By the looks of their Facebook page the quality look very nice. Hopefully they do a good job for you guys!

 

My tank is done already, I have a few smaller things to finish plus the exhausts then I should be ready to start her up.....but there is no rush, we still have 10" of snow sitting on the ground up here.

 

2 battery boxes made and mine is installed.....next the raised front fender bracket, needs it for the correct tracker look....then a final check on the wiring just to leave me with less of a nausous feeling before I send power from the key to the new Ignatech and Mosphet.....two expensive ooooops if things aren't 100% correct.
The biggest bonus is....I found the keys.....lol

 

For me that's always one of the scariest parts too. Putting electricity through my freshly completed wiring. Hopefully it all works good for you, as troubleshooting wiring can be a pain in the rear!

 

Back on the subject of adhesives for that flex light.

I have used this stuff

For years to adhere receivers/speed controls in high flying, rough and tumble 1/10th and 1/8th scale r/c off road cars. Never had a failure with this stuff. It sticks with a tenacity close to epoxy, yet will release cleanly should you need to remove it. You can buy it at most good hobby stores or most walk arts (bigger rolls,ESCs money)

The hobby brand is Parma.

 

Back on the subject of adhesives for that flex light.

I have used this stuff

View attachment 21145

For years to adhere receivers/speed controls in high flying, rough and tumble 1/10th and 1/8th scale r/c off road cars. Never had a failure with this stuff. It sticks with a tenacity close to epoxy, yet will release cleanly should you need to remove it. You can buy it at most good hobby stores or most walk arts (bigger rolls,ESCs money)

The hobby brand is Parma.

I used to have a part-time job at Parma International in the vacuum-forming dept. making the car & truck bodies! The owner Ken was a really nice guy to work for. Great company!

 

Hey, another RC enthusiast! I've been around them for a long time too and have various on-road and off-road ones of varying scales. More recently I've gotten into planes and helicopters.
Unfortunately I do not have much time to play with them as school and my motorbike have taken up all my time, but I miss spending time with them.

Thanks for the product though, it looks like it would work great! It looks like it's a gel type of tape which would mold nicely to the surface. I have something similar at my house except it is foam tape. Apparently it is good for holding things up to 20 lbs. I was originally going to use it to hold the rubber part of the pod filters, but if the stock adhesive on the light doesn't hold I might give it a try. If that doesn't work I will give the Parma stuff a go.

 

Okay, another topic that I need to look at is tire choice.
I know there have been numerous threads about various tires, and I have filtered it down to a few choices. I would like your guys feedback on which one you would recommend.

First things first, my riding style. I enjoy flinging the bike around, but by no means scrape knees on any corner. Therefore I need something with relatively good grip but no need for a racing tire.
The majority of my rides are a mixture of leisure and commuting. I have yet to go on any real long distance trips, but I still want a tire that will last a fairly long time.
Clearance is another thing I have to make sure about. Some of these tires have a bit larger profile I believe, so I am worried they might rub on the frame and rear fender.
Riding in the rain should not occur on most occasions as I have a car I can use if the weather is bad. All weather performance would be nice, but not necessary.

Okay, on to the tire choices now:


Shinko 777

Pros:
Good dry grip
Good looking tire

Concerns:
Long lasting?
Wet performance?


Shinko 230

Pros:
Good all weather performance

Concerns:
Long lasting?
Not a big fan of the tire style


Kenda K657

Pros:
Good dry grip
Good looking tire

Concerns:
Long Lasting?
Wet weather performance?


Shinko 705

Pros:
Long lasting
Good looking tire

Concerns:
Dry grip on road?
Wet weather performance?
Clearance?


Kenda k761

Pros:
Long lasting
Good looking tire

Concerns:
Dry grip on roads?
Wet weather performance?
Clearance?


Thanks for all your help and feedback!

 

I have the 761's on my bike. I also have been running them on my KLR705 fully modded and they last a long time on that also and have been for the last 8 years. They are my favorite tire by far. Great dry weather grip for a semi aggressive tread pattern, good wet wet weather grip but i also do not ride aggressively in the wet like some do. IF you do they will slide under hard accelleration and hard braking especially in the rear as I would expect any tire to do in the wet. The rear tire has a seimi wear bar in the middle of the tread that allows for such high mileages but it also creates a solid bar which at this point in their lifespan they are slippery in the wet but you soon adjust to this and realize what to expect. I have ridden across Canada and up to the Arctic Circle and beyond, back down to Victoria on a new set.....the rear was toast at this point but the front easily made it back and lasted the reast of the season. This was all on the KLR which was heavily loaded for camping adventure. The whole trip was 27,000kms in 5 weeks and the last part on the fresh rear was solely across Canada back home.......this shows me they are excellent value for the money. You just have to realize after the rear gets to that wear bar that in the rain it becomes slipery compared to before. IF you own a tire groover you could easily knife in a few grooves to get it back to original also.....I used to have the groover but stiupidly sold it.....
They are inexpensive, easy to mount and last forever........so you decide.
There are no clearance issues as well.....

 

Thanks for the info Jonathan! I've heard about your trip from another thread and that is the main reason why I started looking in to getting a dual sport tire. The mileage and performance sounds perfect for me. I was worried about grip on road, but sounds like that shouldn't be an issue at all. A fried of mine who has an Enduro bike says that he has never had any grip issues with dual sport tires either.
I've dumped my bike before in the rain due to locking up the front tire, so now I am very careful in wet conditions so as long as I keep that in mind I should be good.

At this point, I am leaning towards the dual sport tires for sure. Only thing is......I like the look of the shinko 705's better lol. Don't get me wrong, the 761's are a gorgeous tire, but I like the more aggressive and staggered look of the 705's.
Assuming the performance is similar to the 761's (they seem to be a very similar tire) I think that it will be the winning choice.

 

I would warn you against the foam-based tape. It's not strong under constant tension, and it is absolute hell to get off when it fails.

 

Duly noted! Thanks for the heads up. I will look around for the gel type stuff then if the adhesive starts to fail.

 

The Shinko 230s are what I put on my cx. They had great reviews but not personally sure of performance or longevity yet but I think the look of the tire is pretty nice. Those Shinko 705s sure look aggressive! Sorry not really any help

 

Yeah from what I've heard those are one of the best all-around tires for the cx500. I am not a huge fan of the zig-zag pattern personally, but a lot of that depends on the style of the bike. On your bike they do look very nice though I must admit!
I agree! I think we are getting closer to a winner.......

 

So I cannot find the Shinko 705's in the proper size, and I actually think they do not make a 16" version. I've seen them on other members bikes (Chopper Charles I believe had them on his) but they all had the standard comstars with 18" rear tires.
And unfortunately it looks like the same can be said about the Kenda k761's. That sucks because I really liked the look of the tires!

So I guess I will have to pick one of the other ones........

 

OR locate an 18" rim....?

 

Yeah I thought of that, but I'd want matching rims, so I'd need to get both front and rear. Not to mention I would need to paint and put the red rim tape on the new tires too.
As much as I like the tires I don't think I can afford them right now, especially when I still need to get the seat done and paint the tank along with picking up some riding shoes.
If I could find a pair of rims for a REALLY good deal I might look into it, but for now I think it will be best to go with a different set of tires.
Later on when the bike is done and I have some more cash I will look into it again though because those tires sound awesome!

If I get a chance I might look at Zdeno's in Kitchener for a pair of rims and see how much they cost.

 

After looking around I think I have decided to go with the Shinko 230's for now. They seem like one of the best all around tires for our bikes and at a decent price too.
Will pick some up soon and hopefully get them mounted after I finish the seat pan.

Eventually I would like to get the dual sport tire but that can wait for now I think.

 

I finally picked up a bike lock. I needed one before, but now after all the modifications I've made to my bike I don't really want anyone taking my bike.
If anything it is more of a deterrent and will hopefully sway criminals to at least stay away from my bike. I wanted something small that I could carry around with me and that's why I was looking into disc locks.

Most of them have a pin that pushes through the holes in the rotor, which was no good for me because I do not have drilled rotors. I could drill them, but don't have the time and resources to do it right now.
But I was searching the other day and I found a Masker Lock one that had a little over 2" clearance between the pin and edge of the lock which was perfect because that actually fits around the whole rotor.

For long storage periods I will put a chain on the bike, but for when I am just running out and about this will add a little bit of protection for the bike.

 

That's a cute lock
Last month I bought a Abus Granite lock with discount at the annual motor fare. Also small and a tough nut to crack.

I'm going to make hinges on one side of my seat so I can store it under my bum.

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Thanks! Yours looks nice and strong too! I was thinking of doing something similar on my bike too. Just so I don't have to carry it around in my backpack every time I go out.

 

Just mount a flat bar under your seat for it to clamp to.....simple.

 

You will only forget once to remove it.....some of us learn the hard way.....just leaves a chip in the paint....lol....and a sudden stopping motion....but I do love them!

Yeah I was thinking something along those lines. I'd want it nice and tucked away so that you can't see it in most cases, but I'm thinking I might be able to fit it behind the regulator under the seat.

And yeah I have a bad feeling that I will do that at least once haha. Thank goodness for that handy little reminder cord.....let's just hope it does it's job haha.

 

You will only forget once to remove it.....some of us learn the hard way.....just leaves a chip in the paint....lol....and a sudden stopping motion....but I do love them!

 

Is your build finished yet? Almost riding season - ok for some it may already be riding season - I'm still waiting for a good rain to wash all the road salt away.
Should be time for pictures of the finished build - no?

 

Almost.....hopefully lol. I just need to finish up the seat and then I can at least start riding. Painting the tank will be the next step but when I do that will depend on how busy school is.
Currently I have so many assignments and projects that I don't have time to work on the bike at all, but hopefully next week I can finish the seat and get it sent to the upholster.

Yeah I've seen a few guys riding, but I'm like you and want to wait until all the crud is off the road.

Pictures will be coming soon

 

When I bought the lock I was told that I needed one of minimal that class or my bike wouldn't even be insured! The insurance didn't tell me that!

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Oh wow really?! That is actually kind of smart to have it be a requirement, just to keep the overall theft down. Would be nice if they told you beforehand though lol.

 

Speaking of painting......
I am still trying to decide on a design that I like. I know the main colors I want, it's now just a matter of choosing a design I like.
I think something a bit more classic will look good on the bike. I have mixed feelings about going with racing stripes. I love how they look, but I feel like they've been done a lot already.
These are the colors I would go with if I did decide to do them though. Red stripes, silver edging and black base:

I thought it would be cool to do a mixture of the stripes and a bit more modern design though, which is why I came up with this one:

However, upon closer inspection of the tank, I am worried that the red sections going down the sides of the tank will not look good due to the fact that the custom tank is not fully teardrop shaped, but rather more square and has sharper edges on the sides. This means it will be difficult to get a smooth side piece that flows nicely.

And this is where I am stuck at. I know a lot of guys like keeping their paint jobs a secret until they finish them, but at this point in time I think it is wiser for me to enlist the help of you guys to give me some ideas for tank designs.
So if you have any ideas feel free to post them up!

The main constraints that I would like to stick with is a black base coat covering the majority of the tank, about 20-30% red, and then some silver trim somewhere just to break it all up.

 

It's your bike. Do what you want and don't worry about what others may think.
That's why my car project didn't belong to me anymore, stranded and I sold it.

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Oh of course. I am just not 100% sure what I even want yet that's why I was throwing ideas around

 

I kinda like the second one, it has a nice flow to it.

 

Yeah I am leaning towards that one too. I agree, it seems to flow and match the rest of the bike pretty good.

 

I like the second one, too.

You might try mocking it up right on the tank. Give it a quick spray of cheap matte black from a rattle can, then draw your stripes on with chalk. You'll be able to see it from all angles and edit as you need to. Then take lots of pics, strip it all off, and do the real thing.


R

 

Sounds like the second one is in the lead!

Oh yeah that's a great idea! I can't believe I didn't think of something so simple as mocking it up lol. Rather than go through the hassle of painting and removing the paint I should be able to get the main idea using tape to simulate the paint though. Hopefully save a bit of time and money.
But thanks for the great idea!

 

I prefer the second one.
This is really coming along great, I'll have to do a re-read through to catch up and see what I can steal from you

 

That's three votes for the second one now!
Thanks Christopher! LOL I would consider it an honor

 

Here's a couple of ideas:

Randall's mention of matte paint and chalk gave me another idea: if you are worried about getting a clean fluid line on the oddly-shaped tank, you could try using an actual fluid line. You could dust the entire tank with a fine powder like chalk or flour, and carefully dip it in a pan of water. That would leave a visible waterline that you could follow, and reproduce on the other side.

 

I knew I could count on you to feed the creative process!

I like the single strip but am a bit apprehensive to do it as forum member Dragonclaw recently painted his bike with a single red stripe (albeit slightly different looking) and I wouldn't want to steal his thunder from that. I do like the red outline around the tank though........

But wow, that is genius!!! I love that idea because you'd get a perfect straight line no matter what the tank is shaped like. If i have some version of the stripes I will have to try that for sure!

Thanks for the great help!!