My motorcycle.

[Swagger]

Swagger, I think I understand what you are saying. But I really don't think it's too much or a problem. In my head I thought about older straight six domestic power plants and their irregular runner length. I think the principles at work are similar, I like to think the manifold is being filled with the fuel/air mixture before the cylinder is demanding it. Which I believe to be true. Is equal runner length important? Absolutely. But I believe I am ok in this sense, considering we are sucking air into an air cooled single over head cam engine. And the proof is in the pudding with it's fantastic road demeanor and throttle response with this setup. I'm also a huge fan of the keeping it simple theory with engines. So I think that this manifold works great on that principle.

And I should also mention, as it has been brought up on another forum, that rear fender is simply sitting on the tire, not in it's final resting spot. It will be up against that top hoop, so yes, there will be plenty of clearance, and no, it's not going to smack that hoop. But I wasn't mounting it for the pictures for fear of destroying the paint before it was cured.

Steve

Steve, you bring up a good point that I think some (including myself on ocassion...hehe) should think about and that is that simplicity is a good thing. I ran 3)2s on my GM292 but it was way over built for anything that shoulda been on the street, but 300hp NA isn't bad for an old L6 from a 64chevy truck! Personally, I get pretty bad tunnel vision trying to get every bit of a project optimized, trying ot eek out every pony or shave off that last 3oz etc et al.....and can lose sight of a project. I think that's why a nice 'hotrod' bike might just be a fun build for my next.
Keep it simple, stay true to an overall vision and just have fun with it. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[sclay115]

Here it is guys. As promised, the 'done' photos. Glad to finally be riding it.

And the two girls together:

There we go. I dig it. I'm happy with how it turned out. Questions/comments? Go right ahead.

Steve

P.S. Have more pictures too, and intend to get some rolling shots soon. So let me know if there are any requests.

 

[monteboy84]

Great work, I love it!

-matt

 

[msimm43]

Great looking bike. Well done.

 

[Swagger]

I think my eyes just melted from the pretty........

 

[sclay115]

Haha, that last post is just a great quote. Thanks for the kind words folks. As I said, I'm just glad to be done with this one. As much as I love building them, I love finishing them more.

Steve


Request for more shots on another forum and figured I'd copy/paste the post here too.

I also thought this was really interested. Saw this on a TV program, this is after I had painted everything, and was just finishing up the seat. It's the first Yamaha production motorcycle(if I remember the program correctly). The resemblance is uncanny. I did not plan it, didn't even know the bike existed until I saw it on the tube, nor do I know how I accomplished such a thing. My dad says I'm channeling dead and gone Yamaha designers...who knew?

Pretty cool though. My jaw about hit the floor when I saw it on the program. I think it's the YA-1 or something like that. But I must've looked pretty dumb gawking at the TV and then running out to look at my own bike to make sure I wasn't just hallucinating..


Steve

 

[baconpocket]

i'm in love with the seat. did you build it yourself? this is pretty close to exactly what i want to do with mine, although my cm400 frame necessitates a bend in it unless i start frame chopping

 

[sclay115]

i'm in love with the seat. did you build it yourself? this is pretty close to exactly what i want to do with mine, although my cm400 frame necessitates a bend in it unless i start frame chopping

Yessir. Pan to cover. All by me.

Steve

 

[baconpocket]

well, here's to hoping you documented the seat build.

 

[JRK5892]

as do i! man that is a rocking awesome build! just awesome!

 

[JPanichella]

Love it.

Simplicity and just the right amount of flash. Love how those pipes shoot out the sides, and that seat looks so good, the way it snugs into that frame. I bow.

 

[sclay115]

Haha, nope, no tutorial. But if you dig through the album where the pictures are at, you can see the pan that I made. From there it's easy peasey. I might write one up, we'll see. Seems like people are diggin' on the seat so maybe I'll make some up to sell. But honestly, it's cake work. Most expensive material is the fiberglass for the pan. The rest is easy. But yah, I pretty much hit the nail on the head for what I wanted to build, built it for me, turns out what I'm into is what a lot of people are into, good feeling.

The pipes are factory pipes, hacked, with exhaust pipe enlargers to fit the mufflers onto there. I'm not at all happy with them, but for now they are ok. I want a nice tight 2-1, but that just wasn't in the budget this time. Maybe later on. Glad you like em, but they are easily replicated on any XS Special out there. And you're right about the flash. I didn't want much. As mentioned in a previous post(I think), I stated I wanted to build what one might call a factory custom. Something that is different, but not too far a departure from the original character and idea behind the bike. I have my Honda, in the pictures, for making a shitload of noise, scrapping toe caps on my Joe Rocket boots, and altogether scaring small children, but sometimes, it's nice just to ride, and not attract every Johnny Law within a 5 mile radius. And maybe have something that the average person might just think is an older bike, but to those who know...they can tell something is up. Which is why, if you notice, even after the lowering, the centerstand is still there, the factory footpegs are on, as are the passenger pegs, everything that makes this a 'usable' bike, something that is easy to service, can still carry a girl on the back, and doesn't sound like 400 decibel bongo drums(Honda).

But yah, thanks for the comments guys. Means a lot. I'll see about working up a step by step for the seat. But it just takes time, patience, and someone who can work a sewing machine.

Thanks again.

Steve

 

[JRK5892]

well i am pretty slick with a sewing machine just have no idea where to start to make a seat covering... woudl love any help i can get

 

[sclay115]

Well alright. Honestly, that's the easy part to explain. Basically, you need to figure out how you want your covering. Whether you want some sort of dimension to the seat or not. I failed miserably in that aspect. I was really trying to get a sort of 'tuck and roll' job. But couldn't seem to get it to work right. What I had attempted was to make a sandwich, bottom layer muslin, middle, foam(too thick in my case), top layer the covering. The idea was to stitch all of it together and it would give me a sort of pleated effect. Failed. Machine jammed and it was just too much of a hassle, and it wasn't giving me what I wanted for design, either not enough dimension, or too much. Tried more of a fill cotton, sort of like what you'd put in a quilt. Nope, didn't make ANY dimension. So decided to just take the hassle out of it, and make it fit the pan perfect instead. So basically what you're looking at, can be achieved in two pieces of fabric. For the top. depending what you want to do for a pattern. Cut out a piece that is a bit larger than your seat, do whatever pattern you want on it. Trace the seat onto the back of the fabric. Trim close to that line. Then take another piece of material for the perimeter, and sew it onto that edge from the backside, so when you flip it all right side out, it fits perfect, if not a little tight(go for a little tight). Shimmy that bad boy onto the seat. And you can use spray adhesive if you want, to attach the foam to the back of the fabric, but I didn't, because I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not, and I didn't want to to be totally permanent.
Start at the front and back. Attach the front, GET IT LINED UP! Make damn sure it fits where you want it to. As in, the edge of the seat is RIGHT where the two fabric pieces come together. Then stretch it from back to front first, make sure it's lined up on both sides while you are doing this. Then from there, it is just a matter of stretching/securing/restretching/removing wrinkles, and then you're done. Trust me, you will know what you want it to look like, and once you start going at it, it's all going to make sense.

I realize this might be hard to follow, maybe tomorrow sometime I'll whip the seat off and take some pictures to show you the specific pieces. Give you a better idea about what I'm referring to.

Steve

 

[LL]

Looks sweet....that is close to the same color seat I would like to have on mine some day. Like others have suggested I was thinking of just gluing layers of a yoga mat and then shaping it so there's a a bit of rise in the front and back...then just have the vinyl sewn up in 2 pieces like you detailed and glue it on. Only obviously the 2 pieces would not be symmetric. See any drawbacks to that?

Going for something like this:

 

[Rocan]

anyone else notice that the old yammy on page 2 actually has inverted forks?

They were WAYYY ahead of the game ;D ;D

 

[sclay115]

anyone else notice that the old yammy on page 2 actually has inverted forks?

They were WAYYY ahead of the game ;D ;D

Haha wow yah! That is pretty bad ass. I'm willing to bet those babies didn't even have any damping oil in there though! Probably just springs.

LL, yah I used a few layers of a camping mat from wally world. Worked the treat. Then a less stiff but thicker foam I got at the fabric store for the top to take out any imperfections. The top layer was very compressed as I was putting on the cover. Wanted it to not have any slack in the cover itself. So I wanted the foam basically pushing the cover out to give it it's tautness. But I have to add to this, the seat is attached to the bottom of the pan, not just glued on. And what do you mean by having two asymmetrical pieces? I'm not sure I understand what you are saying here.


Also, wanted to bounce this off you guys. But what do you guys think would be a fair price for this bike? Something has come up and I am relocating back to FL, and am considering my options as far as raising a bit of funding. Consider that I have a ridiculous amount of spare parts. Jets for the carb, spare block/head/jugs/lots of other useless(in my opinion) stock items, that would go with the bike. What do you guys think?

Steve

 

[mlover]

I spy an E36. Those are fun.

 

[sclay115]

I spy an E36. Those are fun.

Tons of fun actually. Bilsteins+M3 springs on a standard 325is, rides like you'd never know that when you push it, it turns into an animal. And in my book, an inline six mill, with stiffer suspension and a trailer hitch=tow package. I use it to move bikes, launch jet skis, lotsa fun stuff. But I do love this car..

Steve

 

[JRK5892]

i would say somewhere around 4 - 5g... i personally would not sell it with all the extra parts, if you are getting spare parts with a bike it sugests that you may need them! whoever buys this bike is not going to want to wrench on it, only ride it... you will get more $ for the bike if you sell that and then ebay the leftover parts