H1, Chapter 2

I finally was able to make some progress. I got a lot taken apart so I can start cleaning and refurbishing. This whole putting the bike in the basement idea is a super good one, I didn't have to put my snowsuit on to go work on it :)  I only had one stuck cylinder I'll have to make a tool for, everything else came apart remarkably well given it's age.

I know where my seat needs to be, but I wasn't sure how and where I wanted the fender. So, I had some Photoshop fun. The tank suits it MUCH better with the Cafe style seat and fender.  I also moved the headlight and gauge pod down.  Here's my "artist's" rendition of the picture in my head.

It was Christmas Eve, and I was all alone. Ice storm canceled my plane for me. "What should do with a day all to myself?" I asks. "Work on the H1 of course!" I quickly replied. I soon realized that I was talking to myself and should probably seek help. But the Kaw was more enticing, so I got more stuff done. My one stuck cylinder is getting annoying, I've tried all the recommended tricks, and it just won't come off.  So I quit and went back to the bodywork. I got the seat and rear bodywork roughly mocked up.

The Photoshop is nice, but actually physically seeing it, even in plywood and cardboard, give a much better feel for how it's going to work, and I could start figuring out how I wanted to mount and hinge the seat.

The seat is right where I want it for my height and preferred riding position, and it's reasonably comfortable.  I had one criteria for the fender, it had to hold a can of starting fluid. This one is just big enough. I think I want to make it a little longer though.

Although I'm pretty good with sheetmetal, my plan is to make my fender and seat pan out of fiberglass. I want the seat to be able to hinge up so I've still got storage space in the fender, so it'll need to be multiple pieces. Fiberglass is just easier to work with for what I want to do(I also didn't have a welder at home at the time).

Legend has it that when Cortez set off to conquer the Aztecs, he burned his ships so that retreat wasn't an option, no turning back. I'm at the point of no return on the H1. The rear section of the frame is in my way.  It is too long and sticks out past where I wanted my fender to stop.  Out comes the sawzall :)  I whacked it off just in front of the blinker tab.  You should have heard the H1 purists on the Kawasaki Triples forum howl about how I was desecrating such a piece of history.  I was entertained by how mad people got about what I wanted do with MY motorcycle...

The next step in my fender making process was to make myself a block of foam to start carving. 2" polystyrene foam from Menards and some Gorilla Glue later, I had a pretty good size block...

Next came the fun part, shaping the foam. It should be noted that this makes a heck of a mess, and it's a sticky mess because foam loves static electricity. It also sucks to breath it, and scratches like hell if you get it in your eyes. Fiberglass and bondo dust have nothing on foam dust.

I rough roughed in the outside with a wood saw, using my cardboard pieces as templates. I also had the shop vac on right next to where I was grinding/sanding to help keep the dust under control. I started with my 4.5" grinder and carved away the bottom a little at a time so it would sit down on the frame how I wanted it to. Then I started on the top. I got the shape roughed in with the grinder, then shaped it further with sandpaper. Still a lot of shaping left to do, but it's getting there.