04/09/2005
Almost killed myself today. I started working on the bike today at 9:00 AM, and it was 9:00 PM before I was done putting my tools away. I ground on the frame so the tank would fit, and then drilled holes for a bolt to hold the tank in place in the front (will be making a bracket to weld to the frame to hold it in the back). I drilled holes for the brackets to go on the back fender so it will be anchored to the frame at four points. Marie cleaned the wheels for me, and I taped and painted them. Also cleaned and painted a bunch of other stuff.

Back fender finally got paint after everything, and I drilled the headlight bowl and turn signal mounts and then touched up the headlight bowl paint. Tomorrow is frame sanding day (with no wheels that shouldn't be so bad) and then priming the areas I have to sand. I'll have to strip the labels off the frame (not the VIN or anything, but I gotta get rid of the original dealer label, etc.. will photograph for posterity). I've got to get new brake shoes for the back wheel, they were worn pretty much down.. No wonder the back brakes didn't bite so good. The front brake is working fine, but I need to check the pads and see if I need to replace them (might as well do it now).

I went through 3 cans of FHT, Flameproof Paint today (black), and a can of flat black. I need more of the FHT and flat black. Need to inventory what I've got. The frame is supposed to get gloss black, whereas wheels, bodywork (fenders, tank and side covers) all get flat black, plastics and rubber get brought back to original finish, and other parts are at my discretion. Anyway, I think the wheels look really good black. I've still got to clean, and repair the exhaust pipes (maybe tomorrow). Then I've got to organize all the parts, screws, etc.. and clean and paint anything I've missed and get prepped for initial assembly once I get everything painted and ready to go back on the frame. Hopefully after all of that it'll be running again and we'll just be doing finishing work like the custom windscreen, custom license plate mount etc..

04/07/2005
Well, my allergies weren't nearly as bad today.. Maybe it was the rain. I didn't take my allergy medicine, and subsquently was free of headaches, drowsiness, and lack of concentration. So I won't be taking it unless I have to. I worked on the Honda Rebel chopper project tonight. I did some minor paint work (painting headlight brackets and mounts, and refurbing some rubber seals for the headlight), and chopped the airbox for the Rebel. I removed the factory toolbox, for which I don't have the cover, and which makes getting the airbox in and out of the bike a pain.

Then I cleaned up the airbox, took high-res photos of the labels on it (in poor condition) and scraped them off. I then cleaned it again, it got washed three times. After it was dried with a towel, and then air dryed with a hair dryer I took it out and painted it with Plastikote. It looks really good. I chopped the airbox off with a combination of things, a dremel (got the cutting slots ready, but was pretty useless on heavy plastic like this), an electric saw (did the bulk of the work), and a Japanese flush cut saw (awesome little saw, follows the contours of the box when cutting and makes for pretty clean cuts.. fitting that a Japanese saw is used to modify a part from a Japanese motorcycle).

I have to differ with the view from some of my friends that I'm building a rat bike, I am of the impression that rat bikes are repaired as cheaply as possible (one similarity to my project I guess) and are worked on just enough to keep them running (not my mode.. as I'm refurbing parts, trying to make them like new or as clean as possible). Rat bikes vary in finish, from rust (false brought on by pouring battery acid on them, to real), flat black, any shade of black, and then just insane colors of paint. Anyway, hopefully my little bike will qualify as more of a blacked out chopper than a rat bike when I'm done.. We'll see.

I also did a 3D model of a pergola, to give my wife an idea of what we're planning to build in the next couple of months so we can plant a Wisteria vine. It'll provide some additional privacy (our neighbors yard is a bit taller than ours so even though they have a privacy fence they can see us somewhat) as we'll put it in front (but a bit away) from their fence, and give us a nice bit of landscaping in the process. Shouldn't be prohibitively expensive either, I'll need an oil treatment for the wood and we'll use pressure treated lumber (yeah, I know it contains arsenic) and anchor it with concrete.

Anyway, gotta put away my tools, and put away the headlamp parts. Tomorrow hopefully I'll so some prep work for assembly of that.. I have to drag out the drill press this weekend and do some work on it and the fender (welding time finally).

3/4 View of the Honda Rebel airbox cover side view after customization.	Side View of the Honda Rebel stock airbox cover side view, the toolbox used to be to the right in this picture, and was an awkward block of plastic that stuck out like a sore thumb before I chopped it off.	3/4 (sorta) view of the Honda Rebel airbox, this shows the back edge where the toolbox used to be attached. So long!	Side View of the Honda Rebel airbox after customization.

04/06/2005
The last couple of days have been pretty rough. My allergies are in full effect and my Zyrtec isn't working as good as it should. I've been in a haze (or a fog) thanks to my allergies. I rode to work on Monday, and so did Marie. Both of us came out to find our bikes (washed over the weekend) covered in nasty yellowish-green pollen.

Yesterday I made good progress on the project I'm working on at work despite my allergies trying to kick me in the head and came home and put in an hour on my exercise bike. Today I was so messed up though that I had to ask my boss if I could go home sick. I got home and went to bed immediately.

The progress on the Honda Rebel chopper project has been slow. I had yard work to do which slows things down. Hopefully I can get past the allergies, and make some progress, though I do have to say the pollen will make painting a challenge.

I've posted two pictures of the Honda Rebel with the chopped back fender fitted. I must say it looks pretty good, fits my expectations. Marie and I also worked out a plan for mounting the Harley Davidson gastank properly. The gastank was modified in the past at one point by a past unknown owner. The channel is big enough to fit the Rebel Frame, but the front bracket that was welded in makes it too narrow at the front where Honda welded the frame brace for the Rebel Gastank to attach. As such I will need to grind down a section so that the tank can lay lower by a 1/4" of an inch, and then drill a hole in the frame on both sides so I can put a bolt though to hold the tank in the front. Marie is going to have a 1/8" piece of steel cut that I will bend and weld as a back bracket for the tank, and then bolt it into place there. This will be alot better than the zip ties the old owner had holding it in place. Once all that is done and I am sure the tank won't need any modifications I will be able to strip it using paint stripper, and then prime and paint it. I will need to get a tap and die set at Harbor Freight this week to clean threads when I'm done painting as the previous owner used teflon tape on the threads on the old petcock.. My new one fits, but won't go in all the way until I clean those threads good.

Hopefully this week I'll get close to finishing and assembling the headlamp assembly. We'll see, it's just going to take time. I ordered some Black Thermotec Header Wrap today for the header pipes, and I have some galvanized metal I will make the heat shields out of, gotta fish that out from under the house sometime. I really need a parts catalog on CD so I know exactly what bolts to get (size, etc..) for places I am missing them.