Nightster Winter Makeover
#512
The black bolts look perfect on that sprocket, silver colored would have spoiled the effect. That sprocket sure looks bigger than it did in previous pics. The Wilwood disk looks neat, wonder how the coating will hold up; guess you'll be able to tell us soon. Know what you mean about the cams, have found them off a tooth or two in cars before. Like your tires; I just got a new pair for my sporty and haven't put them on yet, here's a pic, you can see why I like yours. Sure hope they grip better than the old Dunlops.
#513
The rotors wont look good for long. Dont know if you remember but I bought a set for mine. Did the front first cause I was waiting for a rear tire and figured Id install the rear when I did the tire. Once I got around to the rear thats when I found out my rear rotor is a different size. But I did have the front on for about 25 miles. Dont know why it didnt occur to me but of course metal cant be black all the way through. The rotor was normal rotor color where the pads rubbed.......looked like crap IMO. I put my OEMs back on.
#514
The rotors wont look good for long. Dont know if you remember but I bought a set for mine. Did the front first cause I was waiting for a rear tire and figured Id install the rear when I did the tire. Once I got around to the rear thats when I found out my rear rotor is a different size. But I did have the front on for about 25 miles. Dont know why it didnt occur to me but of course metal cant be black all the way through. The rotor was normal rotor color where the pads rubbed.......looked like crap IMO. I put my OEMs back on.
#515
Right on man. The swing arm bolts, shock bolts are especially ugly. And I couldn't see blacking out the wheels, powder coating the rear sprocket and buying new black discs, and then using shiney metal bolts on the wheels. Here's the rear wheel all blacked out. All the powder coated hardware held up fine.
Finished reassembling the motor.
Then there was the frame...went to pick it up. As I walked in the powder guy was swearing up a storm. Just before I walked in he was waxing it, final step before wrapping it up so I could take it home, and he or someone there put a scratch just below the steering head on one of the down tubes, right on the outside where it would be hugely visible. He was beside himself. The thing looked gorgeous, perfect, except for that small but highly noticeable scratch. So they're going to do the whole thing over again. Said I could probably pick it up on Friday.
One thing I wanted to mention about the cam cover, for anyone who might be thinking about chopping it or just taking it off to have it powdercoated or painted. Most of the motorheads will know this of course, but for those that may not be aware, when you pull the cover you have to be extremely careful about the cam gears...they will slide out with the cover if you're not careful. If they do slide out, even a little bit, make sure when you push them back in you get them in exactly the same position they were in before you started. And if there's any doubt, pull out the manual and check the alignment against the cam gear diagram. All the gears have registration/alignment marks on them. Put a socket on gear 5, rotate the engine until they are in proper position and make sure the marks line up as shown.
This happened to me when I took the cover off after painting the engine. I was afraid they got out of alignment so I checked and sure enough I was off by two teeth on one of the gears. It pays to check.
Hopefully, I get the newly coated frame on Friday. I truly hope it looks as good as it did today, minus the scratch. Damn it was beautiful.
Finished reassembling the motor.
Then there was the frame...went to pick it up. As I walked in the powder guy was swearing up a storm. Just before I walked in he was waxing it, final step before wrapping it up so I could take it home, and he or someone there put a scratch just below the steering head on one of the down tubes, right on the outside where it would be hugely visible. He was beside himself. The thing looked gorgeous, perfect, except for that small but highly noticeable scratch. So they're going to do the whole thing over again. Said I could probably pick it up on Friday.
One thing I wanted to mention about the cam cover, for anyone who might be thinking about chopping it or just taking it off to have it powdercoated or painted. Most of the motorheads will know this of course, but for those that may not be aware, when you pull the cover you have to be extremely careful about the cam gears...they will slide out with the cover if you're not careful. If they do slide out, even a little bit, make sure when you push them back in you get them in exactly the same position they were in before you started. And if there's any doubt, pull out the manual and check the alignment against the cam gear diagram. All the gears have registration/alignment marks on them. Put a socket on gear 5, rotate the engine until they are in proper position and make sure the marks line up as shown.
This happened to me when I took the cover off after painting the engine. I was afraid they got out of alignment so I checked and sure enough I was off by two teeth on one of the gears. It pays to check.
Hopefully, I get the newly coated frame on Friday. I truly hope it looks as good as it did today, minus the scratch. Damn it was beautiful.
#517
The black bolts look perfect on that sprocket, silver colored would have spoiled the effect. That sprocket sure looks bigger than it did in previous pics. The Wilwood disk looks neat, wonder how the coating will hold up; guess you'll be able to tell us soon. Know what you mean about the cams, have found them off a tooth or two in cars before. Like your tires; I just got a new pair for my sporty and haven't put them on yet, here's a pic, you can see why I like yours. Sure hope they grip better than the old Dunlops.
#518
#520
Not sure what you had before the 150 but I know on mine the meaty tire wants to stay where it is. More effort to get it to lean over. But now that Im used to it I dont notice it.