My 950 Refresh or Mission Creep...

[sakurama]

So I actually got another day at the shop before I had to leave for Italy and since I couldn't move forward on the exhaust without more bends to make the "X" pipe I thought to myself, "How can I did myself a deeper hole? How can I really paint myself into a corner on this build more than I have? Is there anyway that I can make sure I won't have a motorcycle to ride when it's nice and warm?"

And then it hit me! I'll strip the paint off the bodywork with no real plan of what I'd do next! Genius!



Yes, that's me grinding on a gas tank. I asked my friend Kenny to take this since I wasn't sure if I'd live through it. Sure, I'd flushed the tanks with soapy water a few times but you never know. Anyway, the reason for the grinding was those stupid embedded nuts for the tank guards - one was spinning. I ground off the head and then dug the bitch out.



Not sure what genius thought a plastic tank would hold that forever. Not sure how I'll fix that yet either.

I found a Valentine radar detector buried in foam in one of the side panels - wondered where that went.





Teachable Moment!


And since I had to remove the front blinkers I figured I'd try to add something useful (for a change). I'll teach you how to take these things apart. Yes, I bite my nails and have horrible cuticles. You would too if this were your bike. Here's the little connector:



This is what you want to do - remove these leads without breaking them. This is the "top" of the clamp.



Here it is with one lead removed. See that little tang on the bottom? Bottom means the opposite from the two rolled edges that form the little clamping blades. That tang holds this bugger in the plastic.



You remove it by inserting a very small, thin piece of metal (a saw blade isn't recommended but it's what I had on hand) in-between the "bottom" of the clamp/lead and the plastic and disengaging that tiny tang while pulling (gently) the wire on the back side.



This gets the guy undone so it can be threaded through the holes of the body panel or wherever it goes and then put back together. It's one of those things no one teaches you and it's hard to figure out on your own. Hopefully that will be useful to you someday.

And back to our regularly scheduled destruction...

I'll admit it. I think Flanny has done some great stuff to his bike. You have to when you ride so slow. One of the things he did that I liked was to cut open the side panel. Since that is where my "X" collector will reside I figure I'll open mine up as well so there's more pressure on me to make it look good.



Then I start the process of no return:



And this sucks. No, it seriously sucks. I can't tell if the stickers are cleared over or just incredibly thin or both. Finally, after trying numerous solvents and curse words I came upon this method of removing the stickers: heat gun aimed just ahead of a sharp scraper.



By "sharp" I mean this:



Grind a flexible paint/putty/drywall scraper at 90° lightly on a grinding wheel to make a sharp burr on both sides. That burr, not a knife edge, will do a good job of pulling up those (fucking) stickers.

And that brings me to here:



So, now it's basically spring and I have a bike with no carbs, no exhaust and no bodywork. I'm a freaking genius!

Back in Portland this week I did some more welding - getting closer!



So I'm back to NYC this coming week and I've ordered more tube to build the crossover. I aim to get the bodywork primed and the crossover built and the back of the exhaust fabbed and tacked.

Gregor

[Deadly99]

[sakurama]

Originally Posted by Deadly99

Your bike, by the way, has turned out great Deadly. Between you and Flanny there is a high bar set for rebuilding these bikes. I think if we just didn't ride them so much or so hard we'd save a lot of time/money!

[Katoom119]

"Dad! I just bought a 2031 KTM Adventure. Want to go for a ride?"

"Sure, I'd love to! Let me see if I can find a bike to borrow. Mine is still in pieces since I decided to machine my swingarm out if depleted uranium."

[Flanny]

Originally Posted by Katoom119

"Dad! I just bought a 2031 KTM Adventure. Want to go for a ride?"

"Sure, I'd love to! Let me see if I can find a bike to borrow. Mine is still in pieces since I decided to machine my swingarm out if depleted uranium."

Ha!

Isabelle asked me today if I'd like to have the kids looked after by grandma so that she could go out on her Ducati Monster, and I could ride one of my 3 KTMs. My response? Sorry, none of my KTMs run right now.

950 down to the frame to fix base gaskets, 450 undergoing Rally build, and no electrical. 300 has no suspension on it right now....

It's just as well.. Riding the bikes just gets in the way of precious shop time....

[sakurama]

Originally Posted by Flanny

It's just as well.. Riding the bikes just gets in the way of precious shop time....

That is funny and sad. I used to ride so much - used to ride about 25,000 miles every summer. Then I progressed to racing and it was merely thousands but hundreds on the track. Then I started building bikes and it just became hundreds. That's the joke around our shop - we're sooooo into motorcycles we don't have the time for riding.

Well, I aim to finish this thing in June one way or the other and then ride it back to Portland. I'm not about to miss a good Portland summer without my favorite bike. My methods are just to light a fire under my ass to do this project right and not halfway.

[neduro]

Originally Posted by Flanny

Sorry, none of my KTMs run right now.

I might have you beat. I've got 9 bikes in the garage right now. Three are operational- the Superduke, the Montesa, and the Dakar bike, which is more or less perfect.

But, the 950 is still going back together from my G$/Flanny/D99 inspired rebuild, several 450s are lacking me having the time to finish various maintenance projects, and my new 500 doesn't run for some computer inspired reason.

Sooo into bikes.

[Flanny]

Originally Posted by neduro

I might have you beat. I've got 9 bikes in the garage right now. Three are operational- the Superduke, the Montesa, and the Dakar bike, which is more or less perfect.

But, the 950 is still going back together from my G$/Flanny/D99 inspired rebuild, several 450s are lacking me having the time to finish various maintenance projects, and my new 500 doesn't run for some computer inspired reason.

Sooo into bikes.

Maybe - but not on a percentage basis. I'm 100% out of commission!

[sakurama]

Originally Posted by Flanny

I'm 100% out of commission!

So Flanny, who is it that makes your base gaskets? I'd like to buy some stock in that company. It seems like when you go for a ride it's, "Fill 'er up with base gaskets and check the gas!". You should do what I do - just replace the engine - gaskets are just trouble I tell you.

[Deadly99]

Min runs and it's dirty

[Pyndon]

Originally Posted by neduro

I might have you beat. I've got 9 bikes in the garage right now.

Sooo into bikes.

I love these threads, so I'll chip in too. I can't wait to see this thing finished, it's over a year ago when I sent that engine over for the project, hope it runs because the warranty period has expired now

I only have 7 bikes right now but I think I might have the largest range. At the lower end there's the CBR125RR, cost me a grand, top speed 85mph (with some mild tuning) but returns 104mpg (when driven respectfully). Yes, I look a complete tw*t on it!

Then at the other end there is the 450RR which in itself is equivalent to four bikes just because of the shear cost of the thing .....worth every penny!

The best thing is, they all work, they are all serviced up and they are all 'ready to ride or race' anytime. I mean two of them are still dirty from their last rides but that's a minor thing!

[VertigoCycles]

Nothing to add, but if you're looking to get this done by June, I assume there will be more frequent updating I like where this is going.

[limeymike]

I compare this thread to a guy that starts out with a light bulb not working and ends up rebuilding the fucking Hoover dam. Great read Gregor, I admire your persistence.

[sakurama]

Originally Posted by VertigoCycles

Nothing to add, but if you're looking to get this done by June, I assume there will be more frequent updating I like where this is going.

Hi Sean,

Yeah, one of those updates will be getting some tips from you! I just landed in NYC and after my shoot tomorrow I'll have two days to make some progress...

G

[Tukata]

Where on earth are you getting the factory decals?

I'm about to re-paint mine and want to find the black factory KTM stickers