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  1. buzznichols

    My 4th Zed

    Cool stuff, and a great start. I'll be watching closely
  2. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    Thanks everybody. I'm super happy, although as the close-up of the tank makes obvious, I didn't get around to wet sanding the clear coat before having this work done. Unfortunately, the enamel pinstriping paint tends to pull up if you clear over it, so I guess I'll either be doing some very...
  3. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    We went to Rat Fink (which was awesome; if you find yourself in central Utah in early June...well, you should probably examine your life choices. But first, you might as well attend this car show/celebration of the life of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.) I took the tank, seat cowl, and fender to a...
  4. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    I'll either do that or get an old pro to give him a seminar on it. Learning stuff by doing it is great, but sometimes a teacher can be invaluable. At least, that's what I tell myself when I go to work as a teacher.
  5. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    Done with the wiring! I still have plenty of work to do, but I figured I'd take a moment to wheel it out into the sun for a celebratory photo session
  6. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    Here's everything in the sun after pin striping: I'm considering outlining the badge lettering with black One Shot. Has anybody here done that kind of work? I'm torn between having my son, who is a solid artist, do it, or having a veteral pin striper do it. I live very close to a memorial...
  7. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    I've painted on the BRG. For this step, I had my son—the artist in the family—help out. He designed this tank badge: We sprayed adhesive on the back of it and rattle can stenciled it onto some wide masking tape: Then weeded it out with an exacto knife and blew the BRG, then pulled the...
  8. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    I've reunited the engine with the frame And I painted the first color, Chrysler Cool Vanilla. This will the the striping and lettering color; once it's had some time to cure, I'll mask it and paint British racing green (henceforth BRG) over it. For an ameteur paint job applied in a wood...
  9. buzznichols

    1975 BMW R90/6 - Rocinante

    It crossed my mind that it might have been inspired by Steinbeck's truck from Travels With Charlie, also named after Quixote's spavined steed. But enough literature, and back to your workhorse.
  10. buzznichols

    1975 BMW R90/6 - Rocinante

    Like Sancho Panza, I'm along for this ride. Beautiful machine, and kudos on the highly literate build name.
  11. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    Not sure why that didn't occur to me—I did drill holes and punched through the leather with an awl, and ran some tiny screws in just to hold the leather while the epoxy cured. Then I removed the screws. Since the holes are already there, and I think they're already conveniently sized at 1/8", I...
  12. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    I've been drilling holes. I decided this would be a nice spot for the key switch: But since I'm running an M Unit Blue, the real key to the bike is my phone. So I figured I should install this: I liked seeing that light up, but not as much as I liked seeing this light up for the first...
  13. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    I kept thinking about everything I didn't like about the seat I made (henceforth "the prototype") and realized that all its issues stemmed from me making simple stuff complicated. Stuff I did wrong: -Made a full pocket for the bump stop. This meant I couldn't pull the material taut. -Made it...
  14. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    For the first time since 7th grade home ec (which is somehow 38 years ago), I decided to tackle a sewing project. It was daunting, but I figured I ought to give it a shot since I've got this machine around the shop: This video was super helpful: I cut some patterns out of parchment paper...
  15. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    I feel you there. The M Unit Blue has an option for a kill switch, but typically operates with a "double tap" on the start switch to kill it. Since Tarozzi does sell these bars a la carte for about $20 (through Z1 Enterprises/MikesXS/Dime City/etc), I'm still open to the possibility of adding a...
  16. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    I've been doing some electrical stuff. Certainly not my forte, but we've all got to face our fears. At least I guess that's true; after all the parts I bought for this bike I can't afford therapy, so I'm going DIY on the mental health stuff too ;) It was a nervous process drilling and tapping...
  17. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    Got a bunch of neat stuff in the mail; unfortunately, the beautuful new top triple clamp from Cognito Moto wasn't machined out for a Motogadget mini speedo, but they processed a return for me super-fast and the right one is on the way/ Now to start putting it all on there...
  18. buzznichols

    Kawasaki Z650 Seventies Special

    Gorgeous color.
  19. buzznichols

    The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon ('78 KZ1000)

    I cleaned up the wheels... I wanted to doll them up a little, and I remembered some stuff I bought at a yard sale over a decade ago: I prepped the wheels and sprayed the "copper plate" (it's a base-clear rattle can product) right over the black as well as the bare metal. This was the...
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