This will be the slowest build thread in history!!!

[Bandon]

Trail Tech Vapor came in the mail today. WOOHOO. I love getting new parts. Too bad I have to wait a little while for the headlight. I still haven't ordered it. I'm going to hook up the Vapor as soon as the Trail Tech Dashboard, with all the idiot lights, comes in. Now, I have to face the decision of which idiot lights I want. My last one, I use Oil, Low Fuel, Neutral and High Beams. And, I used a couple LEDs from radioshack to indicate turn signals. But, I'm thinking I don't care about turn signals and fuel (with the YZF tank, i'm kind of assuming I could hook that sensor up to the Vapor if I wanted). I never really paid much attention to it on my old bike. So, I'll surely go with Oil, Neutral and Brights. But what to do with that fourth light...

On a side note, I hooked up the new battery to check a few things and the brake light stays on. Worked just fine before. It's not the rear switch... There isn't one. I've looked at everything I can think of. Traced wires to try and locate a short... Nothing. I haven't changed anything other than the battery. Didn't unhook anything. Just moved it out of the way while I installed the R6 tail. Nothing got cut or damaged. I DID however, completely cut the front harness. I've got nothing hooked up in front. Just a bundle of wires hanging out of the front of the frame. But, the only thing that was hooked up in front was the headlight. Well, and obviously the handlebar controls and ignition. Which I did not cut, by the way. I unhooked the wires from the brake switch on the front brake and it did come on normal (running lights). But then, after a minute or two, they came back on bright and no matter what I did, they stayed on. I'm kinda hoping it's a bad switch, or a stuck spring in there or something. Maybe there's just some fluid in there creating a short. I'll take it all apart and give it a look. If anyone has a suggestion, I'm all ears. Or, eyes... I guess, since I'll be reading your words of wisdom.

EDIT: DON'T know what I did. But, it's working fine now. Went out and unhooked everything and then hooked it back up. Works like normal. Except that it was pretty dim. New battery needs a charge fo' real!

[HybridSport600]

Nice progress report, keep it comming!




"Got a $5 head, buy a $5 helmet"

[Bandon]

Thanks. It's nice to see this project moving along. I'm really just trying to get it safe and legal before it gets too cold outside. Once the winter shows up, I'll probably tear it back down and do some internal snooping.

And congrats on the Shovelhead.

[HybridSport600]

[Bandon]

Got everything (most everything) put back together. Still need a headlight and some blinkers. And, I need to finish my solo seat cowl. But other than that, everything is hooked up and ready to go. Well, sorta. The damn thing won't start. Turns over fine. Just won't start. It hasn't been sitting that long. Was starting/running great before I started working on it. I can't think of anything that would have caused this. But, I'm not exactly a skilled mechanic either.

[_Will_]

Got everything (most everything) put back together. Still need a headlight and some blinkers. And, I need to finish my solo seat cowl. But other than that, everything is hooked up and ready to go. Well, sorta. The damn thing won't start. Turns over fine. Just won't start. It hasn't been sitting that long. Was starting/running great before I started working on it. I can't think of anything that would have caused this. But, I'm not exactly a skilled mechanic either.

the FZR is notorious about liking a fully charged battery so enough to turn it over fine may not be enough to fire it as well. Throw it on a charger or jump it, I bet it'll fire right up.

Also the E10 gas we get now attracts water quicker, may need to throw something like sea foam or gum out in the tank to make a more homogenous mixture in there again if it's had a chance to accumulate

[Bandon]

Thanks. I'll give that a shot. I'm out of town for the weekend. But, I'll throw the battery on a charger and see if that does the trick. I also noticed the petcock dripping a little. So, it's all unhooked and drained again. I'll have to remedy that before I get it back on the bike. Ugh... It's like a never ending list that just keeps on growing. At least it seems that way. I'm sure I'll be good to go right around the time the temperature is consistently ~35.

[Bandon]

Been doing some cosmetic damage control. I went over the tail piece with a palm sander, prepped, and shot it with some rattle can gloss black and a gloss clear. I actually used the Dupli Color wheel clear coat. That stuff works really well. Dries super fast and you can sand it in a few hours, if you wanted to. I waited a day. It barely had any orange peel in it as it sat. So, I just hit it with some 1500. That's all I had laying around. I put probably 15 minutes of total work into it. It's still got some imperfection coming through. I didn't care enough to use any body filler in the deeper scratches. Just sanded everything to a "good enough for government work" level, couple sanded coats of filler primer, and hit it with some color. It actually turned out great, for the amount of effort. I spent maybe another 20 minutes with a ripped up t-shirt and some Meguiar's Tech Wax 2.0. I love that stuff. Anyway, here's how it looks now. The little specs are dust and maybe some cat hair...


AAAANNNNDDDD...

Today is my birthday and my wife surprised me with the headlight I've been wanting, but didn't want to spend the money on. I really wanted this one for my SV650 and have been wanting it for this bike since I started working on it. I love this lamp.


I love getting new pretty parts. Now, I have to figure out what I wanna do with the tank. I really wanted to just leave it blue with everything else either black or gunmetal-ish. But with the tail on, I don't think I like it. I'll figure something out.

Anyway, just wanted to check in. Haven't updated in a while. Been very busy with work. Later folk.

-Brandon

[HybridSport600]

Nice rattle can work, looks good! and that headlight is sweet!!!

Keep it coming, i always enjoy some pics on here

[GreyImport]

Lookin good mate....

[Bandon]

OK, so a while back, I posted a picture of a solo seat cowl that I was making. I kinda let that project fall by the wayside as other parts started rolling in and have just now thought about getting back on it. I've decided that instead of making it removable, I'm going to just attach it permanently and use some body filler to finish it off. I don't really have any pictures of it as it sits. I taped it in place on the outside and put down a sheet of fiber on the inside to hole it in place so I can finish the outside. Regrettably, this was more of an afterthought. I've already painted the tail, as seen in a picture above. And after some sanding and a few coats of wax, it actually turned out pretty nice. But, I think I'll be happier with the finished product once it's all said and done. I'll be sure to upload some pics of the progress as it occurs. I'm also leaning away from black paint on the tail as well. I really don't want to have to paint the tank, as it's in pretty good shape. I'm going to try to find another color that compliments the tank or even paint it to match. I haven't looked into finding a matching color though, and I'm not sure how difficult that's going to be. If anyone knows where to get rattle can paint that will match a Blue YZF 600 tank, let me know. I would just paint the tank, but it's got those stickers on it that have been cleared over and I'm just not willing to put in all that work to get a good clean finish to start with. Especially since it's in such good condition. Well, good condition for the 80 bucks I spent on it. It's got one small dime sized ding on the right side.

[Bandon]

Update: It's getting there. It's not going to be perfect. I'm not exactly a wiz with body work. But, I think it'll serve it's purpose and I'll be happy with it. Hoping to have all the sanding and filling and sanding and filling and sanding and filling and sanding and filling.... done tonight. Ready for some primer tomorrow and a couple guide coats I'm sure. Which, of course, will lead to more sanding and UUUGGGGHHH. My wife is also out of town this weekend so I should have plenty of alone time to stay out in the garage and keep myself busy. I still have to fab seat brackets, figure out a mounting solution for my new shiny headlight, and tidy up a few other things before I can call it close.
And yes, that's a little dip in the middle of the seat cowl area. I did that accidentally on purpose. It kinda happened that way when I made the original fiberglass piece and I just said screw it and went with it.

[Bandon]

Finally got to a point where I'm happy with the tail. Well, to be honest, I got to a point where I just couldn't take it. I HATE sanding and doing body work. Mostly because it requires so much patience and time. But also because I'm terrible at it. But, it was either do it myself, or spend like 210 bucks on one from Skarkskinz. No thanks. Anyway, here it is, ready for paint. I think it'll be just fine. Nothing else on the bike is perfect, so why should the tail be?

Now I just gotta find some paint that matches the Yamaha blue...




Never mind this mess of crap^^^^^
I'm not exactly the most organized person.

[Bandon]

Well... Here it is. I kinda went nuts with the decals. But, who cares? I could have put a bunch of Hello Kitty stickers on it and it would have looked better than when I bought it. I used ColorRite aerosol paint. I read several mixed reviews about how ell it would match and figured, screw it. I'm very pleased with the color match.

[GreyImport]

Decals look just right to me...

Looks like it came straight off the assembly line.....good job

Now clean up your garage!