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So this is a carry on from my last post of "Making the most of Honda's 500" going into detail of the mods done to my bike in it's full-fairing guise.
I had only just got the bike running how I'd wanted it; with engine, suspension, brakes all upgraded and mods done in the looks department. It was just the way I liked it, and then... A moment I'd sooner forget, saw me sliding along the road watching my bike on its side heading for a cliff. Thankfully the guardrail stopped the bike going over, and double thankfully, the bike hit the rail post at an angle that avoided any structural damage - the front fairings and headlight literally exploded on impact, but the frame suspension and most of the bits to the rear avoided any significant damage.
![72600]()
![72601]()
The insurance assessed it as a repairable write-off and within a couple of weeks I received the pay-out. After having the R for over 6yrs I had been developing an itch for something different, and with new found funds and the wrecked bike back in my garage; opportunity presented to do something different with my R instead of just rebuilding it to the way it was. So with a bit of googling for ideas and prices, I embarked on a little project to turn my R into something more Frankenstein than it was before (at last count it had parts from 7 different bikes).
The rebuild went quite smoothly, with the only real gripe being the postal delay due to covid; but some aspects I could still keep busy with while bits arrived. With all frontal damage removed, I was pleased to assess that there was very minimal damage to the rest of the bike.
- The left engine case got a quick sand and touch up
- Along with a very small scratch on the left rear fairing
- Plasti-welded one of the radiator fan clips
- I threw back on the stock hand and foot controls that I'd kept in the garage, as the left hand lever and peg were no longer any good.
- I had a spare pair of bar end weights to finish that aspect off
- The throttle cables both had been pinch crushed, and it would be 6 weeks later that those parts would arrive.
![72602]()
![72603]()
Next I got to work on the electrics, as wiring is always the biggest PITA to do. For a clean look I wanted to move all the wiring that was on the outside of the frame, previously hidden by the fairings, to be inboard. This turned out to be an easier task than I first though, as I had previously removed the PAIR system and blanked off the valve cover, there was actually plenty of room to re-route everything.
- The majority of wiring was routed on the left-hand side, with just the left bit of plastic that previously would've held the PAIR pump being snipped off to make way for the routing.
- I had in my 'things of random' stash a bunch of automotive zip-ties, the ones with the little clips on the ends, so that made it easy to do the routing.
Knowing heat and electrics don't go well together, the final days of the build also had me cut out a make-shift heatshield from an old fire blanket I'd been using to wrap some other junk up with, that would sit onto of the existing rubber item, but extend further to fully cover the valve cover.
With wiring tidied, I felt it needed something to blank off and hide where I'd tucked them. So to my scrap pile again (this will be a common theme, it was with this build I realised just now much useful "scrap" I actually do have!), I cut out some pieces of firm plastic sheeting and some automotive mesh, zip-tied together and bordered with some old fuel line.
![72604]()
![72607]()
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I had only just got the bike running how I'd wanted it; with engine, suspension, brakes all upgraded and mods done in the looks department. It was just the way I liked it, and then... A moment I'd sooner forget, saw me sliding along the road watching my bike on its side heading for a cliff. Thankfully the guardrail stopped the bike going over, and double thankfully, the bike hit the rail post at an angle that avoided any structural damage - the front fairings and headlight literally exploded on impact, but the frame suspension and most of the bits to the rear avoided any significant damage.
The insurance assessed it as a repairable write-off and within a couple of weeks I received the pay-out. After having the R for over 6yrs I had been developing an itch for something different, and with new found funds and the wrecked bike back in my garage; opportunity presented to do something different with my R instead of just rebuilding it to the way it was. So with a bit of googling for ideas and prices, I embarked on a little project to turn my R into something more Frankenstein than it was before (at last count it had parts from 7 different bikes).
The rebuild went quite smoothly, with the only real gripe being the postal delay due to covid; but some aspects I could still keep busy with while bits arrived. With all frontal damage removed, I was pleased to assess that there was very minimal damage to the rest of the bike.
- The left engine case got a quick sand and touch up
- Along with a very small scratch on the left rear fairing
- Plasti-welded one of the radiator fan clips
- I threw back on the stock hand and foot controls that I'd kept in the garage, as the left hand lever and peg were no longer any good.
- I had a spare pair of bar end weights to finish that aspect off
- The throttle cables both had been pinch crushed, and it would be 6 weeks later that those parts would arrive.
Next I got to work on the electrics, as wiring is always the biggest PITA to do. For a clean look I wanted to move all the wiring that was on the outside of the frame, previously hidden by the fairings, to be inboard. This turned out to be an easier task than I first though, as I had previously removed the PAIR system and blanked off the valve cover, there was actually plenty of room to re-route everything.
- The majority of wiring was routed on the left-hand side, with just the left bit of plastic that previously would've held the PAIR pump being snipped off to make way for the routing.
- I had in my 'things of random' stash a bunch of automotive zip-ties, the ones with the little clips on the ends, so that made it easy to do the routing.
Knowing heat and electrics don't go well together, the final days of the build also had me cut out a make-shift heatshield from an old fire blanket I'd been using to wrap some other junk up with, that would sit onto of the existing rubber item, but extend further to fully cover the valve cover.
With wiring tidied, I felt it needed something to blank off and hide where I'd tucked them. So to my scrap pile again (this will be a common theme, it was with this build I realised just now much useful "scrap" I actually do have!), I cut out some pieces of firm plastic sheeting and some automotive mesh, zip-tied together and bordered with some old fuel line.
--> cont...
