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251LC
Jun 17, 2022 21:29:49 GMT 1
Post by donkeychomp on Jun 17, 2022 21:29:49 GMT 1
Looking at it more closely I see exactly what you mean Jon. I'd leave it as is and the slightly different shade of white isn't an issue at all. It's like artwork. I paint and draw quite a bit and I always see something that bothers me with my work, and it's always a trivial thing, but no one else can because they see the artwork as a whole.
Alex
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Post by JonW on Jun 18, 2022 0:35:40 GMT 1
Looking at it more closely I see exactly what you mean Jon. I'd leave it as is and the slightly different shade of white isn't an issue at all. It's like artwork. I paint and draw quite a bit and I always see something that bothers me with my work, and it's always a trivial thing, but no one else can because they see the artwork as a whole. Alex Thats so true. Im a bit of a perfectionist and stuff like this bothers me as well but as you say often others fail to notice it when they look at the 'whole'. I cant imagine if you and i lived round teh corner form eachother, neither of us would finish anything as we'd always be wanting to improve it lol
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251LC
Jun 18, 2022 0:37:29 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Jun 18, 2022 0:37:29 GMT 1
The bike looks great. Have you thought about tapering the letters on the tail to follow the pinstriping. Thanks m8 I was hoping to get away with the original BEET stickers... its not worked lol! (but it is a good suggestion Tony) I did ask around about making some decals that would also go on the bike that might stop people's eyes being drawn to this quite so much... smoke n mirrors
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Post by dusty350 on Jun 18, 2022 8:39:13 GMT 1
I got some Ypvs decals from one of the ebay sellers for the orange hybrid when I had it; 20180212_132212 by dusty miller, on Flickr All sizes and colours catered for. I've got another pair that I was gonna stick on the Cafe bike, just cant decide where ? I'm sure you could get something made "bespoke", and collect when you are here Dusty
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251LC
Jun 18, 2022 10:28:34 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Jun 18, 2022 10:28:34 GMT 1
Love that Dusty. Yep I have a bit of a plan to 80's JDM the bike up a bit more with something. I just need to sort it. Doing a billion things at once to get ready for this trip... and at the same time not catch covid.
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Post by JonW on Aug 16, 2022 4:58:19 GMT 1
Where's the Jap spec mirrors 😂 I'm only winding you up as I came home from work and my Jap spec ypvs mirrors had arrived 😀 I'm probably going to do my LC in black Jap colours Rather annoyingly I had a look at pics of Jap spec mirrors and it looks my 3hm1 had the LC ones fitted I binned them 😬 Steve Well Steve... One that I didnt expect is that in my pursuit of mirrors I came across repros of the OEM 4L3 JDM mirrors being sold by webike. Normally i try to avoid repro mirrors as ive never found good luck with them, but since this was the only way to buy this type of mirror now I figured I'd give them a go. They do hark back a bit to the 70s with their all steel design and they are not as adjustable as the others ive fitted, they do add to the JDM look for this bike. Will they stay? Im nt sure yet, but im happy to have them for the look if nothing else.
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Post by JonW on Aug 16, 2022 5:07:02 GMT 1
I also noticed that in some of these pics you can see an extra BEET part that I added to this bike. but it seems that ive never spoken about it here. very remiss... So this is what I fitted. Ok, yes... Totally superfluous and unnecessary really but, hey this is meant to be a JDM bike and I wanted a few Beet parts as I call it the 'Beet Bike'. So with this and the springs at least it does have some real JDM heritage I probably should investigate some black plastic plugs to sit next to the bolts as that would make this 'generic' part look better. now who do i know with a 3D printer??? If only he lived closer... lol
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251LC
Aug 16, 2022 6:52:35 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by arrdy350 on Aug 16, 2022 6:52:35 GMT 1
Looking good 👍 I like that Beet part 😎🙂
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251LC
Aug 16, 2022 21:42:22 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by donkeychomp on Aug 16, 2022 21:42:22 GMT 1
That is pretty nifty Jon. How old are Beet? The logo looks like sign writing from the wild west...
Alex
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251LC
Aug 16, 2022 23:59:34 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Aug 16, 2022 23:59:34 GMT 1
Haha, it does a bit. JDM stuff is funny like that, often its very out of left field.
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Post by JonW on Aug 17, 2022 7:58:40 GMT 1
A tiny update... Remember a few months back I was looking to get some decals made to mention on the bike that it had YPVS, but didnt really want to use the 'YPVS' logo? Well I got Imageworks to do them for me and they were quick and did exactly what i asked, as usual. Gotta love them for that, nothing is too much trouble really. I was sort of channeling how Yam might have been thinking when they had just created the new engines for the LC2 and were testing them in LC testbeds. Who knows, maybe towards the end of that process they wanted to tell people what was going on so perhaps they would have added something along the lines Ive come up with here. Maybe not, its no biggie. Just a bit of fun. You might recognise the font, its the one Yamaha used on the LC2 solo tail decal and the dark blue of the text is the same colour as the JDM RZ250 stripes. And... Those with a degree in 1980s bike design and graphics, will see that I was also channeling the RG250s tail panel with these lol.
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251LC
Aug 17, 2022 10:22:56 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by steve63 on Aug 17, 2022 10:22:56 GMT 1
'Full Floater' always brought on a little chuckle back in the day. I saw it on a bike at the weekend and still had a slight chuckle to myself.
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251LC
Aug 17, 2022 13:38:10 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Aug 17, 2022 13:38:10 GMT 1
'Full Floater' always brought on a little chuckle back in the day. I saw it on a bike at the weekend and still had a slight chuckle to myself. Haha, superb!
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Post by JonW on Sept 21, 2022 6:24:19 GMT 1
When I was in the UK a mate of mine insisted that I take home a steering damper he had spare from when he sold his LC. It was kind of him to offer it and today I thought Id fit it to this bike. Ive seen these lots of over the years but never tried one as Ive never felt the LC in standard form needed one, all the same its fun to have a play of course. It's an interesting unit that has 7 clicks. As usual with a damper these work to adjust the effort to move the rod through the body, a variable flow restrictor for the hydraulic fluid etc. These clicks are a bit graunchy/gritty in use, but the damper is smooth in operation when the plunger is pushed through the body. I'd say that now Ive played with it, it's not awful quality but obviously it's no Hyperpro, Arrow or Ohlins etc lol. I'm not 100% sure where it originated but the very thick powder coated mild steel bracket fitted well enough to the radiator fixings, tho bolting it outside of the rad spacers rather than the frame itself felt a bit iffy, Its firmly affixed but.... Anyway, Ive looked at a bunch of pics and it seems everyone does this, but... well, when in Rome, I guess lol. I was also a bit surprised by the quality of the fixings after only ever having played with the expensive units over the years. Ie. The threaded end of the rose joint was very long where it bolted to the bracket, so I shortened it. I also replaced all the fixings with some better quality looking bolts and caps as the original fixings were of 'finest chinesium'. Ok, the new fixings were also Chinese, but much higher quality. One of the original bolts felt light enough to be alloy which was interesting as its marked A2 lol As I said, I looked at lots of pics of these on the forum and one thing I did notice was that everyone else bolted their fork clamp above the lower triple/yoke. Ive not done that... both the headlight ear spacer rod and the horn bracket were in the way, Im not sure how other people managed to get theirs on there. Im not sure if its a big issue in use as its lower on the forks, just that my damper now aims more 'down and forwards' than theirs I guess. This meant the rose joint would run out of travel when bolted to the fork bracket so I made up two small stand off spacers (on my now working 1940s lathe) to allow the rose joint outer parts to not contact the head of the bolt and the flat of the bracket quite so easily and in the process gained quite a few extra degrees for the damper angle. For now this remains untested as the bike is still on the lift so I cant test the lock to lock but it looks like a half decent setup. Amusingly my mate removed it from his bike as he didnt like the blue as it didnt match his bike... well, i have the same issue of course. To try and somehow get it to 'match' a little at least Ive added a BEET sticker to it. Yeah, I know... dont tell Mr Beet San... but it does sort of follow as if you look at JDM bikes, the owners dont worry too much about matching colours of parts, so this being a totally non colour matching part does sort of work and hey, it looks like it is a BEET part now which cant be bad lol...
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251LC
Sept 21, 2022 21:24:57 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by donkeychomp on Sept 21, 2022 21:24:57 GMT 1
A beeting damper! That's were I bolt mine too Jon. Looks trick, even if it does little.
Alex
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251LC
Sept 22, 2022 0:55:30 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Sept 22, 2022 0:55:30 GMT 1
Yep thats my thought Alex. My mate was right that its a nice addition to this bike.
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Post by JonW on Dec 12, 2022 6:55:21 GMT 1
Finally got round to doing a bunch of jobs Id been putting off as they are a struggle when on yer tod.
I pulled the swingarm out of this bike and swapped in the correct shims as I didnt have them when i built the bike and had used a random shim i had found which is off something else.
Added the rubber chain protector as well while i was in there as it had finally arrived, simple parts that are buried when the bike is whole...
Also... while digging deep into the bike I also fitted the NOS brake light switch as the one I thought was ok was not and rather than messa bout I found a couple of nos ones and snapped them up.
While I was putting everything back together I also fitted the stainless brake pull bar that a mate sorted out for me while i was in the UK. This needed the pedal end 'cleat' and one of those had finally been bought so it was ready to be fitted. Its great to finally have that on the bike.
The good news is that by fitting this cool part, Ive freed up the re-plated NOS parts for the 'Decapitated' project... one less thing to find!
No pics... Er, the bike looks just the same as it did before... even after a few hours solid work! lol
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251LC
Dec 12, 2022 9:49:14 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by lcmarky on Dec 12, 2022 9:49:14 GMT 1
Good to get these little jobs complete to then occupy our minds with something else bike related!
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Post by JonW on Dec 12, 2022 12:38:54 GMT 1
Good to get these little jobs complete to then occupy our minds with something else bike related! That's so true!
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251LC
Dec 12, 2022 14:19:02 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by lcmarky on Dec 12, 2022 14:19:02 GMT 1
We're always thinking of how to get a part to fit or source something that seems to be unobtanium.. it never stops!!
All part of the fun for me.
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251LC
Dec 21, 2022 13:30:11 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Dec 21, 2022 13:30:11 GMT 1
More small jobs completed... Used my lathe to cut some collars for the ducktail.
I didnt realise that these aftermarket units come without the collars until I tried to fit it when it arrived ages back. So this is a job on my ToDo list...
I need to do this as the paint and the panel will get trashed without some kind of inner strength to take the force of the grab rail bolts as so many of us know only too well from old bodywork, where they can have got lost or the paint is now too thick.
Its a simple job, but Ive only really just got my lathe up and running... So, I measured and then cut some collars and drilled / filed the panel to match them. It all bolts up tight and you can feel it bite on the collar which is reassuring.
Next job is to have another play with the late 2000s R1 stand... It fits fine on the 'outside' of the frame bracket, but when its 'flipped up' its a bit in the way of the rider using the gear change, not impossible but annoying. I tested fitting it with a bunch of the mounting parts backwards and the stand itself inside the bracket and it fits much better into the footrest, right next to the bolt... but it may well be quite a bit of work to get it finished as that means some alloy welding to the 'leg' and making a new spring holder and some other parts... we'll see how i go with that.
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Post by JonW on Dec 22, 2022 6:14:19 GMT 1
Ok, more info on the side stand project... originally from a 2008 R1. Its a natty alloy unit that comes with a very nice alloy bracket so the whole unit is bolt-on/bolt-off as one complete piece. For use in my application I didn’t need the nice bracket tho... damn... haha! These are the parts as drawn by Yam: I should say up front for those that like the idea of this that this isn't like the Triumph alloy stand myself and others have used quite a lot, there is quite a bit more work to making this work. I’m only doing it cos I have it already and I like its size and shape, plus its very lightweight. Which is ironic as I bought it from a guy who was selling off the parts he removed when he made up some race bikes for the 2008 series. lol. Initially I used this on the outside of the LC’s frame bracket and that was simpler and easy to fit. Nothing needed to be made or welded really... Its not ideal though as the stand ends up where your foot contacts it when changing gear and the length of the stand is close, but not 'perfect' for the lean angle. It's not awful, but... It's also 'not right’. So, to make this work what Ive done is reverse all the fixings and fit them from the back of the bracket as I have enough room with the 51L exhausts fitted. Next I made up some new parts plus cut the mount hole into the slotted style needed to hold the stand's 'through bolt' in place. This is the main mount of the whole stand, plus what it rotates on. The biggest part to make was a new spring hanger plate with a longer pin that also uses the smaller dia hole/slot of what was the back side of the bracket, here it is pictured with the original R1 plate that fits on the the other end and is a different sized hole and the pin isnt long enough to clear the 'wrong' end. I could have cut down the special mounting 'bolt' of course, but these are expensive now at over 50 quid, so no point wrecking it while still working stuff out... I only paid a fiver for the whole stand when I got it! lol Of course it still needs a bit more clean up and then Ideally Id green plate it, but sadly our local tame plater fell ill last year and gave up plating... I still need to find somewhere... anyway, Im getting ahead of myself, we've so way to go yet on this... This new part proved the point of usability and was also something I could do at home, its just turning down a pin from an old bolt and cutting/grinding and shaping an old R6 rear shock bracket and then welding them together. This means that I've proved the point that i can fit the parts inside the bracket and get it to work to swing back and forth and not be in the way or contact anything. While I’m much closer to a usable stand now, Ive still got some way to go as you cant use it like this as the bike would fall over as the stand has no ‘stops’ against the frame as those I was using are now on the back of the 'leg'. NEXT STEPS: 1, I have to make an alloy block to be welded on the outside of the stand to contact the LC stand bracket and hold the bike, else do that to the backside of the frame bracket... But its part of the powdercoated frame so the stand will be modded – its the most sensible place anyway. Tho worth noting if the frame wasnt coated yet and a person couldnt alloy weld that it is possible to do it in that manner. 2, I need to remove the 'knobbly sticky out foot pull thingy. This isnt a huge issue but it is slightly in the way of the footrest. It 'really not bad', but its the wrong angle really on this bike so easier to just remove it as you cant use it for its intended use anyway. 3, I need to tidy up one of the join marks on the cast alloy stand body where it catches lightly on the OEM LC stand pin that’s still fitted on the inside. If the frame wasnt powder coated it'd probably not catch... a lesson in clearance for new players there... Talking of the ‘spring mount pin’... As usual there is more than one way to remove the epidermis from a certain domestic animal, so yes... I could also have re-welded the mount on the stand half way down the stand on the other side and then used the OEM pin with spring on that. I may still do that... But the pin is a bit short with some of the other parts in there, there are fixings both ends of this stand's mounting system which makes it quite 'long'... Anyway, hidden behind would look very neat, but it does depends on what exhausts you have fitted plus the subjective 'how I feel this works...' Right now, I don’t mind the looks as they look like something from the correct era... Plus, the spring itself might well be enough to use to pull the stand down with your foot so may be best left on the outside once the bar thingy is removed... hmm. Lots to think about there, that’s the beauty of using things no one else has and not cutting things about too much as you get to try solution various options and play until youre happy with what works. Or I could just go back to an OEM LC stand... Ive got one to repair that Dusty sent me earlier in the year... I do like options!
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251LC
Dec 22, 2022 23:05:54 GMT 1
Post by donkeychomp on Dec 22, 2022 23:05:54 GMT 1
Looks interesting Jon. I'm keen to see how it performs.
Alex
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Post by JonW on Feb 13, 2023 6:39:22 GMT 1
A little progress.... regular forumers will remember that this tank fell and landed on the floor rear end mounting bracket first, sliding down across the concrete and then rolling like a weeble over the filler neck and back down to the rear, over and over, skittering along the floor... hitting the things on the floor as it did so...
I was gutted.
The paintwork had just been made perfect.
Tho... bizarrely, It wasnt badly chipped or really very awful, but it had dents (it looked like a moonscape when viewed across its surface) and there were deep scratches, including some right through into the blue stripe which is painted on (this is a Webike tank, painted in Japan and the only decal is the YAMAHA logo. The rear mount was bent and had lost all its paint in the process.
I was speechless... hard to believe i know.
I couldnt utter even a swear word...
I hid the damage from my mates... and even tried to hide it from myself... but also from my painter, who is the only guy I knew who could tease out the dents and sort the other damage. Remember, he'd only just given it back to me after giving it a better / flatter coat of clear.
But, while I tried to blank the episode from my mind all I was doing was putting off the inevitable.
I love this bike, it needed to be fixed.
I came clean with myself and my mates (I posted about it on here etc) and in the end the one man I was scared to talk to as well...
I dropped it in to what I consider is the best painter in Sydney with some other bodywork back in October and he said, 'see you around Christmas'.
Things didnt work out to plan and I got this tank back today.
It's perfect.... again.
Not cheap, but they say 'nothing worth having ever is'. I guess...
Now it was just up to me to take care fitting it and then look after it.
It's on the bike now.
Phew!
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251LC
Feb 13, 2023 23:37:17 GMT 1
Post by donkeychomp on Feb 13, 2023 23:37:17 GMT 1
Yay! Great to hear it's repaired and now safely on the bike Jon.
Alex
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251LC
Feb 14, 2023 0:22:58 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Feb 14, 2023 0:22:58 GMT 1
Thanks Alex, yes back on and plumbed in.
Next I need to pull it off the lift and work out the rest of this sidestand. I need to make up a thick plate and get it welded on and then powdercoat it.
Then I think this one is pretty much done... hmm...
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251LC
Feb 14, 2023 9:31:16 GMT 1
JonW likes this
Post by lcmarky on Feb 14, 2023 9:31:16 GMT 1
We've all had the odd drop along the way and it's sorted now.
I'm planning to machine a new sidestand for my Hybrid at some point as I don't like the look or the lean angle of the Yamaha one.
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Post by JonW on Feb 23, 2023 5:13:00 GMT 1
I'd long thought that I should add some protection to my beautiful-but-v-exy tank paintwork and someone here suggested 3M Scotchgard Pro as the thing at some point on here. I looked it up and watched some comparison vids and it looked just the ticket. For those that dont know its a (very) clear sticker that is used on cars for paint protection against stone chips etc and it gets very good reviews, not only for keeping things nice but also for ageing well and being self repairing to a high degree. Obviously I wanted a random shape so bought a strip and cut a half moon out to hopefully protect the tank from rubs from the seat cover and also the occasional scratch with a zip, rub with a jacket when riding etc. As you can see its very clear, I had to catch the light to see the edge with the camera (which didt do me any favours lol). Yeah, you can see in the pic the cutting wasnt perfect, but this was the first one I did and I was getting used to the new Red Dot knife i got from the same place which was superb as well. Ive since cut a few more and fitted them to the black and white tanks I just got back and did a slightly better job, tho has to be said this is a sacrificial sticker so not so much of a worry as an actual decal. Anyway, you really dont see it at all in normal light, the edge is just 'not there' IRL. For anyone doing this you need to first clean the area on the tank with isopropyl alcohol and then make up a 'slip solution', use that on the tank and the back of the 'sticker' before placing onto the panel gently and you can then slide it about a bit and adjust it into place. Then use a squeegee (I use a hard silicone grout scraper that ive never used for anything else) and you push out the slip solution from under the sticker along with any air, work from the middle out with overlapping strokes. Slip Solution = a few drops of Johnsons Baby Shampoo in a spray bottle - and yes, that is what the pros use to do PPF, wrapping and window tinting! Anyway, This film is not a bad solution imho and while not super cheap for the proper 3M stuff this film should keep the tank safe from everyday life.
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251LC
Feb 23, 2023 22:44:30 GMT 1
Post by donkeychomp on Feb 23, 2023 22:44:30 GMT 1
That's a much better option to those awful stick on pads you see.
Alex
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251LC
Feb 23, 2023 23:16:28 GMT 1
Post by JonW on Feb 23, 2023 23:16:28 GMT 1
That's a much better option to those awful stick on pads you see. Alex Yes and even better if you can get em laser cut i reckon. A little biz opportunity for some one I reckon there.
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