March 13
We had a great trip to Virginia Beach to visit Erins sisters and her mom came down from New York. Great week. On the trip back we stopped in Knoxville Friday night to pick up the tank and fenders for Vicious Saturday morning. They were painted by Donny Schreiner at Maxx Muscle Cycle Painting. Donny was running an Ebay special over the winter to drum up extra business and I jumped on the bandwagon. Check out Donny's website at http://www.maxxmusclecyclepainting.com .
The tins look beautiful and he did a great job on them. The purple was perfect and the marbleizing gave them some texture so it wouldn't look so flat on the black.
When we got home, it was a sunny day so I pulled out the tins
to get some clean shots of them in the driveway.
Here's some pictures for you....
Here's the Valkyrie tank shell welded to the Shadow pan netting 6 gallons.
Top view of the tank...looks smaller here than it does on the bike!
The front Indian Chief fender....
Look how shiny it is and the texture really shows up here!
I had a lot of unbelievers when I started this project with the rear Indian Chief fenders, and in the words of Chornbe (Chris) on the HondaShadow.net forum, "The paint took that rear fender from interesting to WOW!!"
Not too busy or overdone, just perfect for me. The red lenses sticking out will really set it off.
Here's where I screwed up the front fender. I set it out for a picture and a gust of wind knocked it right over. I hadn't owned this fender for 10 minutes painted out of the box and WHOOSH!!! Rip my heart out! Pushed the paint and epoxy primer from the top edge and it hasn't even fully cured yet. Just my luck. Man I was pissed all day.....called Donny and he said to send it back and he would take care of it!! This mark was right behind the fork when mounted and I thought about leaving it but Erin wouldn't let me...she knows what a perfectionist I am and said I would never be completely happy with it....she's right!! God I love that woman!!
Here is the tank sitting on the bike. Look at the dust on this thing! As soon as I get the rear wheel in and installed I will roll it outside and power wash it (sans tins).
This is looking good...can't wait to get it outside....for some more sunny pics.
Here it is with the lights installed. It was a very tight fit getting those back in there with the paint!!
Another angle. This is definitely the retro look I was seeing in my head.
Nobody's going to know what this bike is when they ride up behind it!!
Here is the front with the chromed forks, rim, and the fender light sitting on it. The fender trim is from a Honda Aero.
and here's another shot of the damage which is hidden slightly behind the fork. Very dusty from the cloth it was wrapped in.
and a final shot inside of the complete bike. Once I have the wheel I will roll the assembled bike outside to get a shot before I yank the exhaust. Now I have to finish wiring and fill and charge the new battery.
More to follow, have powder coating to finish up this week as well.
Gonzo
02' Shadow Spirit