Changing Tires, Making Progress While the Sun Mocks Me.

The closer you get, the more there is to do.  From the picture it may not look like I'm making progress, but I'm actually really doing great. Unfortunately it is sunny and 80 degrees this weekend and it would be perfect for a ride. (sigh) Oh well, inspiration to work harder.

As you can see the front fender is on. The wheel has a new tires on it and was masked and painted with Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy. Looks brilliant - almost like an old German bike lacquer finish. I took the brake caliper off and noticed a ton of brake dust coating it. I had already cleaned it once and so I suspect at leak either in the seals or in the brake line. So I'm replacing them both rather than expose the new paint to a potential brake fluid leak -- and my ass to brake failure. The line is brand new and braided, the caliper is off a 2010 VStar which means the seals will be 10 years younger than the mine.

Get the picture?

I also polished the front forks. Considered painting them all black, but they were so scuffed that I had to sand them down to get them smooth anyway, ended up liking the polished aluminum look and I'm going to leave them that way. Can always paint them next winter if I change my mind.
The tank is polishing up nice and there is no trace of the dent even when buffed and polished to a nice shine. Unfortunately, I did manage to put an all new scratch in another section of the tank. (DRAT!) Will repair that and put on more clear before the tank goes on, but it is nice to see how good it is going to look polished up. 

I bought a new lightbar off of eBay. Cheap, but not an exact fit. It will fit with a little drilling and should look good. Anyway, I'm getting excited and will be able to play around with all that stuff while I wait for my wheel paint to cure -- did I mention that this epoxy takes a week to cure? Yeah, that's the downside, but otherwise it looks great and is hella cheaper that powdercoat.

That back wheel if off and going to get the new tire on and balanced tomorrow. I also got new rear drum shoes because -- well, I have the back wheel off and I have no idea how old they are.  Why not start out with new brakes. Will change the fluid in the drive and lube the splines while I'm at it.

Do you see a dent? Nope. Looking good. 

Front wheel looks good. Like this Appliance Epoxy stuff.

One coat appliance epoxy. 

This is the look I'm going for.