Remember your first bike?

[slofox]

First Bike: (1953 Ariel 350cc single). Wrote this a while back. Might have posted it before - can't remember (due to "C.R.A.F.T." syndrome...)

It started many years ago
When I moved south down by the snow
And found I had to get around the town

The buses, they were way too slow
A motorbike was the way to go
So through the bike ads I went looking round


My first was made of British steel
You started it up with a kick of the heel
My flatmates thought I was a bloody fool

It weighed a ton, was really slow
But the wheels went round and it did just go
And I thought I was pretty bloody cool


I hadn’t had this thing for long
When several things, they just went wrong
I learned about the dark side of machines

The cables broke, the brakes were poked
The zorst pipe poured out clouds of smoke
I had to do some work behind the scenes


But I did try and by and by
I thought this thing was ready to fly
I took it out for a fang along the road

It first went well, but then, with a clang
It shuddered to a stop and just went BANG!!
I had to push it home to my abode


Most things you can fix with a few little tricks
And a bunch of parts from out in the sticks
And soon I’m cruising down the city street

But my sense of fun was soon undone
I found myself right in the gun
When the motorbike cop and I, we chanced to meet


He chased me up and made me stop
This rotten nasty traffic cop
He got stuck in, his face turned kinda blue

He said I failed to keep to the left
And since of a licence I was bereft
I found myself up to the neck in poo

Eventually I went to court
The beak said “Yerr we know your sort!
If I’d my way I’d make you all do time!

But sadly, since your crimes are small
And you’ve turned up here to field the ball
I’ll hafta make do with a million dollar fine!” (the bastard)


I crawled off home back to my lair
And cursed the day that I did dare
To ride without a licence for the bike

I got out the book and took a good look
And decided that by hook or by crook
I’d get that licence soon as you could like.


But still my learning was not done
Despite the fact of having fun
Soon enough I met the dreaded cage

The man who was driving “didn’t see”
The motorcycle carrying me
And on the road I landed in a rage


Now even though it was his fault
(His head was thicker than a bolt)
I realised that it was up to me

To keep my eyes out good and sharp
And give the horn a real loud PARP
When the cager comes, well, you just gotta flee


From then on in the bike went good
I rode all round the neighbourhood
And even took some trips on down the line

I took it out onto the track
I even managed to ride it back
This biking thing was looking pretty fine


In time I bought a brand new bike
With shiny chrome and things ya like
A modern beast and really up to code

And so it’s gone on ever since
Me you don’t have to convince
I’ll see my days out, biking on the road

[SNF]

Hope I see my days out on a bike too. Great poem.

Slight change of plans - not getting shiny fold up levers. I'm a student and can't really afford that crap. Bikes going to need a big 45k service very soon - valve clearances, cam chain looked at etc.

Paranoid, but I'm depending on it every day so I need it to be up to the task plus I want to hold onto it until my full and maybe past who knows.

So all basic broken bent stuff (levers) Will be standard spec. Can get fancy shit later.

Fear not, I'm going to fab up some trick fairings for the beast. Still making molds at this stage.
Oh I got new (used) Seats! So the bike will look better somewhat when they come.

When I get my R's I will perform a tail tidy. Also want to do an R1/R6 tail - think I have a way to do it without any structual .

Should I add hand guards? I half think it might be cool. I also think its stupid. I don't know. Might try it. Can sell them if I hate it.
What ya reckon?

[SNF]

My fb status yesterday after a great day out riding;

Its the best feeling in the world. The road beneath you. Motor humming away. Leaning in as you take the corner. So much fun. Could just do it all day; almost nothing can beat this. Its kinda like being on a roller coaster. Or flying in a way. Can't stress or worry when riding.. Your head has to be in the game. Looking for what's going on around you. Its also like playing fetch with a rabid pit bull and tugging on the reapers cape have to be careful out there, respect the power, its always there when you need it, even when you don't. And then eventually you have to get off. And face reality. Reality sucks. I'd rather go riding. That's why I do it.

So I haven't done much. New seats are on - still waiting for tail fairings and a few other things, got some mirrors, led tail light, indicators, a possible tail tidy/some shit to make a tail tidy.

Okay the front fairings - I've been busy riding, so not much happening there. Trying to get some clay to make a mold so I can get glassing.
Also need to change the oil tomorrow. Upper carb boots into the intake are shit, trying to find a big radiator hose to make some trick ones on the hack. The point of this is to have a good running bike that is a little different. I'm not going for a 100% factory restoration.

Next update will have pics as glassing and parts start arriving.

[SNF]

Parts arriving left right and center. One more lot to come.

I have *4x led indicators (need a rectifier)
*2x flash aftermarket mirrors which don't fit yet but they will!
* 1x smoked led tail light - handy for my custom tail tidy.
* 2x Buell headlights (thrown in with everything, will attempt to use them instead of stock later)

Cheap as $29! Good old tard me.

Also got a set of stock tail fairings. These ones will never be the same again. See kids, this is why you don't paint a beat up old bike flat black.
It just looks like crap. My bike sure as hellers is not going to be flat black. Not ever.

[SNF]

Finally got some wrench time in. I got a bunch of FZR parts, looms, carbs, brake rotors and calipers, pegs one with a straight shifter rod which is now on my bike as the original one was mangled - its the one in the pic. New one is nice and straight, changing gears is easier now, had trouble with the bent one and my new boots,

I even got a tank cover. Its (badly) painted purple but it seems relatively straight, will be fixing and painting it along with my bent current one.

After I'd fixed the shifter rod, I decided to stick on my new mirrors. The stock ones are fugly, made worse by the paint flaking off. Looking better, still have a way to go though. Took some comparison shots of the mirrors. New ones look much better and I can see more. Form and function.

[The Reibz]

Nice to see the project coming along bro. Build threads are always good. Great work finding parts for it too. As a past (and current) FZR owner I know how hard it is. I got a 87' 1000 FZR project but I have lost a bit of motivation for it and it might be time to pass the buck to someone else

[nzspokes]

Nice. Great to see people doing this stuff for themselfs.

And Rebiz, got some more welding for you. This time much easier and smaller.

[SNF]

Made a discovery today. All the intake boots ideally need replacing. I'm a student so while I'm studying this isn't really going to happen. The upper boots into the air box are hard and crusty and although seem to seal okay thought I'd try do some preventative maintenance.
The lower ones have cracks, but they are not leaking yet. Will be fixing them with plasti-dip.

I thought I'd replace with radiator hose. The diameter is 48mm. Closest radiator hose to use is the "E" series Ford Falcon/Fairlane. But you need 4 of the hoses. I didn't have $80 to spend so I couldn't do it. But when I can I will. I would try pick-a-part but I dont wany bits of crud from inside the hose getting into my carbs and engine.

[Yamahardman]

A black 1991 yamaha sr250, with a solo seat and the handlebars turned upside down.
Very racey, she was a beast! Lol
I joke, haha.
The bastard didn't have a kick starter, or a good battery and I ran started it alot, it also took a month of rainy sundays to slow down and stop.
However, it was light and good for throwing into corners, i could go through paradise valley with the throttle held open, almost all the way through, haha.

I put it back to normal and sold it with a new wof and reg on hold and 30,000kms on the clock, to someone I know who wanted to start riding, for $300.

[SNF]

No massive changes yet. It still looks as battered as ever. Shout out to Daniel and Jeremy for sticking in an alarm for laughs.

I have got myself a nice straight headlight sub frame, now to go back and re drill holes for my mean Ninja mirrors.
Also got replacement fairings in primer - win! but they have a few cracks though. Easy fix. Also got some other panels for the tail in purple.

I still want to do the custom tail - RS250 glassed to the stock unit but money - either bog/paint/materials or a fancy tail and a purple and flat black bike for a while - stuff that, its going to stay white.

[SNF]

Started to sand the purple tank. I started sanding with 120 grit, wet to keep the dust down. Need to do a final sand with 180 grit.


Got a few things for the tank when it is painted too:

[SNF]

Tank got done in 180. I didn't bother with pics cos it looks similar to how it did before. Need some etch primer and bog for it.

Today she got a new ass! Looks kinda like a bucket racer with fairings on it and everything mismatched.This was an initial muck about, the serious mocking up is happening soon. Trying to figure how I want it to sit, I'd like a slight upwards curve like a race bike - even though its not.

Gonna be a bit of work (read - a while) before its all done and painted. Should have left it purple - would have saved me a ton of sanding but purple is yuck on this - so stuff that, I'd rather sand. Last pic is the smoked LED light I was gonna post ages before and then forgot about.

[SNF]

Bolted on to stock side panels. Need to trim them so they flow better, also cut the ugly bars out from underneath. Seen it done a few times. Is it legal? Its just welded onto the rear subframe - which I haven't but wish I could muck around with.

Going to get rid of the pillion pegs and rear seat - a 250 is pretty useless for pillion activity. Still have a bit to do. Also hoping I can bog and etch prime the tank. Looked at doing a tail tidy but its all one plastic slab up under the back wheel. Still going to do it, means a trip to the wreckers.

[SNF]

Added some mounts inside the tail. Was ok before but its even stronger now. Fairings are screwed on -they have cracks though which I need to fix. And add some heat proof mat to stop them warping. Have some mounts I made which need to be drilled. Wanted my light and numberplate further up but it was too far under the tail so its staying this way. Also want to fiberglass over the rear seat. Tomorrow I', going to work on the tank, hope to get it all primed up and the faring mounts all finished. Then its fix the fairings while I save for paint.

[eldog]

FZR250 - nice to see it coming along, I like you willingness to do things, usually everything I touch turns to custard. I end up doing it twice, the first time the wrong way around. Been doing some more SASS - slow circles certainly helps.
By the way you have seen my first bike - the mighty Scorpio, a very capable commuter, well understated. till next time, keep up the good work