The GS is going under the knife… Again.

I stripped down my blackened steel tank and seat in order to completely redo the finish. It had started to surface rust under the top coat, primarily because I skipped an important step in the finishing the first time: lacquer.. So this time I blackened it, oiled it, lacquered it, then waxed it as a final-final step. Hoping this will last much longer… If I have to redo it ever 2-3 years, I’m ok with that…

But the bigger news is the electrical.. I put in an 8-cell Anti Gravity, rode it about 5 miles and the battery went dead.. It’s not charging, and we suspect a ground issue, or perhaps a bad wire in the rats nest of a harness on the bike now… So let’s just completely rewire the whole thing… Even better: I bit the bullet and bought the Motogadget M-Unit, Revival Cycles motorcycle cable kit, M-Button, Motogadget push buttons and new rear blinkers. Not to mention a set of Tomessilli Clip On bars and an aluminum Cognito triple clamp… I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious. Ashton at Third Shift Motorcycles is going to tackle the labor on the electrical. I know my limitations… All the parts are in the mail, so hopefully we can be up in running soon….

Oh, and I also bought a set of spoke wheels to replace the mags… This is probably the most exciting part for me, since I never like those damn mags…

 

Making Progress on the CB450

Third Shift Motorcycles is helping me with some chopping on the CB, just as he did on the GS750. Going with a brat seat, instead of a cafe seat, on this bike after much deliberation. More than anything, I just wanted it to look different from the GS, and have a bike I could carry with a passenger in a pinch.

 

This is the tail end that I dream of. Everything about it is sexy.. 

 

Going with a similar set up:

 

I also upgraded to a Dyna electronic ignition. Dyna does not make an ignition specifically for a CB450, but the the one used for Goldwings work well, but they are a little bulky and require some alterations to the points cover. Since I work with sign manufacturers every day, I do have some good sources for CNC work. So I took the points cover, scanned it in, drew up a “gasket” and sent to my buddy to route it out of 1/4″ aluminum. It came out great. Very happy with the results: 

 

While the bike was at Third Shift Motorcycles, photographer Sean Berry https://www.instagram.com/seanberryphoto/ stopped by to get some shots of the owner, Ashton, in action. My bike just happened to be the model for most of the shoot. In the right light, and the right angles, she’s a sexy little beast (props to Sean for disguising the orange wheels):

 

Well, Damn…. New bike in the mix

It was too good of a deal to pass up… Not sure where this one is headed, but you can be sure the wheels will not remain orange. 

Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride

Glamour Shot taken by a photographer at the DGR. Looks like the tank is starting to surface rust under the oil/wax coating. I think I will redo the blackening finish over the winter and add a better clear coat … 

Few more shots…

Still have some more tinkering to do… I have some clip ons that I need to install, but that will require some chopping to the triple tree, so I will wait until winter for that. Once the clip ons are installed, I may have to add rearsets…   Call on StarrStudios for all your sign painting needs…

Chopped Triple, with clip ons… This is the set up I am hoping to achieve: