Custom snub nose F800GS

Yeah that was the issue with this piece. When I first put it on while the bike was on the center stand it was touching barely on the swingarm but under full stroke it wasn't, so I put two washers on the back side to adjust the angle a bit and that gave it great clearance.

I am going to cut it down a little bit more on the sides but it has started to turn out pretty nice. I used a couple pieces of cardboard and boy do they make it rigid!

I may just keep this one for myself but will take the lessons learned and make a slightly better one. I got pressed for time while doing this layup because I was working on it while it was too warm and it began to congeal a bit which didn't permit the best setup

I am taking the next week off to study. I have exams next week and want to finish the chamber too. I got the plexiglass in today.

Fantastic.... I really like it. Pssssstttt.... Your piece dont need any zip ties.....

Nope, no zip ties here. About $4 in stainless bolts but they aren't going to break! I am probably going to sand it down a bit and will just coat it in a couple layers of spray on truck bed liner. This is a definitely function over form for me.

That looks really sharp. Good job. - David

Thanks Dave!

I am hoping to get a better product out of the next one. I will have the vacuum chamber up and running as well as I have the issues of my most recent piece to work on. Plus I am going to use wax on this layup in conjunction with the paraffin... I know, a releasing agent on top of a releasing agent. For whatever reason in the last piece it went through the paraffin and bonded to the fiberglass mold which was a pain to separate. Will see how it goes, but that won't bee till next Friday. I have medicine to learn in the mean time

I had an epoxy SNAFU on the original piece, I was making some spacers and had some residual epoxy left over and was just going to fill some cosmetic issues on it and for some reason the epoxy wouldn't cure completely. I figure since it was the bottom of the cup I hadn't stirred it enough. Anyways because I am frugal I spent 3 hrs sanding and stripping with acetone to get the uncured epoxy off the piece which was in random locations as some of it cured properly. Anyways after that I decided to apply some 3M rubber undercoat spray to this piece. This one will be my test platform for longevity. I will make a spare in case this doesn't hold up with the new modifications but I believe this one will get quite a bit of mileage, the new ones will be a lot better as I learned some things in the process of making this one.

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That is some amazing work! If you have a little break from your studies and of course If you don't mind doing another one... I really really want one too... Just tell me your price +shipping costs to Europe ). Count me in as a follower

I am waiting for a layer of paraffin to dry and then I will be putting another on and will do the next layup for the raffle winner MotoRiley. I have the vacuum pump assembled and hopefully this turns out great, will be super stoked to get a perfect piece and I have been doing my homework, Erling made a video series that I feel was just for me so I stop making rookie mistakes!

On top of that I got my new rim in today, should have the drill bit I need tomorrow so will start that shortly. I still need to find some discs and a ABS piece to have a complete setup though.

Stock spoke on the top and the heavy duty below

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Excel rim

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Ok then.........
Congrats to MotoR..... He will be a great beta tester for you....

I have a gnarly case of the flu (FYI throwing up isn't the flu, inFLUenza is the flu, I too have lived a life of lies), which has slowed me down a lot but I have to keep going as I am on a time line!

Yesterday I installed a nice LeoVince exhaust I sourced from a fellow inmate and today I pulled version two of the mud guard out of the mold. It is nasty but I have made quite a few tweaks to it to make it a better piece! This one will be going to MotoRiley for being the winner of the raffle. I have to cut it out, then sand it down and apply a finish coat of resin as he wants to see the pretty carbon fiber.

I will have my bit to drill out the stock hubs today, I couldn't find one so I had to order it.

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With flash.

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Without

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Nice pipe..... ..... It really was a great thing you did with the raffle. You had no obligations, and yet again you stood by what you said. . On another note..... I have a secret piece of aftermarket light toy in the works for the 8GS...... It incorporates a digital voltmeter......and....uhhhhmmmm.... some light composite.....he-he.....

Like many people on the forum I opted to go with an excel front rim (still sourcing a rear hub), unlike many people I have opted to lace and true my own hub and rim. I have done this on many dirtbikes and did it on a few old RS125s so I am not a novice at it. That being said it is not that difficult but there are some issues to be wary of. I will be making a few videos of the truing process and will post links. This is a photo guide to the laceup for an excel rim, heavy duty spokes and a stock hub. If you do not feel completely comfortable doing this sort of thing leave it to the pros (Woody's), it can be catastrophic to you and your motorcycle as well as the new rim and hub if you do not do it properly.

Step one, remove your stock hub from your stock rim. I had a damaged rim with no tire so all I did was squirt all the nipples down with some WD40 and let it sit for a few hours before I came back to it. I loosened the nipples with a spoke wrench and then removed them one by one. Once complete I then inspected my bearings and everything internally to assess for rebuild etc... Because I did not know the extent of use on these bearings I replaced them all. After this was complete I cover the axle hole with some tape in preparation to drill out the stock holes. The stock hub needs to be tapped out with a 0.2055 (#5) bit. This is relatively easy, I just did it by hand with a regular drill and some machine oil to reduce friction and hopefully yield a nice hole (which it did).







Once it is tapped out it is a good idea to determine which part of your hub is for the "inside spokes" and what part is for the "outside spokes"

This is the inside.



This is the outside.



It is identical on both sides. The great thing about this hub/rim combo is that with the heavy duty spokes you only have one type as they are all the same. You have 36 spokes, divided into 4 sets of 9. On each side you have 9 inside and 9 outside, with 18 on each side and 36 total.

Normally I do the inside (9 spokes) and then do the inside (9 spokes) on the other side because the spokes are usually different for the outside but since they are the same I laced up the inside (9 spokes) and then did the outside (9 spokes) on the same side.



If you notice I put all the inside spokes in the hub and checked the lace up pattern to ensure I was doing it right, it is no fun to get two sides complete and realize you messed up and have to start over. I use the valve stem hole as a reference when I start. On the picture there is a spoke then another 5 spots later. This pattern repeats itself for the entire side with the inside spokes (same on the other side too). For this rim I screwed all the nipples down till I could see 5 threads at first, I wanted to ensure I was symmetrical as well as not being too tight so I could manipulate the hub/rim if I needed too.



Always make sure you grease up your spokes, this will ensure that they do not rust together and make future adjustments impossible.



Once you have the inside laced you can go to the outside or you can do the inside on the other side (always do inside then outside, other wise you may screw yourself). This pattern is the same as the inside with 1-5. In the picture I reference it as bottom (inside) and top (outside). The inside and outside holes that are the closest wind up having 1-11 spots between them. Ensure that you have this pattern or you are doing this wrong.



Once this is done, flip and repeat.



Once you have the inside complete go ahead and do the outside, If you followed my method this side will be more difficult and may require a bit more leverage to pull the spokes through. If I was doing it again I would have went to 7 threads as opposed to 5 so I had more wiggle room.

This will be just like the pattern on the other side though.



And now you are done with the easy part.



At this point if you are at 7 threads go ahead and crank them down to 5 threads, and from here you will mark your start point with a piece of tape, the valve stem hole, whatever and begin doing half turns until the rim gets fairly taut (not tight) as the real tightening occurs on the truing stand.

Now I was sick so I didn't do the truing today and an inmate wants to watch so I will wait for him. Also I got my nice new Renazco seat in today and this little piece of farkle for my soon to be fiance.

So someone pointed out that the ring was public so I deleted it for now

Bravo Amigo....... Psssstttttt.... Does she know....???? Bling for you....bling for your fiance.... smart man..

She has no idea, it is currently in a box, in a larger box, in a larger box etc... Under the tree right now waiting for Christmas Eve. She has been giving me trouble about buying stuff for the motorcycle and nothing for her, little does she know.

He he...... Nice amigo....

Nice job so far on the wheel!

Thanks blaster! So here are a bunch of short clips covering truing, I compiled them into one long one but youtube didn't like it. Also here is my nice new Renazco seat.

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This is one method to true a rim/hub, I ask that if you do not like it or know a better way please keep it to yourself unless you are a professional. I have received many anecdotal tales on what to do, or "how I do it". Please post a series to illustrate the error of my ways.

PS I also say alright a lot It was supposed to be my edit point but after youtube denied my compiled video I didn't edit them anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEzWCYD6dco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS0meS9YQfk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGlOh3fqzCI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrbI9lI5yTM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpXT39_MTUc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OLWXJDwbuw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lycSLBETjsM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWgFTIB2hx0

I am currently working on the last two parts of the lacing/truing series, they just have to render and I will post them up. In the mean time I have been putting the rear of the bike back together and reworking a few things.

I have been working on my final product for the mud guard, it is a fairly labor intensive process for me as I have to fit, then modify, then re-fit etc... I am now doing the last couple layers of resin to get a nice finish and then I will build a mold of this so that I can make more in the future.

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In the mean time I have a flat piece curing that I will use as a license plate bracket (piggy backing off of Erlings idea). I am using a piece of 1 inch acrylic as top piece for the press and after letting it sit over night with about 40lbs on top I pulled the weight and am shining a heat lamp through it to speed up the curing process. I really like having the acrylic sheet to look through.

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I think that acrylic adds enough weight.....

It is sometimes the little things that add up. This is purely a cosmetic fix and nothing more. But if we are shaving weight this knocked off a lb

From the stock, super safety license plate bracket.

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To a very dangerous non-reflective piece of CF.

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