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Posted by Tecumseh
- July 28, 2014, 21:30:55 PMIn my quest to remove as much of the chrome brightwork as possible and creating various contrasting textures and finishes, I've also been taking the liberty of rounding off the sharp edges and casting lines from some of the components such as this front brake reservoir....
I like the looks now of the reservoir with the edges rounded, casting lines removed, smoothed and coated with "cast blast" high temp paint.....
The clutch lever mount was also given the rounding off treatment and a coat of cast blast too. I got rid of the stock large modern rectangular mirrors and replaced them with a single round mirror off of my Ducati, shortened the stalk for a low profile look then painted satin black and cast blast....
I wanted to change the factory looks of the top triple clamp from it's 90 degree sharp edges and slab-like appearance so I gave the edges a 3/16" round-over with my router, then both top and bottom triple clamps were stripped from the coating and chrome finish, then coated with satin black. I also got rid of all the excessive chrome cable/harness guides too, then for some added contrast I sanded the chrome off down to the nickel plating of the handlebar mounting clamps/risers.....
The handlebars also got a coating of satin black and both right and left switch controls were sanded with 220 grit paper on the orbital sander, exposing the "natural" aluminum finish instead of the factory gloss clear over the bright aluminum that will eventually turn white and chalky.
With a red Scotch-brite pad mounted on the orbital sander I toned down the chrome on the speedo cover a bit giving it a faux stainless finish.....
The stock heel shifter was of no use to me so I cut it of then drilled open some speed holes on both the shifter and kickstand for a little more interest!.....
The brake pedal also got the same treatment and while I was at it I cut off the stock large square pedal and welded up a round one then capped it off with a new rubber pad from a '51 Jeep just to give it more of a period look......
This past Sunday I did some periodic service on the levers by taking them off, cleaning the joints and packing them with fresh grease. while I had them off i cut off the ball ends, again, for that "oldie" look. In this pic you will also notice the vintage bottle grips mounted that weren't in the earlier pics......
And lastly, the tips......
Every 6 months or so i like to lube the clutch cable. the easiest way I've found to do so is to take a plastic sandwich bag, pop the upper cable end through the corner of the bag, push it in about a 1/4'', tape the bag to the cable creating a seal, fill it with about an 1" or so with oil, and let it stand till the oil seeps in. of course you have to support the bag in a manner so that the oil is always at the corner where the end of the cable is. When oil starts dripping from the other end, you know your good to go! With the lever joint freshly packed with grease and the cable thoroughly lubed, the mechanism is going to operate effortlessly!
And also......
After every wash or couple of months, it's good to keep your exhaust flange bolts lubed with penetrating oil as well. I like using "Liquid Wrench", better than WD40 for this purpose, cause let me tell you, the longer those bolts don't get tampered with, they practically get "Vulcanized" in place....(no pun intended) and let's face it, there's gonna' come a time where you're gonna' have to take them off, and you know the horror stories when those little suckers get frozen in place!