83 Honda shadow 750 build

I think im going to use your idea for the uni filter mod. My air box is completely trashed and man is it a pain to get out of its hole. Do you have any jetting issues with the uni?
 
thats great. my air box was no good. as in my photos you can see i cut the old box out from the right side with a hacksaw blade in a small handle. the uni works great with carb mods. the snorkle that is under the tank helps smooth the airflow out, thats worth suing if you have it still even tho the air box is no good. i went up 3 sizes on the main jets, shimmed the needle 0.080" with two thin washers and went up 2 sizes on the primary jets. runs great now. similar mods to your 500 would work the same as i did this to an ascot vt500 years ago as well.
 
finally got it all together , at least the first part to where its running, first road ride. the new jets and intake mods work perfectly, starts without choke, pulls hard with no pop on decel from leaning and plugs seem a good color so far.
the seat is far more comfortable than i thought it may be.
 

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Thanks .. its been fun so far... next is to finish the new tank to change the lines of the bike and remove the speedo cluster, lower the headlight and add led signals to the front.
already looking at my next project.. looking for a 70's big bore 2 stroke enduro to mod.
 
That cafe up there looks killer with the mono shock, i think im going to use the cheapo ebay resi shocks and see how that ends up. I like that color on the seat though, nice work.
 
i like twin shocks on a bike this this personally. i was thinking of the res shocks as well. the rear of this bike could stand to go up a little. would slightly steepen the fork / rake and look better.

glad you like the tan seat. i thought it would go good with the grey paint. i was going for colors of my first bike i was so fond of, the 73 honda xr75 k0. apart from the seat color of course lol
 
motorman45 said:
mostly finished the seat. used layers of neoprene foam and a sander to shape the seat. then tried sewing my own pleated cover. took a few tries to get the seams right. this was my first seat cover.
next i have to decide how to attach the cover to the pan

The seat turned out great, what type of material did you use for the cover?
 
Thanks . its not bad for a first seat . I used faux emu leather rated for marine use . got it off amazon cheap. Stitched half inch foam between the vinyl and a cloth backing for the pleats . had to buy a walking foot for ourold viking sewing machine. Not too hard to do

i forgot to describe how i attached the seat and cover if it helps anyone. the seat pan has a tab in the front like a stock seat that fits under the tank mount, then two bolts on the back that hold it down to the rear fender.
the cover i ended up using spray glue to glue on strips of cover vinyl cut ~1/2 " rolled over the sharp metal edge of the pan so i dont cut the cover as its stretched over. then used the same spray glue/ cement to glue the cover to the bottom side of the pan. i used large paper binder clamps to hold it in sections as the glue tacked up, moving from front to back over a few hours gluing the cover to the pan. once i has happy with the fit i cut strips of 14 ga steel , drilled holes in them and riveted them to the bottom attaching the cover more permanently. i could add pics of all that if it helps.
cheers
 
Here are some more pics of making the seat. you can see the plates i made to rivit the vinyl to the pan after having glued it in place first. then the finished product
. its actually moe comfortable than i thought it may be.
 

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Dig the build. I am with you on cafe? tracker? brat? who knows..... mine doesnt really fit a category, hell it was an Aspencade, fully dressed, when i picked it up.....

i am curious myself about making/modifying a seat. My Wing has a saddleman 2up and i think its horrid, especially with the look i am going for. its a plastic base and the leather is stapled. i would like a gunfighter style but just cant see $350 for a new one. I havent spent that much on my entire project so far. any suggestions on modifying an existing seat and reworking the leather for a good look?
 
thanks. glad to see other bike like your wing personalized. i saw a couple of those used and almost went with one to customize, even almost went for a pacific coast to strip and customize but ended up with this shadow.
I think you should be able to make a great set using the seat pan / base you have. its fairly flat enough, at least more so than the shadow i started with. pull the staples, take the cover off and look at cutting the foam to a new gun fighter shape. or use some neoprene glued in layers like i did ( soft yoga mat/camping pad at walmart ). angle grinder with a flap sanding disc shaped it really well, then get some stretchy vinyl made for seats ( cheap on amazon or ebay ) and stretch it / staple it on. dosnt need to have all the stitching i did, there are some youtube videos that can help.
one key thing i read that i think is so true, a comfortable seat is 90% shape and 10% material. old tractor seats were steel... dosnt mean you need a bucket seat on your bike, just has to fit you reasonably. mine is actually really comfortable for anything less than 2 hrs ride, but i dont go further than that .
 
sounds easy enough.....I'll get a full day off Sunday so I'll probably tackle that then. Gotta start early to finish enough in a day i can put it back on for the ride in to work Monday morning. I've got some air tools on the way from my pop (a long time diesel mechanic that now teaches at a tech school so doesnt need them) so I can cut the extra length off the back of the frame cleanly.

Im guessing the wing is now about 125 lbs down from when i picked it up and that 1100 makes for a screamer..... The baffle free exhale of the bike sounds like "a pissed off porsche" (read that in another thread, wish I could find it to give him credit for it). I wear ear plugs on the freeway to save my ears from the wind but i assure you, as soon as i'm off in town those things go in my pocket, I LOVE THE NOISE!!!! You may still want one of these old wings for your next build, they are sweet bikes
 
NakedWing82 said:
sounds easy enough.....I'll get a full day off Sunday so I'll probably tackle that then. Gotta start early to finish enough in a day i can put it back on for the ride in to work Monday morning. I've got some air tools on the way from my pop (a long time diesel mechanic that now teaches at a tech school so doesnt need them) so I can cut the extra length off the back of the frame cleanly.

Im guessing the wing is now about 125 lbs down from when i picked it up and that 1100 makes for a screamer..... The baffle free exhale of the bike sounds like "a pissed off porsche" (read that in another thread, wish I could find it to give him credit for it). I wear ear plugs on the freeway to save my ears from the wind but i assure you, as soon as i'm off in town those things go in my pocket, I LOVE THE NOISE!!!! You may still want one of these old wings for your next build, they are sweet bikes

I had almost the same seat on my GL1000 and I just took the cover off, carved the foam with a serrated kitchen knife smoothed it and covered it in leather horsehide. I need to redo the cover as I did it on a budget but it has lasted 40K miles so wasn't a waste.

Motorman your cover is much nicer then mine but I did the same thing to hold mine on,
 
Maritime said:
I had almost the same seat on my GL1000 and I just took the cover off, carved the foam with a serrated kitchen knife smoothed it and covered it in leather horsehide. I need to redo the cover as I did it on a budget but it has lasted 40K miles so wasn't a waste.

Glad to hear someone else has done this successfully. Did you have to use any adhesive under the cover or just stretch and fasten?
 
oops, still learning to use the forum, that question for Maritime wasnt supposed to be in the quote box ::)
 
LOL that's ok, I didn't use adhesive, just a layer of poly quilt batten and then the Horsehide. It has seen a lot of weather. Seems everytime I go on a trip I hit major thunder storms, still ok except it has faded, I made it out of scraps I picked up from a saddle maker and the seams are a bit crooked etc. I will make a pretty one sometime but since there are no holes etc I am in no hurry. I made a much nicer cover for the CX I built for my FIL.
 
cool cool, really appreciate the insight. I should have a newly shaped seat come sunday evening. will post pics.....
 
just posting some better photos. the before and after is the actual bike before i got it.
 

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