Guest ratchethack Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 Gents! Please forgive if this belongs in the classifieds, but it looks to me like it wouldn't get proper visibility there. I've recently completed a complete DIY "re-do" of my formerly busted-up Stucchi quarter fairing in semi-satin black, and it looks positively stunning buffed and waxed (If I do say so), but now, to my eye, it also looks positively NAKED. Wot I decided I've GOT TO HAVE is a PEWTER (NOT BRASS!) "Moto Guzzi with Eagle" belt buckle up-front and center on the fairing, above the headlight. I searched the Web pretty extensively until I got nauseated looking at all the garbage tchatchkis. Wot I've got in mind is a PEWTER version of THIS, with the Guzzi name and eagle on that nice, DEEP RED field: Oh, and if that ain't quite enough of a CHALLENGE, it can't be a FLAT buckle! NO, NO! -- It's got to be one o' those compound curved buckles, which would -- in theory -- be a pretty close match to the curve of the fairing. Any ideas on a source? Many TIA!
jrt Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 You don't want much, do you? If all else fails, you could talk to someone with a CNC mill. It should be a(n expensive) piece of cake for that machine.
Skeeve Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 I have the feeling you're going to have to roll your own on this one, Ratch. No, I don't know what goes into pewter; lead, tin & copper? Carve yourself a little model out of clay, wrap it around the fairing & let sit for a day in the sun to cure, fire it, build up a latex mold, toss the clay part & cast a new piece in wax from the latex female you made, coat the wax pattern plaster of paris & fire it to melt out the wax, and then fill your refractory mold w/ your pewter. Chip away anything that's not shiny & epoxy the results to the front of your fairing. Sorry, that's the best I've got.
Guest ratchethack Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 Thanks guys. FYI, pewter is an alloy of mostly tin, with a little copper and antimony. I'm familiar with "lost wax casting", and having done it many times, working from scratch, it'd be considerably beyond the level of time and effort I'm willing dedicate to this. Likewise the CNC mill idea -- far too co$tly. I'm hoping someone might chime in with something "off the shelf". Hey -- It could happen! How hard can this be, with literally tons o' pewter buckles out there, of everything from countless trashy versions of H-D motors, variations on the obligatory skull with spike thru it theme, H-D motor with skull(s), skull with H-D motor(s), not to mention such "tastefully collectible" gems as the one with the boar and sow hog en fragrante delicto (complete with with smiles on their faces). . . ?? If nothing turns up in pewter, I'd consider painting a brass one silver with a red background (to match the Guzzi, y'unnerstan'. . .) Anybody see such a thing at one of our friendly Guzzi dealers?
Guzzirider Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 The best use of pewter! Good luck with your search!
richard100t Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 I just cant believe you would want to add all that unsprung weight on your feathery superleggera v11 How are you going to loft the front wheel in 3rd gear on the freeway with the biker boyz with that large albatross hanging from the front end like that? Have you checked ebay yet? I've seen lots of guzzi belt buckles there, but as I dont want one myself I never looked at them closely enough to see what they are made of.
richard100t Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Moto-Guzzi-...A1%7C240%3A1318
Guest ratchethack Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 Richard, I spent most of my Web searches avoiding doing he virtual equivalent of pawing through the of mountains of trash that come up in searches on FleaBay. Generally, I might deal with FleaBay as a last resort only if I have to -- and possibly not even then. As far as superleggera, well yeah, I'd take a TITANIUM belt buckle if one matching my spec's fell out of the sky, but since the Guzzi comes in at well over a quarter ton, I figure why put the high-dollar lipstick on the. . . (well you know). . . I'd be better off taking Roper's advice and taking a great wallopping "morning constitution" before riding and go with something that weighs a few grams more that I can actually purchase . . . SOMEBODY'S GOT ONE OUT THERE, I just know it! EDIT: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Moto-Guzzi-...A1%7C240%3A1318 Hey -- CLOSE! If it had that compound curve I put on my spec list, I reckon it'd be a weeeener. This is encouraging, many thanks!
richard100t Posted January 21, 2009 Posted January 21, 2009 Richard, I spent most of my Web searches avoiding doing he virtual equivalent of pawing through the of mountains of trash that come up in searches on FleaBay. Generally, I might deal with FleaBay as a last resort only if I have to -- and possibly not even then. <_> As far as superleggera, well yeah, I'd take a TITANIUM belt buckle if one matching my spec's fell out of the sky, but since the Guzzi comes in at well over a quarter ton, I figure why put the high-dollar lipstick on the. . . (well you know). . . I'd be better off taking Roper's advice and taking a great wallopping "morning constitution" before riding and go with something that weighs a few grams more that I can actually purchase . . . SOMEBODY'S GOT ONE OUT THERE, I just know it! EDIT: Hey -- CLOSE! If it had that compound curve I put on my spec list, I reckon it'd be a weeeener. This is encouraging, many thanks! Well depending on what the ebay buckle is made of you should be able to put the curve in it yourself. drill a hole in either side of the buckle & run screws through it into a curved block of wood. .Take a torch to it & when its red hot run the screws down tight until it forms to the wood. Since you're going to probably use screws to attach it to the bike the holes are needed anyway. A little red paint & voila
Guest ratchethack Posted January 21, 2009 Posted January 21, 2009 Yeah, such thoughts (and alternatives) had occurred to me, Richard, being a longtime dedicated DIY-er. Not being exactly familiar with the working temps of wotever alloy of pot metal this might be (pewter not specified in ad, and highly unlikely, more likely zinc or lead-based), I'd consider it a risk possibly worth taking -- after exhausting any less risky alternatives that may come up. Wotever I end up with, it won't have any screw holes. Seems to me most pot metal liquifies and has a tendency to run all over long before getting "red hot", but I ain't much of a pot metal kinda guy, and I could be all wrong on this. My ignorance = my risk?? I appreciate the effort and thoughts, and will certainly hold this one "in abeyance" -- as they say in Texas, y'all.
richard100t Posted January 21, 2009 Posted January 21, 2009 Yeah, such thoughts (and alternatives) had occurred to me, Richard, being a longtime dedicated DIY-er. Not being exactly familiar with the working temps of wotever alloy of pot metal this might be (pewter not specified in ad, and highly unlikely, more likely zinc or lead-based), I'd consider it a risk possibly worth taking -- after exhausting any less risky alternatives that may come up. Wotever I end up with, it won't have any screw holes. Seems to me most pot metal liquifies and has a tendency to run all over long before getting "red hot", but I ain't much of a pot metal kinda guy, and I could be all wrong on this. My ignorance = my risk?? I appreciate the effort and thoughts, and will certainly "hold this one in abeyance" -- as they say in Texas, y'all. What I would do to avoid the screw holes is to go ahead & drill the holes, bend the buckle to the correct radius. Once you have it where you want it you can tap the holes & run the screws in from behind the fairing. Then dremel cut the screws off the front & use the little dremel grinder to smooth it into a flush look. Perhaps a dab of bondo & some fine sandpaper will make it look like it was made like that. I've been thinking of how that buckle would look mounted to the alternator cover myself.....See what you've started! lol
Guest ratchethack Posted January 22, 2009 Posted January 22, 2009 Hm. Thanks for the continuing thoughts, Richard. But no holes in this thing wotsoever, whether it ends up pewter, brass, or even the red-headed, snaggle-tooth stepchild of both, pot metal. Regardless of material, as with most stuff on the Guzzi, you can bet I'm going Top Drawer wherever possible. Wot I tend to do when mounting something like this is use a pair of flat-head screws countersunk into properly sized flat-washers, so the heads of the screws sit flush with the washers, rough up the contact surfaces with emery paper to give it some "tooth", and epoxy it on the back, so the screws serve as "studs" that run through holes in the fairing. With a rubber sheet cut to fit between the buckle and the fairing, no road grime, bug splat, or water can get between. But o' course, that's just me.
Daniel Kalal Posted January 22, 2009 Posted January 22, 2009 I've had this pair for many years. The top one is pewter, and the bottom one brass. the interesting thing is that the back reads the same for both of them: "limited edition" "copyright 1977" "serial number 641" That's right; they both sport the same limited edition number. (sort of like all those Tennis running around)
Guest ratchethack Posted January 22, 2009 Posted January 22, 2009 That's right; they both sport the same limited edition number. (sort of like all those Tennis running around) Why Dan, are you suggesting there might be something um, shall we say, less than authentic in the smarmy flea market world of "collectible" belt buckle tchatchkis -- AS WELL AS in the semi-semi-exclusive, green-and-suede world of the venerable Tenni? . . . As Rumpole of the Old Bailey would surely have observed, "Heaven forfend!" I figure if there's a flat, pot metal version of the right design: And a pewter version of a different design altogether: How much further out into terra incognito can a CURVED version of the RIGHT DESIGN IN PEWTER be?! Thanks for the interesting and encouraging post. We're on the trail and closing in now, Gents!
Guest ratchethack Posted January 22, 2009 Posted January 22, 2009 The trail continues to get warmer! There's fresh trail sign, including blood. This means it's taken a substantial hit and it'll be slowing down. We'll soon have it skinned and roasting over a spit. From deep in the FleaBay shrubbery of far-flung Barry, The Vale of Galmorgan, United Kingdom, I've managed to flush this one out: Not pewter (it's a CNC job in British aluminium) -- but definitely CURVED (possibly compound curved at that?), and otherwise mighty close!
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