Monday, March 25, 2013

A bit more work...

Still horrible weather, even for this time of year.  Nearly 20 below overnight!  Patience, grasshopper...
In the meantime, I've done a bit more work with the bike.  Fellow (retired) ex650 racer Cynthia sold me a shark guard for the rear sprocket.  Not a great photo, but you get the idea.  A safety device made mandatory in a lot of racing organizations, in order to prevent digits from being sawed off in a tumble... your fingers would be gone in seconds if they got caught between the chain and the sprockets.

For those of you who are fans of "Optimus Prime" (from the Transformers) this might look familiar.  I played with the old KTM Superduke race fairing I had and fitted it to the 650... a second attempt, but I think this will provide more protection than the number plate I had on previously.  I used the same mounting hardware, and re-positioned them to suit.

Head on view... I had some leftover fake carbon vinyl wrap leftover from the bellypan, as well as a set of numbers.  I've removed the thumb brake to replace it with another model.  The vinyl didn't lay down perfectly by any means.  Despite the angular shape, there are still some gentle compound curves which lead to quite a number of creases, especially towards the top of the mask.  However, I plan to fit a wee KTM flip-up screen which should cover them up, and add a bit more wind protection.  To damage this in a crash, I would really have to try hard.

This is what it looks like close up.  I strategically photographed a smoother area on the mask.

I've also boxed up all the parts required for Falicon to do a number on the crank... piston kit, rods, and the crank.  Will ship out the parts tomorrow.

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