First fire

Goodbye

26th March 2012
Well I said goodbye to ole syd today! mixed feelings but she's gone to a good home and apparently has a few stable mates
thanks Mike ride safe

ole mugwump is signing orf!

Upcoming changes

After half a summer of riding a few changes are due, ordered some copper pipe to change position of oil runs going to have ago at coiling the tube as it will form a small oil cooler and look great if I can pull it off! Looking also t modify the wiring as said before I have far to many wires running here there and everywhere and the excuse will be a new set of handlebars.... probably narrow 14" apes I just like the stance and riding position apes give the bike so will move the light switches off the bars and just leave indicators and horn which should keep the red tapers happy as cant find any think to say cant move the light switch only the horn and indicators.

Course first I have to fix daughters laptop!

The Origins of chin on the tank!

MAG run 25th September

Some will argue it was a waste of time as very little new coverage was to be had. Down near me the local news people covered it reasonably well even explaining correctly the reasons. Which is rare when it comes to the press!
The actual run went well but there were a few incidents where the cagers thought they would bulldoz their way thru several hundred bikes which wasn't gonna happen in their wildest dreams! They just got surrounded and slowed to a walking pace for a few miles, myself a spotty youth tried to off me by pulling into the middle of the road as I passed on my way home, not sure what he thought he would achieve but rode alongside his open window until the glow of the his red face became to much! Then a couple of white van men wanted to play sandwich the biker but the all powerful ol-syd just kept them at 15mph for a while once in front.............twats!

The new background

Ha! as I get accused of being away with the fairies I thought I'd have this background tickles me sense of humour!
No more hassles with the bike no leaks odd rattle sound from front when at idle but disappears when pull front brake on! nowt loose so difficult to pin down...we'll see, summit will fall off or go bang! Ha Ha! sorry try not to do lol ................bugger!

First ride with different tank

I definitely sit "in" the bike now! I like it and  no leaks, shame I forgot to fully tighten the front brake lever mounts, and rode home using only the back brake the last 3 miles or so, still made me pay attention !

New Tank

Fitted the new tank today... sort of OK looks a bit more "chunky" and the bars look better with it than I expected.................more miles before fill up mind so something is better!

Tank

Tank arrived friday by sunday in primer and first coat of metallic getting used to it's look on the bike hopefully lacquered by weekend

Why?

Well, having done about 160 miles with no problems mechanically why would something so small cause so much hassle? Petrol tank leaks from the cap, new rubber seal, two rubber seals, new cap, new rubber seals (you getting the picture!) hammered it, bent it, cleaned it, swore at it ............... then ordered a new tank.
Reason, the old one has the bayonet fitting seems to be a bit notorious for leaking or hassle at least, or I could only put a gallon in and push it around right hand corners! cos it doesn't leak going around a left un!

But the real disappointment is I have had to go back to a sporty tank, so ordered the low tunnel "Frisco" style, which will change the overall style.. bugger! Also as I do not have welding gear it will cost almost the same as a new tank to get the old one modified with new cap and bung. Plus this one holds about a gallon more so I will at least get off my estate before I need to fill up!

150 miles in

Teach me to say the fuel cap would be an easy fix!, wasn't vented so needed to drill the hole!

Rideability: getting used to chucking her about after years of 8" overs and 18" ape's!

Tuning: sorted, plugs are the proper shade of beige minor tweeks in the mixture was needed, no problem vibes upto 80, mpg around 45 not bad but mostly pootling around 60 ish with odd excursions to 80 whilst overtaking combined mway and town so pretty fair I reckon given the engine mods.
Modifications: The side saddle bag is a god send for work.

Overall: oil tight, no loose nuts, rides well, plenty of interest on the streets so happy!

On the road again

To quote canned heat! ol syd is fully road legal taxed, MOT'd and insured. Done about 30 miles tweaked the carb a little and enjoyed the sunshine!

I might not be on here for a while because even if I take the "rapture" into account I will still be riding around somewhere with a stooopid grin.

It has been an interesting 11 months ripped skin and sore knuckles to name a few things. But I have finally built my own bike, and nothing has fallen off yet ha! MOT guy said the pipes were loud but as it was a sunny day etc etc. so I suppose will need to look at them sometime over the next 12 months only problem so far is the petrol cap leaks a bit which hasn't done the fresh lacquer much good got a small line down from the cap so need to sort a better sealing washer does look a bit flimsy. But wont take much to fix.

Thanks again to all those who helped with advice and skills

cheers me dears

Obligatory skull

Had to find a spot for a skull of some sorts so top of the leccy box 

This is the end let the fun begin

Well I wasn't sure if this would happen, self doubt and crap life brings sometimes I let it get in the way! I have said before that I have been dreaming about riding my own custom since I was about 12 the late sixties! But now at the tender age of 55 I have done it, not the 70's chop that I dreamed about as a boy, but what is now called a "Lanesplitter" it seems to have come from the east where some amazing bikes are out there in Japan. but it is gathering speed in USA and hints of it in UK.

I think it is a reaction against the mega buck, look at me bikes of the past few years, which I for one did not like. I can understand and admire some of them but throwing money at a builder then riding around like your the squirrels nuts doesn't cut it. Amongst my ambling's on the intetnet I came across a blog which headlines as "if you bought it aint a custom!"

My bike was built in my garage, the welding of the hardtail was done by Twizzle (down Dorsetshire way) as he puts it. A kind soul near me did a couple of brackets and mounts, I can gas weld but the cost was daft so my thanks to those two people for helping out. The rest was done by me, bending ally for brackets and boxes and trays, drilling holes, filing and filling and painting was all done by me, not in any fancy paint booth or workshop, but a true back street build, I learnt loads made many mistakes along the way. And much thanks go out to the guys and gals of Britchopper Forum who indulged my wierdness and daft questions, I feel that I have made some good friends.

The old gal (well she is 17yrs old ) will undoubtedly change some more over the years, I am already gonna change the paintwork come this winter, and there must be a better way to wire so many wires coming and going from the front really annoys me. Mostly due to the law saying I have to have this or that, but it doesn't mean that I have to like it. Maybe I will find away to run them through the frame, I am glad I didn't do it this time as I have made many mistakes.

What would I like to change or upgrade? paint, the electrics, a bigger rear wheel 18" or just an Avon Classic smr 500 would be cheaper! some new pipes, the Krome Werks AR are good but I want stainless ones showing the welds functional not pretty! and maybe's one pipe down each side, or trumpets.!!! You know what I mean!

First ride was interesting! 21" up front made bends and roundabouts a tad embarrassing till I sussed it out! Chains stretch quite a bit when new! Rigid frame with 3" seat springs are more comfortable than lowered swingarm springs odd but true for me anyway. So need to sort MOT and road tax and I'm off to the Alton to Basingstoke road for chill out ride

Pictures below aren't perfect but I was nearly out of sunshine but the smile on my face is still good !

Nearly there part 93

Only the brake lights to wire, there that was succinct !

Garage Gremlin

I should have left well alone yesterday! put things down just so they could move themselves to god knows where when my back was turned! fitted light switch all working nicely gently fitted them into the bars for them to go bang when switched on, started her up only for the throttle cable to break! arrrrrhh!

I can smell the tarmac!

Now the race is on! only the lights and brake lights to wire in, number plate ordered, new switch and connectors on there way, wires in frame for brake lights and number plate lights, so BH delays permitting I just need to hook them up and tidy the loom.

So can someone pray to the god of rain and request that he/she/it remains on holiday long enough for me to take a spin round the block before the rain remembers to come back to good ole blighty!

Spaghetti

Errr? the blue one's connected to the errr 

Honest guv this is temporary when it all works I'll make it pretty !

Indicators

Wired the indicators up looked fine, except they flash to fast! the relay is supposed to be for LED's on checking it is! So WTF is going on? posted a diagram of my wiring on Britchop and replies stated the diagram is right. then perchance someone said are you sure they are all LED? And guess what the ones at the front are not, they were bought as LED so had no reason to doubt, (one nil to evilbay) Got a new front set of LED's (I checked this time!) but I had knackered the relay, ordered a new one and all was well.
Today I spent a wonderful hour fishing in the frame to run the wires for the number plate light, that was fun...............not! Have the same to do for the brake light switch.
I am waiting for a new micro switch as I managed to knacker it (learning all the time!) so only the lights and brake light switches to finish and we're done.

wiring, get a move on!

Spent an hour looking at wiring the neutral and oil warning lights, so I would get it right. It looked simple, so off I trotted today to the garage sorted wiring for the two idiot lights and did as the diagram showed!... yep life aint that simple! Oil light came on turned the old gal over and it flickered so far so good, no bloody neutral light twhat so ever, yes it was in neutral! The switch for the neutral light is behind the front sprocket cover, which means removing the rear master cylinder releasing the brake pedal and probably the front exhaust damn! Nothing I tried made it come on, so after a cuppa I went back to start the dismantling. fortunately (here's the tip of the day!) after removing the rear master cylinder and brake pedal the three Allen bolts and loosening the exhaust mount nut the cover slipped down sufficient to see the neutral switch, huge sigh of relief! and with the aid of a light and some long nose pliers removed it and fished it out between the gap. checked that the wire wasn't broken. the problem was the neutral switch appears to need its own power supply. Still not convinced but as I had hooked it into the power to the oil light and it didn't work! With its own power works fine! I am not using the OEM wiring loom so perhaps that is why. Still its working and that's another step towards the road!