More stuff...

Picked up some Clubman bars a few weeks ago, to see how I like them on the bike. Just won an auction for a pair of bar-end mirrors too.

Started my MSF Rider Course, had one classroom session and one riding session so far. Not as hard as I thought it would be... only problems I've been having are with wide slaloms... practice, I guess...

Cool café mods

I had come across James Franzen’s unbelievably cool café Bimmer in my search for cool bikes. The Bimmer has a great one-off solo seat - I emailed him to inquire about it, as to how to go about making or finding a similar one. Here is his response:

The seat was a one-off unit made by a guy that designs stuff like this for a
living - so the unfortunate thing is he's the one with the fiberglass tricks
and not me.

From your site I can tell you've seen "Glass from the Past."
You might want to look at airtech's offerings:
http://www.airtech-streamlining.com
But their server appears to be down this morning.

I am considering some of this guy's offerings on an old Ducati single I'm
building up:
http://www.dropbears.com/c/cmf/stock.htm
It's in Australia but the US dollar goes farther there.

Because I want to run the old Ducati single with a bumstop seat and no rear
fender on the street, I'm designing a tail light/ brake light/ turn signal
unit that is ultra small - only 1/2" extension beyond the license plate and
super bright - with license plate illumination included. I only have
photographs of the prototype as the refined product is in fabrication now:
http://www.culayer.com/ASAP.htm

One last thing - a guy that saw my seat tried to make his own copy and
documented it on a website:
http://www.postaldave.com/seat/seat.html

That R5 will make a sweet café racer! Good luck to you!

Wise investment?

It will be interesting to see how this auction for an R5 identical to mine turns out... bidding already over $3500, though it is in a smidge better condition than mine... at any rate, seems my $550 was well invested...

UPDATE - Winner took it home for $3900.

Big Yama logo

Googled for a Yama logo the other day, came across this really large JPEG image, could prove useful...

UPDATE - Found some EPS artwork that could prove even more useful, via brandsoftheworld.com... here's the whole list, and there's a few gems in there, including the full tuning-fork logo and even Yamalube... I've added a "Graphics" section to the links on the left. Check it out!

Parts are here

Received my shifter yesterday, and dropped it off at the shop. The shift rubber arrived today. Mike assured me he’ll be taking the bike out for test runs this weekend.

Also, wound up buying a jacket as well. Knowing the way I sweat even on cold days, I opted for mesh one. I have read a lot of good things about them as well, being just as good as leathers. Originally thought I wanted a Joe Rocket Reactor or Rio, but after trying them on at the Philadelphia Cycle Center, I was disappointed at how high they rode up in the back, even when not in a riding position. I did however try on a Fieldsheer Titanium.Air jacket, and loved the way it fit and looked. After reading this review, I felt confident enough to snag my own.

Took a peek...

Stopped over the shop after work yesterday to take a peek at her. Mike got her started up, and yup, she smokes... nice bluish crap billowing out the pipes. Should be good after a few more starts and a good hard run (the old “Italian tune-up”). She actually has a deeper, throatier sound to her, granted not a H-D, but a lot better than the "ring-ding" I was expecting after reading so much about it...

Anyways, waiting for the shifter and rubber, was shipped on Tuesday.

Russ brought out his cool Yamaha XS1100(?) Franken-racer, complete with self-fabricated hand-laid fiberglass tank and seat and rearsets. Sweet.

Anti-theft

Found some good info on motorcycle anti-theft: a site by a guy who lost his bike to theft, and a comprehensive article from Motorcycle Cruiser magazine... good to know, as I’ll be parking on-street or in an open parking lot...

Got me a shifter!

Won the auction for the missing shift lever. I’ll be picking up the rubber from Speed and Sport. Now I’ve got my sights on a pair of clubmans...

In the meantime I’m getting some things together to sell on Ebay, including some parts I don’t need... stay tuned...