06-27-09....With Graphics

05-02-09.....Almost Ready

The bike as it will look from now on.

I finished the undertail, using the stock inner fender. I'm using LED license plate bolts for lighting.

This will also be the paint configuration for the solo seat cover.

041909...........Springtime pics

04/17/09.....Spring has sprung...uh, wait a minute it's snowing

Well, it's been a while since my last posting, but then it is winter and all. Now I'll probably be posting a little more regularly, at least until I get the paint the way I want it and start riding in earnest.

Spring SHOULD have sprung, but it seems that after a mild winter during which I rode at least once every week, it's snowing. I guess just to prove a point. I received a very nice set of underfairings yesterday and had to install them today. While it's not possible (for me) to ride, I wanted to get the orange underfairings off so I could ride on Monday when it's supposed to be in the seventies (We'll see!)

I like the black lower better than the orange, I think it unifies the paint scheme, so that's how it's going to stay (for now)

02-18-09......Revisions

Second thoughts about the paint. Did a quick Photoshop with the lower fairing black. Looks better and once it's warm, I'll change it.

Saturday 01-3-09, Monday 01-05-09, Thursday 01-08-09....

So far....Several early January riding days that went over 54 degrees and so I went for daily rides. In all of the years I've lived here, it's never seemed this warm, and it's really no warmer than normal (no, there's no such thing as "Global Warming"), but with my new focus on bikes, it sure seems warmer. Things could be worse.

I also found a picture online of a 2000 929 in a similar paint scheme to mine. 2000 was definitely a "Yellow" year for Honda. VFR, VTR1000 Superhawk and the 929 so far. They must have been getting a deal on yellow paint. In defense, my color is "Orange"

We wish all a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!

I debugged the tach (I failed to secure two connections when I repaired the instrument cluster mounting bosses three weeks ago) and brake lights today(the original 1994 "Stanley"(manufacturer of factory taillight units) bulbs were faulty, replaced same)..no problem, back to 100%

Riding on New Years Day in Colorado. Who would have imagined. 54 degrees and sunny today, nice ride, but too short. It's supposed to go to 60 and sunny tomorrow. I plan to head up US-34 toward Estes Park.

Saturday the temps are forecast to dip below my tolerance. 24 degrees and possible flurries. It's supposed to get to the upper 40's late next week, so, maybe another ride or two. Some of the great things about Colorado are the sunshine (about 300-325 days a year) low humidity and resulting dry roads during winter. Wear the right gear and you can ride virtually all year long.

During winter, you take rides when you can get them no matter where you live.

12-30-08....Couldn't help myself

It went up to 56 degrees here yesterday and the bike was in pieces...So I put it back together and took it for a ride today, it went up to about 50 degrees. I guess my illness is obvious. Since all I have is a mesh jacket with a quilt liner, I layered a little and was fine. I really like the new Bridgestones, a good investment at a good price. I had no tach or brake lights during the ride, so I'll have to go through all the connections I broke down during disassembly, apply dielectric grease and get things in order. No problem......other than having to remove all of the upper fairings.

The final paint work has to be completed, but I'll wait until March when we string some balmy days together to do that. For now the bike will be ready for me to get my "fix" on those occasional warm winter days. I also did a tape job on the seat fairing to try out a number plate configuration. I'm up in the air about it.

12-15-08....New(er) upper fairing

Scored a complete upper fairing, including turn signals and headlight unit on Ebay for $20. It arrived today. There are NO cracks or broken mounts, but it does need refinishing. The headlight and turn signals are mint. I should be able to sell what I don't need for what I paid for all of it (note. sold headlight unit and covered all costs including other side fairing i purchased earlier). Good stuff and a distinct upgrade for parts that had been fixed/glued/bondo-ed.

Maybe the old fairing can be used as a basis for the RC45 replica fairing I wanted to do.

12-07-08....Repair, Adjustments

Disassembled the cluster because it was damaged in a previous fall. Turns out that the mounting bosses had been broken and repaired poorly, so I did them right and they should be good from now on (Lower housing costs $200 from Honda). The upper fairing stay seems to be tweaked a little, too, so I spent some time un-tweaking it. It's better now.

11/30/08....The Wings LIVE!!

Finished masking the wings today and shot the black. Set the tank in place to again get the bigger picture. In spite of the fact that the color scheme has gone quite a way from the original intent, I'm still OK with what I've done so far. Not so much MotoGP, but pretty good anyway.

11-25-08....Color for the tank....

Finally....a better look at what the bike will look like in full color. I applied color to the tank and did a quick shot of black on the side fairing to complete the scheme. Now that I think I like the look, I'll shoot the clear coat, apply graphics, finish the side fairings. It's definitely high contrast.

It looks like I'll have to wait a while to work on it again. The weather forecast is finally starting to look like winter, starting on Thanksgiving day.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

11-23-08....Tank Wing Graphics layout

Today, after fixing the two dents in the tank and priming the repairs, I decided to further develop the "Wings" on the tank much like the race bike. Afterward, I set the tank on the bike and took a look see. I used black tape to get a better idea. You'll have to try to "visualize" the orange on the tank and the left rear fairing. Anyway, here's what I've come up with so far.

11-21-08....Wingracks arrived

Got my Givi Wingracks today from a friend on the VFRD. The plan is to use Caribou cases (http://cariboucases.com/store/?name=Home) with this setup. These are Pelican FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic) cases used by the military and are water tight, durable and very utilitarian(OK, not slick like what you'd normally see on a Sport Touring machine). Looking at the brackets on the bike, it's apparent that I won't be able to use a high mounted exhaust can (or it will be very tight), so I plan to have the high pipe for riding single (which will be most of the time) and swap in the stock pipe for riding two up and with luggage. Installing the cases and swapping exhaust takes 20 minutes, tops.

11-17-08....Pre-assembly to check colors

Managed to get color on the radiator inlet shroud and the lower fairing, I pre-assembled the pieces to see if I like the combination, which I do, except for the annoying little orange splotch below the windscreen. Now to disassemble, clear coat the orange on the inner shroud and lower fairing, and get rid of the little orange splotch. The tank will come out tonight and get its prep work tomorrow, hopefully....

11-17-08....Upper Fairing painted

Finished the upper fairing, but I'm not happy with it. The orange accent below the windscreen looks out of place. I think it will have to go black. Once I paint and install the front radiator inlet orange, I'll go through the same deal and may want to go with a metallic charcoal instead of orange. I'll try it orange and then decide. So far so good, though.

11-15-08....Fender Eliminator (sort of)

Forgot to post how I plan to cut down the rear fender. In the photo, you can seen a very faint yellow line on the fender(nothing, not even a grease pencil will write on it very well). The plate resides at the bottom edge of the fender normally. I'll raise it and cut down the fender, then I'll use 90 degree LED bolts to mount and light the plate.

11-15-08.... Graphics. Many possibilities

I've been busy upgrading the garage for additional lighting, but spent some time pondering the paint scheme and graphic breakup between the colors on the bike this evening. Initially, I had thought I'd two tone the tank with the orange on the upper portion and black below. Playing around with some fine line tape, I think I came up with a better idea and keep black above and below an orange stripe(so to speak) in between. I feel this will keep the orange as an accent color and avoid having it become too obnoxious. I'll use a smaller black Honda wing set on the orange field, roughly in the same location as the original.

I also received my single seat cowl and wanted to do a number plate scheme on it. Initially, I thought painting orange covering the entire top would be right, but after some consideration, thought this would look better.

11-09-08.... Mounted tires, Front fender

Today the wheels and tires were assembled to the bike and got it back on it's feet. I'm always a little nervous when it's up in the air for any period of time. Too many people in the garage, especially little ones. Anyway, I finished paint on the front fender and mounted it and the wheels. I also temporarily mounted the mid fairing to start to get a feel for the color scheme. I can now start to consider graphics.

11-08-08....Wheels DONE!!

Finally, on 11-03-08, my tires arrived. I immediately took them to Rocky Mountain Motor Sports here in Loveland Colorado, and had them installed on the wheels. On Election Day I retrieved them and begun to prepare them for paint that evening. Without going into too much detail, I prepped and painted the wheels using Dupont Chromabase paint, Ford code 775302K, Ranger/Mustang Grabber Orange. I had rattle cans loaded with the color and used Dupont acrylic A-7480S Clearcoat, purchased at Ed's Paint Supply also in Loveland, for the final finish. It worked exceptionally well considering the marginal temperatures here in Colorado these days. While this is not powdercoat, I feel it came out extremely well.