Introducing FrankenBusa!

[Ludicrous Speed]

Spent a bunch of my bike money, but on something useful. I got a used Handy Lift :chrs: SOOOOO much easier than sitting on the concrete scooting around on my ass

I took the "wings" off that were on the lowers. The parts that would be considered the belly wing. By the time i get done trimming the body for ground clearance, they would have been so thin and fragile, it was not worth keeping them. Also rebuilt the front forks, and lowered them internally 2", so no more strap to tighten! If I had known how easy it was to replace the fork seals, I would have been doing them for years instead of paying someone to do it for me. The biggest investment was a $35 seal driver from Motion Pro!

Lots more clearance between the cover and pipe, now that I have the exhaust bracket made

Getting close to start painting. All along I have had a certain color in mind, but now that it is almost time to purchase paint, I have flip-flopped several times on the color.... Pretty sure I am going to shoot a Candy color now, instead of an OEM color, but not 100%decided on what it will be. Candy blue, red, or burnt orange are the colors I am considering now.... But who knows what I will end up with!

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

Forgot the pic of the forks

 

[flyby]

ya, i got a frankenmonster too.
ratboosta by name.
naked rear turbo intercooled rat mobile.
gonna b fun this summer to play with.

 

[mysticblu999]

Holy ball sack, post more of that thing!

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

New stuff!

I bought a hugger, made from fiberglass from a company named DME. Turns out that they get theirs from Catalyst. I have their bodywork on the rest of the bike, and it fit great. This one, not so much. It was not going to clear the tire, and was not wide enough at the front to mount correctly to my swingarm.
Made a line down the middle and sectioned it

Then I placed it on the swingarm, and clamped it where I wanted it. Bridged the gap with some cardboard that I covered with masking tape, coated in mold release.

Then I laid in two layers of random fiber mat, let it kick, and removed my tape. Test fitted it and then decided I was going to extend it a little further around the tire in the front, to keep the grime off of my nitrous bottle. This gave me a fit, trying to get the curves I wanted, and keeping them there!

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

I am all out of fiberglass mat, so I have to pick some up today when I go back into town.........

 

[teezy]

ya, i got a frankenmonster too.
Ratboosta by name.
Naked rear turbo intercooled rat mobile.
Gonna b fun this summer to play with.

wanna see more pics!!

 

[Stevo80]

Lookin good Rene! Anxious to see that thing up and kicking butt! I need to come up and run with you kids again, but remember I'll ask for the pro tree!

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

I will be ready for it next time!

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

Well, after all that work, the part did not turn out like I wanted... After much trimming, and massaging, I ended up cutting the piece off that I just did and started over!

Here is what it looks like with the bodywork roughed in:

Sitting on the bike, I still need to weld the mounting tabs on the arm

See why I wanted it to go further around the front tire?

Also got the tank that I cut down sealed. Now I can start bodywork on it.

And I STILL cannot decide what color to paint it! I change my mind almost daily!

 

[Stevo80]

hahahahah
I would like to get a hugger too, but im too lazy for that kind of work! ???

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

Not much to report right now. Just going through the spray it/block it process, but I did get the hugger all mounted up, finally!

 

[Stevo80]

Lookin good bud!

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

Slow going! I had forgotten how much I hate sanding primer!

 

[dadofthree]

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

Still priming and sanding. Almost to what I refer to as the "Screw it" stage..... As in "Screw it, that is good enough!" In all my years of painting, it is my experience that no matter how much you do, you could have always gone further. You have to decide what the point of diminishing returns are for yourself. I am almost to that point!

One major part I just completed: Primering the frame! I probably had three hours or more of masking since I did not remove the engine.

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

Shot a test panel today. Not a really good shot of the candy, it was hard to photograph. Did a series of coats to see how many I need. Shot it over silver, charcoal, and metalflake. And yes, that is a terrible flame, I just masked it really quick to try the metalflake

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

Sneak peek at the (almost) finished product!
Base color:




Final color!

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

Complications arise, and I don't get to do any airbrush work like I wanted, but here are a couple pics with the clear on

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

Couple more