Appreciate it! If only I could get that pile of clutter out from the left hand wall I`d get proper working space, took the cardboards to the collecting station today to get rid of them and the fire hazard they make when angle grinding and welding, still got a lot to do like getting another thicker plywood sheet for the tabletop tomorrow, probably am forced to put some more shelves near the ceiling etc. Gotta make the space as functional as humanly possible cause it`s so small...

Anyhow, got some time to fly some sparks again today as it`s extremely quiet at work between christmas and new year so I got home really early.



I tidied the baloney cuts from the pipes first, I meant to use my belt sander only to discover it`s still at my moms so I had to staple some sandpaper into a 2x4 and rub the pieces against it manually, cursing loud the whole time as you guys might know stainless steel is HARD!!! Finally got them straightened and made a preliminary polish (am not gonna make a mirror finish to them but gonna try to remove any scratches and such markings) Then I took two square M16 washers and rounded them out to make backings for the lights and quickly tacked them in place with the lights so I`d see where they set at.



Ramped the welder up and spot welded the washers in place. No point in making a 360 seam as that will surely hold what they need to, still gotta paint them later on cause even though the pipes are SS, the washers or my wire is not.



I know, the weldings look horrible but I`m still only beginning to learn...



Not bad... not bad at all... This was, IIRC, the very first piece I`ve ever made from scratch with a welder. Still gotta clean it up and finish the bracket with a piece of angle iron which connects it straight into the back of the subframe, that is if I remember to take the rod with me when I`m going to the old garage tomorrow...

 

I think it looks great. Those welds don't look too bad at all, really. It's not as if it's a structural piece. The tac welds on the inside look just fine, and the weld of that support piece look good. I can't see so much of the base weld on the SS tube, but it looks very good from what I can see.

An "internet beer" says that when you paint it, they look professionally done.

 

...not that you could see any of the welds when it`s done and in place, it`S deliberately designed so that all the jonts stay hidden when done. I was meaning to only paint the parts that has been welded just for rust proofing, not the visible parts of the pipes.

When you get the machine going it basically takes care of the parameters so all you need to do is steady zigzag pattern along the line-to-be-welded and it comes out pretty decent.

 

It's coming along, Mattson... nicely!

 

A small update again:



The new exhaust bracket came today from the UK, another piece that I had imagined in my mind, and just happened to find one exactly like it while searching for something else.



Made by ProJection Components, very good quality. The only problem is that the bolt hole is showing from behind the lower end. Gotta try to tweak the holes a bit to make it turn back a little, I already cut about and inch from the exhaust pipe to get the muffler to sit right, if I cut any more the clamp that tightens the seal is forced to go over a bend and will not seal properly. I might be able to shave another 1cm max from the pipe but no more.



I also got the seat back from the upholstery, for some reason no matter what settings I use I cannot make the color look right in the pic, it`s actually darker and has more contrast than what it looks like.

Hopefully I`ll get the tail end in some kind of order tomorrow.

 

Things are looking pretty good!

Like you, I would also not be happy with that reveal on the exhaust mounting hole, and would definitely try to work it out, but at least it's only visible upon close examination - you can't even see it in your second pic.

 

it reeeeeally picks me just to know it`s there! I`m trying very hard to do the best I can so no way I`d be happy with that kind of a gap in there! Just don`t want to mod the bracket any more than what`s absolutely necessary cause it fits so well in the holes and it is aluminum so as is already visible, it scratches very easily. Now that I got the can mounted it looks MASSIVE beside the tail -just the way I like it
I`m itching to fire it up to hear it with that muffler but since I don`t have any coolant in the system it has to wait for now...

 

Took the undertail off to see how it`s made...



...and to shave off some excess weight.



I ended up cutting almost the whole flap off leaving just enough so it will hold the undertail inside the fairing. Would have been nice if those gaps in the sides would be closed but can`t do anything to it so I decided not to eorry about it either...

I started digging into the bike in search for a better place to put the steering damper and to my surprise found several untapped pegs from at least three different places in the frame, of which these seemed the most suitable:



I want to remove that rubber flap from around the coils, anyone know a reason why I shouldn`t? I seem to remember reading a thread that someone had removed it and had experienced problems afterwards but I thought that could have been from something else too like a loose connector or sth...



I was thinking about making something like this from an angle iron. Should be plenty sturdy enough and will fit under the airbox. I do need a shorter damper but that don`t bother me none cause now I can get a smarter looking one! Truth be told that sparkly light blue color on the first one was IMO kinda gay...



Yes mother, no mother



*sigh* as an electrician by training seeing this makes me want to take the maker of this, put him in a well and poke with a blunt pitchfork... Gonna have at least a day`s work to tidy up all the electrics...

I`ve been trying to find a new (or used) brake pedal for months now, there is one on sale in eBay but it`s in `Murica and the asking price is ludicrous so getting it here and paying the VAT:s of it would cost me overall nearly 100EUR so I decided I`m going to spend the 200EUR (vat+shipping included) to an adjustable Danmoto rearset kit. Figured since I`m going bankrupt with this thing, and since I`m building it to keep and ride I might aswell go down screaming, at least I`m getting exactly what I want and that`s what counts right?

 

HAHAHA - I love your sense of humor, Mattson. As far as the rubber sheet/blanket/thing - those are to keep heat off of the air box. When I took my bike apart for fighter-ization, I got ride of it. No problems so far.

 

Hey Mattson, if you ever need one of us Bloody Yanks to buy something for you here in the U.S. and send it off to the Great Northern Reach, let us know. If we can save you 100 EU here and there, we'll give it a whirl.