What A productive weekend! On top of getting the yard mowed and weed-eatered (?) (thanks to my son who actually mowed the yard), laid by the pool for a few hours and swam a couple times, hung a rod iron fence, and got Vicious fired up!!
Started out Saturday afternoon in the garage about 2:30 and worked until Sunday morning at 3:30a.m., getting the exhaust tubing set into place and welded up. I ran out of stainless wire when trying to finish the last section of pipe so had to run out Sunday and pick up a spool for the spool gun. Sunday about 4 I got started on it again and by 6 I was ready to crank the motor up and getting to hear these pipes for the first time!!
Here's a shot showing the tubing routes.
And a further shot showing the whole setup. I still think that clutch cover should be powder-coated...don't you?
Here's a shot of the front wheel that I do not believe I have shown on any pages finished with the powder-coating. The rotor, caliper, pinch bolts and axle are seen here with the candy purple paint.
Here's another angle showing the pinch bolts heads painted.
This is where the left pipe feed comes out from under the bike. A bit too close to the flame bracket so I am going to cut that one flame tip off.
Here's a view from under the bike going out the left. I tack the pipes once in place and pull them out for welding. Before putting them back into the bike I will cut that flame tip off just so it doesn't wind up rapping against it!
I do not believe I have shown the powdered risers and windshield hardware either? The risers have always bothered me that they were so cool, provided much needed pullback, but were aluminum and not as vibrant as the rest of the chrome up there. Coating took care of that and provides a nice purple glow while cruisin...not that I would know that yet.
While the pipes are off, and I am out of welding wire, I pull the clutch cover off, removed the flame cover made by Bluey at Blueys Custom Alloys in Austrailia (http://www.blueyscustomalloys.com/forwards.htm), and start sanding the clear coat off. I use 120grit to start and it immediately turns primer gray looking until you get to the aluminum and it gets brighter...that's when you know to move on to the next spot. Then I hit it with 220grit, then 400, 800, and 1500s. When it is nice and shiny I hit it with some mothers aluminum polish and the bench grinder polishing wheel. When it looks like chrome I wipe it down with some lacquer thinner and powder-coat it. 20 minutes in the oven and voila! Now back to the pipes show....
Here is the pipes re-installed after being welded up.
Notice the flame is gone and there is plenty of room all around the pipe. It is hard to tell that in pictures though. Ready to listen? Not yet....but soon...
I almost deleted this shot but then thought, the outlines on the chrome are cool.....
There!! Now you can see the chrome shields in place! The clutch cover is back on, I had ordered a gasket a couple months ago in anticipation of coating that thing! The rear jugs has a stock header that has been cut off at the turn back. There I welded a secondary front header I had. I used part of the shield for both of them and cut the upper shield at the heat shield for the foot where the line is already broken up. Standing next to it you hardly notice it like you do in this picture. The front has a stock header and shield, then a piece of tubing welded as an extension to the input piece of the muffler. It steps from 1 5/8" to 1 3/4" to 2" inlet and a 5" can!!
I grabbed a shot of the front lights while it was dark and before I went to bed the first night. I have four UV LEDs in the headlight and only one in the satellites. I have more now and will be adding two more to each satellite to brighten them up a bit.
I tell Erin I am getting ready to fire up the bike as soon as I seat this final piece of trim on. She grabs the camera while I am grinding off some tabs. The chrome shroud is friggin LOUD so I grab my shooting ear protection.
Putting the last piece in place. This can is pointed up but I have some adjustment in it to lower it back down. I pushed it up and tightened the bracket bolts thinking it needed to be higher up....but I was wrong. The rear shock is in its highest setting which in essence lowers the swing arm and puts it in its closest relative position to my tubing work. Once it is all in place I would lower it.
There she sits, in all her glory. Awaiting a fender, (which as UPS online tells me should be on my porch when I get home today!! SWEETNESS!) and a seat to make it ridable. I like the way the pipes have turned out especially the rear pipe that goes underneath.
Heres a shot from the other front of the other side looking back. Here you see the shield is a Memphis Shades Shooter, and kind of see the LEDs glowing in the headlight.
And that's it! It is done and I fired it up, it sounded awesome and I took it around the block without a seat, sorry I just couldn't wait any longer. It was awesome to hear the V-Twin in a deep rumble inside those cans. My brother pulled up on his Virago as I fired mine up and drowned him out on the other side of the fence as it was opening, he knew I had finished.
What, not taking my word for it? Did you really expect to hear these pipes yourself on my website? Well ...okay....without further adieu, Vicious Lives now playing on an MPEG below. Just click one of the pictures and enjoy.
The movies make them seem pretty darn loud but they are really a pleasant tone. Remember that in that first video the gate is closed and garage is open so the sound is just echoing all over the place. Going down the road was very nice! Loved having the twins between my legs again. LOL
The jetting is definitely off and I know that many have struggled with trying to open their air boxes and failed trying to find a jetting that works. This is due to the fact that a vacuum differential across the carb due to the restriction on the air box causes the gas to draw up the Jet needle at 3/4 throttle. When you open up the box and the vacuum pressure drops, the air flows freely but the vacuum isn't there to draw the fuel up. Even with the jetting I have chosen as a starting point I am seeing those effects. I am not on the other hand, concerned with trying to boost the performance of my bike. I moved the air box out of necessity to run the mono-shock and get that rear fender mounted intact. I am planning on adding some spacer reducers between the air intakes and the purple hoses to restrict the air flow a bit to raise the vacuum enough to get it running in optimum range at 3/4 throttle and up. This should be an easier task than rejetting multiple times trying to get what invariably is another failed attempt to open an air box. I will be cutting many spacers in the next few days to start playing with the top end. Yes, my neighbors should know all about me after this week! LOL
Fender tonight, and seat soon. Honda Hoot is my first stop on June 22nd or 23rd. Honda Homecoming is also on my list in July if I can afford the fuel to get there. I will be trailering Vicious and sleeping in my Van and looking for places to shower! LOL This saga is almost over and thanks for the many notes of encouragement and enthusiasm expressed by so many of my friends at HondaShadow.net and TotalCycle.org that helped me stay with tis til now. And of course the patience and understanding of my beautiful bride Erin for letting me spend countless hours in the garage working on this. Now I have to install some air shocks on her Bonneville and replace the brakes on the Van before we go!
Stay tuned for pictures of the fender and fender ornament light added in a day or so.
Gonz
