I wasn't going to post this until complete, but I figured I might as well start a thread now and post progress.

I knew I wanted to do a winter project but didn't know exactly what. One thing that I knew I had to do was send the seat off to MCC to get it modified as I sit just a little too far back and high (I'm 5'7"). I started looking around the forums and was inspired by a post in the powder coat forum about coating in the color of my bike (Ember Red Sunglo). I decided to tear into the bike and go ahead and do a little bit of powder and the seat for sure.

When I bought the bike, I started to replace some chrome parts (mini ape bars, levers, mirrors, full exhaust) with black as my goal was eventually to have a black and red bike. I had an initial list of parts I wanted to get powder coated this winter. Console, cowbells, engine guard, strut covers, brake lever, rider floorboards, pegs and all of the gauge bezel rings. I contacted Joe at Powder Pro to get an idea of cost and whether they could do it. He gave me some numbers so I went ahead and started disassembly.

The J&S Jack I bought at the 110th was probably my best investment ever.



Most of the original parts list to get coated



Taking the gauges out



I had to pry each bezel ring off of the gauges



Well, once I got as far as taking the front end apart for the cowbells, I realized that the bike would look kinda funny with some black, some chrome, and some red. At that point I figured what the hell, might as well go big and get it all done now. I don't have a whole lot of experience wrenching on the engine so this was to be a learning experience. The jack may have been the best investment, but the service manual is a close second.

I took the entire front end apart making sure to mark all of the plugs and where they went.



Removing the fuel tank proved to be fun. I had nearly a full tank of gas and no way to remove it. I had no siphon, it was late at night, and the bike was half torn apart already so there was no running it to get rid of gas. I got impatient and decided to just disconnect it and deal with the weight of the tank. Of course, the quick disconnect decided not to seal and gas dripped all over the place. I reconnected it and went and bought a siphon the next day.

Once the tank was off, I drained all of the fluids and removed the rocker boxes and all of the covers.



I don't think I realized how much chrome was on these bikes when I started this.



With that done, I parked the bike and dropped the parts off to Joe when I went up north for Thanksgiving weekend.

Black Friday rolls around and I was sitting here browsing some of the deals when I came across a post from Eastern Performance. I'd wanted to do a wheel package for awhile but could never commit the money. I emailed Brian from Eastern and asked what kind of deal he could put together. Lo and behold, I ended up buying a Performance Machine Rival setup with a 21" front and 18" rear.

The wheels arrived shortly after I returned home.





Lastly, I pulled the rear wheel off the bike to give me something to do.



There's not much left of the bike now. I'll pick up parts from Joe on Thursday but won't be able to get to it until after the holidays. Can't wait to get it back together!!

Anyways, I'll update this post as I go.

 

That is a good looking pile of parts you have there. I bet it will make a excellent looking bike. Keep the pictures coming.

 

D@mn...that's the way to "field strip" a bike for coating. Great work and can't wait to see your bike when everything's back in-place. Keep the tools warmed-up.

 

Wow! Quite a winter makeover. That's a lot of powder!

Might want to check out some black powder shift linkage with heim joints ---> HERE

 

It's a little late now but instead of beating up the trim rings, I would have purchased the Harley and on's and powder coated them. They mount over top of the originals and actually look better than the factory's.

you still have to re-mount them without messing up the PC.

 

Your in it now ,I'll be watching for updates.

 

Inspirational stuff! I work on my own cars but have never done anything, not even maintenance, on my bikes.

Your post helped convince me there's no excuse! Now to buy a jack.

Well done, gonna watch this one with the everyone else...

 

Talk about having commitment issues. If your not powdering the frame, your half a$$in the project.



J/k I'm rooting for ya bud. Subscribed

 

Yeah, that probably would have been easier. The good news is that the part that's I have to bend to get back on the gauges is hidden in the fairing so hopefully there won't be any issues with messing up the coat.

 

Dammit, now I have to go tear everything else apart....thanks haha