𝙏𝙍𝙈 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝘽𝙍𝘼𝙏

[Kevin B]

Wow, just wow! The brown upholstery is a huge improvement! The flow of the whole thing is amazing. Looking forward to the tank going back on.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Thanks! My first thought was black but the brown definitely adds a nice accent color.

Here's another shot showing how it fits over the carrier.

 

[Ulu]

I am digging this more than ever.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Next level cool

 

[kingfish254]

Perfect fit!

 

[kram]

The seat turned out amazing! Such a good fit.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Thanks y'all!

I took it all apart to get some paint on the raw metal.

Here are the finished brackets:

 

[The Renaissance Man]

While I was painting the brackets I decided that the fork would look best painted black.


So I sanded it with 400 and left it just a little rough to try to match the frame.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

With the seat brackets, there was a lot of effort put into something that will not be seen when the bike is finished. So I put it all together on my test frame (minus the carrier and saddle) for a few final pictures before it gets buried out of sight.


The white spacers are where the fiberglass carrier would be.

 

[kingfish254]

Cool skeleton!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The only thing about this build that is truly custom is the carrier/saddle so it has been getting all of my attention. With less than a week to go I'm really feeling the clock and picking up the pace.

The bottom edge of the carrier was never trimmed from coming out of the mold. I actually liked how it looks being a little taller and the part that would normally be trimmed off looks cool being raised along the edge.

Unfortunately it is irregular and almost non existent in places on the chain side. So I made a quick dam and added some fiberglass filler to work with.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Next after removing the dam the surface was sanded down to a ruff finish. I use adhesive vinyl to protect the finished surface from unwanted sanding. It was applied before any of the work was started (as seen in the last post).

If you look closely you can see the added material that shows up more red than the original black gel coat.

Then the bottom edge got mostly straightened out. Everything will get tuned in more and more as the bodywork progresses.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

It's a small detail that may go unnoticed but to make the seat and carrier look like a factory fit, the stamped grooves in the top surface needed to be addressed.

By ending them before they reach the saddle it will look like it was intended to be mounted together.

Again I started with the vinyl to protect the finished surfaces then filled the grooves with fiberglass filler.

Next it was roughly sanded flush.

After getting it close, the mask was removed.

I probably should've masked it farther back but all of the unmasked area is under the seat.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Today is body work day.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Getting edgy.

 

[OddJob]

Wait? These things need body work? My TRM Convertible Tank came pretty much plug and play.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Only if you are making modifications.

This modification is to shorten the stamped lines so that they stop behind the saddle.

Here it is after some sanding and primer. Still more to do.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I'm calling it done with the body work. Time to move on, so many other fires to put out!

 

[JA331]

Chrysler Cordoba. You never see those.

Looks like something Bosley drove in Charlie’s Angels.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Started painting the carrier.