Prepping the wheels for tires and mounting.

So this took all day. I had to choose between painting the front black, and re-painting the rear black (because it looked faded) or stripping the rear to bare metal and match the front. The latter sounded easier…Maybe not the case! But there were several reasons for this. The bike doesn’t have much black on it, which is not something I do often, and I love that about it. I don’t want to go blackening up! The only black on this bike will be the frame. All else is raw metal except for the blue tank. Also, bare metal is more durable than paint! And easy to clean. So here we go.

I was just starting to clean it here. Once I cleaned it I painted it with some HARD FU**ING CORE paint stripper. And then scrubbed with a firm tooth brush. Then power washed it. Rinse repeat about 5 times and vuala!

There is a little shield for the final drive gear (you can see in the un-stripped picture) that I still have to paint and re-install. So it will look better when that’s done, and it is mounted so you won’t see that center part.

But it came out looking like new! Here they are together.

If you look close you can tell they aren’t matching spoke patterns. The one flat on the ground is the stock rear. The one leaning up with the front disk is from a Yamaha 600 Radian. It was the only front wheel I could find that had similar spoke pattern AND was the same dimensions as the rear wheel. Since I want matching tires. Now I just have to fab spacers and a caliper bracket and I’ll have a rolling and stopping machine!

 

Hey…that’s something…

Worth a Nobel prize?

So gas tank. What do I do about it? The stock one is just not going to fly, and the blue one you see in all the pics had to completely have the underside cut out in order to fit over the huge back bone of the Virago! Luckily…I found a solution.

Virago tank, meet nameless Yamaha donor tank.

Here is what’s left of the Virago original tank.

Now I know I’m not the first person to graft tanks together. But I guarantee I’m the first to graft THESE tanks together! Of course I still have lots of welding of sheet metal to do in order to seal and finish up the tank, but at least now it fits snugly on the bike using the original mounts! Today my goal is to get the wheel prepped and ready for tires. And hopefully finish the tank so I can caswell coat it soon.

For fork’s sake!

Bearings came in for the steering today! So begins the mounting and shortening of the forks.

Well that was easy!…really, it was. I just tapped the races into the neck, greased the bearings and tightened it all together.

Something looks weird…right? Yup! Those forks are way to long! So lets do something about that.

Is this a sub-machine gun with suppressor attached? Or a B**A** electric impact with a huge socket!? You be the judge…

The poor end caps were so beat up from some previous owner trying to pull these apart clearly using vice grips…If you’re going to DIY a project…have the right tools! Or else pay someone else who does. Don’t ruin your bike trying to tear it apart…sheeeeesh #rantover

above are the guts of this particular, outdated inverted fork. I say outdated only because it is from a 90-95 RM125 so it is some of the first inverted forks made. They’re still great forks, just not so much to work on! Below are just some of the annoying things I had to be sure to put back properly. Of course this was only necessary because I am shortening them, I wouldn’t have to do so much if I were just replacing the seals.

So I got some 1/2″ PVC and cut it down, pulled the spring and cartridge apart and popped the PVC spacer onto the main rod inside the cartridge. Essentially I made the forks unable to fully extend. So they’re now utilizing the last 5″ of their original travel instead of the full 11″ or so. As long as this virago doesn’t do any hard core trail riding the travel I left will be MORE than enough. Reassembly was painless. Fresh oil in them, and mounted up with the new length!

This picture can be deceiving. The front wheel is sitting about 8″ off the concrete, being supported by a 2×4 and a stacked motorcycle ramp. The rear wheel is hovering just over an inch off the ground. So the bike looks tall and with an odd stance in the pic. I just ordered a set of matching fat enduro tires which should help complete the look, once I mount the front tire, I can roll it around and see how it will really look/ feel. But for now…starting to look like a motorbike again!

mission accomplished

Well thanks for all the crossed fingers everyone. I managed to get the seat ready for upholstery. Lots of trimming and welding! It was VERY tricky to get that perforated metal welded in place…so thin…Then I got the seat pan shaped and cut out. I’ll wait to upholster it until the tank is mounted and finished, so I can ensure a good mating of the two parts.

Misty gave me the idea to just put the metal there on the under side. I’ll use it somehow to mount the tail light…maybe individual LED’s in the perforated holes? hmmmmm

 

So far so good! Not sure what to get onto next. I’ll probably try to make the new 2-1 intake manifold tomorrow for the VM34 round slide carb. Then I can do the underside of the tank, then upholster and get the tail section powder coated, by then the bearings will be in for the front end, then I’ll have to relocate the brake caliper, shorten the forks, and make spacers for the new wheel, order/ mount new tires, wire it, and come up with some exhaust situation…then…done! Phew…

Coming soon!

This sign marks one of the last hurtles to get my new shop legit for construction. In a week there is the hearing and as long as nothing unforeseen stops me I can get my building permit immediately after and start construction!

Trying something different

For the tail piece I wanted to get a little creative. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at metal fab so here is my chance! I cut and welded a “skeleton” of the tail piece together and then laid some perforated metal down to see how it looked.

But the problem with that is in the end it wouldn’t look “finished” ya know? After welding it up there would be rough edges and I can’t have that, plus I was sad to cover up the cool skeleton I made. I really wanted to keep the perforated look because I haven’t seen that before…SO I came up with a solution!

 

This is obviously just the beginning of this process, had to call it a night for now. Basically I’m going to shape and weld the metal separately between each piece of the frame. This solves the loose ends because the pieces are now recessed into the tail piece as opposed to being laid over top. It also allows the skeleton to become an integral part of the look as well as function. I hope the perforated metal ends up looking good in the end. I’ve decided I’ll be getting the whole sub frame powder coated black to match the frame once I’m done fabricating it.

Tomorrow I intend to have the seat done and the pan ready to upholster *fingers crossed*

bringing up the rear

Today I got the seat frame fabricated.

 

It is a pretty high stance, I’m 5’10” and can’t really flat foot, but that’s on the center stand, it will probably come down to a nice height when it is rolling (or maybe I’ll just have to sell it to a tall dude/ dudette!). I like the look of the re-bar. I think I may keep it raw, and keep the tank the stock blue. It already says Yamaha on it so I’m all set! Now I need to get my 18G sheet metal out and fab up the tail piece/ make a new bottom side for the gas tank. Then I’ll get the seat pan ready for foam and upholstery.

 

 

Hopefully the steering and wheel bearings will be here early next week… I really want to see it with the new front end.

Naming my new baby

I have officially adopted my newest build into the family. Her name is Mayonaka (“Midnight” in Japanese), or Maya for short. Here are my two beautiful kids playing in the yard together.

I’m such a hack…

Hack weld hack weld hack weld. Repeat.

I’m getting sick of waiting for all the new bearings to come in for the front end swap on this dude so I got a tank out and started to whack it down to fit. Here is a rough up.

 

 

 

 

Next of course is to come up with a tail piece so the tank doesn’t look like it is floating there. And to have a place to sit…I suppose. Hack weld hack weld hack weld. I went and got some re-bar to make the tail piece from. I think it will create a unique, rough-cut look while being very sturdy and functional. So far I’ve only got a piece of it chopped up…

I know, it doesn’t look like much at all. But I have something cooking in the ole noggin and I hope it will materialize half as well as it looks in my head! Gotta start thinking colors…Or leave it raw? hmmmmm I think this bike may be a “rat V”

All stocked up

I recently went on a shopping spree for parts for some bikes I’ve got in store (and some I don’t yet have). I picked up a Hayabusa front and rear end to swap onto the CBX I have. I also picked up a CBR600rr front end just for having it. I don’t have a bike worthy of it right now. Lastly I grabbed a KTM 250xs front end, a RM125 front end, and a little KX65 front end for a small bike that I have yet to find…(CB125 or 200 perhaps?) Anyway…the point is I need more room! Luckily the new shop should be cleared for building by the 14th of July…So, that’s less than a month away!