the paint but just on the tips of the fins, this should be really pretty when it is done.
Anyway, I had a Boy Scout meeting tonight so that is all I had time for. Like I said, I'll get the photos of the cylinders removed tomorrow and show the photos.
As I go though all of that process, I'll take some photos and get them up here. When I actually start putting things together, I'll get out the video camera.

Wisner Cycles

Here is the new logo for Wisner Cycles.

Nothing happened

I didn't work on the bike last night, My son Tyler was fixing supper so I wanted to go home and see what he did. My Kids are still number one in my life, the bike can take a night off.
I'll go work on it for a bit tonight, I'll let you know tomorrow what is happening.

PhotoChopped

I was working with Photoshop last night and came up with this FotoChopped look of the bike.
This doesn't include the new seat, windshield, saddle bags or lights.

Cleaning Up

If you look at the right side image at the top of this page you can clearly see that I have been cleaning up the bike. It was dirty as hell when I got it, it had been sitting up against the fence next to a gravel road for about a year.
Getting all of that off without using a power washer has been a real treat let me tell you. I won't spend anytime cleaning the tires as I need to get new ones anyway.
Here are shots of each side of the bike.


Ya see, I have to clean this in between times that I am cleaning the head, blasting it, waiting for Kody to tell me what to do next or if it is just me in the shop and I don't want to mess with something.
It really keeps me focused on the project though.
I would tear it completely down to the frame but I am afraid of wiring, I don't want to screw it up and not get everything put back where it goes.
Maybe one day I will do that, but until it is running and safe, looks are definately a second thought.

Cleaning the Heads II

Ok, so Kody gave me the go ahead that the heads were pretty clean and it was time to bead blast them. So last night I grabbed up some packing tape since it was the only thing on hand to use and covered over the top of the head where the cams go so that I wouldn't get any sand on the bearings. Well, let me tell you, you need more than one layer of tape if you are going to be sand blasting.

I saw a hole start on the tape from accidentally passing the nozzle over it and stoped. There was some sand in there but nothing to get scared over. I took all the tape off, washed it again and this time, I added 3 layers of tape to it so that I wouldn't have to worry so much.


Anyway, the head is nicely cleaned and looks like brand new. Now Kody can lap the valves and re-cut the seats tonight.


Since the heads are so nice and clean now, I think I am going to have to do the same thing to the Cylinders or it won't look quite right.

The Paint

I think I have decided to take the bike black, but not just any black... Here is a bike that I found on the lot at J&P Cycles during Bikeweek this year and I thought it was pretty cool.
I am going to use Truck Bedliner just as this guy did. He travels around for the National Guard with the National Guard Chopper to get new recruits and part of a National Guard Branding. I really like the way it looks and it should be pretty tought and not pick up too many scratches.



Here is a closer photo of what it could look like when I am done.

New photos

OK, I shot a ton of photos tonight but it is going to take awhile to download them to the puter and then catalog them. I have specific sections that these will be used for.
But here is how the new headlight is going to look.
I even shot one that shows how it will look when I am done, that's right, two headlights. I have to make a bracket to put the top one up higher though.
If you are wondering about that headlight bracket, Kody had some speed-o mounts from some Harley applications left over that had the perfect size bolt holes to mount to the brakeline splitter mount and it even had the perfect size hole for the headlight bolt. I will find out the model and let you know what it is.


They are kind of thin so I am using 3 of them, they work perfect, no bounce in the light at all. Now that I have decided to do two headlights, I need to make a custom bracket that will hold the top light up higher so that the bottom light doesn't get beat up by the fender.


Also, I need to do some wiring to make both lights work. Then I can add on the Autogem LED lights and the Memphis Shades windshield. These are really going to change the look of the bike with that headlight configuration.

Off for the weekend

I will be out on a Hiking/Camping trip with my Boy Scouts this weekend so I won't be able to do any work on the bike. I'll get some photos first thing next week though.
I have decided to replace the headlight with a chrome Millwaukee Twins headlight from J&P Cycles. This is a 7 inch headlight. That will look good with having that BeeHive tail light on it.
I'll be back at this on Monday so keep checking back.

Cleaning the Heads

WOW, those heads were greasy... I have let them soak overnight in some standard degreaser and water. I spent an hour at lunch time today brushing with a small wire brush and a sock. Kody says I need to get all the oil off of it before I bead blast it. Ok, it sounds like there will be quite a bit of taping things off too.
I'll get a pic of it either tonight or tomorrow up here for you to see how the heads look and what they look like when I am done.

Saddlemen Seats

Here are some photos of the seat that was on the bike when I got it. The seat pan is completely shot, there is no saving that without a ton of fabrication work.


Ok, I was in Daytona and I saw the perfect seat for the bike. Since I want to take my wife with me on the bike now and then, I want a 2 up seat. And Saddlemen has the perfect seat for this, it is a 2 up bucket seat. Here is a video of Stan from Saddlemen showing how to install the new Saddle Bag Chaps for Harley Davidson bags.

Cometic gaskets

Well, my gaskets got here yesterday, I'll be putting them on next week, after Kody laps my valves.



I went with Cometic gaskets for a few reasons,


1. I have only heard good things about them from most of my builder and performance gearhead buddies. I listen to these guys, Kody Wisner, Patrick Garvin, Scott Holton just to name a few.

2. Jason Moses of Cometic explained how they actually worked, what they were made of and the fact that they are made 100% in the USA.

Here is a video that Jason did at the J&P Cycles Superstore in Destination Daytona.

Did you know that the US Government is trying to shut down your background garden?

I just wanted to let you know that I have just published today's episode of The Survival Podcast.

The Survival Podcast

Helping You Live the Life You Want, If Times Get Tough, Or Even If They Don't
Episode-160- HR875, Survival Gardening and The Square Foot Garden - 2009-03-16 11:23:02-04

Well we are back from Arkansas and I have a lot to talk about today. A new bill called HR875 has come to my attention and while some are saying it may shut down back yard gardens I think the big threat is to the small farmer. If you are a gardener this still matters [...]

Lights!!!!

Ok, so the bike is going to be a little different from your average KZ1100-A2.. This bike was built initially with the specific purpose of being fast, I am taking that to another step of being funtional and different at the same time. My motorcycle will be unique, I don't want to have the same thing as everyone else out in the parking lot, so, it's gonna be different. Ammo boxes for saddle bags, body paint will be Truck Bedliner and the tail light that was missing, well, that is what this post is about. I have purchased a replica 39-40' Knucklehead tail light to put on it, it took some banging on the fender with sheet metal tools and a lead bag to make it happen but for my first time of banging on metal to make it do what I wanted it to do, it turned out nice.

As far as light, the replica 39-40' knucklehead Beehive Tail light that I put on is available through J&P Cycles for about $30.00 heck, for that much, you could put this in just about any bike with a rear fender. It is a much smaller light than what was on there originially. I have included a photo of the original and the one that I put on, I'll get a photo of it on the bike tomorrow and put it up here.

Photos of the bike?

Well, here are some photos of what the bike looked like when I brought it in from the FENCE that I got it from. The paint is in pretty good shape but the rest needs some TLC. The seat is shot, the frame has some rust but not too much, lots of dust and dirt...


I'm finding a few more things wrong with it everytime I get more and more into it.




Now the guy says that maybe one of the head bolts is stripped out. I'll have to put them all in it in order to see what is wrong with it.

Fast Hook Installation

Here is a video that I made for J&P Cycles featuring Kody Wisner of J&P Cycles.

New Parts are like New Toys

My wife doesn't really know about this bike yet so please don't say anything to her. But I have ordered some new parts, and my brother is nice enough to let me have them shipped to him.

I bought some air filters on Ebay from SportingForLess parts and accessories. They shipped them out the same day that I paid for them so I got the parts before I even got home from Daytona Bike week. (I'll post more on Daytona later.) I still haven't had time to get into the shop this week to do anything but there isn't a whole lot to do until I get the Valves and gasket set. I'll let you know when more parts come in.

I found a bike.

Ok, so I was on my way to pick up some paint work on the National Motorcycle Museums 2009 Raffle bike when Kody looked over past me in the ditch and yelled out "It's a KZ1000" He hit the brakes and there she was, a beautiful site to my eyes. Something I might be able to afford, a dusty old bike leaning up against a fence with an old cardboard sign barley legible reading "4 SALE".

I jumped out right away to look, the guy that owned it was working on his truck and I was still revelling and asked, "Hey, This bike for sale?" "That's what it's there for" he replied. Obviosly he thought I couldn't read the 4 sale sign on it.

I asked if it ran, "It did when I had it before" then he explained that he had traded it for a car, then it was sold, then traded for another vehicle but he kept track of where it was as this was his first bike and his favorite bike of all time.

"The Head is shot" he told me, said some kid had it and took off the fairing, painted the bike and tried to time it himself and bent the valves and totally skrewed up the heads. I looked at Kody and he gave me the nod like (I got a set of heads at home) so I offered $100.00 to take it off his hands, he said "SOLD"... I just about crapped my pants. Kody could see right away that I was really excited... I showed up the next morning with a crisp $100 bill and a pickup to load it up.

Well, I got it over to Wisner Cycles and Kody took the head off and checked it out. 2 exhaust valves leak... He said, we can re-work those and have it running in no time. Well, it was going to need a new set of gaskets, Air filter, tires, battery and maybe some TLC.

So, we have it all taken down, Cometic is sending me a set of Gaskets for the bike, I bought some Air filters on ebay for $25.00 and even some Fork Seals.... Now all I have to do is get Kody to work those valves and buy 2 new valves and we'll have it running.

It won't stop there. This is a project bike. This will have a bit of a Mad Max, Road warrior theme to it when I am done. More functionality with saddle bags, made from Army Ammo cans and such.

Even more, the paint job will be Bedliner Truck bed coating... This should be interesting.

I'll paint the engine, re-paint the frame and do a few more neat little things to the bike to really make it say it is all my own.

when I can get to it, I'll let you know.