Cruisecontrol
01-04-2012, 06:09 PM
It seems my last attempt got nuked in the forum changeover...
As luck would have it the moment I sold the Bandit I found out my work was moving from literally across the road from my house to 30mins away. This meant a bike was essential because I simply hate driving in Sydney.
Green slip prices are a joke so I thought I would go for something a bit smaller, well a lot smaller:
Honda CD250U
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/1.jpg
I have always wanted to café a bike so I thought it might as well be this one.
The first thing that had to go was the super ugly front guard:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/2.jpg
Next was pulling the pile of crap off the back of the bike and come up with something a little more attractive:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/4.jpg
And those bars needed a bit of work...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/5.jpg
A seat unit off eBay gave me a good starting point but it needed a fair bit of work to get it where I wanted it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/6.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/17.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/18-1.jpg
After I had an idea of where I was going I pulled off all the redundant shit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/8.jpg
After that it was the trusty hacksaw to remove a bit of subframe to get this tail piece to fit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/19.jpg
The massive dials bolted to the top clamp and I had no intention of keeping them so a bit of surgery was needed to tidy things up before the new dials went on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/10.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/11.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/12-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/13.jpg
I was going to repaint it black but once I stripped it, it looked so much better bare I decided to leave it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/14-1.jpg
I bought a set of clip ons from the UK, They took weeks and weeks to arrive and I couldnt do much to the front til I had them and was chuffed when they arrived...
Five minutes later they were launched across the back yard in disgust because I fucked up and they didnt fit!
Lesson learned and I bought another set from the US but it meant another wait... They are a nice three piece racing set but because of that they have a thicker wall which meant the bar end mirrors I bought wouldnt fit! These bars were really pissing me off and I had to use some solid bars I had and drilled and tapped the ends just to fit the mirrors!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/15-1.jpg
Headlight on and finally a bit of progress.
Next was the inenviable task of extending just about every bloody wire on the bike so I could move everything to the tail to get it out of sight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/16.jpg
And then mount the battery in out of the way as opposed to stuck lazily to the side and covered with an ugly piece of plastic.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/24.jpg
The seat unit needed to be extended to marry up with the tank and took a shiteload longer than I thought it would...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/22.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/23.jpg
The pipes were shitty and rusted and I had no intention of paying to get them rechromed so wrapping was the answer. I did an absolutely rubbish job so I will probably have another crack at it at a later date.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/25.jpg
Getting there.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/26.jpg
I wasnt sure what to do with the paint (I had some offers from ASFers, thanks guys) but I decided to do it myself. I was going to do it with a brush but that just smacked of effort so I went with the rattle can approach. I cant be happier with the result as once the clear coat went on I thought it looked a million bucks!
I still have to clear coat the tail and do a million other things but I took it for a ride today anyway...
It is slow, vibey as hell, has no rear brake and the seat is held on with a zip tie but damn it is fun to ride!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/27.jpg
It has cost me less than two grand to buy it register it and get it to where it is now so it is no show pony but it gives me a shit eating grin when I ride it...
As luck would have it the moment I sold the Bandit I found out my work was moving from literally across the road from my house to 30mins away. This meant a bike was essential because I simply hate driving in Sydney.
Green slip prices are a joke so I thought I would go for something a bit smaller, well a lot smaller:
Honda CD250U
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/1.jpg
I have always wanted to café a bike so I thought it might as well be this one.
The first thing that had to go was the super ugly front guard:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/2.jpg
Next was pulling the pile of crap off the back of the bike and come up with something a little more attractive:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/4.jpg
And those bars needed a bit of work...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/5.jpg
A seat unit off eBay gave me a good starting point but it needed a fair bit of work to get it where I wanted it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/6.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/17.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/18-1.jpg
After I had an idea of where I was going I pulled off all the redundant shit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/8.jpg
After that it was the trusty hacksaw to remove a bit of subframe to get this tail piece to fit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/19.jpg
The massive dials bolted to the top clamp and I had no intention of keeping them so a bit of surgery was needed to tidy things up before the new dials went on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/10.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/11.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/12-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/13.jpg
I was going to repaint it black but once I stripped it, it looked so much better bare I decided to leave it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/14-1.jpg
I bought a set of clip ons from the UK, They took weeks and weeks to arrive and I couldnt do much to the front til I had them and was chuffed when they arrived...
Five minutes later they were launched across the back yard in disgust because I fucked up and they didnt fit!
Lesson learned and I bought another set from the US but it meant another wait... They are a nice three piece racing set but because of that they have a thicker wall which meant the bar end mirrors I bought wouldnt fit! These bars were really pissing me off and I had to use some solid bars I had and drilled and tapped the ends just to fit the mirrors!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/15-1.jpg
Headlight on and finally a bit of progress.
Next was the inenviable task of extending just about every bloody wire on the bike so I could move everything to the tail to get it out of sight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/16.jpg
And then mount the battery in out of the way as opposed to stuck lazily to the side and covered with an ugly piece of plastic.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/24.jpg
The seat unit needed to be extended to marry up with the tank and took a shiteload longer than I thought it would...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/22.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/23.jpg
The pipes were shitty and rusted and I had no intention of paying to get them rechromed so wrapping was the answer. I did an absolutely rubbish job so I will probably have another crack at it at a later date.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/25.jpg
Getting there.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/26.jpg
I wasnt sure what to do with the paint (I had some offers from ASFers, thanks guys) but I decided to do it myself. I was going to do it with a brush but that just smacked of effort so I went with the rattle can approach. I cant be happier with the result as once the clear coat went on I thought it looked a million bucks!
I still have to clear coat the tail and do a million other things but I took it for a ride today anyway...
It is slow, vibey as hell, has no rear brake and the seat is held on with a zip tie but damn it is fun to ride!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/mintbread1/27.jpg
It has cost me less than two grand to buy it register it and get it to where it is now so it is no show pony but it gives me a shit eating grin when I ride it...