Kimjon

Did the other side, but I don't think it really needed doing...gaskets looked okay. But at least that's one thing to not worry about eh?

Solving a truly 1st world problem, cup holders (lack of). Not totally in love with it. Mainly the fact the radio and temperature gauge was already there, but I never would've put it there...but because it is, it may as well stay. Additional ugliness of the cup holders...mmmm...not sure. Will slap it in and remove later if it really annoys me?

My head hurts... I'm sure I can work through this one step at a time. But right now, my heads not in the game...can't be fucked...

Installed a fully programmable electronic ignition system. It has a myriad of torque curves to choose from already pre mapped in the system. Just select your parts and riding style and compare with the selection on offer and dial it in. Had to install a new rotor behind it, then this just popped in. I put timing in the middle and will fiddle with it later. Timing cover back on, looking sweet! I've got a big lumpy cam in this motor, so may take a bit of trial and error to find the right ignition program...but I'm not going to over think it right now.

If I wasn't a brokearse...

Tig welding like a boss! Doing this because everything shifted over by fucking around with the wheel spacers to centre the rear end perfectly. Unfortunately my fender strut had to shrink a bit. So I cut and welded it with the tig. I'll get it chromed again. Bit sad, as I made these 4 years ago and was quite proud of how they turned out. Back then I arc welded them. Clearance for spinning bits is now all mint! Brake tab is perfectly positioned thanks to my new hub and rotor centric spacer block I made yesterday. Fender sitting just right. Needs a little hammer and dolly love...but good enough for now. Stoked!!!

Those machine screws offended me so much, I hunted through every container of random bolts I have until finally finding some 6/88875" or whatever the fuck they are cap head screws. Thank fuck for that.

No fucking around then... First thing I noticed was cheap Philips head machine screws. Wtf...who does that. You would think there's something in here that would fit. But no, not only are they cheap shitty Philips heads, they are cheap shitty god dam imperial Philips heads...cunts! Fuck you America...fuck you and you cunty perseverance with an antiquated measurement system... Anyways, rant over. And installation was reasonably straightforward. I had to drill out the shoulder on one of the cable bosses to get it to fit, but other than that it basically bolted on like you'd expect it too. Looks okay, probably preferred the brown grips? But not losing sleep over it.

The mail just keeps turning up. Ordered this a week ago from the USA and boom, in my letterbox today. Not 100% sure on the black, I kind of like my oldschool "coke bottle" grips. But it's an easy thing to change.

I like this a lot. Totally get the obsessing over the lines. A small change in angle or length can change the entire look of the bike. I've always subscribed to the theory of making big changes. By going big, either way you realise quickly where the limits are...then split the difference between them and its normally bang on. Keep up the good work.

Yes, but weirdly I like the look of it. Kind of an old school look, like you'd see on early industrial machines. But yeah, I can appreciate why others would not.

The only thing that would have been more awesome, would be if they just sent me the right fucking ones...like I ordered... Cunts fucked up the sizes and sent metric M10, instead of 3/8" -24 like I ordered. Hero to zero...

In the midst of a level 4 covid19 lockdown...the courier delivered this essential item I only ordered from ebay about 7 days ago. Crazy fast delivery compared to my usual 6 weeks wait...

Attacked my exhausts - cutting a fair bit off them, all in order of gaining a few inches of ground clearance. Then I shaped it a bit more to mimic the upper one: Before After Trying to follow the line of the rear leg angle as much as possible. Before After It's just sitting there loosely at the moment, but looking about right. I liked it better before...but there's always a price to pay in exchange for some practicality. I think I would have gained a fair amount of "lean" before it hits now. Probably 10° or more additional???

So, funny story to tell. ( @Raizer please read, in case I've given you a bad lead on where to buy stuff from) I noticed my brake lines didn't have printed markings on them, unlike the photos the guy had on his website. So having been through a cert before, got worried I actually have no proof that the lines meet any standards. So I emailed him, asking for something in writing to show he used the correct parts. I got a weird response about how the website photos are 12 years old and manufacturer's don't print id marks on their lines anymore because customers don't like the writing on their custom bikes and that legally he can't show me any paperwork as it breaches his contract with the distributor of the brake line company... (bullshit). So long story short, after a few emails he offered to refund my money. So basically I think the guy was full of shit. Anyway my PayPal account received a credit and I've got my money back. So I'll take my $125 refund, add that to the $140 I was going to spend on the new rear line, and get exactly what I want here in NZ. Over double the price...but all legitimate, not dodgy underhanded tactics.

I Googled how the crimping is done. Out of curiosity... Basically it has an inner part, that gets pushed inside the line, like a hose barb. And then the outer part is what you see (on the outside obviously). The two parts are positioned in a machine that hydraulically crushes them against each other locking it in place. Very simple idea, but works great. Unfortunately each machine is only able to crimp a very specific size, so although very close, the guys in Hamilton couldn't cut my fitting off and put theirs on because of the slight difference in the sizes.

Apex brakes in Canada. Much cheaper even including postage it was only $120 for both lines delivered. They meet SAE/DOT standards so all compliant. Delivery took less than a week to my door. I fucked up my side of things. This would have happened no matter where I got them from. The mistake was mine. Tempted to order another set from them, however my local guy has a longer fitting that better suits my needs. So I'll get them to make the rear line with this much longer fitting.

And then opened courier packages and boom... Sexy braided stainless dual throttle cables, made to order. Nice matching set to go with the braided brake lines.

Okay, things aren't as bad as I thought. I took the lines into a brake shop in Hamilton. Manager said that drilling out the M10 to 11mm is fine. No problem at all, something they often do themselves in fact. As long as I use quality copper washers and check it for leaks it's no problem. So that's reassuring. The other line that I bent by hand from 90° back to 45°, he said is probably fine too, but a small question mark about the possibility of me over working it. No guarantee that it won't fatigue. So for 100% peace of mind I'm going to replace this line. He has more crimping options that may allow me to get the 90° bend I really desire, rather than accepting a 45° and making that work...so I'll probably get one made ($140-$160 per line...ouch)... but fuck it, I'm living the good life right now and don't want to check out this early.

Yip, probably put this down to learning and get them all re-made again. Guess that's the price of education sometimes.

Okay, I ordered some brake lines. Custom made to my dimensions I supplied. Excellent service, happy with the product... but perhaps I should have taken more care with my measurements... So this banjo turned out to be an oddball at M11. Balls!!!! Cunt!!! Shit!!! Of course I measured a couple and got M10 (3/8"), so simply assumed they were all the same, ordered all M10. Hmmm 3 out of 4 normally isn't too bad, unless its safety critical. I've drilled it out to M11. I figured 0.5mm off each side won't affect the way it works that much. So I'll get some better washers and was thinking I'd probably just run it like that. But now...not so much. Everything else looks good. The rear. Well I measured it all correctly, but didn't realise how small the 90° bends would be. Unfortunately so tight and small it cant reach the hole in the master cylinder for the banjo bolt. It's short of reach by about 10mm Balls!!!! Cunt!!! Shit!!! So I bent it to 45°. But now I'm stressing that I shouldn't have done that, as it may fatigue crack. So I'm going to take it to a brake place in Hamilton and get them to put a new press fitting on it, for peace of mind. So all in all, a bit of a fail.

Fuck yeah, I've been a luckMC fanboy for a long time now. Just love their style. I saw one of their earlier bikes about 8 years ago now and saved it as inspiration. They've built a heap more cooler bikes since then, like the one above.

Haha, I'm not feeling the love for sight tubes eh. Moving right along, I cut the coil tab off, now that its relocated to another place. And gone: Much better! It really opens up that space. I've always thought my tank was just a touch too long, but by opening up this space by removing the coil bracket it changes the proportions and makes the tank appear a touch smaller. I love this look, with huge gap between tank and neck of frame. The Japanese are making some of the baddest bikes on the planet these days. I love their edgy style and ability to push the styling limits.

Just doing a bit of Google research on tank sight tubes that don't suck. Yeah, yeah..."blue and green should never be seen" (together). But both these bikes pull off a sight tube that looks okay. Still not ruling it out...