Gottagetone Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Nice bike....What a find! How are the new tires holding up? Im torn between the Michelin PP3s and the Angel GTs. BTW, to continue the darkening you might want to consider ceramic coating your pipes...see profile pic....
Scud Posted January 23, 2015 Author Posted January 23, 2015 Nice bike....What a find! How are the new tires holding up? Im torn between the Michelin PP3s and the Angel GTs. BTW, to continue the darkening you might want to consider ceramic coating your pipes...see profile pic.... Thanks. The Pirelli Angel GTs are holding up well. I got them because a lot of other people on this forum said they like them. Re pipes: I've got three color samples at home from Jet-Hot right now. I was going to send the pipes in for coating this week, but I wasn't thrilled with any of the colors I chose. I thought that black might be too dark, so I got samples in titanium, graphite, and champagne gold (in that order left to right in the picture). ...so maybe a black-bronze, or maybe satin black is the ticket, or maybe leave it alone for a while...
docc Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 Seems that riding makes them darker. An apparent overall progression of change . . . "patina" - as the say.
Gottagetone Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 I understand about them getting lost in the black. Here is a bigger pic of mine with flat black pipes.
Gottagetone Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 If you are picking one of the colors in that photo I would vote for graphite.
Scud Posted January 25, 2015 Author Posted January 25, 2015 Seems that riding makes them darker. An apparent overall progression of change . . . "patina" - as the say. If you are picking one of the colors in that photo I would vote for graphite. The pipes were a cool gold when I got it and they have been developing a great blue-ish patina. I didn't think any of the color samples I got looked better than the metal - so I chose "none of the above" - at least for now. I got home from business travel today and got to open a box full of flat black powder coated parts and started putting some of them on. I should have had them mask a few more areas. I ended up filing or drilling out a few areas that should not have been coated. Passenger footpegs and brackets were my biggest miss; I didn't mask anywhere on those parts. The springs and balls wouldn't go back in, the pin didn't fit anymore, and the thickness of the powder coating made it impossible to get the spacers/ball-lock plates into the footpeg brackets. I got everything thing to fit correctly, but it took a while. I thought "I'll start with an easy part." Wrong. So if you're taking anything for powder coating, learn from my mistake and take some time to think through what needs to get masked or plugged - beyond the obvious threads, splines, machined surfaces, etc.
czakky Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 We better get a link to a high pixel large format photo spread when she is back together. Love what youre doing BTW! 1
Scud Posted January 26, 2015 Author Posted January 26, 2015 Electrical update: Ran battery tender plug behind headlight so I can also use a USB adapter up there. Installed second ground wire (12 gauge) from voltage regulator LH mounting bolt to horn bracket. Installed all new Omron 5-pin relays, which are noticeably heavier than the stock (Tyco brand) 5-pin relay. I assume heavier (at least for relays) is evidence of better-built and more reliable. Also stashed some extras in case of emergency. Replaced battery bolts with longer screws: better grip that should not work itself loose, and I can never again accidentally arc a wrench to the ECU. I never want to see a spark there again. Now I will be forced to use a phillips screwdriver. 12-year old new-bike issues: It had developed a little hiccup, I put electrical tape over the small crack in the rubber fitting between throttle body and cylinder. It seems to run better - but I only rode it 5 miles since I put the tape on. It looks like I will be replacing those fittings sooner than anticipated. The factory paint is not very durable (this is probably a blinding flash of the obvious to you seasoned V11 veterans). I used blue painters tape (the stuff that's supposed to come off really easy) when I was measuring my suspension settings - it took a lot of paint off the lower triple clamp. I have a small amount of oil weeping from the RH side of what I think is the timing chain cover (in front of the piston). Not sure what, if anything, to do about that right now. Many of you warned regarding lack of grease. This is true and good advice. There was little or no grease on: side-stand pivot, brake pedal pivot, gear-shift bolt (the one that goes through the porkchop and is the pivot for the lever), passenger peg pivots, etc. Connections between hard rubber and metal fasteners didn't hold. I re-glued the side-stand bumper and got a new exhaust vibration damper, because the metal was spinning in the rubber. Darkening: I still have a few more little things planned, but here are a couple close-up shots with the powder-coated parts installed. Along with prior darkening, this one shows the alternator cover and all 288 parts of the side-stand. I decided not to paint the voltage regulator because: 1) the wires go into a huge ball of stuff that is all taped together, 2) I didn't want to do anything that might interfere with the function, since I learned how important it is for this part to be appropriately grounded, 3) I really just wanted to put it all back together so I could go riding. This one shows the shift lever and slave arm, passenger peg, and bracket with all fasteners.
docc Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 Looking great! Like czakky, I'm looking forward to perusing a gallery of The Most Darkened Scura on the planet. Regarding above: what adhesive are you using for the rubber stand stop (and the aguila badge on the alternator cover)? Seems that your regulator ground would serve better to the engine rather than the frame, especially under something as buzzy as the horn mount. The RH oil leak can be narrowed down by cleaning it up, spray on foot powder and inspect/photograph after a short ride. It comes to mind that the oil cooler hoses near there often chaff at the frame and may be weeping.
Scud Posted January 26, 2015 Author Posted January 26, 2015 Thanks Docc. Adhesives: Aguila=Eagle in Italian... had to look that up. I used 3M Permanent Mounting Tape, which is a double-sided adhesive foam. I cut a piece off the roll that's a bit smaller than the badge. BTW - I brush-painted the badge with Testors gold enamel (model paint). That way, when it gets FUBAR by tire spray, I can just retouch it with a brush. Side-stand bumper - I used Seal All, which is an oil-resistant contact cement. I also used that for the heat shield under the tank, which has held. The bumber has held for about 18 hours so far; let the long-term test begin. BTW - the bumper's retaining nut touches the pipe, which doesn't seem like a good idea. I didn't notice that before, but I'm going to take that off and elongate the hole in the bracket to lower the bumper. Grounding: Since I had the horn brackets off to the get powder coated (to get rid of that nasty, shiny, chrome...) I attached the ground wire to the upper horn bracket mount, which is the frame. I agree that the lower part (at the horn itself) would not be a good place for grounding. I'll look at that again, but I assumed that since the regulator is mounted to the frame that the least vibration would be another point on the frame. (I have not forgotten your advice re additional 30-amp fuse, just didn't get there yet.) Leak-Sleuthing: Thanks for the tip. Can I use baby powder for my baby? Scura-er vs. Scura-est: I'm not going for a total blackout. I think Tikkanen's is darker than I will go. He darkened big pieces - brake rotor hubs, porkchops, added LeMans-style fairing (which hides some of the forks and that "ugly" silver damper that you so graciously offered to trade with me). I really like his modified Scura/LeMans, but I took a different approach and have been darkening the little pieces - which, IMO, lets the larger parts show more boldly and highlights the original design.
docc Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 I love the way the left red pork chop visually brackets the gold Öhlins reservoir! I the end all of your effort will be a disappearing act , and the fine pieces you want to be seen - the prestige!
Scud Posted January 27, 2015 Author Posted January 27, 2015 I love the way the left red pork chop visually brackets the gold Öhlins reservoir! I the end all of your effort will be a disappearing act , and the fine pieces you want to be seen - the prestige! At first, I was not sure about the red pork chops. But I really like them now that some of the stuff around them is less noticeable. I've made a lot of parts and fasteners just disappear into the darkness. My family is pretending to be amused when I say "look what else you can't see." I was laughing about Chamberlin's earlier comment that the bike is becoming a black hole - because I actually had to use a flashlight in the middle of the day to see what I was doing when putting the horns and voltage regulator back on. In the "chest" picture, you can't see: horn rims, horn brackets, side-stand mounting brackets and bits, side-stand bumper bracket, and fasteners on: alternator cover, oil cooler, horn brackets, starter, valve cover, belly pan, and front fender. I'm super-pleased with the powder-coated alternator cover. It was far more affordable than a new carbon fiber part and it should be much more durable too.
docc Posted January 27, 2015 Posted January 27, 2015 In the interest of full disclosure, and just to be sure I'm not vying for poseur-Scura-status . . .gosh . . . I hate to admit this, but - ok: I polished my gear shift lever. There. I said it. Polished. I feel better. 1
chamberlin Posted January 28, 2015 Posted January 28, 2015 Mini black hole for you Scud! You just need a sharpie to darken it this time!http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=251809151935&globalID=EBAY-FR&alt=webBTW, there's a lot of V11 toys models out the but this one is actually quite rare...haven't seen this one before. 1
Scud Posted January 28, 2015 Author Posted January 28, 2015 That's funny. They should have used the bubbling paint on the engine instead of the seat. That would have made it hilarious. I was playing with stickers (not markers) tonight. Since I couldn't powder coat the fork bottoms, I got some black Öhlins stickers from eBay and a roll of black reflector tape. I'm going to find a few more discreet locations for this reflector tape - invisibility by day, visibility and safety by night.
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