This was a bike I found on craigslist a few years ago for a mere $200, not running, all original sun faded panels and seat with some missing parts. I hauled it back to my apartment unloading it from my Tacoma with a 2×10 plank of wood. From my parking spot(no garage or overhead shelter) I resurrected the engine rebuilt the brakes and wired it all to work again. Once I got it running, I began to prep my vision of a cafe racer, spending my time sketching different designs, doing research on how to get pods to work well and how to best wire in modern components.
First modification was welding on a frame loop and brackets to mount the cowl and seat. I 3D printed a custom cowl, headlight to fit and LED light and headlight bracket to mount to the triple clamp. I decided to invest in the m-unit to simplify the wiring and started laying out electrical components and where they were going to live. I welded the housing under the seat that will hold the electronics, and a housing for the anti-gravity battery that is located under the gas tank and front of the seat. The location for the battery was planned since I wanted to elevate the rear part of the gas tank and rest it above the seat to give the bike a better stance and make it look like the tank is wrapping around the seat. From there I taped around the frame, cowl and battery box and laid down fiberglass to create the base for the seat. After layering foam and trimming it to the desired shape, I sewed my own seat, taking numerous attempts. I explored different material other than leather wanting to give it a more technical looks like outdoor gear, I found something call VX fabric, which is a type of nylon fabric with diamond shaped armature in between the layers that gives it a great look. That was a challenge to sew since the material did not stretch.
I got some tracker style handlebars that work well with the stance of the bike and wired through some switches and turn signals to reduce wire clutter. I reduced visual clutter in the front of the bike by installing a small speedometer with indicators. To further simplify the front I mounting the headlight on a bracket that I designed that mounts to the holes the old indicators and gauges were mounted on at the top of the triple clamp and the bottom I coupled it where the brakes hoses are mounted in order to keep the shock pipes clean and bare.
Before painting there was some finishing that needed to happen, the cowl and the headlight I was able to apply a thick layer of sandable primer to get the surfaces smooth enough to paint, for the gas tank I took of the badges on both sides and filled in the those areas with body filler, and around the gas cap was a latch I took off that secured the cap and pilled around it with filler to make an even surface around the cap. The cap also had a channel that the latch nested on that was also filled with body filler. Once the surfaces were smooth and mostly even, I painted it all in the parking lot with rattle can auto paint from the auto store. The paint design is shaped to align with the frame and the contour of the tank. Having the white align with the raw engine and the black aligning with the frame. Having accents of red with the pod filters and decals. I created a 750 logo to flow with the paint and iconography to go on the rear part of the tank. This was one with vinyl decals that we applied before the clear coat. Not wanting the tank to be high gloss I was able to finds an automotive 2-part satin finish clear coat to give it the aesthetic and durability I was looking for.
This bike literally went on her maiden voyage the week before submissions closed and ran great.