Moto Guzzi Cali Cafe Racer Build thread
Discussion
Finally made a start on the paintwork, the seat unit was pretty easy (so far anyway), while I'm still working on the prep of the tank, really want to get the colour on and get it lacquered, but telling myself to do it right and not rush anything...
Here's progress so far today..
https://youtu.be/5Yl3r9g70a8
Here's progress so far today..
https://youtu.be/5Yl3r9g70a8
Although the paint still needs to be cut back and polished, I couldn't resist fitting the tank and seat to the bike. Later there was a brief break in the rain clouds, so I quickly pushed the Guzzi outside so I could stand back and see if I like it or not, and if it might need a speed stripe or two (to add 10mph to the top speed of course..).. Think I'll leave it as is for now, the shade of red I chose looks about right, though I do wonder how it'd look in black with gold decals? Perhaps I'll paint my Norley that way someday. Have to tackle the wiring now, which will be next weeks task.
Here's the second part of the DIY paint video..
https://youtu.be/BAn2pw7jFEU
And here's the Guzzi in its new cloths about to get very wet..
Here's the second part of the DIY paint video..
https://youtu.be/BAn2pw7jFEU
And here's the Guzzi in its new cloths about to get very wet..
Cheers for the comments, but for me I only tend to see the flaws and all the areas I should've done a better job with. Guess that's why they're never really finished, there's always something that can be improved or upgraded.
Anyway, not made much progress week, as its too blooming cold out in the garage for me to want to spend much time in there (must be getting old..). But at least I've made a start on the dreaded electrics at last..
clicky here for the video... https://youtu.be/XD1I-DDRGhI
Anyway, not made much progress week, as its too blooming cold out in the garage for me to want to spend much time in there (must be getting old..). But at least I've made a start on the dreaded electrics at last..
clicky here for the video... https://youtu.be/XD1I-DDRGhI
Its too cold in my garage to be working on the Guzzi, but with the surprising success of my DIY paint job, I decided to paint a couple of helmets. Both had been given a custom paint job a few years ago by a local place (since closed), and in both cases I wasn't really happy with the result. One is a Davida Jet and the other my old Simpson Super Bandit, the latter also having a gained a few scuffs and scratches over the years.
After a few hours of sanding, masking and a few coats of rattle primer, I sprayed the Simpson Ducati Red, mainly cos I had a spray can left over from a previous project. Then a dug out a big envelope full of old decals that I'd bought but never got around to using, including a full MHR decal set and a few random Ducati decals, none of which were the right size sadly. But all was not lost, as I also found a pair of Scuderia NCR (Famous Italian Raceshop) decals, which I cut in half and used on the Simpson. I now need to order some smaller Ducati decals, not sure what, but probably the classic 70's style and work out what other graphics it needs, if any. The paint doesn't look like much at the moment, but when its lacquered (I'll use Spraymax 2K again), it should look a lot better.
While the Davida is now gloss black, and will hopefully be getting some cool gold pin stripping if I don't mess it up. I bought the Davida from the factory years ago as they're only ten miles away, its a factory second a got for half price. A bargain at the time, as the only damage was a tiny scratch in the paint.
After a few hours of sanding, masking and a few coats of rattle primer, I sprayed the Simpson Ducati Red, mainly cos I had a spray can left over from a previous project. Then a dug out a big envelope full of old decals that I'd bought but never got around to using, including a full MHR decal set and a few random Ducati decals, none of which were the right size sadly. But all was not lost, as I also found a pair of Scuderia NCR (Famous Italian Raceshop) decals, which I cut in half and used on the Simpson. I now need to order some smaller Ducati decals, not sure what, but probably the classic 70's style and work out what other graphics it needs, if any. The paint doesn't look like much at the moment, but when its lacquered (I'll use Spraymax 2K again), it should look a lot better.
While the Davida is now gloss black, and will hopefully be getting some cool gold pin stripping if I don't mess it up. I bought the Davida from the factory years ago as they're only ten miles away, its a factory second a got for half price. A bargain at the time, as the only damage was a tiny scratch in the paint.
lindrup119 said:
Just read through the whole topic and the bike looks fantastic in that red.
Given the above you probably know more about this than me, but isn't spray painting helmets a bit of a dodgy affair without some sort of fancy paint for them?
Can be, the solvents in some paints can weaken plastic (ie Polycarbonate helmets), but these days most paints are water based / Acrylics or polyurethane.In my case the primer and colour coats are Acrylic, while the clear coat will be polyurethane. I did check with my local paint shop who paint a lot of race bikes / helmets for BSB etc before starting. Given the above you probably know more about this than me, but isn't spray painting helmets a bit of a dodgy affair without some sort of fancy paint for them?
I thought I'd post an update of my Guzzi project, as it changed a bit since the last post. I was never really happy with the SS900 seat unit, so I had a go at making my own in alloy (though I didn't do the welding.. Once done, I didn't much like that either, so I left it for a few months.
Then by luck, I had a chap from Scotland offer me a seat unit he'd had made by John Williams (of the Tank Shop), for his own Guzzi, which he no longer needed. I gladly snapped it up, and finally the bike started to look how I wanted.
A MK1 Lemans fairing and a front guard meant for a Triumph finished off the bodywork.
Next I ripped out the wiring, and started again, using an Moto Gadget M-Unit, with switches from the same company. I had Hagon make me a pair of their stainless bodied shocks (with ten position damping adjustment). a very helpful company btw.
With a few smaller mods (the seat mount was a pita to get right), it was time to have the bodywork painted by a pro, as my DIY effort wasn't really good enough. I took the paintwork to the painter last September, and finally its almost done. The base coat is on (Honda Victory Red), should have the graphics and top coat ready next week...
Then by luck, I had a chap from Scotland offer me a seat unit he'd had made by John Williams (of the Tank Shop), for his own Guzzi, which he no longer needed. I gladly snapped it up, and finally the bike started to look how I wanted.
A MK1 Lemans fairing and a front guard meant for a Triumph finished off the bodywork.
Next I ripped out the wiring, and started again, using an Moto Gadget M-Unit, with switches from the same company. I had Hagon make me a pair of their stainless bodied shocks (with ten position damping adjustment). a very helpful company btw.
With a few smaller mods (the seat mount was a pita to get right), it was time to have the bodywork painted by a pro, as my DIY effort wasn't really good enough. I took the paintwork to the painter last September, and finally its almost done. The base coat is on (Honda Victory Red), should have the graphics and top coat ready next week...
Thought I'd post a quick update on the Guzzi, with C19 etc, progress has been slower than usual, but I have had the bodywork painted, and a seat upholstered.. the latter was done to my spec, but on the bike it looked awful, so just got it redone though haven't tried it on the bike yet, as no space to work on the Guzzi, as it surrounded by old Kawasaki Zeds which are taking up all my shed time at the moment..
My awful design of seat, had to be redone
My awful design of seat, had to be redone
Its time for me to try to finish my longest running project, the Guzzi.
I started by fitting the Leman Mk1 fairing, not an easy task as its mounting brackets didnt work with the wider yokes and thicker forks of my bike, but got there in the end. However both the front indicators and front brake lines had to be removed to fit the fairing, so new lines and alternative indicator mounts have to be fitted.
I never liked the instruments, as they didn't include a tacho, so I replaced them with a new Koso combined speedo/tacho unit, with integrated idiot lights. This meant changing a lot of the wiring, so I ripped it all out and started again. Replacing the MotoGadget M-Unit with a smaller, simpler control box called a D-Box from Germany. Also made a new mount for a MotoBatt AGM battery, as the Lithium battery I first fitted soon failed.
Old
New
Though the wiring is far from finished, there was enough done, to try to start the engine for the first time. The starter still worked will, but got no spark.
Since the bike has points ignition, this was a good excuse to replace it with an electronic ignition system from Dynatec. Just finished wiring it up, but not tested it yet.
Old
New
While I waited for the new ignition to arrive, I stripped and cleaned the carbs, only to find a couple of perished O rings, so two rebuild kits have been ordered. Once the carbs have been rebuilt and fitted, hopefully the engine will fire up.
I started by fitting the Leman Mk1 fairing, not an easy task as its mounting brackets didnt work with the wider yokes and thicker forks of my bike, but got there in the end. However both the front indicators and front brake lines had to be removed to fit the fairing, so new lines and alternative indicator mounts have to be fitted.
I never liked the instruments, as they didn't include a tacho, so I replaced them with a new Koso combined speedo/tacho unit, with integrated idiot lights. This meant changing a lot of the wiring, so I ripped it all out and started again. Replacing the MotoGadget M-Unit with a smaller, simpler control box called a D-Box from Germany. Also made a new mount for a MotoBatt AGM battery, as the Lithium battery I first fitted soon failed.
Old
New
Though the wiring is far from finished, there was enough done, to try to start the engine for the first time. The starter still worked will, but got no spark.
Since the bike has points ignition, this was a good excuse to replace it with an electronic ignition system from Dynatec. Just finished wiring it up, but not tested it yet.
Old
New
While I waited for the new ignition to arrive, I stripped and cleaned the carbs, only to find a couple of perished O rings, so two rebuild kits have been ordered. Once the carbs have been rebuilt and fitted, hopefully the engine will fire up.
Merch131 said:
Nice.
Mention of Tritons brings back the memories of watching a guy wind up some classic bike enthusiasts once at Matlock Bath.
Him: So what is a Triton then?
Them: a Triumph engine in a Norton frame, hence TriTon, see?
Him: So is a Norvin a Norton engine in a Vincent frame then?
Them: No! It's a Vincent Engine in a Norton frame
Him: but surely, if a Triton is a Triumph Engine in a Norton frame then a Vincent engine in a Norton frame is a Vinton.
Cue several classic bike enthusiasts going a strange shade of red and then losing their minds with this guy but he just laughed at them and walked away
After a few weeks enforced break from the garage, I can work on the Guzzi again. Tried to bleed the front brake, only to find the Brembo master cylinder wasn't working.
That master cylinder was given to me years ago, and had no idea what bike it came from. It was stamped '4' and '16', the latter being the piston size I assume. After a lot of time spend looking at Brembo master cylinders on Ebay, found it to be from a Yamaha R6 or R1.
I was about to order a rebuild kit, but found the piston to be sized solid in the bore, which was badly corroded. Didn't think it could be saved, so bought a good used one, soon fitted and once bled felt ok with the original Brembo calipers.
I'm not used to working with modern stuff, so was surprised to find the master cylinder itself also had a bleed nipple.
Old master cylinder
New master cylinder fitted
As for the Norley, still have it, looks like this now.. I will upgrade it some more when I have time.
That master cylinder was given to me years ago, and had no idea what bike it came from. It was stamped '4' and '16', the latter being the piston size I assume. After a lot of time spend looking at Brembo master cylinders on Ebay, found it to be from a Yamaha R6 or R1.
I was about to order a rebuild kit, but found the piston to be sized solid in the bore, which was badly corroded. Didn't think it could be saved, so bought a good used one, soon fitted and once bled felt ok with the original Brembo calipers.
I'm not used to working with modern stuff, so was surprised to find the master cylinder itself also had a bleed nipple.
Old master cylinder
New master cylinder fitted
As for the Norley, still have it, looks like this now.. I will upgrade it some more when I have time.
Two new float valves and seats arrived, fitted them to the carbs, and fitted the carbs to the bike.. surprisingly the engine fired up immediately. The first time in more than ten years since I've owned the bike. Bit of smoke from the exhaust at first, probably from the oil I poured down the bores years ago.
Testing, Testing
Testing, Testing
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