paint job

I've finished painting the tank.

It was just a quick rattle-can spray with some satin black over grey primer. One day I'll get a proper paint-job done but this will do for the meantime.

I'm away this weekend so I'll need to wait 'till next week to see what it looks like on the bike.

this is slow going

Well, I didn't get as much done as I had hoped to yesterday.

I finished off sanding down the tank. It's smooth, though probably not smooth enough for a professional paint job, but will do for my temporary mat black paint scheme. I'll work out how I'm going to screen an area off in the garage then get on with spraying the primer coats.

I had a look at the wiring and have decided that the best thing to do is to work through it systematically, replacing components as I go along. That way I shouldn't need to worry about which wires go where. The ones from the original ignition go into the new one, etc. Simple! Will be able to move that forward when I get the speedo next weekend.
The choke cable will fit above the coil so I can get on with drilling the bracket. The mounting of the ignition switch may be a bit more problematical. I haven't quite finalised where that's going to be mounted.

I got a shock in the post yesterday too. The renewal for my insurance came in and it's gone up from £330 to £890. I'm hoping that there's a typing error in there. The rider's club has a special scheme going with the broker so I got on to them and the rep is going to get them to sort it out for me. Failing that I will go look elsewhere.

this weekend ....

... is really going to be the big one as far as working on my bike is concerned.

I need to get the tank finished. That is sanded down and primed. I also should do the wiring to the ignition unit. I'm going to order the speedo so when that comes I want to be ready to fit that.
So, what I want is to have all the other wiring sorted out. Then I will just need to solder the speedo into the wiring loom. That includes wiring the new ignition switch and removing, or at least hiding, some of the redundant wiring. (I'll consider doing a complete rewire next winter.
I also want to fit the carburettor and the air filter, make a bracket for the choke cable and refit the exhausts.
So, not a lot really!

I've also got a loan of a road king front wheel so I will also spend some time seeing if that will fit into the big front end and if the brakes I've got are useable.

The following weekend I'm away for a rally planning meeting with the riders club so there will only be a couple of weekends free before the end of March and time to get the bike's first MOT. I'm wondering if I'll be able to get everything done before the road tax runs out and I need to SORN the bike.

I'll be spending a lot of time with my fingers crossed.

still progressing ... slowly

The weather is getting a bit better. Well brighter at least. So, I've been able to get out and on with the work. 

I've completed the filling on the tank and hopefully I'll get it rubbed down and then I can start on the painting. I've got some primer which I'll spray today then, next weekend I can get some mat black. I'm just going to rattle-can it for this season. Then the next two big spends will be the wheels and a paint job.

Hopefully, this week I'll be able to get into House of Custom and order the speedo. Without that I'd need to keep the original tank and the engine management unit so I really need to get one sooner rather than later.

Then it will be time to bite the bullet and snip some wires. It's not really as complicated as I've been building it up to be. I will leave a lot of the redundant wires in place for now. Then sometime in the future I can rewire the bike completely. It should be possible for me to do this myself as I'll be just replacing wires and not fitting many new components. 

That's what I'm going to keep telling myself at least.

Well, by the time I had sanded down the tank, I realised that it still wasn't level so I had to re-fill parts again to raise the surface. It will be next weekend before I can get it sanded so here's hoping for some bright weather so I can get the primer coat done.
I did fit the manifold to check that the carb will fit  without filing any of the engine fins. It does so as soon as I get the fasteners and hose clip I'll fit that and the throttle cables. Then I can work out how I'm going to fasten the choke cable. I've got an idea that I could use the bracket I took off the Altmann P3 ignition unit,
We'll see next weekend.
Meanwhile here's a couple of pics:-

   

wannabe!

I was in my local B&Q yesterday, buying some extra bolts and padlocks for my garage door. Coming along one of the aisles was what I took to be a biker. He was in his forties, I would guess. Dressed in jeans, a sweatshirt and wearing a leather waistcoat with patches on the front.

From a distance I couldn't make out if they were HOG, Legion biker or some other club. Then as he approached I could see that there were rank and chapter badges too. On the front I could read "men of mayhem" and my heart sunk.

As he passed me and I looked at the back there was the confirmation. He was wearing the full Sons of Anarchy colours, including the California bottom rocker. 

I wonder if he even has a bike. Or what he will do if the Blue Angels ever see him.

Oh, by the way, the reason for the extra security is because more people are noticing I've got a Harley in there. I don't think I can be too careful.

tentative

I'm just not quite ready to start snipping wires and cutting up the wiring loom.

I have decided that I will spend just a bit more time looking at the diagrams before cutting the wires that go into the EFI control unit. By the time I'm ready the weather should be a bit better and there will be more daylight so I can get a few hours together in the garage. Once I remove the unit I will be committed to buying a digital speedo so delaying will also give me more time to get that money together.

Meantime I'll carry on filling the tank before priming it. I've also got lots of smaller jobs to do.

This afternoon I removed the pillion footrests. I have decided that they can go on if I ever need to carry a passenger.

diversification

I'm just about to teach myself body filling.

The new tank I bought has grooves where the stretched sides were welded on. So that needs filling and sanding before I start to paint it. I intend to prime it then brush paint it mat black. This is mainly because I can't afford to get a proper paint job done on the "tins". (Another americanism sneaking in to the language of Brit custom bikes?)

I'd like to get a full custom paint job done. Matching tank, mudguards and fairing but as I've got so many other things to spend dosh on that will definitely have to wait 'till next season.

I have actually filled in dents in vehicle bodywork before but so long ago I've forgotten if I'm any good at it!