Speedo mockup

One of the things I’ve never really liked about my XJ (check out the red/white ones) is the gauge cluster. Like a lot of bikes built in the 80s, it’s huge! It’s like a black, plastic lunch box bolted between the handle bars. With the stock bars and bikini fairing, you can’t really see it, but I’ve got the fairing off and short bars. In fact, I’m toying with the idea of switching to the set of clubman bars I’ve got gathering garage dust. The long an the short of it: I need to replace or rebuild that lunch box! With the bike off the roads for bit, now is as good a time as any. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

I'll be rounding off that left corner

The “tab” on the right will house the various indicatiors. I’m planning on adding either all 5 (2 directionals, oil, neutral, brights) of just 3 and leaving the directional indicators off. Either way, I’m planning on using some round, low-profile, 12v incandescent dashboard lamps. I’ve got some 20 gague steel that should work for this and be thin enough to allow me to use the handle bar clamps to hold it on (hence the 2-holed mounting setup).  The whole thing will sit reasonably flat, and even with the clubman bars on it should look good.

I’ve got  a whole assymetrical thing going with this bike (stemming from the offcenter gass cap, really) and I’m digging how this layout fits with the rest.

Here comes Rockerbox

So, I’ve talked through the leg design with Michael, and I think I’ve got something doable. I’ll update the sketch as soon as I get some free time. Right now, I’m trying to get my bike put back together for Rockerbox!

This is the first year I’ll be in town for this event and I am excited! In preparation, and because  I had a growing list of things that needed to be done, I have done some work on my bike. I started with taking off these side covers:

The actual work was an adjustment of the cam chain, which only required removal of the left cover, but I decided to take them both off and see if I could clean them up a bit. I sanded and sanded and sanded, and polished, and painted and:

Not perfect, but not bad. That picture is about 10 minutes after i smudged the black on the outside, and dirtied up the YICS part in the center. Both of these ended up getting some additional attention before putting them back on the bike. Getting these off was a challenge. The screws that hold these panels on are regular old phillips screws, which means that everyone who has owned this 30-year-old bike has tried to take them out and they are more than a little stripped.

So, How did I get them out? Poor man’s impact driver.With the screwdriver seated nicely, and reasonable pressure on the screw driver, I gave the screwdriver a few taps with my trusty hammer. Really, it took more than a few, as I was being pretty gentle. It was an extremely satisfying moment when that first screw finally came loose.

I painted the tank as well… made a bit of a mess, actually… but I haven’t taken any pictures of that yet. I’m learning a lot as I go, though.. for example, good masking is REALLY important, and color matte finishes are really difficult to maintain. Also, it’s really hard to photograph shiny objects (That second picture above is mirror-like (sorta)).

Flight cases

Over the last few years I’ve gotten a few things via Craig’s List. For example, I bought 2 sets of handle bars for $30, and a set of bar-end mirrors for $15. The best thing I got, however, was free.

I had gotten in the habit of checking CL/Motorcycles for sweet project bikes (mostly to fantasize about) as well as to see what people were doing with their bikes. I also was checking CL/Free Stuff because… well, because it’s free! That’s where I found a set of military flight cases from the 50s.

Case #1 open on my bench

Something about having these in my work space just makes me feel good.

Case #2 on my desk

They are essentially big, metal boxes, hinged on the side, and filled with plastic drawers. There were two of them and the guy who owned them had just had them sitting in his garage for years. Apparently they had belonged to his wife’s father who had been an engineer of some sort in the Air Force. There were even little tags attached to the handles… I’ll try to post those later.

Now, they are back in use, keeping my workarea somewhat in order. I hate to mess with them too much, but the bottoms are a bit rusty. Maybe I’ll repaint them.

Week 1.1 beta or Why my knuckles are bleeding

Remember when I was all proud of myself for starting my workout program? That one day was the only day I actually managed to get the job done. Stupid everything else getting in the way! So, rather than move on to the second week of exercises, I’ve decided to begin again. Last night I completed the prescribed exercises and I think I’ve get the appropriate time set aside for this week. The trick, with a schedule like the one my family keeps, is finding a consistent slot of free time. That and getting up off my arse and actually doing the work.

On the up side, I’ve gotten my handlebars installed. It took a bit of wrestling, and I had to take the forward directionals off, but they are on. I’m not sure how I feel about them. The new riding position they provide seems good, but the proof is in the pudding. I’ll have to see how the ride is effected. One effect of these handlebars is that I won’t be able to keep the fairing on the bike. Again, I’m not sure how I feel about this. The fairing had started to grow on me. We’ll see…

As I was wrapping up my work on the Seca, I discovered a little bonus… The damn rear tire is flat. This sucks…severe! It was fully inflated when I parked it, and it has been upon the center stand stand since coming into the garage. Maybe a seal just let go in the cold. I’ll have to borrow a compressor and see if the thing will hold air… maybe get a can of Fix-a-flat. Replacing the rear tire was not in my plan.

New bars!

I just got off the phone with the guy who is going to sell me the new handlebars for my bike. He’s actually going to sell me two sets and I’ll eBay the set I decide not to use. I had been planning to wait until we got closer to the riding season before buying the bars, but the price is more than right.

These handle bars are the only complete component that will be purchased for this project. everything else will begin as parts. I’d considered buying the steel tube, taking it over to my good friend house (to use his bender) and bending my own set. In the end, it came down to a decision of flat vs. clubman bars, and I think I’ll prefer the riding position and look provided by the clubman bars.

As an added bonus, the black set is already set-up for the bar-end mirrors I’m looking at.