Thing 3

[trunkbuster]

Got to be there soon.
Hows it going bud?

Hey, what's up Well, everything works except for the remote start I'm getting it narrowed down, though. It's not getting the signal from the alarm to the starter wire so I'll have to take a look at adding a relay just for that or using the other on-board relay in the alarm. Kinda frustrating How're things going with you?

[HOS]

Got to be there soon.
Hows it going bud?

Hey, what's up Well, everything works except for the remote start I'm getting it narrowed down, though. It's not getting the signal from the alarm to the starter wire so I'll have to take a look at adding a relay just for that or using the other on-board relay in the alarm. Kinda frustrating How're things going with you?

I never fail to be impressed to see other peoples high skills, no matter if it is to do with bikes or anything else.
Personal skills earn ya money ! or should do !  Not so sure nowadays.

Are you putting an anti-jacking kit on the bike?

Not too bad here, after a long cold winter, spring is struggling to kick in.
Bad time of year for UK bikers. Virtually no one rides over winter because its so dangerous.
But other road users forget about bikes in that 8 or so months and then come spring there are loads of
bike accidents and biker deaths. There has been one every week in our local newspaper for several weeks now.
But we are loving the start of MotoGP 2013 ! Its going to be a brilliant season. 
Just maybe we will get to watch it trackside at Silverstone Circuit this year.

[trunkbuster]

Got to be there soon.
Hows it going bud?


I never fail to be impressed to see other peoples high skills, no matter if it is to do with bikes or anything else.
Personal skills earn ya money ! or should do !  Not so sure nowadays.

Are you putting an anti-jacking kit on the bike?

Not too bad here, after a long cold winter, spring is struggling to kick in.
Bad time of year for UK bikers. Virtually no one rides over winter because its so dangerous.
But other road users forget about bikes in that 8 or so months and then come spring there are loads of
bike accidents and biker deaths. There has been one every week in our local newspaper for several weeks now.
But we are loving the start of MotoGP 2013 ! Its going to be a brilliant season. 
Just maybe we will get to watch it trackside at Silverstone Circuit this year.

Hey, I hope I can learn some more skills from the folks here at MMI! I'm almost done with the theory classes, getting into electrical systems this week. I'm glad it's warming up over there but it's sad bikers have it so bad this time of year Hope you're careful! Wrap some reflective tape around you and your bike then you might want to mount one of those ATV flags on there too, along with a few strobe lights and an air horn I don't like driving my car OR bike around here, people can't even avoid accidents with other cars! I think I'll stick to weekend rides out of the area MotoGP? I just watched a race they had in Austin about a week ago. I wish I could see one in person! That's one of the things on my "Bucket List" I hope you get the chance to watch it trackside

[HOS]

Hey bud,

Whats happening ? 

[trunkbuster]

Hey bud,

Whats happening ? 

Hey HOS! How've you been? Did you get to check out the race? I watched a few of the Isle of Man TT races last week.  I'm doing pretty good, haven't had much time to figure out the Busa alarm wiring in depth.  I'm thinking about skipping it for now and just finishing putting it together.  Lately, I've been busy tinkering with my riding lawn mower and refurbishing a pair of '04 Yamaha FX Cruiser jet skis    As far as school; I'm changing tires, servicing forks, swingarms, and lacing spoke wheels this week What's happening with you?

[HOS]

Sounds like a good idea to ge the bike done and on the road and then sort the alarm laters.
I am of the old school whereby I believe a big chain and padlock is the best security.
I am kinda busy here but nothing exciting. Although the TT is over now but we still have MotoGP to enjoy.

Got to start work on my Kawasaki again soon, but I don't post details here for obvious reasons.

Looking forward to the Summer Nationals at our local drag race track in a couple of weeks.
Will be meeting a few guys off the board, which is always a pleasure !
Its a pity a few more of the guys stateside can't get over here and hang out.

I am looking forward to seeing your bike all together as well.

[HOS]

 

[trunkbuster]

 Been a little busy lately, wifey hurt her back I got a few things done since the last time, though. It still runs.  Got the alarm programmed and my recording put in it, in this pic I've removed the lowering spools and modified the dash mount tabs. I tried mounting it lower, where it was designed to go, but it doesn't fit there where the stock wire harness runs. No biggy.

[trunkbuster]

I bought another undertail, other one had too large of a tire well. I wanted to test fit it and, of course, none of the holes lined up so I had to fill them in so I can re-drill them.

[trunkbuster]

Checking the clearance. I was tempted to lower it some more but something is telling me to keep it where it's at

[trunkbuster]

 

Hey HOS! You could put a pic of your Kawasaki in this thread, if you want. I'd like to check it out Sounds like you had a lot of fun! You're right, though, you are a few miles away

[trunkbuster]

Working on the undertail.  I taped up the holes then filled them in with plastic filler.  Onced taped I test-fit it again and marked where the holes should line up.


After marking them I drilled a small pilot hole.


I used this tool, I believe it's called an auger, to enlarge the holes.  If you use this tool make sure you check the hole size with the push pin fastener so you don't make it too big.


The finished product looks like this.  Although the holes are close to the original location they weren't close enough to make it fit easy

[trunkbuster]

I can find great deals on bodywork when it's slightly damaged.  I guess nobody wants to bother fixing them?  Anyway, the tail has some rash on one side so I'm using a new type of plastic repair kit to fill in the gouges and build it back up.


Prepared the area by sanding it then going over it with a toothbrush and some alcohol to remove any leftover debris.


Mixed up the ingredients from the kit and spread it over the damaged area.  Once it cures I'm going to use a palm sander to even it out then check it again for any leftover imperfections.

[trunkbuster]

Ok. Turns out that the Plastex isn't as good as my ol' stand-by, Elmer's Epoxy, when it comes to broad surface repairs! The Plastex is great for replicating broken tabs and pins, though.  The Elmer's is great for all types of repairs; 30 minutes or so setting time, overnight curing, easy sanding, feathers very well also.


I went over the damaged area of the tail with Elmer's.


After it dried I sanded and shaped it. Turned out pretty good!

[trunkbuster]

The front fender had some issues that needed some attention. I filled in the unused holes, some gouges, and a crack. Good as new!  I made a new hole for the light wiring to pass through.  The lights were mounted with Elmer's also.

[trunkbuster]

Mounted the alarm speaker and a base for the HID light ballast. For the ballast mount I cut up a straw and put the pieces beneath the plate so I could pass zip ties through them then epoxied it down. A rubber cushion will go on top, underneath the ballast, to lessen shocks and vibration.

[trunkbuster]

Parts to what will be my paint booth. PVC pipe and connectors.


Measured, cut, and glued the corners and certain other parts for easy assembly/disassembly. The assembled booth will be pressed together but I also bought pins, just in case.


Fully assembled. The booth is 5'W X 15'L X 7'H. Two 24" X 24" X 1" filters on one end...


A 20" X 20" box fan with outlet filter on the other.

[trunkbuster]

To speed things up a bit I bought two Infratech 1500 watt infrared curing lamps. I assembled them in the booth. They'll cut curing time for each piece down to 30 minutes. All I need now is for the weather to warm up a little

[HOS]

WoW !
You really are and all round technically skilled guy 

Just looking at the clearance on the rear wheel to bodywork?
You ok with that?

I didn't allow enough on my Busa when I stretched it, although I didn't lower it.
There is a combination of things to consider when on the road:
When you are nailing the throttle hard, the rear squats and if you hit a lump or dip in the road, it compresses more.
I lost a license plate or two in that manner.
Sorry if I'm stating the obvious, just trying to help.

My Kawa is in bits and its a longer haul than I would like. Other things take priority.

[trunkbuster]

WoW !
You really are and all round technically skilled guy 

Just looking at the clearance on the rear wheel to bodywork?
You ok with that?

I didn't allow enough on my Busa when I stretched it, although I didn't lower it.
There is a combination of things to consider when on the road:
When you are nailing the throttle hard, the rear squats and if you hit a lump or dip in the road, it compresses more.
I lost a license plate or two in that manner.
Sorry if I'm stating the obvious, just trying to help.

My Kawa is in bits and its a longer haul than I would like. Other things take priority.

Hey HOS! Thanks, I'm trying   With the clearance; that's the space left when the air shock is all the way down, it can't go any further.  It's resting on the shock internals, makes for a pretty ruff ride   I blew the air line once and had to ride back home from work with no cushion; my lower back was pretty sore after that!  I wouldn't ride it like that at speed, though.  That's just for parking lots or rolling up to a stop somewhere, just for show.  I hope you get your Kawi going!  I'm in my 5th week of the Kawasaki elective right now at school!  We're training on the different ATVs and utility quads Kawasaki has.  I'm just about done with the bodywork, I'll put some pics on here shortly.

[HOS]

I'm with you now on the ride height in the photos. That's the lowest case, on the stops 
I guess you know what a hardtail feels like now? 

Plain lacquer on the paint? Or are you going to add some sparkle? 

I think my Kawa is turning out a bit like yours: attention to detail and doing all the work myself.
I decided to do a nut and bolt job. No point rushing. 

[trunkbuster]

I'm with you now on the ride height in the photos. That's the lowest case, on the stops 
I guess you know what a hardtail feels like now? 

Plain lacquer on the paint? Or are you going to add some sparkle? 

I think my Kawa is turning out a bit like yours: attention to detail and doing all the work myself.
I decided to do a nut and bolt job. No point rushing. 

Hey HOS!
  I've been a little busy with school and the busa lately.  I just finished the Kawasaki module, starting Yamaha tomorrow   I made a little more progress with the Busa, though!  Yes, I'm just going with plain ol' lacquer.  I found a way to make it shinier at least
  You're building up your Kawi from the ground up?  That's a great way to go, no set time or pressure.  I don't think I'll go this route again for other bikes I plan on re-selling, takes too much time   I still plan on focusing on attention to detail, though. 
  From what I've learned from all this, so far, is that attention to detail is what makes the biggest difference.  Thousands of Hayabusas with this body style were built between 1999 and 2007 and many of those Busas have been customized in one way or another.  I know that, at first glance, mine may look similar to several out there but what sets mine and every other Busa apart is the time and effort that went into re-creating it.  I'll show you what else I had to go through the other day that was a little out of the ordinary in the next few posts.

[trunkbuster]

Okay, this is what I was talking about from the last post.  I ordered a set of bar end mirrors that were "supposed" to fit my bike...  They didn't.  I still liked their style so rather than send them back I decided to make them fit

I cut the protrusion off the mirror base so it would rest flush with the bar end.  I forgot to mention the mirror block-off screws were too long too!  I had to cut over 1/4 of an inch off the end of all four.  The next issue was with the new grips, the ends had to be cut out so the bases could be mounted.


Once all that was done I was able to put them on.  I'll install the mirrors and post a pic after I get the bodywork on.  In the meantime, I bought a new brand of rubbing compound called Liquid Ice.  This stuff is awesome!


I got it from http://www.eastwood.com/ but I imagine it could be purchased elsewhere as well.  It goes on as a paste then turns to a liquid as it begins working.  I had started out applying it by hand then I got smart and bought a headlight repair kit that had a buffing wheel in it that attaches to my variable speed drill.

I was able to turn my wet-sanding from this:

To this:

[trunkbuster]

Here's a pic of one of the completed sides.  I took the pic with my phone so it's a little blurry but you can still make out the snake scales.  I just finished wet-sanding the other side and I'll be polishing that tomorrow.  Once that's done I'll be putting them both on the bike.  The complete tail section is already installed, along with the lighted license plate bracket. 

[trunkbuster]

Here are some pics of the lights.  The switches have been installed in the dash panel and the lights for the engine and underneath are attached to the side fairings, they just need be plugged in once the sides are put on.




Well, I entered my Busa in the bike show MMI is having on the 19th of this month   I believe it will be done and ready by then.  I wanted to have it registered this month but my money wasn't right