Tuesday, June 22, 2010

DIY tail

I really would like to put an AirTech fiberglass tailsection on the bike, but the budget continues to be tight, so we continue with the "use what ya got" theme.  I dug up some acrylic sheet, and glued a paper version of the sheetmetal pattern I've been working on for the tailsection. I used a 3/4" bar and a small torch to form the bends on the rough blank.  I then took the dremel tool to finish cutting the pattern.


A quick shot of  primer, wentsand, a layer of Rustoleum. Viola, a tail is born.  Just don't look too close.


Monday, June 7, 2010

No longer Flying Blind (sort of...)

For some reason, after putting a guard on the left side of the Upper Battery Tray, I felt the compelled to make an identical piece for the right sided of the bike, even though it serves no functional purpose.  Still looks better, and more importantly is more symmetrical (OCD issues).

Up until this point, a test ride was an excercise in guesswork.  My speedo didn't work and I had no way to measure anything except with my multimeter.  The speedo cable I got with the bike was the wrong one, so I reluctantly ordered one from an eBay retailer. 13.95+shipping and now I can see my speed tops out at 43mph (very close to what I geared for).

I also wanted to know Voltage at any given instant, so I can see how much the batteries are sagging under load.  One of my ELMOTO.NET brothers was selling a cheap voltage panel menter, so I went for it.  Unfortunately, I may have it hooked up wrong, because as soon as I use any juice, the voltage display varies wildly, and shows negative values often.  Seems to work fine at static readings.  I will hold off making a permanent bracket until I figure it out.



I'm still shopping eBay for an analog current gage that will fit in my Tach location. The hard part is finding one that looks right with a black face and white graphics.