Wrench'n Ride'n

Square headlight off Yammie XJ750 that had been on my old R80 now fitted. Bit Benderish looking now. So shall now be called Bender.

Today I fitted the stone guard to the head light. Fitted a 1951 Standard Vanuard Phase hood ornament to the front guard. A small decorative thing to the top of the headlight. Adjusted and oiled the chain. Made the rear shock softer.  Cleaned up the work bench in my shed. The LED flood light under the headlight throws out a lot of light too.

Mounted a 18 watt 6 inch LED flood light. Talk about let there be light. Solo saddle came off. A round trip of 150kms with the seat bottoming out on every bump shows the bicycle seat springs do not work on a motorcycle to make me bounce up and down. The big headlight that come with the bike is back on. Its an aesthetics thing ok.

I did some refining on the Zeke the last few days. Not that much on this bike is refined. Its more like a creation from Wacky Races. That's why I love it so much. Moved the speedo off the bit of sheetmetal it was mounted to. Used an old Honda handlebar clamp/fuse holder. Bit of perforated metal. Done. Cleans up all those wires too. Fitted a late model Transalp CDI box holder. This lays these down and gets the connectors away from touching the seat. Not that is a real problem now with a sprung seat. I hope to have stopped the fuel coming out of the filler hole and past the petrol cap. Used an old Suzuki cap. This should have a better seal. Maybe no more fuel dribbles down the sides of the tank. Removed old brown bag off the back. Pillion pad and pillion pegs fitted.

A few days off on leave. So used some springs out of a bicycle seat to give the Biltwell solo seat some bounce.

4 hours later. Yes chain was tightened and lubed in the end. KTM gear off. Drag bars that came with the bike back on. Small headlight fitted to head stem/fairing mount. Some black paint added to the tank. Almost back to the way I got it. I think the original modifier of this bike knew what he was doing after all.

KTM front guard fitted. Added a bit of silver.

Transalps have a few known problems. CDI box failure is one. The seat base over time drops and rests on the CDI boxes. This can cause damage inside where the connectors are soldered. The solder cracks causing the connectors to be loose therefore not allowing the flow of electricity. 2 weeks ago I ordered a new CDI from the States. I am still waiting for this to come in the mail. Today the bike would not start. No spark to rear cylinder. Swapped the CDI boxes around just to make sure this was the problem. Start up and the rear now has spark. I could wait a few more days for the new CDI to arrive or have a go at fixing it. Youtube has a few videos on how to do this. Crack the box open on the other side from the connectors. Re-solder these. Tapped up the box. Connected up and the bike starts and runs. Temp fix done. It is also suggested that the Honda CDI relocation bracket be used to get the boxes away from the seat or do as i did and bridge the frame. I used some L shape metal bra...

Mock up front guard fitted. Going high. Have a KTM guard coming that is swooper and pointer. Will this make it a SUV that never goes off road? I have turned the Zeke into a Pelican.

No the cosmetic fiddle is not complete. What is compete is the circle of know problems with Transalps. One of the CDI boxes has gone. Its taken a very long time for this to happen. Off the road till I can source a new CDI box. So I can tick off the known problem boxes. Rim rotting. Tick. CDI box goes. Tick. Oh and I have had in my mind to do one last cosmetic change. Have been looking at street trackers with racing plates. Liked what I saw but had to be different. Original seat back on. Its plush compared to the old chopper seat I had fitted. Smaller headlight fitted. Offset. I like things not to be lined up. KTM racing plate to hide the cables from the bars etc. My own crappy paint scheme on that. Also think it wont be the Zombie Slayer anymore. Calling it the Zeke. As in Japanese WWII fighter Zeke (Zero).