Owenski's Rapid Renovation Project

Well done mate, Soo much for rapid though , you really need to loose that grab rail!

Popped the exhaust clamp back on the can and a couple of cable ties to mark a straight line around the can to ensure a neat cut:


It almost worked too, really neat line - lesson learnt from previous stubby exhaust experiance, always start and end the cut on a portion of the pipe which will be out of sight because all the best effort in the world will still result in a slight step in the cut (unless you have a metal mitre saw) The Trimmed (stubby) can:


The same can laid on an exhaust wadding matt, I've cut it roughly down to size it'll all get stuffed in anyway - excess gets burnt off over time anyway:


Before rebuilding the exhaust I measured the perforated pipe, I also measured how much I'd cut off the original exhaust (90mm) and cut the perf pipe down by the same amount then began slotting it all back together... never fun but it looked pretty tidy with the new exhaust strap and black rivets:


Same again now on the other end, my word this took some putting back as one. Lost of swearing, lots of blood but sort of oddly worth it in the end - Very pleased with the finished product:


The next time you'll see this is on the bike further along in the progress updates.

You may recall that the headlight wasn't an OEM part, a cheapy import modified to take H4 bulbs and OEM sidelights.
As it wasn't OEM I needed to find a way of mounting it to the front which was both quick, simple, cheap and could be completed without making any alterations to the OEM features. The reason for me not wanting to modify the OEM parts is purely an experience thing... if it goes wrong go back to OEM and start over, this turned out to be a stroke of genius as you'll see later on.

Anyway back to the brackets, I wanted to make some out of a bit of ally plate but didn't have any to hand. I did however have some perspex I'd intended to use for making a dash on the DRZ project which is no longer taking place (as its all been sold to pay for this, and Christmas).

Anyway I had some timber, the perspex and the OEM bracket to use as a template:


I traced a large part of the OEM (including the bolt offsets) then created a little block of perspex timber sandwich and bolted through mounting holes to prevent it moving around whilst been formed, this was cut into a small oversized square in preparation for been trimmed down to the required shape/size.



After a bit of time with a jigsaw and belt sander:



Thats the mount, I added the indicator holes and some additional ones for the headlight but essentially what you're seeing in the above picture is the two brackets (LH and RH) between those two pieces of wood. I was tempted to polish the perspex edges but with time what it was I didn't bother.

So, Headlight mounted, exhaust sorted, brakes bled, clutch adjusted (turns out I need a new one of those too). The bike was ready to go all I needed was weather something shy of monsoon to be willing to trial it in.

[yorkie_chris]

With the perspex try on a bit of scrap, just very quickly and gently waft a blowlamp flame over it.

If you can think back to the first page (if not then click you muppet) the bike was positioned on the drive much like it is below.

This is the bike before I'd taken it for a test ride, technically at this point I hadn't realised that the clutch didn't work. I adjusted the life out of it but the bike is once again ridable, the clutch itself isn't the main problem, the main problem is that I serviced the worm drive and little of it survived. Awesome!

Anyway here she is, as I intended (minus her belly pan and hugger):







I've got to say I'm quite pleased with how she looks, much like I hoped she would... Now it was time to first discover the clutch isn't right but ultimately then take her for a burn up... burnt up a little more than I expected too.

So... Turns out as nice as the headlight looks, it wasn't the best idea.
Gutted because it looks so good on the bike but alas the cheapy cowl was too cheap for the watt of bulb, my burn up stopped short once the bike started to, well burn up:

The heat from the bulbs, melting clean through the housing:


A nice hole in the above image and the signs of imminent further damage...poooppp!


So I gave up the after market headlight for the time been and quickly popped on the OEM lamp (thank god I didn't cut down the brackets eh!).

So here is how she looked after the speedy headlight swap:






Not as nice looking as the cheapy one but it sets on fire less so I think its a winner for now at least lol.

[yorkie_chris]

I prefer the round lamp to the one off the chinese 125 myself!

[andrewsmith]

Nice!!

How about getting a gsr or fz1 headlight, as the look would be similar to the pattern one

sent from a phone

So that's it, fully refurbished - in her second life now she'll hopefully appreciated the new bearings and fluids, hopefully the grease will feel like a warm shower on a cold morning.

I've still a few bits to do and I'd love to find another headlight like the one I fitted but that came with H4 bulbs other than that though I think my pics are now complete (for now at least).

Things she'll be getting sorted over the coming weeks:
Electrics:
Lights loom now needs cleaning up as its all just rammed in the back of that OEM cone.
I've also got a fuse relay box similar to the ones Lance is selling that I'd bought for the Drz project, the grips and

12v socket on here will be getting put through that.

I've got the clutch to sort long term,

Forks, full service maybe more for those puppies.

Oil change and belly pan once I've done the change,

The Hugger to fit (needs a bracket).



So... not much

Originally Posted by Wildkid

Well done mate, Soo much for rapid though , you really need to loose that grab rail!

Lol, tell me about it. It would have been rapid if it was the strip and lube like it was meant to be... little did I know eh!
Lesson learned, dealer service history is actually a BAD thing!

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

With the perspex try on a bit of scrap, just very quickly and gently waft a blowlamp flame over it.

Ah so it bubbles forward and sets with the resin out, never thought of that - might give it a go just for giggles.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

I prefer the round lamp to the one off the chinese 125 myself!

In the flesh the cheapy one looked quality, the lines suited to the pointy so well - If someone knows of a bike that has a similar unit as its OEM then I'll be all over it!

Originally Posted by andrewsmith

Nice!!

How about getting a gsr or fz1 headlight, as the look would be similar to the pattern one

sent from a phone

If I could have gotten hold of a gsr750 headlight I would have done that but they're only found in a dealer stock departments, not enough on the road for breakers to have to many of them. I'll check out the FZ1 though, cheers