TOPIC:

Hm let's see. Got matching tires now. 'Borrowed' my wifes 130/90-18 Spitfire for the rear, and bought a nice matching 110/90-18 for the front. Shweet.

Meanwhile, I'd finally gotten around to fitting on of my birthday presents on the bike, a nice PMFR clutch release plate. The sheared of rearset mounts and the linkage were welded up by my buddy Don... Found some replacement Tarozzi levers online, so things were looking up!

... the fork brace. My old one was tweaked beyond repair in the crash, so I scoured the waves of Ebay lookin' for a replacement. Three non-fitting purchases later I'd had enough! So I made my own.
I used 1/4" aluminum flat stock and bent it about three quarters of the way in a roller (kinda looks like an old fashioned wringer, but has three rolls instead of two).
Then I found a piece of steel pipe with roughly the diameter of the wheel (the tire width is 4.25 or so)and cranked it down in a big vice with the aluminum wrapped around it. I bent the mounting spots back with a drift and a BFH, drilled 2" holes with a wholesaw to clear the fork tubes, then mounting holes and some finishing work...
It came out pretty sweet lookin and does the job, too.


Post edited by: dutchz, at: 2006/11/20 23:43

Front view

Mounted

Here's one more of the whole bike... some tweaks left to be done but I'm back to ridin'

dutchz wrote:

Hey ya Sandy, cheers. Youthful enthousiasm put me down haha.

LOL...I hear Ya,Bud...came close a few times...them Young Buggers,eh!

man I love that pmfr clutch release plate...lookin real good Sander...no joke...bare bones....

I like that 650 top triple...I dont mean to be the downer but you did better work on the original....dont get me wrong it looks tits though...gives me an idea of what mine would look like if I ever did clip-ons

I am also glad that your headers dont look to bad off...that is really a plus

any I will quit my blabbing...good post..

Aye scum, thanks... This clamp actually came out a bit cleaner than the Z1 clamp I did, it does need some more polishing with 1000 grit, but I really wanted to ride my bike last week. I'm real glad I went with the 650 tree though it really makes a difference in the handling (well that and the 18" front wheel).

I got lucky with the headers man, so lucky... don't know how, but there's hardly a scratch on em. It would be a bitch finding a new set of hookers.

Holy shit, that is some nice work! You should start selling fork braces!

I straightened some forks on a hydraulic press once. They worked good as new. As long as there was no real kinks, the seals should stay sealed.

Good to see it coming together. Looks great!

Bad ass, this was one of my favorite bikes before the downer.But now it just keeps getting better.

Thx guys... Lou, we used a (simple) hydraulic press as well. There were no kinks luckily, and I replaced the seals while the forks were apart (case of "might as well...")

Wow Dutch, I remember your spill but didn't recall the damage being that extensive.

It sure is coming back together really nicely, great job bud!

Post edited by: RetroRiceRocketRider, at: 2006/11/21 23:20