I also removed the rear wheel and did a cleanup and polish, removing 37 years of road crud and oxidation. The wheels are is amazing shape and both look really good now.

Also tried my hand at a little leather work as well - well not really - The new custom seat I ordered from Birdman's is awesome and built to my specifications but after seeing it on the bike I decided it needed a bit of contrast to make the awesome leather tooling pop…….so I used a black permanent marker that I have used before on leather (this **** really is permanent) and darkened the lettering and the eyes on the skull, now it is easier to read and the eyes on the skull sort of pop out at you when you first see it. There is a before and after posted below. I like this better (and it is my seat:-)

 

looks like the bike is really comin along

i might steal a few of your ideas is you dont mind and use them on my 80'
i reaaly like the license plate tail tight , seat and those grips

and i was thinking of doing something similar to the rear fender

classic bobber

 

Thanks Hell Hound, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all I am doing is imitating what I have seen other guys do over the years, so if what I am doing can inspire someone to do something on their own build, well that feels pretty good:-)
I can give you details as to where I got some of these rad parts if you need em.

 

keep posting pictures looking good I did the same with the straps on mine for the battary

 

Thanks 98glider, I have only seen it done a few times (only in pics, never in person) and like the look just not sure about the big buckle on these straps. Could you post a couple of pics of your bike with the battery strap and let me see how you did yours - still trying to figure out the best way to get the straps to work. Thanks man.

 

Well I finally had some time to start prepping my chrome wheels for the Fire Red paint that I found that looks like the perfect colour for my Hot Rod Bobber look.

I degreased the wheels first using a common degreasing spray. I had used a lot of WD 40 and various metal polishes to make the spokes look as good as I could before painting so I knew there would be lots of greasy/oily stuff all over the wheels. I need to get that stuff off so the paint will stick to the roughed up chrome.

I then started trying to figure out the best way to rough up the chrome to accept the paint. I started using a couple of different grits of fine wet/dry sand paper but found that the best thing was a 50 grit emery cloth. I used that for all the larger areas then used a dremel tool for the small areas between some of the spokes where my fingers would not fit.

 

So once I had the chrome scuffed up enough I degreased the wheels again. The whole sanding of the wheels was a real pain in the *** but it had to be done and hopefully done right.
A couple of beers really helped the sanding process feel less painful too:-)

I started taping the spoke nipples one by one, and then taped off the rest of the spokes and hub. I used a **** load of tape and I ran out and it was too late to get anymore so I improvised and used some Tuck tape from my last home reno job and that stuff worked great:-)

 

Once I had the wheels and tires properly taped off, I hit the wheels one more time with the degreaser and dried everything off then started to paint using the Rust Check Fire Red paint.

This paint does not need a primer and is supposed to bond with metal surfaces and provide a high gloss durable shine (we will see about that). It also dries really quick so coats can be applied after about ten minutes of drying time, with full hardening in 24 hours!

The first few coats of paint actually turned out really well, with just a few spots where there was still some grease/oil that caused a couple of fish eyes or spots where the paint didn't stick to the wheel.

 

So I let the Rust Check Paint dry for 24 hours and started to lightly sand the rims and clean up a few areas where there were some paint blemish (which I think was from oil or grease still on the wheel).

Then I started to put on an additional coat of Fire Red paint. After painting one full side of one wheel I could see that the paint was starting to wrinkle. $#@%^$ !!!!

I guess I put this second coat on too long after the first but not long enough after for the first coats to allow the fresh paint to fully cure. Live and learn I always say and thats why I am doing all of this fun stuff myself:-)

Anyway I stopped painting and will let the paint cure for at least another week before I try another coat. I have a couple of pictures of the wrinkled paint - once it dried today it wasn't all that bad so I should be able to sand it down and repaint that side next week, and finish the final coat on both wheels. Lets hope that is enough time to allow a full cure for this paint:-)

 

Good tip on the beer helpin with the paint prep. I have found that to be true also!!!!