Kimjon

Ordered 4 new tyres with tubes online. They arrived today. Un-boxing stuff that arrives in the post is a guilty pleasure of mine. Even though I have a pretty good idea what's going to be in the box...it still feels like a little present to myself that I'm unwrapping. Wheel off... new tyres on...boom! Mint as!!! These new tyres are so much better in every way possible. Slightly smaller diameter gives better acceleration and they are perfectly round and ride much truer than those shit sack trolley tyres ever did. Success!

Drive belt arrived. I worked out the length using some 7th form mathematics I kind of remember. I then had to order the closest thing to it size wise. Problem is my maths was in between sizes available. So I went bigger. Logic been worst case it should still work versus not fitting at all. My remote oil filter is a bit close to the belt. But I have an easy solution for this. I'd like another 5mm of clearance to avoid potential issues.

Yes

Lotto ticket time! Just road it down the road and back at full throttle...didn't even notice until I parked it up. I had on my usual safety PPE of jandals and no helmet. Think I just dodged a bullet by about 30 seconds?

Righto, I've thrashed my ebay account and brought a few more bits and bobs...now gotta wait the obligatory 6 weeks for shipping. To keep some form of momentum I pulled my clock off the wall and slapped in on as my airfilter cover. This of course what I initially purchased it for, however I didn't like it...so I made it into a clock. To be fair I still don't like it...but it's good enough for now.

Then on to the starter motor. These big block motors take a fair bit of torque to turn them over. So I'm not going to fuck around...going straght for the big gun here! It's perfectly normal if this photo gives you an erection! As it's one fucking sexy chunk of billet aluminium. Test fit for clearance. It's a tight fit...but appears to fit without fouling on anything. So gotta be happy with that.

I'm using secondhand Vance and Hines exhausts off a soft tail. I'm no exhaust expert...but I don't think this cable tie is a long term solution? I need to remake these brackets, as my frame is longer than a soft tail (hence the cable tie for now). But luckily they're still making steel, so this should be achievable. The headers fit the big block motor just fine. I may need to cut the bottom pipe to eliminate it contacting the road - when I really lean it over into a corner. Hopefully I'm able to "tweak" the pipes up a bit without looking to stupid? That may buy me the ground clearance without having to cut them?

Found some old photos from about 4 years ago, when I started to make this thing. I totally loved this look..however I made it way to low. It was heartbreaking when I finally admitted that I'd fucked up my measurements and would have to redo it again to raise it up...balls!!! But after walking around in circles constantly say "fuck...fuckity fuck, fuck"...then I got over myself and excepted the situation and moved onto producing a solution. Same bike now 4 inches higher after a fuckload of changes made. I also had a custom wheel made for me which put my hub into a 17"rim. 17" had taller tyres than all other options in that width due to aspect ratios. When I did the maths on 16" & 18"...the 17" won. So there's a brief history lesson on how I got to this point now. Ups and downs...shit loads of time, effort and money...but I think it's been worth it.

A lazy 6 hours spent on it today. This is the version 1.3 attempt at getting this right. Yup 3 attempts to get it perfect. Doesn't look much...but often the best ideas don't. Anyway harleys have an oil filter in the front that's hard to empty without dumping oil all over the place and spilling it on you motor/frame etc. So I purchased a remote oil filter to relocate it to a better place. I also picked up a really nice Perf-form oil filter kit that uses disposable cartridges...and looks fucking cool too! Here it is mounted in place. It is just mocked up for test fit. I'll send it away for chrome later. As you can appreciate, there's no bonnet on a motorbike, so everything has to be perfect as it's all out there on display. There's a lot going on in this location, drive belt, oil tank, downtube, rear fender, primary drive belt etc... this oil filter has to clear all these things as well as look good. Hence why I made this bracket three times before getting it right. Fucken stoked with it!

Huge step forwards on this today. I moved it from the house to the workshop...this may not sound like a lot, but is a big deal as now it's on my to do list. It's not going to be done anytime soon...but I'll chip away at it. I haven't been near it in one or two years...so this is exciting for me. I must say I fucking love this thing and the shape I've made it. Jumped on ebay and splashed out on a new rear drive belt. Each time I do this I think that's one step closer...

What time do people meet?

Sweet, low stress sounds like my kind of night. I'll start practicing my shit talking skills:)

What's a normal night out on one of these involve?

And oi! Lay off the poor old VN Commodore...they say there's an arse for every seat love that car. It's got an LT1 and a 6 speed manual...hauls arse! Though I do understand only drug dealers, scout masters and glue sniffers own VN's...well at least that's what my mates have said in the past...

On the plus side when you have an arse like a Kardashian...who cares about mathematics??? Just drive these things and enjoy living in the moment.