Big thing 1: Today was a BIG day in the shop ! Frame painted and engine in for real. Now the build takes a sharp turn for the better. Big thing 2: Same day I also got the official papers in the mail.
My build now exist even in the real world outside the Speedshop and the official name for this vehicle is Bombus Speedster.
The 2003 1200cc powerplant in its new home, in the 2016 Bombus Speedster.
Before painting the frame I had to adjust some things on the side bag brackets.
The rear one needed a notch to make the chain adjuster go free.
And the front one blocking the battery entry from the left.
The battery have to come out on the left, the right side have the chain that blocks.
So I had to split the front bracket for this reason.
A notch in the rear one to clear the chain adjuster.
A thing I have dreaded for a while now, punching the VIN number.
Now it was for real, no errors allowed.
Target for this was left side of the rear motor mount.
The motor mount plate is 10mm thick and my punches are made of 8x8 mm square bits with 6 mm symbols.
Made lot of thoughts how to do it and I came up with a idea.
I made "walls" out of 1 mm sheet metal, folded it double on one side and then clamped them on the motormount.
By doing this I got a 8 mm ditch where I could squeeze down the punches and this gave me great support sideways.
The job took a while and required lots of adrenaline and sweat but it turned out great in the end.
My 6 mm punches I used and the supports I made of 1 mm sheetmetal folded double on one side.
The target area, left side of the rear motormount.
The supported clamped down and first symbol ready for some beating.
I traded a beat up Sportster tank for a exhaust from a friend.
He have used it on his bike for many years so it can't be to bad.
It looked quite good but it needed a little more angle where the pipe meets the damper. I also shortened it about 50mm/2"and then it looked fine.
Next step was exhaust wrap.
After fighting both finger cramp and sanity it turned out really well.
This will be a nice exhaust until I making the transition to turbo in a year or so...
Where I shortened the pipe and made a small angle to get it lining up better.
First wrapping the short bit for the rear head and then the loong bit was next.
Here in Sweden a motorcycle must have a chainguard to be legal, but the construction is free.
It just have to protect if the chain brakes and gets loose, it doesn't even have to cover the chain.
So after talking with the tech inspector my choice fell on just a sturdy pin.
A really sturdy and rigid pin that breaks the chains path if broken is enough.
"It's up to you if you like to be dirty" was the tech inspector's verdict.
*Hehe*
So I took a 10mm steel pin drilled a hole in the fenderstrut and welded in the pin, and suddenly I had a chain guard.
The hole and the pin
The two joined with some welding.
I might cut it off just a tiny bit, time will tell.
So before final teardown I have some things to first, one of those is the seat.
Need the actual bike to make it fit, at least the first part with the seat pan.
I first considered making it out of fiberglass like I did on my bagger but it became steel in the end.
Mainly because I had a steel fender wich fitted over the existing fender and could act great as the rear part of the pan.
First cut a bit of the fender to get one half of the pan.
Measure and cutting the other half of the pan.
Testfit of the two pieces
Narrowing the rear part and then weld the two pieces together.
And the final shaping.
I covered it with masking tape to see the shape better.
Next step, frame mounts...and foam...and shaping.....and....
In Sweden where this fairytale takes place it is possible to make your own vehicle from the ground up.
A unique possibility that not many countries offer.
This is possible because a massive work done in the eighties by a team of people that later became known as SFRO - Sveriges Fordonsbyggares Riksorganisation
(Translated to English its something like SVNA - Swedish Vehiclebuilders National Association.)
This is an organization with part time voluntary tech inspectors around the country.
There is also a book available from SFRO with many tips and tricks to succeed with your build.
The SFRO handbook
This opportunity to become a vehicle builder have many used over the years and so will I.
The process have three steps. One: The build inspection by SFRO.
The first one that should occur some way in to the project.
The vehicle shall have basic construction ready to check things like steering, rake, trail, suspension travel, measurements, material quality and of course welds.
At this stage no paint is allowed but protective primer is OK.
It is also at this step the vehicle starts to exist and the vehicle will have it's VIN number.
The 17 digit long VIN number is partly free to choose by the builder, the 8 last digits is up to the builder to choose.
At this stage its also time to name the build, this is also up to the builder to choose.
My bikes name became "Bombus Speedster" Two: The second and last inspection by SFRO.
At this stage the build is all ready and things like lights, markings and positions, how it handle's when driving are tested and finally the sound level certification.
The sound level is just 84dB and is quite hard to reach but with some serious mufflers will most often do the trick. Three: registration inspection.
This stage is done by the national tech inspection and is basically a light version of previous step.
This is also when the vehicle gets its registration number.
And after passing these three steps you have built your own vehicle.
It's possible to make quite amazing builds this way.
The main vehicles made this way is custom motorcycles (HD based), Hot Rods and Cobra/Super 7 replicas but pretty much anything is possible to build this way.
For example, I have a friend that bought a Porsche Boxter and a hacksaw. Sawed the body of the Porsche and welded on a VW Beetle body instead and that is now road legal and counts as a new vehicle, The Bubster.
You can follow his build thread here at the site REJSA (In Swedish)
