My XJ 550 glass cafe

looks like theres a feline critter on the couch in the background too.

 

wasnt finished, oops. that bike looks awesome!

 

Looking good, any chance of seeing that bad boy on the roads around here (or what's left of them) after the rest of this mess is gone?

 

Not much chance I'm afraid.
I'm in Burlington.
I get down that way each year, we rent a cottage on St. Margaret's bay.
But alas I may never ride the Portobello Rd. again.
We are from Bedford.

Yup, the old apartment was infested with cats. (one being an uncontrolled infestation) We still have em too. Two of them now, I keep trying to drop engines on them and stuff, but they still multiply.

 

Underslung battery box.
Well, not much of a box yet, but it will be!









The chrome steel is from a plastic and steel woodworking clamp. Got it on special at $4.99. Crappy old cold rolled steel was almost 9 bucks. So I got a slightly shorter bar clamp for 4.99 and my chrome steel battery bracket for free. I see materials everywhere. My wife is frequently after me for stealing parts from household items!

 

Gunk, man that is beautiful work, I love it. & that BSA aint to shaffy either. Question on you battery box location, being that close to the collector for your exhaust is it not going to be rather hot for the battery? Just a thought. It does look good plus from a racing frame of mind it helps lower the center of gravity. Good work!
Gregg

 

Too hot? I don't know for sure. I do think we humans tend to overestimate things like that. I never got a burn from my exhaust unless I touched it.
But, I am planning on cooking up a little zinc box that should preclude any battery melting or stone damage.
My biggest concern was the chain. It comes within 15mm of the battery, closer to the drain tube. I did consider placing it longways, but it stuck out like a sore thumb.
I wanted to keep the frame open like a kick start, lots of inspiration from the XS650 crowd. Darn batteries are huge. Keeping that 4 kilos down low will help the handling a bit.
Anyway, the joy of doing it yourself includes making problems, then making them go away.

I see you installed blade fuses. Did you find a 4 fuse box?
Thanks for the encouragement Gregg. I hope I don't mess up the fiberglass, if it ever arrives.

Gunk

 

I went with individual inline blade fuses & fitted inside existing fuse box bottom. But the top no longer fits. It was pretty easy, each one has extra wire on each side of fuse so you can use the existing harness wiring without adding any extensions. I use regular blade fuse holders instead of the weather proof kind with the cap on top of each one. At some point I may regret that but for now all is good.
Gregg

 

Gunk, you got my curiosity now?

Would you be in Burlington , Hants Co?

 

Hey Ghost.
I'm in Burlington Ontario.
I didn't know there was a Burlington in Hants Co.
But I am a Maritimer by jeez.
I got my BSA from a guy on Liverpool St. and had it sorted by Gary Cooke in Harrietsfield.

 

hehe I grew up there so that would've been kinda funny....
The one (well 3 ...lower, center & upper) are small communities outside of the town of Windsor....

Oh well, guess I'll have to settle for pics of the finished product

 

Glass supplies are here. If I never post again, I messed up bad. I have never tried this before, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express® last night.

Meanwhile, here's a headlight bracket being test fit.

 

Yeah, didn't really like the drilled headlight thing, and the whole affair was a lot less attractive in reality than in my head.

So I stole this design from a cafe Vincent in a book I have. A little polishing and black paint, it will look awesome.

The headlight arrived today, It looked so nice I didn't want anything in the way.
I think I'm going to get those flexible LED's and wrap one around each fork leg for front turn signals.






I have the fiberglass supplies, I need a whole day to put into the layup, and I had a whole weekend of patching, sanding, patching, sanding,




painting, sanding, painting, patching, sanding, polishing, waxing, waxing, waxing, waxing...

to get to this:





I'll mold up the bottom part first to practice.

 

Looking good ......

Been thinking of trying to glass myself a small windscreen .....

&

Is that a Ryobi bit set I see in that pic?

 

Ryobi set yes.
It's almost cheaper than buying a couple of good single bits.

Glass is pretty easy, but it requires a lot of prep.

 

Hehe, I bought that set when I started my kitchen reno a few years back, great value.... that long extension saved a lot of hassles there..

Your seat project has me thinking a few things now......
Looks great.... may try a custom seat set-up...

 

Ok, here I go with the glass.
I need a parting board all around where the top and bottom separate. I will cast the part in two pieces and glue them together to make the final hollow seat nacelle. The top of the mold will be two parts and the bottom a single.
In the design, you have to think about how the mold will come apart, and how you will cast the parts. I'll fill you in on my plans as I go along.
Here's the underside of the parting board. Held on with tape and staples.
The plug has had 7 good coats of carnauba wax, but the tape still sticks.


The top.
I have filled all around the parting board with children's modeling clay, the oily kind that doesn't dry out and never hardens. The glass will not stick to this. I made the edges all nice and clean with a sharpened popsicle stick and a box cutter. The bits around the outside don't have to be neat, just try and get it sort of smooth.


In addition to the wax, we are going to put on a layer of parting compound, mold release, PVA.. it has all these names. Get it from a fiberglass supplier. I think the pros use a product called "Partall".



The mold release will bead up at first, I find it needs to be massaged in with a rag. You don't need much.



All coated with release



It needs to completely dry. I think this might be the single hardest part.. Waiting between steps.

Mixed up white gelcoat with a bit of black pigment. The grey colour will help me tell if the white gelcoat is on thick enough in the final part molding process



Gelcoat applied. It's like thin pudding in consistency. Don't make too many bubbles when you stir it up, they make voids in the mold. I'm carrying the gelcoat out to the flange. I want a good solid flange to pry the mold apart later.


I needed to make a duplicate rubber end cap for the fork tubes. Modeling clay makes a great mold... I'll post a picture of the part later. Gelcoat dries really hard and tough, makes a great casting compound.
While it's setting up, it's just like rubber, so you can trim and rough out shapes in it and sand it smooth after it's hardened.


Gratuitous right side shot of the project. I fitted this shorty muffler, looks nice I think. I fashioned the long silver hanger from a bit of scrap.
Hydraulic hose tee clamp in stainless makes a great muffler clamp.



Old dusty. I need another CLEAN shop to keep my stuff clean.
Next weekend I'll give it a wash, and get it some fresh gas and a battery charging.

 

Looking good Gunk, I can't wait to see the end result. keep posting those photos.

 

Thanks.
I have to get some action shots of the glass going on. May have to draft my wife for that(not enough hands). Good thing she doesn't mind the smell. She says it reminds her of her childhood. Her Dad and I fixed up old cars every weekend. In those days I usually ended up covered in itchy fuzz and goo from a$$hole to appetite.

 

Hey gunk, how's the seat coming along? Any updates?