Finished!

Well, at long last its done.  Stan, my mechanic friend helped heaps by balancing the carbs and checking over everything.  One huge problem turned out to be a broken starter clutch.  This is a little bearing that engages the starter motor to the drive shaft and lets you start the bike.  Once the bike runs, the clutch dis-engages the starter from the motor.  Anyway, on most motorcycles, its an easy part to get to but not this girl!  Its hidden in the bowels of the bottom end which means its a six hour job to replace it!  Way, Way,Way, beyond my abilities as a mechanic. 

I find a replacement clutch and the darn thing gets lost in the mail.  So I order another one and Stan fits it.  Two weeks later it jolly-well fails!.  So I find another one, and had it installed AGAIN!  Stan and Alan at Motowerx were really good about it and charged me a lot less for this replacement even though it was not their fault.

Now everything is done.  Electrics all connected, new headlight fitted, everything just right!  Darlene, the new owner, is absolutely in love with it.  Its a very eye-catching bike - especially when she is riding it.  When she told me she wanted to buy it, I finished it to suit her flamboyant personality and I think I got it about right.  Anyway, enjoy the photos.

looking good - running bad...

So its been a while since I posted anything here.  The bike has been frustrating me - mainly with carb problems.  I've taken them off and put them back on so many times I can now do it blindfolded.  Nothing seems to ever help!

Anyway, I got the painting bug and painted the tank, side covers and fender.  Its a lovely rich metallic red.  Also installed some nice Harley pipes.  All that required me to rebuild the airbox which had pretty much rotten away.  So now my welding skills have gone from "absolute-novice" to just "novice".  Hope it holds out.

Although it still runs like shit, at least it looks ok.

pictures below:

its getting better all the time...

OK, this is gonna be a long road.  First of all, the bike is butt-ugly, and needs to be "pretty" for my wife or daughter -whoever takes a fancy to it.  It also needs to be low to the ground as my wonderful beautiful wife is somewhat vertically challenged...

I spent a lot of time trying to get the carbs to work well, and by a recent test ride, have a long way to go there.  So, I decided to play with some of my ebay wins to that it appears that I'm making progress.  The carbs are still not right, but at least its beginning to look like a Maldita should look - sassy, haughty, pretty.  I hooked up the new pretty wheels (a bit to go there to get them to fit and work right), dropped in the new solo seat, tank and bars so at least you can see it with the approximate lines it will have when finished.  Its getting better, but still a long long way to go...

concept and shopping list

First of all - why is this blog called the "Maldita Project"?  The word "maldita" has a bunch of meanings but the general use of the term in the Philippines is to describe someone who is a bit spoilt, haughty, sassy, high-maintenance - like a haughty spoilt little princess.  I just thought this would be a fitting name for a tricked up little sexy bike...
 
I've been thinking about this project and have a plan.  Like most of my plans, it will probably end up nothing like I thought but here is the start.  The original motorcycle is butt-ugly.  It has a combination of mid seventies-early eighties lines but it just does not work.  The shape of the tank is weird and it almost looks like the bike is broken.  The lines are awful!

This can be fixed though!  It will need the right tank, curvy handlebars, a custom seat and spoked wheels.  I'm thinking a Fonzie bike-70s chopper hybrid.  Now Henry Winkler was petrified of motorcycles.  The reason he is seen with a 1949 Triumph Trophy instead of a Harley, is that the bike was bolted to a cart and had to be dragged around with the Fonz securely strapped into the seat!  The Trophy was a lot lighter and easier to drag around.  Also, in the non-moving scenes, "the Fonz" was less likely to drop it and embarrass himself...

Nevertheless, that Trophy had nice lines.  So did the classic choppers of the 1970s.  Lets see if we can put these together...  Here's a concept sketch below.

The original pipes were 2 into 2.  A bit boring and the upswept pipes detract from the older line I'm going for.  So, trying to stay on budget, I'm going to try to change the original headers by running them both along the RHS and adding a short Harley pipe.  A bit of welding and it should be sweet.  Something like this:

 
Now...  This is a bike on a budget so I'm watching pennies.  Here is a preliminary list of things I'll need:

• carb kit - got one $25
• front fender (old one rusted through) - got one $10
• brake lever (old one bent) - got one $10
• curvy handlebars (essential to get the right lines) - found one just right $35
• cool tank (ditto) - found one $60
• engine covers (they need polishing) - still looking for RHS but got LHS for $20
• spoked wheels (the original comstar wheels just look wrong) - saw a pair on Ebay but will cost $200 the pair with new tires (if I'm lucky).

Lets see how it goes...

oh... crap!

What have I done??!!

The motorcycle restoration bug has bit me real good.  Saw an ad on Craigslist the other day for an old Honda twin - a 1978 CB 400 Hawk with title.  This was the automatic model - no gear changes required.  That's handy for commuters or people just tripping round running errands.  Only problem is that this model is rather UGLY, and the listing showed a heap of rust - but a running heap of rust.

So I went for a ride and it wasn't too bad!  I had a similar bike when I was younger so there was a bit of nostalgia there too.  But why buy this piece of crap when the Beemer was almost ready to go?  Well... I thought of my wife Nelia, who has been pestering me to teach her to ride a bike for about 10 years now.  She was thinking "bicycle" but what the hec - this would be a bicycle with a motor, right?

She can not drive a stick shift so I figured an automatic would be ideal for her.  My beautiful darling wife is not that tall.  5ft 2" and about 90lbs dripping wet.  So I would need to build a bike that was low, light, sexy, automatic, and almost as beautiful as she.  Thats a tall order!  Have a look at what I bought!

Well, she ain't no beauty queen that's for sure.  Well, time to put my thinking-cap on and see what can be done!  Stay tuned - next post will be the concept drawings...