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.