ON THE ROAD!!!!!...

It's been a long road, and of course the bike isn't finished, but it's on the road!
I rode it in to work this morning and it was just fantastic - admittedly though, it was a little nerve-wracking doing 100+ kmh and thinking 'I put this together...!', but awesome never the less!

I heard a few squeaks, but most of them came, I think, from trucks going by and such....there is a slight squeak under the seat (hard to say where it's coming from with the helmet on), but nothing worth stressing about. After the ride home I'll check all the nuts and bolts I've messed with and make sure they're all tight
still. It could also be the bracket I built last night to hold my tool bag at the front of the bike too..

So, so so happy with it - crack-a-lacking down the road, with so much more power than I'm used to and such a great bike....can't wait for the trip on Friday!

-Happy.

My Shiny Penny...

Well, it's far from 'finished', but it's at a state where it's ready for it's maiden voyage...and it certainly is shiny :)...

 
Ready to be ridden .....on WEDNESDAY!
If only the sun would come out properly so I can get some nice sparkly photos of it.

-Hayds.

5 more sleeps...

Just 5 more sleeps to go (although I may be so excited next Tuesday that I won't sleep, so maybe just the 4 to go?!) until I can ride the vulcan!

The clear coat will be dry by now, so I aim to polish the front and rear fenders tonight and start putting the bike back together tomorrow - followed by a good polish of the tank, wheels, etc...all those things that have been neglected for a few months!

I must also remember to change the oil and oil filter before the trip - the spark plugs should be fine, given I replaced them recently and hopefully the chain is tight enough... I don't want any issues on the trip.

Rear fender:

I have been looking around at different style bikes and am really enjoying the 60's and 70's style of lace patterns - I bought some lace recently and did a couple of trials to see what colour combinations work (just on cardboard) - so am thinking further down the track the tank (and head light) will get a full make over, with sections containing patterns along the lines of this:

Not too much though, I don't want to over do it - just subtle highlights here and there - I think it could add a lot of class to the bike, if done right (and it's a big 'if'!).
Also, depending on how the current setup feels over this 4 day trip, I am very tempted to see how the bike would look/ride with some gold coloured 'tracker' style bars - I have seen some at a shop and quite like them...but worry it will be uncomfortable on my back, like my current bike, which has tracker bars....*pondering*...

-Hayds.

Single digits...

NINE DAYS

TO GO!!!

Next Wednesday - let's hope the clear coating is all done and the bike is back together...and the weather is nice enough to ride in to work!!

-Hayds.

Let there be colour...

Amongst work and helping look after the latest addition to our family, I've been pretty busy trying to get the bike ready for our trip around the Vic High Country in two weeks time (two days after I'm allowed to ride the bike!). I'm sure the bike will never be 'finished' but I like to think it will be ready for the trip!

I wanted to try some painting/prepping/taping methods that I have never tried before, so practiced on my helmet. It came out OK - the main issues are a few slight runs in the gold paint (bad idea to use these 'spray from any angle' cans when doing delicate paint work like this) and I tried to sand the clear coat 24 hours after laying it down, with the intent of doing another couple of coats there after, making it very smooth - but as it turns out the clear wasn't 100% dry and so now there is some 'cloudiness' in there....not ideal, but not the end of the world! I learnt a lot, and that was the main idea.

I then went to work on the black parts that will be under the seat, including the seat bracket, seat pan and chain guard - all different metals! Galvanized Steel, mild steel and chromed steel, in that order. So two different etch primers and lots of sand paper later, they got a few coats of black gloss enamel (everything here comes from spray cans!) and then a few coats of clear

 
The rear fender needed to use another type of etch primer, as that is aluminium, but luckily that was the same one as the chrome....so it got a full coat of gold, taped up, then a few layers of 'deep blue pearl'. I haven't clear coated it yet, but that's coming this weekend!

I would also like to do the headlight in the same blue with a gold pin stripe, but need to see how the chromed (now black) chain guard holds up under wear and tear - if it works well then I'll figure it's safe to do the headlight!
-Hayds.

As eluded to below, we now have a beautiful baby girl in the house, so obviously there isn't a lot of time to work on the bike, however I have managed to come up with, what I think, will be the paint design - I have decided to go with some advice from friends and stick with the original dark blue paint - I will just add some gold pin striping to it (who knows, it may change in the future, but this is probably a good start!).
Given the original paint has some flake in it, I don't think I will be able to get exactly that paint for the rear fender, but will try to get as close to the blue as I can.

What it looks like now (after I took the tachometer off, as it really didn't suit the style of the bike):

What it will look like....something like this:

-Hayds.

A very busy week...

Best....thing....ever.

-Daddy.

Ready for the Road...sort of!

The Vulcan went for it's second trip (in it's current form) this week - again my Mate Damo came around and rode it down to the 'local' Vicroads, while I road beside him on my other bike - it was a beautiful Sunny Day and the Vulcan ran like a dream.
There were no hassles at Vicroads at all - Just filled in the paper work, had someone 'inspect' the bike (just confirmed the VIN and engine number), paid a crap-load of money and got the number plate!

Damo seemed to have good fun on the bike, despite almost being hit by a stupid $#%^&*@ woman in a minivan coming through a corner! He was impressed with the torque from the engine, especially from first gear into second - he thinks he may even have had the front wheel off the ground (cheeky bugger!).

So now it's just a matter of pulling it apart for painting and any other little things needed structurally (like a sissy bar)...very exciting :)


-Hayds.

Roadworthy, it is...

Woo! 

Yesterday I had to visit Repco for some oil for my other bike and dropped into the 'local' Kawasaki dealer with some photos of the bike and asked if they'd be happy to RWC test it, they said sure, it didnt 'look too bad'. They asked about the pipes and how loud they were, I said loud, but nothing compared to Harley's etc! They said it was OK for me to bring my other pipes and swap them over if the aftermarket ones are too loud :)

So, after getting an Unregistered Vehicle Permit from Vicroads yesterday, today My mate Damo rode it down (with me following in the car) to the dealer - when we first got there the guy said it was 'excessively loud', and Damo agreed - but we noticed pretty quickly that one of the pipes had come off the flange! One nut was lost, but the other one was sitting on the engine - so 5 mins later it was ready to go again and they said these pipes were not too loud and OK for Roadworthy! I was pleased :)

About 45 minutes later it was cleared and officially Roadworthy - Damo road it home for me of course and was quite impressed - he said the set up (bars/seat/suspension/pegs etc) was very comfortable and fun to ride; 'It is actually a fun bike to ride.....corners well once i got used to it and feels stable' - not a bad review given he's been riding a long time and his day to day ride is a very powerful Triumph Daytona!
Thanks Damo!

I did notice that the speedo is about 10kms out - he thought he was doing 100km/h on the highway, but my speedo said 90 and everyone was passing us, so figure mine was right - will have to get that seen to.

-Hayds.

P.S: I have finally decided on a colour scheme, and come up with a name for the bike ... need to let it sink in, see if it sticks or sounds silly :)

RWC here I come...I hope!

After receiving the last of my parts in the mail this week, I was keen to spend a few hours on the bike and get it ready for the RWC inspection - so things completed this week/today:

• Installed the clutch perch after some modifications (required for it to fit the bars)
• Adjusted the suspension to stop the rear fender hitting the Seat Bracket - I set it to setting #5 of 7, put it back together, tested the driveway bump and it still bottomed out. So I set it to the 7th setting, but that didn't help either. So I went back to the drawing board and cut a big crescent shape out of the seat bracket and it worked a treat! So I adjusted the preload back to the 5th position so I have room to move either way, if need be.
• Installed shorter bolts for the Seat Bracket
• Installed new mirrors
• Installed new hand grips - unfortunately the nice Avon grips I ordered didn't fit - well, the throttle sleeve didn't fit inside my switch housing, so with the use of some hot soapy water I swapped it with the original throttle sleeve and added the original 'chrome' collar to the left hand grip as well, so they match.

I've also finally decided on a colour scheme for the bike - so once the legal stuff is out of the way, I can pull it apart and start on the painting,a s well as the other fabrication like passenger seat/luggage attachment (see pic below for plans), sissy bar etc :)

So now the plan is to book it in for a RWC inspection! I'll go about scheduling all of that as soon as possible - weather/work permitting.

As a treat (mainly for myself!), here's a video of a quick test ride...

-Hayds.

Almost RWC time...

Whilst fighting a throat infection for the last week or so, I have been able to put a few more hours into the bike and have made pretty good progress. Of the 'to do' list for the RWC (as per the last post) I have:

• Ordered the new clutch perch - but postage seems to have stalled about a week ago in the US, no idea what is happening here, but want them to hurry up!
• Properly secured the front of the Plate by making use of the tank mount, I cut and bent into shape a small bracker that allows the tank mount bolt to pass through it at one end, and the other end attaches to the plate by the same nut/bolt as the seat swivel bracket
• Ordered some new hand grips (and mirrors!)  
• Sanded down the front fender to a nice smooth finish
• Put a few coats of protectant/waterproofing on my leather seat
• Cut the edges of the support bracket so that the top of the bolts sit below the top of the frame

So all that is left to do is:

• Install the clutch perch, if it ever arrives
• Adjust the suspension to stop the rear fender hitting the Seat Bracket
• Install shorter bolts for the Seat Bracket (hopefully black!) - this has been harder than expected as the thread pitch is quite rare, it would seem at 10x1.25mm, but I'm sure I'll find some somewhere!

On the mechanical side, the bike failed to start on the weekend, after running earlier that day (but struggling to idle). So did some searching in the manual and talking to my ex-mechanic friend, and long story short the culprit was ....me! - after starting the bike and revving it, sitting on it, and wishing I could take it for a ride for a few months, the spark plugs had fouled up a storm and were quite knackered! I gave them a good clean and put them back in, but still no love. So I bought some new ones and now it's all fixed up :)

Not going to run it now until it's ready for RWC so that it can get there no worries - just need to find a reputable shop that is happy to do a roady on a customised bike - shouldn't be too big a deal, given I have adhered to all the rules/regulations that I can find (you think this would be stored in an easy to find location, but no, that would be too logical!), such as distance between indicators, brake light positioning, number plate positioning, '45 degree' rule for rear fender, maximum height between bottom of hand grips andtop of lowest part of seat....etc!!

Pics:

-Hayds.

Takin' shape...

I managed to spend a few of hours on Sunday and a couple of (cold) nights this week in the garage and have managed to:
- Cut and shape the front fender - just needs to be sanded by hand now
- Cut the 'Seat Plate' match the shape of the frame
- Drilled two holes (square!) in the 'Seat Bracket' and inserted two bolts for the Seat Plate (these will be shortened)
- Got some rubber washers, normal washers and wing nuts (for looks) to hold the Plate down
- Bought some 'pinch weld' and temporarily (i.e. not 'pinched') put it on the Plate
- Ordered the new clutch perch, having broken the original one when putting on the new bars (the new bars are dimpled, even though the description did not state this when I bought them online!, which makes them a little fatter at that point, a little too fat, it would seem, for the cast alloy clutch perch!)

Pics:

 So now I figure the only things left to get a RWC are:
- New clutch perch installed (after making it able to handle thicker bars)
- Properly secure the front of the Plate (near the tank)
- Adjust the suspension to stop the rear fender hitting the Seat Bracket
- New hand grips 
- Shorter bolts for the Seat Bracket (hopefully black!)

The rest will happen too...just not urgent for the RWC :)

-Hayds.

Slow goin'...

Well it's been two and a bit months since my last post, but for good reasons (mainly working weekends, working in the yard, etc etc!). Over that time I have only the odd hour here and there to work on the Vulcan, but it has gone through a few changes - enough to warrant some new pictures anyway!

Changes include:
- Biltwell Handlebars ("Chumps")
- Sheet of metal underneath the Seat ('Seat plate') has been (roughly) cut out
- Front of seat now mounted to Seat Plate, rather than Tank mount
- Bracket created underneath Seat Plate to stop the Seat Plate from flexing under weight of rider ('Seat support bracket')
- Started to cut down Front fender, but yet to 'back' side of it, or decide on a final shape

Photos:

Still to come:
- Some custom, black hand controls and new grips (Hopefully - struggling to find some good ones that aren't way over priced!)
- Clean up the edges and mounting of the Seat Plate and Seat Support Bracket
- Small sissy bar - replacing current rear fender struts
- Finish front fender
- Barrel Springs for the solo seat (rather than the current ones)
- Adjust suspension (discussed in earlier post)
- Shorter bolts for the Seat Bracket (hopefully black!)
- Get RWC and Registered
- Paint!!

-Hayds.

Steamin'...!

After working through the night on Saturday night, I mustered the energy to do some (easy) work on the bike - I soaked the Exhaust Wrap and took the pipes off - a little while later I had some neatly wrapped exhaust pipes! I hope they do a good job, because I have left the metal heat shields off (would have looked too fat with them on), and the pipe is right on my ankle....we'll see when I can finally ride it I suppose!

A video of the (smelly) fun:

-Hayds.

Just a little more...

Spent some time on the bike on Sunday - the indicators are now mounted properly - the wiring was a bit of a pain - not looking forward to doing it again after everything is painted...at least I'll have done it all before I guess!

I have been continuing to cut and grind away the seat bracket (and the fender mounting bracket) to stop the two hitting each other over big bumps - it's driving me mad, because I have cut away all that I can (without bringing the structural stability into question!), and it still hits - not much, but it hits! My last resort is to stiffen the suspension - the current (stock) spring preload setting on the spring/mono shock absorber is the lowest (softest), so I will try adjusting it and hopefully I can get rid of the issue without making the bike too stiff.

-Hayds.