baldrick

ive decided to go back to the start with this, it looked way to ghay for an EFE anyway, with the poofy light blue colour, it needs more black I think so todays entertainment is sanding it all back,................................................ I cant wait (this is sarcasm)

Thanks for the kind words madb, but its not good enough for me I'm afraid. I'm a fussy bugger,. but its the first time ive used the smaller fineline, but it still looks a bit thick. its all an experience I suppose, just a bit hacked off about wasting all that time on something which didn't turn out like I had hoped. Never mind, it gives me a chance to hopefully improve on it.

Try not to laugh, I know it looks shite. This was after 4 attempts at the crystal mask, and ive decided to sand the whole bloody thing back and start again.. I'm not happy with most of it, to be honest, but its only when the fineline comes off that I can see how crap the line work is and how the 2 blues on the tank should have been wider, and.....well I could go on, but heres a pic for you to all laugh at. At least the darkest blue looks ok crystal mask is in the bin, thrown there with vengeance. Next week, how to paint your bike matt black, from rattle cans

well i was plodding along. with this and got as far as the Crystal stage. I tried to do them times yesterday, but the crystal looked crap, little bitty crystals. The pattern you get depends on temperature and humidity, but even trying putting the stuff in front of the radiator didn't help. After attempt number 3 (which of course looked worse than attempt number 1, I thought, fuck it it'll do, so sprayed the coat over it. Another disaster, I had over thinned the top coat a bit, but it was looking alright ish. Second top coat I added more in thinned paint, and it looked better, so today I started skotching off the top coat , and , yep, I was right , it does look shit. Arghhhhhhh. It would probably be ok, but I'm a bit fussy about these things, and it would have annoyed me if I left it. Anyway, this morning I'm sanding it all back and starting again, with a fresh coat of silver, then ive got a little bit more crystal mask, so it will hopefully work out next time. nothing is ever easy in my garage. Bloody paint Now I know why painters charge so much

trick dry clutch SP version, lovely. Nice black slabby too I can almost smell it from here, Castrol R What are you doing to it?

satin black covers a lot. and it will look better than poofy yellow

It does take a while, but I'm not busy lol. Started the efe on Saturday, another coat of primer filler, then a sand with600, then the joyful task of masking . Its not easy getting both sides the exact same, and I'm a bit OCD about it, so it generally takes loads of measuring, lots of small bits of fineline, to mark lines , more measuring, , marking guidelines etc Anyway ive done 3 coats of silver metallic base, yesterday, and altho it looks shitty grey in the pics, its actually bright silver in real life ha ha. So today the masking got done, and the first 2 coats of the darker blue went on. It looks smart with 2 coats,, but needs to be darker so it will get another. Then a small sprinkling of silver over the blue from a distance, to increase the metallic effect - well that's the plan, it might turn out shit, but nothing ventured and all that. Heres some pics of progress so far . Tank pics show after 1 coat then after 2, it will be darker after 3, will see. Fucking compressor keeps eating plug fuses, I think its down to the wiring in the garage sockets, or the fact that the compressor pulls 11 amps and the plug has a 13 amp fuse, , as it seems to depend on which point the compressor cuts off, whether it stars up again or not, bloody annoying, but oive a pack of 10 fuses and want to just get this done, so it will have to wait.

The paint and the front end is the only part I like about it. designers eh? ......god luv em

cheers lads, another efe to do next week, will be like this, but different. Metallics, with maybe some crystal and candy, will see if I can get some cash together for the royal blue concentrate and base coat binder Heres one I did earlier, and the latest victim, in my elaborate temperature controlled full extraction booth with air fed masks etc,................ okay , okay it ma shed

Well, after painting my old efe and it not turning out shite, I decided to have another crack, with my old TLs sohere is what it started out as- horrible faded red paint and primer. So ive got almost another set of bodywork apart from the fairing, and front mudguard (hint if anyone has one for cheap $$$) Anyway I ended up going for a scheme slightly retro gsxr slabby based, but with updated colours. What you think? I like it, and that's good enough for me. Still to be clear coatred

Given that these "heat shields" offer so little benefit, why bother? (apart from looks) Lets face it, how many of you have had fuel starvation from evaporation on a road bike? Save your cash and spend it on something usefull

flat slides tend to run a bit lumpy low down, but it would still be worth checking whats in them, the carbs could have been tuned for wide open applications if its an ex race bike. I would check all carb settings against a known good road setting, or spend some cash on a dyno run or two, with a knowledgable dyno operator i.e. one who knows c arbs as opposed to fuel injection.

don't think you can get reliable replacement seals for them.

150 BHP (lets just say) and no oil cooler. I'm smelling something...........................something unpleasant. I'm a cynical bastard (I'm Scottish, its in the genes) but...... don't believe it has that much BHP at the back wheel, because its very difficult to get that with just a set of flatslides and a pipe, and yes I know there are dyno graphs showing 150 BHP, but nothing to show its off that bike.. Has the eSD got a cooler but no hoses, or am I blind?

think he would struggle to get over a sleeping policemen with those pipes. And I'm taking the 170+ BHP with a hefty dose of salt. would also look better with RWU forks, in my book anyway

as per the title, how much can I expect to pay for a 2nd hand gsx 1100 engine, without carbs but with starter motor. I know the efes fetch a bit more, but I'm just looking for one for an 1100et I'm thinking about 300-400, but its been a while and everything else seems to be going up in price. Obviously its impossible to tell condition as well so I'm factoring in a refresh anyone?

well ive ordered a couple of sets, one for my recently painted efe and one for the next set I'm doing , which will be a take on this blue blue white scheme , but with audi colours (hopefully I wont start driving like an audi w*nker when its done) should be good

cool, cheers for the link, ive been looking for these for a while, the outlined ones.

looks great, nice job. A lot of thought has gone into it. what are the rear shock from, out of interest

its like drawing teeth

I used to use falcon twin shocks on my old trials bike, about 30 years ago. They were quality items back then and highly rated. still are in the twin shock trials world. Nitron stuff looks good and is popular in Japan, but WP also do twin shocks. MAXTON are used at the classic manx a lot so should handle most things thrown at them. There are plenty to choose from

you are more of an "expert" than I am. ill wait for an expert to pitch up?

Well I didn't gel coat it in the end, as it didn't need it. Instead I asked a professional, my nephew, who works in a auto body shop, and it got sealed and skimmed with dolphin glaze, which is a very fine filler, which fills pinholes and any minor imperfections. So I am waiting for the Suzuki tank stickers, before it gets flow coated. The silver is not standard katana silver, its a metallic silver, and when I checked it against my standard Kat, its very slightly darker, but more metallic, and I can live with it, I'm sure here it is so fa rYeah yeah, silver tailpiece, I know, , but I couldn't find a bmatch for the original blue, so I thoughtsod it, it looks better in silver anyway, in my opinion Its got a coat of clear on it just now, but they are always better with the stickers/ decals coated in clear.. Second set of katana bodywork/ tank is getting done this week too. Its gonna be yoshimura style, and I plan to try and darken the silver further, hopefully without losing the metallic element, but failing that it will be black, with either white or silver added to take the edge off it, but ive yet to try mixing the paint so it could just end up black lol. I was thinking about putting together a painting tutorial, I'm no expert, but it could be of use to some paint noobs, if there is any interest.

Yes Ash, tell me about it. This is my 2nd attempt at a mudguard, first reacted badly (cheap fibreglass one) I'm also painting an 1100 ET tank, just in black,(which I hate because it shows up every single minor flaw), and am now on attempt number 3. At this rate it will have more coats of paint on it than the forth road bridge ha ha. Also doing my katana, and have done the black bit on the fairing three times now, because there were some defects that I didn't notice when it was primered, arggghhhhhh!! I need to change the filter on my mask, I'm couching like a coal miner, nasty shit in that paint. Would like an air fed mask, but they cost money, which I don't have. Tomorrow is katana day, might post some pics if it comes out well, but its just plain old silver/black standard stuff. My other katana panels are getting a mental paint job, eventually

did the last couple of bits today, muddy and fairing. cant see how sparklyitlooks, but hey ho. Just gotta clear coat them now. With hindsight ishouldnt have done the black rectangle, should have just flaked it too, because you cant really seethe harris decal. oh well nevermind its getting cleared anyway. Katana is next,butits just standard colours