Ade's Custom Bike Finale

Hello and welcome to Alex's Blog. This week is the grand finale of Ade's Custom Bike Build blog. I am going to hand over to the very capable Ade (the manager of our Oakmere store) who has been building his own bike. You can read his previous blogs on part 1, part 2 and part 3.

So now we are in the final stages and I knew exactly how I wanted the finished article to look. All the bits that needed spraying had been sprayed, all the bits that needed chopping had been chopped and it all ready for the final assembly.

A particular bit that I had been worried about was the rear shock. It looked like it had been buried at the bottom of the ocean for the past 25 years. I dismantled it and spent hours (and I mean HOURS) cleaning and getting rid of the crud that seemed to be baked on.

Amazingly the seals were still perfect and it wasn't leaking any oil at all. Hats off to Yamaha for that one! Out came the rattle cans again, I decided to paint the spring red and the rest of the body black. I think you'll agree that the finished product looks pretty smart.

A real shocker.

Cleaned and painted.

Now I was ready to bolt it all back together. This was definitely my favourite part of the build because I knew that within a couple of days I would be taking it on its maiden test ride.

The only bit that was still niggling away at me was that I had ordered a digital clock to replace the five-piece display standard instrument panel and wiring has never been one of my strong points. However, a couple of hours (and a few blown fuses) later the clock was on and not only did it look great it worked fantastically as well! (Even if I do say so myself).

Original Panel.

New Digital Clock.

Instead of the standard speedo drive the new clock worked off a magnetic pick up sensor. It did need programming with the radius of the wheel and I did wonder how accurate this would be.

Everything was going smoothly, I was especially pleased with the two-tone fuel tank which was gloss black and matt black as originally I was going to go with a brushed aluminium wrapped tank - so this change of plan actually worked out a lot better and in my opinion was a massive improvement. However now that I was going black, the fuel cap stood out like a sore thumb with it being silver. I opted for a black keyless quick fill race style fuel filler. It looked trick.

Now I set to with bolting everything back together. As previously stated I had fabricated some new side panels and made all the under tray to mount the electronics to which were neatly hidden beneath the seat

When it came to building the exhaust I wanted something that sounded deep but not offensive. I wanted something that that rumbled and fitted in with the look of the bike. I removed the massive standard silencers. cutting and rewelding the pipes to fit on some after-market silencers which were about a third of the size and tenth of the weight of the standard ones. Because of the large diameter centres these gave the exact tone I was aiming for. As it turned out it didn't affect the performance, ie no flat spots and no lags.

So, with the lights all working, digital clock all working and everything bolted back together the bike was finally ready for its test ride!

Because of my uncertainty with the accuracy of the speedo I temporarily mounted my mobile phone to the handlebars and used the sat nav to give me an accurate reading on my speed. As it happened I needn't have worried as it was mile per hour PERFECT. I was feeling pretty smug. The bike rode great, sounded great with the home made custom exhaust, all in all I was (and am) happy with the end product.

At some points I did wonder is this going to work? Is it worth it? and there was definitely some walk away for a couple of days and leave it moments, but I am so glad I did stick with it. This was a real labour of love and a big learning curve. I would definitely do something like this again and if I am honest I am already planning something...watch this space.

Here's a video of Ade talking you round his labour of love:

Until next time, stay safe

Alex