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.