Two steps forward, three steps back

It drives me nuts that the Aermacchi pretty much requires every size wrench in my tool box, whereas I only need about 4 sizes to do everything on the BMW. When I win the lottery I'm going to have to get one of those tool carts with wheels to push around a garage bigger than my current 1.5 car size one...

I got the front wheel back from truing this week and when I took it to get the tire mounted I realized there was a tear on the inner sidewall. No bueno. Unfortunately I've been sitting on this tire for months now and the time to return it has expired, a brand new tire right into the trash. Despite that setback, I removed the rear wheel and de-laced it so I could take the rim for powdercoating and lace with stainless like I did the front. Also, took the fenders in for powdercoating and maybe even the tank at a later date.

Once that was out of the way I started disassembling the handlebar controls so I could start prepping the Tommaselli Condor bars I have, along with the Tommaselli/Domino race throttle, and Ducati (I think) levers.

It's looking pretty bare right now...

I used VHT Satin Black Engine Enamel on the front brake hub as it matched the semi-gloss powdercoat pretty well. I chose paint instead of powder because the hub bearings looked good and the only way to remove them would be to destroy them (there's nothing wrong with them now) and they couldn't be in the oven during the powder curing process. It looks good though and should hold up well. The reason I bring this up again is because now it was time to paint up the brake side of the hubs, along with the rear hub (not pictured).

I really like the finish. Unfortunately, the arms had peeling chrome and I couldn't clean them up as much as I would have liked. Maybe I'll strip them and polish them at a later date, but for now they get the same treatment as the rest of the brake assembly.

While everything is off the bike I think I might start work on the exhaust. I have a nice dunstall reverse cone replica ready to mount, along with enough black exhaust wrap for the header pipe that was left over from when I used it on the BMW (we all remember how that went).

Problem is I'm not sure if I want to sweep the exhaust up or not, and if so where to place it to avoid rear set placement. I don't have rear sets ordered yet or have quite figured out where I'm going to mount them, so I' may just go for aesthetics now and functionality later on.

The turnaround for the powdercoat is going to be 2 weeks or so and that'll really slow progress down as I felt like I was just getting on a roll... I'm still waiting for the new tail light from Germany for the BMW and with spring weather rapidly approaching I'm worried I'm going to be bikeless once the nice weather hits. Good thing I don't stop riding in the winter or I'd really be upset.

In the meantime, I guess I'll just stare at a model with her tits out modelling my Swiss goggles I used to use when driving my VW Typ 181 with the windshield down, but more currently for grinding

 

BMW Tail light woes

I'm getting sick of this shit...

The one on the right is the original, cracked and scrapped. The one on the left is the replacement, which I reinforced with metal strips on the inside of the housing and where it attached to the fender... No avail.

Now I'm just going to lose the cheap, stock, plastic crap and go with an old Hella aftermarket piece and fabricate my own mount out of 18 gauge. Also losing the rear fender, but I think I'm going to pick up some stainless sheets to protect the seat and battery along the subframe

Italian Motor Magazine

I finally got around to subscribing to this and it's by far the best moto mag I've read regardless of brand or country. I'll have to look into obtaining issues 1-4. You owe it to yourself to subscribe

Italian Motor Magazine

shedding weight / ignition relocation

Besides having an issue with the steel panels on the frame and mounting the gas tank (slight interference in the rear), I had enough of the battery box and tool box. I'm getting quite a collection of Aermacchi/H-D Sprint parts that I no longer have any use for. I'd say I shed about 5 lbs from the  bike just in the parts below.

The tally of non-used stock parts now equates to something like, panels, bars, boxes, tank, intake assembly, and skid plate, I'm going to have to get these on eBay or to a swap meet sometime soon.

Because I deleted the side panels, I had to move the ignition onto the frame. Not a big deal really, just had to get a 19mm hole saw and cut into the frame a little. It looks like I belongs there.

Clean up of all the wiring at a later date

Next on the list is a battery tray, since the battery box is now gone. Dunno if I'll weld a tray to mount on the engine case somewhere, or switch to an AGM battery like I did on the Beemer and hide the battery under the seat or something.

The look of the bike is a lot cleaner now, I'm into it.

                                Before                                                                      After


My brother in law mentioned that he wanted me to weld up some kind of platform/anchor for a boat pretty soon and my father in law wants me to weld a spindle or something next week. I think I've welded more this month than the past 2 years