Cut and color

Quick update. I took a cutoff wheel to the rear fender, fabricated a mount for a brake light, relocated the brake light to the new bracket, powder coated the fenders and tank, replaced the front caliper and brake line and maybe a few other things.

Here is the bike the day after I got it.





Before and after, taken a couple weeks ago.




Added some stripes. Taken yesterday.



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Cleaning up the front end.

With the apparent neglect this bike had seen, I felt it necessary to cover as much of the rusted and pitted parts as possible. To that end, the front wheel and suspension got a makeover. A new air compressor and some sand blasting supplies made this project much easier than expected.
Front wheel. In addition to the rust and pitting, the wheels showed signs of previous paint. Red at one time, black at another.



Fork legs ready for sand blasting. Functionally great but they were cosmetically horrible.

After blasting and ready for paint.

Before and after.

Front wheel ready for reinstall.

Lighting and controls being held in place with giant pipe cleaner things. Hope I recall how it all goes back together.

All back together.


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Time for some color

Time to think about what color I want the tank and how to accomplish this in my garage. I had a funky green bicycle when I was a kid when everything had metal flake in the paint and that memory got me thinking. How can I accomplish a similar look without sending anything to a professional.

$30 in materials later and I was able to practice a candy green powder coat on some small parts to get my technique down.

Here is the funky colored powder with the metal flakes incorporated. I had enough flakes to treat up to 3 lbs of powder but in the spirit of the 1970's it all went into 1 lb of powder.




First spare part was an old bar clamp from my Valkyrie. Looks ok but not great.



Next up was an old oil filter cover with a strip of tape to determine a good thickness for the powder. Better but not ideal.



Finally, a socket with a thick coat of powder. This gives me my technique. I will polish the tins then a thick coat of this metal flake powder. It will either be awesome or awful, there is no middle ground.



Next step is finding an oven large enough to old the tank and fenders and seeing if I can replicate the finish on the socket above. As always, stay tuned.

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Less bare metal

One more step towards a completely black front end. The stock clutch and brake levers were a nice shape but the bare aluminum has certainly seen better days oner the last 12 years. Simple removal for cleaning and powder revived them into this shiny new look. I like. Hope the finish holds up.
Top is original, bottom after powder.

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No more chrome drag bars

The big chrome drag bars on the bike led to a really cramped riding position and a look I did not care for. eBay to the rescue again. Some used risers, a bar and grips allowed me to alter the riding position in conjunction with the modified saddle. Together, this has transformed the Sportster from a mini cruiser to a fun sporty ride.
Drag bars with nasty grips. Yuck.

Ugly removed, ready for more used parts.

New riser, clamp and bar installed. Mirrors flipped under the bar just because. They are ugly and will be gone eventually.

Old over new. I really like this change.

Took them both out for a ride today with a friend. Totally different in a good way.

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More modifications

I have not been a fan of the seat that came with the Sportster so some time on eBay and a good price on a used Corbin solo saddle led to this project. The seat was a bit too long to fit with my larger peanut tank so I too to the shop.

The ugly seat



The saddle from eBay.



Drilling out the rivets so I could peel the leather back.



Nose shortened and reshaped.



It fits! To my eye, so much better looking.





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Repurposing an old blog and an old Harley Davidson

Nearly 3 years between posts, I'm good.
While I have not stopped running around the country on my Valkyrie, I have begun work on personalizing an older Sportster. It was ugly and needed some help. So, as the work progresses, keep an eye here for updates. Hopefully more than every 3 years.
Here is the project the day I traded my boat for it. Did I mention it was ugly?

Good from far, far from good. What you cannot easily see in the photo above:
1. Fenders and tanks had been painted with flat black paint. Looks like it was done with a brush. It WAS done over the factory paint AND decals.
2. Vinyl decal pin striping on the tank, crooked.
3. Exhaust pipes were shortened straight pipes that had also been painted with some horrible flat black paint. No baffles.
4. Wiring was spliced in several places, none of them optimal or done well.
5. The wheels had been painted and at some point stripped. The front red and the rear black. Bits of this remains.
6. It runs well.
So, here goes. A quick run down of the work I have done in the month since acquiring the Sportster.
Strip the tins. I removed all paint/primer/decals from the stock tins. Only untouched piece at this time is the oil tank.




The last photo above shows the bike back in running order after stripping the tins and spraying with a quick coat of clear to keep the rust at bay while I determine what to do for paint.
Cleaning up some rear fender wiring. Someone had spliced right next to the connector leaving little room for error when fixing the issue.

Making the exhaust less ugly.
After removing the pipes I sprayed the ends with a couple coats of high temp black engine enamel. Yes I covered chrome, no I don't feel bad about it.

Exhaust wrap soaking to make wrapping the pipes easier.

Rear pipe wrapped

Updated comparison, ugly black pipes to pipes wearing sweaters. According to my daughter.

Next up, lowering the front fender closer to the tire for a better look. I could not go as low as planned as the fender bracket hit the tire. Oh we'll.
Before and after.

Keeping the neighbors happy required me to do something about the exhaust. I found some 8 inch baffles that fit right but made the sound too raspy. A bit of time with a cut off wheel remedied that and now the sound is tolerable.
Baffles

Shortening them

Rear turn signals. I had removed the stock chrome signals as I was not sure I liked the look at all. After a couple weeks of using only hand signals, I decided I needed to have something blinking to show my intentions.
Some wiring work with some inexpensive LED strips and some resistors from Radio Shack gave me the results below.

Testing my home made load balancer

Load balancers ready for use.

Stock wiring cleaned up with waterproof quick disconnects

Buttoned back together, cannot see the new signals when unlit.

When flashing, they are quite noticeable. This will work until I bob the fender...

The speedometer and housing were a mess with chipped paint and rust. No before photos but after some masking and a bit of spray paint, all is well.

After checking off the easy updates, I decided to give powder coating a try. Not wanting to spend the crazy money I was quoted to outsource the work, I picked up a couple inexpensive supplies and gave it a try at home.
Foot controls removed and ready for sand blasting.

With help from a friend, the parts were blasted and ready for powder. The image blow shows the brushed look after chrome removed.

Because I was unsure if I was going to reuse the turn signals, they were my test piece for powder.
Powder sprayed.

Curing in the oven

Completed turn signal

With this success, I powder coated the foot controls and reassembled the bike.

The final piece for powder was the head light visor/mount which was a lackluster hunk of aluminum. This piece turned out great.

Next up for powder are the front signals and triple trees. Stay tuned.

Location:Seattle Slew,Greenville,United States