looking really good man

R.F.

Everythings looking good Dave! It's gonna be one sweet scoot when you get it on the road.

Todd James:

Thanks for your encouragement.  The Dragon riders last year were all great guys and I really had a great time spending a few days with them.  I have never ridden with a "pack" before and I enjoyed it immensly.  Last year they tolerated my loud loud and clanky engine that had a loose flywheel nut.....so this year I hope to just motor along smoothly without any issues.

The schedule is becoming very tight, and I really need a a few weeks of riding and trouble shooting before I go to the dragon.  All of these little projects have the potential to not work out without some tweaking.....and when you throw so many changes at a bike all at once it may take a while to get things worked out.  The carb swap to a Mikuni will take a while to get jetted properly I imagine.

I don't believe I will have enough time to get the front fender fitted, the side panels mounted, the rear swing arms mods and Kawasaki 454 front pulley mounted - or the bodywork painted.  The bike will ride just fine without that work, and I will do it next winter.  I can spend this summer getting the bike to run and ride well.

Dave  

Well I spent 2 long days this weekend on the bike.  I got up at 5:00 and worked until 8:00 on boths days.......hard to believe some stuff can take this long.

It took me about 10 hours to design, cut, build  and paint this battery box.


The battery box also serves as the lower half of the rear fender.  Today I was able to mount it.  It has the battery on top, the brake light switch is mounted on the right side, the starter relay is mounted below the battery, and the igniter is located on the left side).  I also got a lot of the wiring around the engine done today.



When you build this stuff one at a time.....it reallly makes you appreciate how much time and effort Ryan and Casey at RYCA went through to put their stuff into production.  I am glad that I bought a lot of their parts instead of making them (seat, seat frame, peg mounts, body panels, etc.).

I haven't updated for a while, just been busy working on it and the results are not impressive in photographs....but it has been work that has to be done and takes time.

I was able to weld on mounts for the rear turn signals, and it took and entire day and a half to get the rear license plate worked out.  I wanted a plate mount that would not hang on the back fender - and yet I wanted something that was legal anywhere I went.  I finally located it on the side and tried vertical first, and then discovered that there was not enough room between my turn signals and pulley to give the plate room as the suspension bottomed out.  So I ended up with the plate horizontal, which will make the bike more acceptable to law enforcement.
 

I did not order the tail light mount that RYCA sells, and I first tried bending some metal to match what they did, and I finally abandoned that idea and just made a bulkhead from aluminum and fiberglassed it in.


The tail light that RYCA sells has white lights for a license plate, and the white would bleed over into the red tail light and make it pink.  I opened up the tail light and there are six white lights.  I found out that if you take one bulb out on each side - the other 2 don't light up anymore....they must be in a series of 3.  Now I don't have a license light in the tail light anymore.



The GT550 tank sits about 1/2 inch farther back and I needed to trim the front of the seat.  The GT550 tank also does not need the notch for the rear mount that is on the LS650 tank.  I pulled the staples and pulled the vinly back, and cut the front of the seat.  I tried stapling with my heavy duty hand stapler.....and they would not go in.  I stopped by an upholstery shop and they stapled it back together for me.




This weekend I will get th license plate lights working and bolt the seat on.  Then with the handlebar electric controls wired in, front turn signals and headlights wired, and headlight mounted.....I might be able to mount the tank and put fuel in!  I think I may have it rideable in the next week!

Ooh!... , Ooh!... , Ooh!... , Ooh!... , !!!!...



PS...."Thumpin' Special......The project begins?"... ...

Dave... I think this thread, is due for a re-title...

It better,.. ...I've been waiting... ...
WE WANT PICS!.... ROLLIN' PICS...
ROCK N' ROLLIN'  PICS!... ...

WD 40 goes away over time, even sprayed on metal. How did I learn that? My boss had me spray all the parts for a Big Ol OIlfield trucks transmission & put them up on a pallet, up high, outta sight in the shop. A few months later I had a reason to go up there & What did I see?
Rust, allll OVER that stuff,, They even tried to accuse me of not sprayin it down,, but, I stuck to my (true) story.. & the transmission? Well,, it went into the junk pile,

OHH,, Edit to add

DUDE!! Youve done so much to that bike & its gonna look good, for sure, but, only Savage riders who really know their bikes will be able to look at yours & appreciate all youve done. YOuve got a great shop & youre a smart guy. Ride it, have fun, stay safe,