Yeah, Leo has some trickery going on there. The seat and sides of the tail kit extend lower then the subframe. Plus he dropped the forks 4" because he's height challenged.

The side fairing that I need to make will make the seat/tank/tail intersection appear as a straight line. Right now everything is above the subframe. The side panel will make it appear as though it's all below the frame.

I got the electrical gremlins exercised from the starting system last night (frayed wire in the solenoid harness). I also moved the ECU to a different location (the underside of the seat tray) to create more room/less stress on the wires in the electrical box. With the headlights diconnected the charging system is within spec, so I think my dead battery was due to running two head lights. LED's to the rescue.

I should have the front fender installed this week. I also have to program the gauge cluster. That might be the hardest part of the build

I've ridden the Street Trcker a few times this week. The first two rides were only about 10 miles each followed by an inspection. Basic shake-down runs. But tonight I ventured to some of my favorite twisty roads to really get a feel for the bike. Here are my observations:

This thing vibrates like something that may be stored next to lonely woman's bed. It vibrates at idle. It vibrates under heavy and light loads. I think it vibrates when it's in the garage and I'm away. Sure the Savage vibrates, but it builds in a linear fashion. So ridden on a flat straight road, the Tracker is quite uninteresting.

This all changes on a twisty road. All is forgiven and forgotten. Turning is this bikes forte. Turning is its element. Holy crap is this thing fun. It begs to be hoon-ridden. I had an urge to wheelie out of every turn.

And then the road straightens out again.

The bike is no where near dialed in yet. The jetting is off. There is a major lean bog from a cruise throttle setting to WOT (no surprise since I removed the air box) and there is a minor lean surge at partial throttle. The previous owner weighed about 100-125 pounds more then me, and currently the bike is sprung for him and not me. So the ride is rough - and this bike should be crazy plush. I think once I get these items corrected my straight road opinion will change.

Other observations: I really like the Acewell gauge and would highly recommend it. There is so much information available, and that is very helpful while shaking down a new bike. And there are hi/low alerts for temperature, voltage and even speed (if you want to set that). There is also a big shift light that starts flashing 500 rpm prior to redline.

My radiator solution is working perfectly. I'm not running a thermostat and water temperature is running around 165. With this knowledge I feel comfortable putting a thermostat in.

The RS-4 exhaust is perfect. It's not too loud, but man does it growl. The down side of this exhaust is that I can't use a bike stand to work on the bike, which is very unfortunate. It also weighs a lot. But is sings a great song.

The bike will be back on my stand sometime this weekend so I can address the jetting. The suspension will just have to wait until winter. I may respring the forks now since that can be done without disassembly. But the shock and the fork valving is gonna have to wait.

This makes we want to buy a street legal 450 and get back to my moto roots!  Problem is, it would probably tempt me to do stupid stuff.  My Savage doesn't do that to me at all, which is a good thing, a very good thing.  Ha, ha...

Ruttly wrote on 08/11/17 at 19:45:54:

This project got put aside for a few years. About the time that I started riding my DRZ I developed bad arthritis in my left hip. Riding became difficult and working on a project was too painful to be enjoyed. So I it sat in my garage in pieces for a few years.

In November I had that hip replaced and I'm 100% once again. Time to finish unfinished projects.

I lowered the suspension, rebuilt the carb, swapped out some clunky parts, reshapped a new rear section and painted everything to match. A few odds and ends to finish, but I'm finally happy with the result.

Another

And another