I just finished painting all of the panels- except the tank cover- on an 08 CBR600RR Pearl Fire Orange. This is an almost impossible color to match since it is a tri-coat with a base, mid and clear. Since I had no idea where to start, we decided to go Read more…
Among the factors, satisfaction with the sales experience has improved most, increasing to 856 (on a 1,000-point scale) in 2011 from 838 in 2010. Satisfaction with the product and cost of ownership also improves significantly, compared with 2010. The study also finds that motorcycle build quality improves to 122 problems Read more…
All I can say is, wow. That is beautiful. I’m currently riding a Triumph 675 Street Triple R and I love it. The comparisons have already begun and the new Brutale isn’t even available yet but it should be a good fight. The Triumph is a great bike but a Read more…
It was a great weekend for vintage and custom motorcycle fanatics… Even the races were fun with big old time names like Schwantz, Springsteen and Ahern all racing. Some of the custom stuff was amazing and NCR Ducati had a bunch of exotic stuff there along with lots of vintage Read more…
The yearly Vintage festival at Barber Motorsports Park starts today and runs through Sunday. I go every year and never tire of looking at the thousands of amazing bikes that show up. if you don’t already have plans for the weekend, you can’t go wrong here. If you need parts Read more…
Well, the SV is done and it looks awesome. Really nice low mile (4600) bike with all the tasteful upgrades- Carbon exhaust, billet mirrors, matte black upper triple clamp and handlebars, paint matched headlight, and the wide wheel conversion that allows you to use a 180 tire. SV’s are still Read more…
Here is a quick update on the SV. The headlight is reassembled and mounted. I painted the brackets matte black and used some mini turn signals to finish up. A new brake lever is on the work bench waiting to be installed.
The 07 SV650 restoration project is coming along- slowly. But, the painting is done and it is a slightly darker shade with a touch of purple or magenta in it. Here a few pictures- the headlight bucket and rim look awesome when they are painted on an SV. It really Read more…
This press release is from their auto division, but I’m sure you can see the possibilities for motorcycles- Munich. As a globally successful carmaker within the premium segment, the BMW Group attaches the utmost importance to advanced technology in all sectors of automotive manufacturing. Exclusive innovations and technological leaps secure Read more…
I picked this bike up at the auction a couple of months ago and I’m finally getting around to working on it. Mechanically, it was fine but it needed some cosmetics. I’m taking off the ill-fitting clip-ons and replacing them with the stock risers and some generic superbike bars. One Read more…
Moto Guzzi has announced a very cool new model in a press release today. This genre of motorcycle is quickly gaining market share because the average age of riders continues to increase. But, even some younger riders are into the retro stuff or at least the naked bike/Streetfighter scene. This Read more…
I was over in the Huntsville, Alabama area last week and decided to stop in and see my good friend Danny Roberts who heads up the Dunlop Proving Grounds. We raced together back in the 80’s and have been friends for almost 30 years. This is the facility where they Read more…
I picked this up at the auction last month. It was a Triumph factory demo bike that got dropped and needed a few parts. They totaled it for some unexplainable reason but that is really my gain since I bought it pretty cheap. As you can see from the pictures, Read more…
This started out as a stock 04 R6 with some slight body work scratches and scrapes. The owner had already gotten the wheels powder coated in the candy red that he wanted the bike painted. So my job was to match the color that was already on the wheels. As Read more…
Press release from BMW- After pioneering the concept of antilock brakes (ABS) on motorcycles 23 years ago, BMW Motorrad USA announced today that it will be the first motorcycle manufacturer to offer ABS as standard equipment on its entire range of 2012 model year motorcycles. “Plain and simple, being able Read more…
In this picture you can see the cable and hose routing. The throttle cables need to come up from under the tank and pass through the risers instead of around the front of the triple clamp as they are with the clip ons. Both the brake and clutch hoses need Read more…
In this picture, you can get a good idea of just how much higher and further back the handlebars are compared to stock. (You can see the stock left handlebar still mounted on the fork tube.) As you can tell, I have already painted the triple clamp, risers and bars Read more…
Today, we are going to look at how to locate and drill the triple clamp so that you have the handlebars located in the right place and, just as importantly, you have room on the bottom for the nuts that will hold them on. These are Yamaha FZ1 risers and Read more…
Basically, what you will need to do is either buy another top triple clamp off ebay and save yours in case you ever want to return it to stock (for when you sell it) or take it off so you can have it drilled at a machine shop. Either way, Read more…
If you own pretty much any Suzuki from 2008-2010, you should contact your dealer for info. If you are the original owner of record, you will get a recall notice in the mail. This problem is pretty well known in the GSXR community, but many other bikes are affected as Read more…
SV650’s and SV1000’s are pretty much legendary for their great engines and nice handling. But, the S models are also well known to be a bit cramped for long rides. The 650 was available as a naked bike for most of it’s production run but there were no S models Read more…
Well, here is the finished product… the owner installed the body work and obviously did a lot of other things while the bike was apart- like recover the seat, paint the fork legs, etc. The dark “shades of gray” looks good on this bike. He also has some black GIVI Read more…
Well, the clear coat is on and it looks great. The dark gray/orange contrast really comes out with the clear and the metallic in the gray jumps out as well. It will probably be a few days until the parts are back on the bike, but as soon as they Read more…
Today we are going to put the flames on. I ordered a kit from Tapeworks.com with a bunch of generic flames in various sizes so we could get creative with where we put them. Flames are not really too easy to install since there are lots of little “fingers” that Read more…
So today we are putting the basecoat on… the colors are going to be Storm Silver with Orange flames. Tomorrow, we are putting the flames on so check back for progress. Basically, we could have used the flames as masks and painted them on first before putting the silver on Read more…
After a break for some really cold weather (and even a snow storm!) here in Atlanta, we are back on track to get the V65 done. The side covers are like everything else- well used with cracks all through them. After a little plastic welding, we are ready to sand Read more…
This is a very entertaining video of a Modded ZX-10 in a drifting competition with a Corvette powered Rx7. Lots-O-Fun. Enjoy!
This tank was dented pretty much everywhere, but was solid with no rust. I’d rather fill dents than try to seal a rusted tank. So… I started by putting a layer of Gold Bondo over the big dents. The thing about filling dents is that whenever there is a dent, Read more…
After getting some of the big dents out of the tank, I primed everything with an epoxy primer to seal the metal and get a good surface to put the filler on. Even with the dents pulled out, it still will take a lot of filler to get the original Read more…
Here are a few final pictures of the Tuono. Amazing transformation from stock… In my opinion, Tuono’s are one of the best motorcycle values available- and as you can see, they are pretty easy to mod into something really cool.
Well, here is a quick photo of the bike all assembled. We will get some more/better pictures as soon as we have some good sunny weather but for now, you can get an idea of how the bike turned out. Aprilia should look and learn because when you compare it Read more…
The clear coat is on all of the parts and looks great. Here are a few pictures- you can see the pearl in the white in the close-up of the tank. Really pretty color. As soon as the owner sends me some pictures of it all assembled, I’ll get them Read more…
Now that all the colors are on. we need to put the logos and graphics on. It really isn’t as easy as just sticking some decals on. Placement needs to be precise since a logo at the wrong angle will be very obvious. I spent a lot of time with Read more…
Today, we are putting on the last of the colors- black. Since we already have red and white painted, we have to be extra careful masking everything. A little black mist on the red or white will show up like a wart on the end of your nose. We are Read more…
Next, we are going to spray the white and also put the diamond pearl on it. We wanted a very bright white so that the pearl would not cause it to look dull or milky. The color we used is called polar white and it almost has a slight blue Read more…
After the bodywork and primer is done, we need to tape off for all the colors. In this case, the first color we are spraying is the red and there is no taping to do. The only parts that are getting sprayed red are the small headlight fairings and the Read more…
Today we need to do a little bodywork. The tank needs to have the decals removed and the tail needs to have a bunch of bodywork to fix spider cracks in the gel coat and fill the big holes where it would have mounted if it was installed on a Read more…
We spent about an hour laying out colors and deciding what graphics needed to go where. As you can see, the tank was barely damaged. After deciding on colors and scheme, I took pictures with small tape strips on the body work marked with the colors. The bike will be Read more…
The guy who owns this Ducati 916 (which I painted a couple of years ago) is working on a new project that I am painting for him. The Tuono in question is an 04 that was slightly damaged in a fall but still totaled by the insurance company.
From BMW’s press release… I guess everyone is getting in on the Harley 48 look. Honestly, I don’t think the 1200 GS lends itself to this scheme all that well. But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Coming Soon… 2011 BMW R 1200 GS Triple Black Woodcliff Lake, Read more…
Ducati has leaked a teaser photo of their new power cruiser bike and sure enough, I’m teased… I’m thinking that this is a good move for them since the average age of motorcyclists is increasing every year and the people who have the money to buy things like Ducati’s tend Read more…
Here is the press release and photo I just got from Aprilia. I personally think that the standard naked bikes are going to continue to gain ground in the market due to their excellent ergonomics and near sportbike performance levels. That, coupled with the fact that the only people in Read more…
With the clear coat on, we let everything sit and cure for a couple of days before wet sanding and buffing. Some of the parts like the front fender were fine as is but the tank and tail needed to be buffed for that ultra smooth dipped in glass look. Read more…
Today we install the graphics and clear coat everything. These are big decals and hard to get on straight but if you take your time and use the wet application method, you can get them on straight with no bubbles. It is always fun to see what the parts look Read more…
The next step in the Can Am project was spraying on the white base coat. We spent a fair amount of time getting the shade of white exactly how we wanted it. The white on these old bikes is really more of a cream. You really can’t tell unless you Read more…
Well, not brand new- but maybe better than new since it has a ton of very nice accessories on it and only 2400 miles. I picked it up at the auction last week becasue I really like SV’s and this one is immaculate. Some of the nice extras include Gel Read more…
After lots of hand sanding and cleaning, we are ready to prime the parts. I always use an epoxy primer to seal the surface. This works equally well on metal (like the aluminum tank) and fiberglass/plastic. If needed, you can do some light sanding or scuffing with a scotch-brite pad Read more…
Next we need to do a little body work and filling. The front nose cone fairing used to have a removable number plate panel that could come off to uncover the headlight if it was installed. Since the bike will never be on the street, we decided to use a Read more…
This bike was never used as a dirt bike- it was converted into a cafe racer from day one. So the bodywork reflects that. It is also old and had what seemed like dozens of layers of paint on it that had to be sanded off. Sanding stuff like this Read more…
Just a quick post so you can see the custom made aluminum gas tank. A few days ago, I posted the picture of the old fiberglass tank that was really beyond repair. This new tank is a beautiful reproduction and matches the shape of the old tank nicely. We found Read more…