REAR WHEEL VENTS

[DgM]

Wondering if anyone out there has ever opened up the cast but closed 'vents' on the rear wheel.  Would allow much air in and out, seems like there is enough metal surrounding to not weaken wheel.  Surely someone has done this.  Right?

[caci]

I spend an inordinate amount of time at Perry's Motorcycles and Sidecars.  I've seen several of his Cafe Racers and he ventilates the rear brakes by cutting away the flange that surrounds the final drive.  He also drills holes in the hubs of SPOKED wheels.  I don't remember seeing a cast wheel that has been drilled/cut out.

Obviously, if you ride in real nasty weather/slop, you'll have to stay on top of cleaning your brakes if you decide to open what amount to "dust covers" - but you should really benefit from additional cooling and not compromise any structural integrity (at least with the flange removal method).

I'm not sure about punching the wheels, but if you stay conservative, you probably will be safe

I spotted a final drive that he had just finished "trimming" and polishing in the restoration shop today and will check with Perry to see if he'll let me take a few photos.

He's got an unbelievable R100S in the showroom that he recently completed and for some reason, the customer wants to sell the bike.
Its "Cafe'd" out with his solo seat, compact LED T/S, trick bar-end mirrors, and a beautiful Blue and White paint scheme in the Motorsports colors.  It has a matching Metallic Blue POWDER COATED frame, engine covers and centerstand, as well as the Motosport roundels.  I believe he said that the worked-over engine was around 100 HP (maybe slightly more).  Also has a Staintune exhaust.  It DOES have the flange removed for rear brake cooling.

Regards,

Chris

[drewboid]

Are your rear brakes fading due to overheating? If not then why mess with something that is not broken? More openings mean more places for rain to get in and that will really cause your brakes to fade!
Beter to try a different brake shoe material if you are having a problem.
Yes - I did add a second disk to the front of the R65 and have the materials to add one to the R75/6. Disk brakes are much less subject to fading.
YMMV - just my thoughts on the subject.

[Bengt_Phorqs]

Cris, keep in mind that Perry does what he does mostly for beauty and one off machines, not daily riders.  His work is second to none, but I kind of doubt much of the work he does nowadays sees a lot of road time.  

So when are we going to see some snaps of your "new" bike?

[caci]

Bengt,

True dat.  I'll query him on any detriments with the cut away flanges.  

I'm not so sure that anything that would "goop" the cut open drum brake, wouldn't have also fouled the stock configuration.  In either case, it would probably help to cut several diagonal gooves in the brake lining.  These should be about 1/2 the depth of new, full thickness lining and will help to channel water from between the shoes and the drum - much like siping on tires  

I posted these about 10 days ago...







I've since added new Lasertecs and shortened the rear turn signal stalks  - notice how the left one is tweaked?

I am now in the process of modding the seat to a solo configuration.  I was just going to re-cover the worn vinyl with leather - til I saw Marc's post!

I'm going to try something a little different, in that I'm going to continue  the lines of the rear cowl.  This will result in a truncated top on the backrest.

I will post pics of the process when complete.

Regards,

Chris

[steven m]

Wow!  Your bike looks great.  My rear turn signal bar was tweaked as well.  Pulled it off and straightened it in about ten minutes.  Cover it with padding and give it a couple of gentle whacks.  The removal and reinstallation took longer than the repair.

Your wheels look like they've been stripped.  Did you clear coat them afterwards?

Steve

[caci]

Steve,

Thanks.  I think that the wheels have original silver paint.  I know that Red (my original color) LS's came with White wheels, but I've seen a lot of variations - Black fork sliders, Silver fork sliders - High bars, Low bars, etc., etc.

Regarding the rear turn signals - they were really hangin' out in the wind and I think they'll last a lot longer "bobbed".

Chris

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Now THAT is a beautiful LS, Chris!  I'm sorry I missed your first posting.

Is that how you bought it?
I was just wondering if that was hand pin striping.  It is nice, whatever!

Do you not have any intention of carrying a passenger with the new seat?
I could see that bike with 'S' bars and rearsets...

[caci]

Rob,

Thanks for the compliment.  

Yeah, basically this is how I bought it.  It has an "OK" paint job, with hand painted pinstripes.

There were several chips on the tank, nacelle & rear cowl.  I've touched most of those up.  The worst was the left side of the nacelle - lots of diagonal scratches which had globs of touch-up paint on them.

I color sanded with 2000 & 2500 grit paper, which knocked off the paint globs.  I then used swirl remover to polish out the sanding marks (very shallow).  I managed to wipe out part of the stripe, but overall the "bad" spot looked much better than before.

I am NOT a painter, but have gotten pretty good at using a rotary buffer to remove scratches.  We have a great Auto Paint supply in Ft. Worth - Taylor Supply, on E. Belknap St.

We were able to match the pinstripe color with a DupliKote touch up for Toyota.  I just masked off the stripe along the length of the fairing and applied about 5 light coats of the touch up paint.  I only wiped off about 1 1/2", but where the bike had been dropped, there were several scratches across the stripes, to the black,

I let that dry a day, then sanded it with 2000 & 2500 - with the tape still in place.  The tape is 3M Painters tape - low tack and easily removable after several days.
Then buffed it with Meguire's Swirl Remover, then finally with their Machine Glaze (they also make a Hand Glaze for those who don't own/don't want to operate a buffer). It looks passable, although I've still got to fill a couple of the original scratches.

[caci]

Continued...

As far as the seat goes, I am not planning on toting anyone around (already removed the pass. pegs).  I am "portly" and have allowed myself plenty of length on the solo seat.

I cut a bulkhead from cabinet grade plywood and am skinning the rear of the seat with aluminum - bridging the flanges on the seat pan to the plywood.

I'll get a small stowage space by doing it this way, accessible from the bottom.

I'm going to shave the remaining seat foam for a flat profile and install a gel insert (many kits available on e-bay - might buy one of those).

I have a nice, heavy piece of cowhide, about the same weight as a premium jacket (think Vanson).  I'll get someone to sew up the cover for me and would like to install it myself.

I'm actually working on the seat now and will try to throw a couple of pics to the forum.

Thanks,

Chris