New guy, new build

A little progress on the front. And I fitted the cowling with the tank at the same time. After new front fender stays, headlight mount and reflector delete I'll move on to a solo seat as an alternative to the two-up seat.

 
Looks amazing. Quite jealous of the fabrication skills on display.

Thanks. I got my last bike into the Handbuilt show this year. What a great show. I'd like to go every year. I'll even go without a bike in the show if I have to. This one doesn't have as much fab or as many custom parts so I want to make sure that what it does have looks good. Assuming I'm done in time I plan to submit this one for the 2020 show.
 
Replacing side covers with something that fits the seat pan better. There's some final smoothing to do but the fit is OK. Still need to figure out mounting.
 
A bit of re-shaping on the set and a new cover. Clamp on walking foot on sewing machine helps but I'm guessing still not quite like a true walking foot machine. Quilt top stitch came out okay but still a little inconsistent on perimeter stitch but better than the last one.









 
I decided to move ahead on my own mufflers. I had actually started before I found out the Emgo ones have removable baffles or I might have gone with those. These are all stainless and I hope to put a mirror finish on them if they come out good enough, otherwise they will be brushed. This is the first project for a shop built slip roll a buddy and I designed and built. He did all the machining, I did most the other fab. The baffles will removable and mostly hidden by a short reverse cone.
















 
Final polish. A few tiny scratches but those are going to come anyways.

Went for one short ride last night. Definitely louder than stock. Pulled one plug and looks nice and tan. A little rumbling on decel but no backfires. Time for some more miles.



 
Going to take one more run at the seat cover and start tear down for paint and powder. I picked up a new sewing machine that handles much heavier thread than what I had before. Going with black vinyl and a red top stitch the match the red that the tank and front fender will be. Top two pics show laying out the stitch lines for the quilted section of the seat. The front fender is already powder coated candy red over brushed aluminum. Rims to be gold and frame gloss black.

Any thoughts on the side cover color? I was thinking the same red as the tank but it's also been suggested to go black like the frame.





 
Wow... awesome. I have to admit I like doing projects and this make me want to get setup to try this haha... But I feel like I would like to cut open the existing exhaust to see what it looks like inside to maybe make something built like the existing stock mufflers for the bike.

Final polish. A few tiny scratches but those are going to come anyways.

Went for one short ride last night. Definitely louder than stock. Pulled one plug and looks nice and tan. A little rumbling on decel but no backfires. Time for some more miles.



 
I'm all torn down for paint and powder coating. The red on the fender goes on the tank and side covers, gloss black frame and gold rims. Tank gets some gold graphics to tie in the rims.

Here are the rims underway. Prime, followed by gold base and 2k gloss top coat. First time using rattle can 2k top coat. I'm impressed with the gloss and how it wets out. We'll see how it holds up.







 
Waiting on powder coated parts. All my painting of little bits and bobs is done. Almost everything is de-greased. Tires remounted. Taking another run at the seat cover with bigger topstitching. And then hopefully start re-assembling sometime next week.

 
I got the vinyl in the picture at Joann fabrics. Sign up for their app and get the coupons, they almost always have a 40-50% off your order or one item or something like that. They have upholstery thread that is about size 92 though it's not stated anywhere. It's certainly strong enough but if you want the top stitch to really standout it needs to be bigger.

Midwest Fabric Supply https://www.midwestfabrics.com/ has lots of 92 size thread in different colors, 138 in black and white and 277 in lots of colors. They also carry a ton of vinyl and other car/boat fabrics. Reasonable prices but a 1 yard minimum. They also carry foam laminated to cloth on a variety of thickness for the quilted area.

The widest selection of thread I could find so far is on line. Amazon has lots of choices but they tend to be big spools. I found the thethreadexchange.com has many size and color options and will sell smaller quantities

That's 207 thread in the picture. I'm still trying to get my machine dialed in to handle it. I do okay where it's 1-2 layer but I run into problems with thread breakage when there's more layers. I think that means you need a bigger needle so I have some on order. You need a serious machine to handle 277.

This guy has a ton of great how to videos that I've found very useful. https://www.youtube.com/user/Cechaflo
 
The latest attempt at the seat cover. There are still some things I'm not happy with so still undecided and whether to re-make or just go with this one.

All but the tank and sidecovers are back from powder coating too!



 
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