7/20/2005
Time for an UPDATE!!!
Haven't taken any pictures of the recent work but it has
mostly been documented already. I picked up a heavier spring for the CBR954RR
shock
and installed it only to find it was still soft and shorter than the stock one.
I pulled a progressive spring off of a Virago mono air-shock and tried it...
it was WAY soft!! Then I took the nylon and steel rings off of the Virago shock
and installed them on the CBR shock. That bought me back
3/8 of an inch and enough play room to try riding. If I have to replace this
spring again I think I will look for an automotive shock around the same
coil width and cut it down to use. But for now I think this will work.
I finished the fender strut extensions, welded up all the
stock holes on the fender, and got the rear fender mounted up. I replaced
the stock shock mou8nt bolts with plain metric bolts. I will pull the fender off
and grind and smooth all the edges doing all the finish work
then. I mounted a flamed mud flap to the frame cross member to cover the
electrical area and put a steel braided fuel line on since mine
was too short after being rerouted due to the air intakes. All this can be seen
in the following pictures...
I roll3ed Vicious out to the driveway to takes some pictures today....Here's a view from the rear so you can see just how massive this rear fender is.
Here is a nice shot of the right side. You can see the sweat
marks on the fender in the form of surface rust.
This will all get sanded and primered within a month....
Here is a shot from the right side. It looks a lot longer with
a rear fender on it! You can see the collection
of dust and grinder debris on the tank....the whole bike is filthy.
Here is a closer shot of the intake and you can see the
new fuel line installed last night. I had a braided clutch cable
installed but it was hard to pull. I think the Teflon inner tube is missing on
it.
Looking down into the seat area you can see the new spring is
red. Also notice the flames from the rubber
mud flap. The mud flap straddles the lower part of the shock and the reservoir
is the gold cylinder. I bolted a piece of angle
onto the cross member to bolt the mud flap onto. All the wiring dressed nicely
on the left.
I still need to wire the rear lights but these will get covered after that. I
want to move the drivers seat back so I will probably
cut out the front of the fender in a semicircle and weld a new piece in. This
will set me back about 3 inches...
Here is a shot of the inside of the rear fender. You can
see I have lots of room in there, I am thinking
purple LED strips to shine out the bottom of the fender!! Sweet!! Also notice
the angle iron mud flap
bracket bolted down to a stock location and I plaz'd a hole on the left through
the cross bar and installed
a self tapping bolt with an oversized nut as a spacer under the angle iron.
Still need to grind and sand this too.
When I install the new front fender piece, it will extend down below the mud
flap to further protect the wiring.
Here is the right side with the chrome side cover
removed. I welded a tab here to mount the coolant reservoir
filler to. It is actually a better spot for topping that thing off than the
stock location! I have lots of extra space in there
as well for maybe an air compressor? Tool tray? We'll see.... Good spot to do
the shock spring adjustment. There
are valve adjustments on the top and bottom that are reachable from the other
side of the bike.
Here's a closer look at this side of the fender. That chrome
cap actually clears by about three millimeters!! You can see
the extra support bracket in black that bolts to the swing arm and is welded to
a thick washer which is bolted to the
axle. I think I can use this as a mounting location for a side mount plate. I
really do not want to mount it to the fender.
Stay tuned for more updates...I see the light at the end of the tunnel now and am getting excited about what I am seeing....
Gonz
2002 Honda Shadow Spirit "Vicious" (the Hondian.... thanks CSR)