legendlives

I'm trying to assemble my 'bucket list' of bikes. These are bikes I have always wanted and now it seems also unusual bikes that I never knew I wanted.... Back in the UK I had a Fireblade RRW, a Triumph Daytona 955 and a Ducati ST4 and I loved it, loved it and hated it in that order. These were sold when I came to NZ some 14 years ago and I think it's about time that I got the Honda/Triumph/Italian combo back in my garage. The Honda Blackbird in my profile pic is my long term keeper. I always wanted one, and it's a bike that has 100% lived up to the expectation. It's fast (very), comfortable, refined and very pretty. I've owned it for around 5 years now and can't imagine I'll ever part with it. Early this year I was lucky enough to get one of the original Triumph Speed Triples. Great bike, another one that lived up to the hype. It's brash and loud and just extreme fun to ride. For the third bike to join them I was looking at another Ducati V-twin, probably something like a Multistrada - something that would contrast with the styles of the other two. Late night trawling TradeMe and Facebook is a dangerous place, and I came across this: It's an Aprilia RST 1000 Futura and I don't think I've ever even seen one before. They were never popular worldwide and there's probably less than a handful in NZ. Although it looks good in the photo it's actually a bit of a project as there are paint, corrosion and wiring issues as well as it needing a damn good clean up! If there's any interest I'll post up some of the fabrications modifications and repairs on the three. Comments welcome!

The interior got a bit of a make-over with new aluminium door cards. These will be trimmed to match the seats: New window winders fitted. These are the cheapest of the cheap, but with 'nice' screws fitted they work well on the TR7 window winder shaft:

With the additional gusset welded in place the chassis and floor went under the surgeon's knife (OK, my grinder.) which resulted in this gaping hole: I'll make a new floorpan in this section in 2mm steel plate which will add more strength (not that it needs any) and safety. Seat in place almost 2 inches lower, and now my helmet is free to move as it should:

After buying at least 4 pairs of seats for the car I've now settled on these: Kirkey aluminium race seats. Ultimately they will be upholstered the same. I chose these for three reasons: 1. Lightweight. 2. as the height inside the car is so short I needed seats with the thinnest bases possible and these fit the bill (but not entirely. More on that later). and 3. They're cool! But even with the extremely thin seat base my helmet is still too close to the rollcage (no sniggering at the back there!), so I made this: Which welds underneath the chassis member and allows me to cut the chassis and lower the seat even further.

The fuel filter is a relatively cheap unit with a stainless steel mesh element. The bracket is angle-cut and welded at the ends to give it a bit more strength than just an angle bracket. The M6 countersunk fixing screws are threaded into tapped holes in the chassis. Hoses and fittings are from SpeedFlow in Aus (custom anodised silver) in -8AN size which will run all the way through to the fuel regulator.

I've spent a bit of time over the last week or so designing (!) and making the battery tray: This sits behind the left-hand wheel tub. End supports are dimple-died and riveted on all 4 sides. The bracket at the front is 3mm, welded to the tray and riveted through to the tub. Rear mount hole is threaded into the reinforcement which runs the full width of the tray and is welded from underneath.

Looking round for materials, I cut the side panels out of the old steel wheel tubs. used the front of the TR bonnet, and cut up a Toyota Echo bonnet to finish the panel. It's now high enough that I can add carb spacers if I need to. It will need some panelwork and a bit of filler, but overall I'm pretty happy.

It's pretty obvious that the intake system will need to be covered: I'd already bought a fibreglass bulge/scoop, but figuring that the rest of the car is steel (the first all-steel race car I've ever built!) I decided to build my own steel scoop. Starting with some CAD: This has a curved top and follows the line of the original 'lump' in the TR bonnet. I tried it with a flat top and it just didn't look right.

It now has the Mallory ignition box, all of the relays and a fusebox. The round hole at the bottom will have an insulated +ve terminal, and the holes that the wiring will run through will be edged in rubber. Not a lot of room left for gloves, but it's easily accessible and (IMHO) quite neat. You'd never know:

Around the back there was a lot of excess glovebox: Which was removed. I left a flange at the bottom to clip any wiring to, and used a section of the cut off bit to fill the hole at the top.

I've been a bit crook lately, so can't spend too much time doing stuff. Thought I'd have a go at the fuse and relay board. This was templated in card and then cut, bent, drilled and welded in 1.6mm Aluminium before being coated in my favourite shade of crackle-black: You'll notice that the sides of the templates are square, whereas the sides of the box are not. Good job I checked the fit regularly during the fabrication process. Anyhow, once it was made I riveted it into the glovebox of the TR. The gaping hole on the right-hand top was an intrusion to clear the heater ducting that needed to be cut out to fit the fuseboard.

Better fill that hole eh? First off, I extended the transmission tunnel framework and welded it to the rollcage crossmember and down to the chassis: Followed by cutting, folding, bending, welding and grinding: It needs a bit more tidying up before painting, but it's a great improvement. Now I just need to make the aluminium closing panels for the rear bulkhead, and front of the transmission tunnel. The trans tunnel panels are going to be bolt-on removable panels to aid fitting, removal and maintenance of the transmission.

Moving downwards I have only one more hole to fill in the back panel, but I had to deal with this: Which I never finished because I hated it all. Fortunately I have a grinder and I'm not afraid to use it!

With the majority of the boot done, and a bit more plumbing (that I'm not going to show you yet!) I turned my attention to the inside, and after removing the last of the sound deadening from the parcel shelf I made possibly the most time consuming panel on the whole car: The bottom return is not 90 degrees, it has returns that rivet to the inside of the tubs, and those tabs that drop down into the 'corrugations' are two different depths. even the two flat panels above the tubs are different shapes! I'll slap some sealer around it before the interior is painted.

Underneath doesn't look too shabby. Just the battery tray/box and a but more plumbing and the boot area is complete.