CaptainSlow's R65 log

[CaptainSlow]

Bagged an R80RT monoshock tank this afternoon -







As I'll be painting it white I'm not too bothered about the scratches. It seems to be in fine fettle. A bit of jiggery pokery and it'll fit just fine... I hope lol.

Bruce, if you read this - thanks for your write up on fixing the spinning fuel cap... yep mine failed to open today   Do you think she knows whats coming over the horizon???!  

[CaptainSlow]

Had a couple of hours to myself yesterday so I had a play! First thing was to give that new tank a further check over. I initially thought that it had a nasty rust patch in the recess in the filler neck - luckily it turns out that it isn't as bad as I thought and won't need welding - phew!



So it was onto the test fitting. I'd read on here that any monolever tank should fit an R65, but not having seen any pics of such a tank I was still a bit concerned. This is the underside view of a mono R80 tank -



You can clearly see the shape of the tank and where it'll clear the under tank electrics - so I won't have to relocate everything!  

However... the front mounting bar is at a different height - a quick measurement indicates possibly 40mm difference -



... so that'll need relocating. I think I'll modify the tank rather than the frame - as I've said previously, I want my project to be totally reversible as although the bike is in barely average condition it is easily savable and a bit of effort could make it a show winner.

Anyway, this is the R80 tank on the LS -



Fits nicely, and the LS seat aligns to the rear of the R80 tank pretty well too. Not sure what I'll be doing with the seat yet so this will buy some time  

Next up was the handlebars. I picked up an R80RT handlebar a while ago for just GBP7.00 - at that price I wasn't too bothered about whether I'd use them or not. I later won one of the desirable K75C bars on ebay.

This is the R65LS bar, K75C bar and R80RT bar for comparison (top to bottom):



The R65LS bars are a tad too low for my liking hence me looking around for an alternative. The R80RT bars are much more comfy, but very wide, so I put the K75C bars on - I think something a bit taller would be nice, but with the wind taking the load of my wrists when riding I'm sure these'll be just fine  



As you can see I also removed the fairing as I never really liked it. I've boxed it up for safe keeping and will be going with the traditional look, possibly with a fly screen like on my old Guzzi. The instruments will also go, to be replaced by an Acewell unit most likely.

In the meantime, I have one carb off and partially cleaned - hopefully I'll have both cleaned and rebuilt by the end of today   Progress is sporadic, but days like yesterday keep the spirits up  

[montmil]

That's an excellent photo compro of the handlebars. We frequently read about owner changes in handlebars from bike-to-bike but without a photo, much is lost in translation.

Those 80RT bars look like they might fit with a street tracker look.

Thanks [smiley=beer.gif]

[CaptainSlow]

They feel very wide I have to say. I took a few more pics of the bars which I've merged here - I was hoping to show the differences from a rider viewpoint but it didn't come out too well lol. The good intention was there  

[littledave]

hi sam
it looks like you have a great bike to start from with your project im sure you will end up with a really nice bike look forward to seeing how it comes on good luck

[MR.E]

Sam

Bars look good, think I'd go for the wider option, but I like wide bars
Starting to come together nicely

[CaptainSlow]

I think I've got the colour scheme decided now... I was after a smokey grey and saw an Alfa in a car park - THAT was the colour !



Its called Titanio and is a smokey grey with a hint of brown. So its going to be that colour including the wheels, over a red frame with red pin stripes  [smiley=thumbsup.gif] Can't wait to get the project started properly now!

[CaptainSlow]

I haven't updated the build for a while because to be honest there has been no progress!   Partly because I've had so little time, but also because I'm in a real quandary - I can't make my mind up what to do.

Most people who hear that I'm considering a pseudo cafe style overhaul are horrified because the LS is so original and relatively straight... and I have to admit to having doubts myself now. While I will be changing the colour whatever happens, and I'll be keeping the K75C bars on of course, I might just keep the LS standard in all other regards.

So the decision I've made is to wait until I've made a decision   In the meantime I really need to get those carbs cleaned and rebuilt  

[montmil]

It's your bike, Sam, so you are the final authority on what's done or undone on your LS. It's also your money and time.

Unless you plan to chop up the chassis, most everything else would be alterations that could always revert back to stock. Save the removed OEM bits. No problem. Customized motorcycles are fine so go with your head and heart.

Check out marcmax's R65 for some way cool mods. Very tasty, it is.

[nhmaf]

I once saw an LS that was painted in somewhat of a dark blue/gunmental gray metallic color - it was very striking/attractive.  Otherwise, the body parts, etc. were all still stock.

[CaptainSlow]

It's your bike, Sam, so you are the final authority on what's done or undone on your LS. It's also your money and time.

Unless you plan to chop up the chassis, most everything else would be alterations that could always revert back to stock. Save the removed OEM bits. No problem. Customized motorcycles are fine so go with your head and heart.

Check out marcmax's R65 for some way cool mods. Very tasty, it is.

Thanks Monte, appreciate that. I've seen marcmax's ride and its fantastic - he's done an amazing job. I know the LS isn't a particularly rare bike yet, but I don't want to contribute to its future demise either.

Time to get off the fence and do something then. Its back to Plan A - and I now know where I'm going with the bike at last. No fairing, single seat, old skool  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Thanks to you both.