legendlives

The only small unplanned issue was the top manifold bolts which needed to be changed for studs & nuts as the original Allen bolts wouldn't clear the new angle of the manifolds. Just like most women, they doo look pretty good from the back!

When (or if !) the 'Guzzi is ready to run it will need carburation. One slight drawback of fitting a Moto Guzzi V-twin into a Honda dirtbike frame is that the carbs want to occupy the same space as the frame: No problem as I've always been aware of the issue and always planned to have the carbs on the outside of the frame. I could have just spun the manifolds around 180 degrees and had the carbs pointing outwards, but that would have looked naff. I wanted them pointing straight back, and due to interference / clearance they'd need to angle up slightly too. No worries. Fire up the grinder and: The short aluminium tube is the same ID as the manifolds. The stub ID's were machined out so that the 'new' tubes are an interference fit. A bit of welding later and: The welding is not super-tidy. Welding 25 year old petrol-infused Italian cast was never going to be pretty!

The other recent additions are a couple of struts to reinforce the seat subframe. This was a bit wobbly due to the very parallelogram construction of it. The new struts attach to (what would have been) the subframe attachments on the CR frame and go up to the main tank support member on the subframe: These are at different heights on both sides that help with the stiffness. That bolt is only for location. It will get a nice SS cap head. Incidentally I made the turned ends of these struts the first day out of hospital, about 5 days after surgery. That's dedication! I've also been working hard on a 4-wheel project since I nearly croaked. If there's any interest I'll start a thread.

It's been a while since I last posted. A heart attack and bypass surgery sidelined me somewhat, but now I'm back! The tail section is no longer made of masking tape: This is held in place by a couple of internally welded 90 degree returns that bolt to the rear pan. There will be a seal around the light, and a drip channel that will go forward under the seat. Quite happy with the shape. It and the seat still need a little fettling to line them up, but it is only a little fettling.

I think the proportions look right. The rear panel will cover most of the rear light and will be a bolt-on part as it will be painted to match the tank and side panels. It will look something like this: but will be higher at the front to be flush with the seat.

I made an undertray to reinforce the seat subframe, provide a mounting point for the rear light and give a little room for various electric components and a small gel battery: It also reinforces the crosspiece that the seat will mount to: The rear light is the original Guzzi light which suits the bike (IMHO) and is far better quality than any of the aftermarket units.

Realising that I need somewhere to sit, i thought I'd do a bit of CAD design and see what I could come up with: Transferring the dimensions on to 2mm aluminium plate I ended up with this: Made from 5 pieces of plate and seam welded inside and out. I'm pleased with the size and shape of it, and now I can design the tailpiece and side panels.

A little bit more done. I've had my grandson staying over the holidays and whilst he's a great lad he is a distraction..... Now I have the seat subframe size and shape (mostly) sorted I can sit on the bike and........ Well it's resulted in some remaking of stuff, namely the footpegs. They were too low and too far forward, so they've gone from this: To this: They've gone up and back about 40mm and out 3mm which has improved things substantially. The upside of this is also the amount of extra clearance for the starter motor (which I haven't bought yet!) I've also tacked on the front frame 'Y' section: This establishes the angle and position for the lower engine frame. The tubes will go down from this to the lower engine mount (the stud hanging out of the side of the sump) and then back to weld to the footpeg brackets thereby keeping everything 'unboltable' should I want to take the engine out.

And in other news, I had wanted to have the silencers under the seat, but trying them in place it was obvious they would cause a few issues, so I welded in a couple of heavy gussets to the rear of the seat subframe and bolted the silencers on the sides: I quite like it, I think it suits the style of bike I'm trying to achieve.

Obviously it will need more smoothing and a skim of filler, but looks much better: There will be more tank modifications before it's finished, but I like the fit a lot more now.

Then welded in a closing panel and smoothed off the lumpy bits:

One of the glaring mis-matches is that reverse curve on the front of the tank: I want the line of the tank to follow the line of the frame and make it look more 'factory', so I started by welding a flange into the front seam: Then welded in a false front panel (it's just aesthetic - won't be full of fuel):

While I was hacking stuff up I thought I'd attack the ugly swing arm. It now looks like this: Which adds absolutely no strength, but does look better. Raising the rear end has highlighted another problem. The seat is now too high for my meagre stature. Out with the grinder again and.... The steeper angle on the rear shock has allowed me to lower the seat frame. I've also extended the seat tubes and relocated the diagonals. The rear tank mount is also lower which has brought the tank more in line with the frame. I'm desperately in need of a starter motor (which doesn't cost more than I've spent on the entire project) so if anyone knows of a secondhand/damaged/broken Guzzi starter please let me know.

Looking at the above photo it's obvious that the back of the bike is too low, and the engine at too much of an angle so I need to increase the height. Out with the grinder and cut it all up (and probably not for the last time). With the ride-height mods done courtesy of this over-engineered bracket: it looks a whole lot better IMHO:

With the tank fitted, and stepping back to admire my handiwork it's obvious that the rear of the frame is too low, but that's easy enough to remedy. The good news is that the bike proportions are starting to look good (IMHO).