Showing posts with label custom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label custom. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

resurrection, Part 3

A bunch of stuff completed in the past few days. Some highlights here:

The ignition pickup cover (right side of crankshaft) looks like a welding practice piece. That's because it is. My first crack at aluminum welding years ago.
The mounting hole was cramped by this boss and had to use a threaded stud in the engine case with a nut to secure this cover. To get a short bolt to fit required more clearance. Thus the hacksaw you see here.


(a bunch more pictures and details below)

file it smooth-ish.


A bolt ("machine screw") can now tuck in behind.


I could have welded on another aluminum chunk, then drilled and threaded it to accept this pneumatic cylinder.... but I'm getting lazier in my old age. So a castle nut roughed up with sandpaper, then epoxied on with "JB Weld" is almost as good and did I mention I'm lazy?


Look at that. The cylinder screws right on.


And the cover fits perfect.


And what's this? An access hole so an allen wrench can torque down the machine screw tucked in behind the boss. We call this "maintenance friendly". Anyone who has wrenched on factory-built, production line vehicles can attest to the inherent maintenance UN-friendliness out there in the wild.

Oh. You're probably wondering why a big-ass pneumatic cylinder is scabbed into a custom cover. This will be used to retard the ignition timing a few degrees while under boost.



Now you can buy your billet-anium geegaws from yer Pro bike shops and Specialty Parts manufacturers... impressing your friends and making the ladies moist with your deep pocketed awesomeness.

...or you can do like me and buy cheap crapola from the J.C.Whitney catalog. Witness these generic looking eyesores here:


This one is all up in the air, looking like it was just stolen from a mongoloid's rusty moped. No Bueno.


Hit with a torch (and bent to the angle that God meant it to be at) helps to convert Ass to Class. Way to polish a turd.


Rainbow burn marks = Maximum Macho.


Tip of the day: To dress cuts, use blue masking tape in lieu of Band Aids. You're in the shop. You're gonna be washing your hands and changing it several times a day. Its way quicker and easier.

That's all for today.

continue reading resurrection, Part 3...

Saturday, October 26, 2013

resurrection

Emerging from its storage boxes in the Zombie Apocalypse Workshop secret location near the docks, the GS1100 Special claws its way back to life.

Updates will appear here at Motorcyclicio.us


More pictures below




continue reading resurrection...

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Philly trolley - i like trains too.

When the city of Philly was having a hard time financing the building of new cars on it's relaunch of the 15 line ("Girard Avenue trolley"), some genius came up with the idea "Let's just Hot Rod the old ones!"

So they took some shells of old 1940's era PCC trolleys, did some blasting and sanding, cutting and shutting.

Painting, pimping, retro-fitting.

They ended up with the sweetest Public Transpo hack of the last decade: The rebirth of the old school Philly trolley car - complete with modern newfangled air conditioning.



The Broad Street subway and Frankford Ave "El" gets you to Girard Ave on the north side of town.

continue reading Philly trolley - i like trains too....

Sunday, April 11, 2010

flathead Harleys

K models and WRs... with their racing heritage, they come loaded with tradition and emotional context.

Here are two fine takes on these platforms - from Japan. A cafe K and a WR bobber.

Tough street machines, not shiny trailer queens.

K model cafe racer
Click for Slide Show

Janta9G1340's "2009 Red Hot Motorcycles" Photoset on Flickr.

Open Thumbnail Page in a new tab/window.
View Slideshow in a new tab/window.

Janta9G1340's other Motorcycle-related photo Collections.

continue reading flathead Harleys...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Kawasaki KX450F with Christini All-Wheel-Drive conversion

Don Williams review at Ultimate Motorcycling of a Kawasaki KX450F with Christini All-Wheel-Drive conversion.

"When the KX450F was switched back to AWD, the bike easily and controllably topped the hill, making the rider wonder if an entirely different bike has been substituted. Quite simply, the difference in these sorts of situations (mudholes are another), the difference cannot be overstated. It's the difference between painless success and unqualified failure."
I sort of have an ongoing fetish for these Christini rigs.

continue reading Kawasaki KX450F with Christini All-Wheel-Drive conversion...

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

funky good supercharged motorcycle

otto nero posted this beauty:

A nicely crafted cafe racer - Jawa single mated to a separate gearbox and supercharged too.

What I found particularly appealing is the single-sided swingarm with what looks to be a drum brake with a hydraulic line going into it. Crazy cool.

continue reading funky good supercharged motorcycle...

Sunday, January 25, 2009

wow

On Southsiders MC' blog HERE,
something wonderful, old and good.

continue reading wow...

Saturday, January 24, 2009

AWESOME Flickr Photoset

vintage motorcycles at auction
Click for Slide Show

El Caganer's "Las Vegas Antique Motorcycle Auction" Photoset on Flickr. Super good.

Open Thumbnail Page in a new tab/window.
View Slideshow in a new tab/window.

El Caganer's other Motorcycle-related photo Collections.

continue reading AWESOME Flickr Photoset...

Friday, January 23, 2009

iron fist. velvet glove.

cafe racer motorcycles
click for more pictures

One fine looking RD350 and one tough mother of a T500.
(The Cafe Racer Magazine booth - the last of my pictures from the Javits Center last week.)

continue reading iron fist. velvet glove....

Sunday, January 18, 2009

the blower, man!

TTS motorcycle supercharger
click for more pictures (and a Road Test video!)

"Look at the blower! She's meanness put to music, and the bitch is born to run."

I can not believe I have never heard of these cats before today. TTS Performance in the UK specialize in integrating Rotrex centrifugal superchargers with cars and motorcycles. Belt-driven superchargers: forced induction just the way god meant it to be.

They have kits. For motorcycles. Supercharger kits.

They cost anywhere from £2,000 to £5,000 for a complete kit. There are kits for the Triumph Speed Triple and Rocket-3, BMW 1150, various Jap 4-bangers and Harley-Buells.

Centrifugal blowers allegedly have a very smooth power delivery. Though I don't know how smooth 200 horsepower can ever feel as it runs through the one little tire patch of a motorbike. Clearly, further investigation is warranted.

Someone... get one of these. Now.

Go for it. What are you? Chicken?

continue reading the blower, man!...

Saturday, January 17, 2009

triplet smoker fetish

classic 2-stroke suzuki GT750 special
click for more pictures

There ain't nothing like a triple with castor bean oil in it's DNA.

continue reading triplet smoker fetish...