Have a big smile on my face for you...that always feels so good. Especially when all the parts stay on and it works pretty good.


I trust my work for the most part...but it still feels good. Rolling the bike around the garage has a feeling like a new bike. Tight, smooth...just nice. That's the best I can say about mine right now...

 

Get better sir, and take your time. If your rebuild thread has done nothing else, it has shown that something older can be redefined into something new, all the while keeping the age that made it cool in the 1st place. All it took was the hands of a skilled craftsman.
Just think of your back surgery the same way.

 

I like that analogy.
"Gentlemen we can rebuild him (and his motorcycle). We have the technology. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster."

You're right about the bike feeling tight and smooth. I was chuckling to myself that the bike felt so much nicer than the relatively new bike I used for the safety class.

In my business we get a lot of customers saying "this amp kit I built is the best I've ever heard!" I call it Proud Papa Syndrome. I think the same thing is happening to me right now with this project. Hopefully the honeymoon will last a while longer.

Just wanted to throw one more piece of advice your way - if you are on Morphine or Oxy, for crying out loud don't forget to take your Dulcolax! My own story of forgetting is far too horrifying to share on the internet.

 

Yes on Oxy...started stool softeners 2 weeks before surgery, Have my own horror stories on that issue.

 

Oxy is the one med I will never take again. No softener I took was enough to break the bricks that it caused. =:-o

 

Hamlin,


This was a very special comment and I thank you. Truth is I am a guy with some skill and a lot of determination. Somewhat of a perfectionist, but still never quite happy with the final product. On this bike I have put everything I have into doing it right and for the most part have accomplished that. It's hard for me to say that about a project, because I always feel like I could have done better. This has been a very rewarding project and like I said earlier I have even impressed myself which is very hard to do. I so want to finish it and am so close I think everyone can understand why this set-back has been hard for me.


It will be worth the wait I know...and all of us here on the forum should be memorized in it somehow, because it sort of has taken on a life of it's own here. That has made it even more fun since so many people have participated and it is very special in my opinion.


I really hope it encourages others to try...or to take on that project that just seems too big, because it really all breaks down into a bunch of small pieces and tasks...having the vision to see what can be is sometimes the hardest part. Doc B has shown this in his beautiful build...I am glad that I inspired that...actually don't deserve much credit other than I had the guts to start from a bucket of bolts and a dream.

 

Just to get a little philosopical for a moment, I posted this picture of the build on a Honda 919 board I'm a member on. For those that don't know I bought a low mileage 919 earlier this summer after learning that it was a bike that fit what I was looking for in the first place in a motorcycle. Being "old school" coming from the days when BSA's Triumph's and Norton's were the "cool" bikes, I liked the upright riding position of the 919. The technology blows me away, taking the Fireblade engine and tuning it as a more mild mannered street bike. I had to have one. It is easily one of the most amazing, fun, easy to ride and muscular bikes I've ever owned. I absolutely love the 919.

So I posted this picture of the Hurricane build and the guys over there went nuts




There was a very long discussion about what an awesome street fighter the Hurricane Conversion could be.


When you look at this picture you can see how a big headlight and a just a few minor additions would make it an awesome street fighter.


As I thought about it, it actually would be an "old 919" to some degree, but the real point is there is a universal appeal of a level of quality mixed with look and practicality. Many Hurricane owners understand this...how the original is a much more versatile bike compared to later CBR's. Anyway, thought it interesting to share that with those of you who get what this is about.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Actually you deserve more credit than you say. I looked at three different RR conversions on the web for inspiration - ras122's from CBR extreme, Logan Hudak's and yours from this forum. They all have interesting, slightly different approaches, and all look great. That said, your detailed description of the process of fitting the fairing was what really convinced me to tackle the job.

When I see how far along you are in that photo it's pretty clear that you are done with the bulk of the heavy lifting. So I bet you will be able to get back to playing with your project before too long.

Got a question for you - did you fab a little tab to push the front locating pin of that black cover under the tank and seat into? Yours fits so perfectly in the image. I was playing with the Corbin seat (needs the mounting holes adjusted, rats) and in test fitting that panel I realized I never worked out that front tab. Should be easy to extend a new one off of the existing one on the bottom edge of the tank.

Also thinking I might want some sort of a pin or raised, smoothed off bolt head or something to hook the hole in the top tab of that cover over - the one that is under the front of the seat - rather than bolting it down to the tab. That way I could remove the cover just by pulling it out and sliding it forward off the rear slot. Would like to be able to easily access the petcock and I could also use that area under the cover for access to a battery tender plug.

 

Doc,


This is sort of humbling for me, because I really never intended this thread to go the way it did and honestly never expected the bike to turn out anywhere close to what it has turned into. It really was a bucket of bolts that I felt would be fun to play with. I was going through a difficult divorce and needed a distraction.


I looked at all the same bikes you did (there aren't many). Most of the fabs were not to the level that I prefer, and there really wasn't much detailed info on how to, so that is why I tried to put together some guides at least to give people a starting point. There may be better ways, and in fact I want to try one with an actual RR sub frame, maybe a street fighter. The one thing that was common on most of the "other" conversions was a very poor fit of that black side cover you are talking about. That drove me nuts because it made them look "cobbled" together and I wanted to see if I could make the fit's better.

One of the things that is interesting about the F1 is that it lends itself to this mod because the lines are pretty straight. The F2 is much more difficult because the frame curves. There are a ton of challenges, not the least of which is the difference in the size of the bikes. The RR is a smaller bike and that makes the fit of the fairings a challenge to get the smaller parts to fit on the bigger bike.


As far as the fit of the black side pieces, in that photo they are really just sitting in place. My idea to outline the tank and the tail in black helps to "cover" the areas that maybe don't fit perfectly. That turned out to be a pretty smart idea, but what I was really trying to accomplish was to make the Hurricane tank look smaller because it is so much bigger than the RR tank. I spent a ton of time playing with photo shop views of how to do the tank and get it to look "right". I wanted it to look like it came that way from the factory...a detail that I think I accomplished and actually when it all came together I was amazed at how it all worked. The lines from the front fairing blended into the angle on the tank fairly close and I did not plan that. Sometimes things just work out. I remember thinking when I was painting everything how afraid I was that it would look all **** eyed because it wasn't designed that way in the first place and I painted the parts each separately. There was no fit and mask done. I found that to be too complicated and the bike was torn down by the time I did the paint.


If you go way back to the beginning you can find the brackets that I made for the side pieces that fit under the seat. I remember I waited to get those pieces before I started the tail conversion because they set the lines of the tail and the fit at the tank. The tank has brackets where grommets fit for the old tail. I found some new tighter grommets at Home Depot that fit the RR part. The tail also has grommets that I replaced with new tighter ones. So it really "snaps" into place.


I had planned on showing each stage of the body assembly over again with all the new parts and will do that as I do final assembly. The reason is that some things may change a little due to the differences in this frame, and I also have some better ideas on a couple of things I did before.


I want to also figure out if I can do an opening for fuel shut-off. The covers come off fairly easily, but might be nice if the **** is right there.

 

One other thought. It's pretty amazing when you look at theses bikes and consider they are 40 years old...and Hurricanes...they really have become "modernized" and while some purists struggle with such mods (I actually am a purist and that is why I will be doing an original Hurricane at some point), I find it amazing looking at the transformation.