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Ok so first time I ever do this so I am bound to make mistakes!

Heres a few more pics

Pic 1

Started shaping the ‘thing’ by cutting an angle in the front and rear with a hacksaw

Pic 2

thing from a different angle

Pic 3

The filler foam has not completely set (more than 12 hours later!

Pic 4

Testing the shape on the bike

Pics 5,6,7,8

Batteries on the camera conked out so alot of shaping got done in between, decided I wanted to round the tail more so added more foam to get a single uninterrupted curve

Pics 9, 10, 11

Got some nice shape into the tail and checking it on the bike

Pic 12

little things on the front are an afterthought to extend the tail piece under the seat and make a smoother transition, getting ready to lay fibreglass

Pics 13, 14, 15

Grrrrr…. fibreglass resin eats away at the polystyrene, literally melting away all my hard work on shaping the tail, added to which I ran out of resin, talk about forward planning! now i need more resin, and probably going to have to build up the dips with body filler.

On the bright side, because of the foam and surviving polystyrene the tail piece is so stiff i was tempted to stand on it cos it felt so strong. And that with 1 layer of fibreglass!!

I have since started correcting the shape and added more fibreglass.

Posted under SR 500 Project Bike

I actually did this about 2 months ago, bbut am only posting it now!
Being bored I figured I would get started on the tail

So pic 1

Started out with some polystyrene (knew I kept this rubbish for a reason!!) Pushed a screw in each side to keep it together.

Pic 2

Top view as you can see the back looks REALLY wide, much too wide for my tastes

Pic 3

So after alot of jigging and looking and head scratching I actually cut a section off the back of the bikes frame, it was just pushing it too wide, a few extra pieces to help form the shape later. Spaced off the back wheel by another piece of polystyrene.

Pic 4

My supervisor making sure I am doing my job properly

Pic 5

Side view of the bits and bobs stuck together

Pic 6

Foam filler, to fill the big gaps between the polystyrene, says its easy to cut and sandable, lets hope

Pic7

Ready for filling

Pic 8

Top view, shoved some old paper in so I don’t waste foam

Pic 9

Side view after filling with foam

Pic 10

View from the back

Pic 11

Piccie of bike with chassis surgery complete

Pic 12

Showing how much I cut off

Pic 13 and 14

Ain’t she a beaut?!?!? Almost ready for paint
Can you see it though? hey?

The next day was a Sunday and I started cutting the basic shape out.

Posted under SR 500 Project Bike

Had this bike for a few years now, originally bought it to fix another SR I had that needed spares.

First piccie shows bike as I am starting with it, started a while back with cleaning uo the tank and prepping it for paint, but moved around a bit so the bike stood on one side for a few years.

Second piccie shows my perfectly sealed and airtight spray booth

Was hoping to spray primer but found that after a few months of standing my hardener had gone … hard.

3rd piccie, so just to stop the tank rusting again, I decided to use some old paint. By old I mean probably as old as me, got this paint from my uncle a few years ack and sprayed an XJ 650 the blue. Colours name is Ford Jewel Blue. You can’t make it out but the label is actuially printed in Afrikaans, whan was the last time you saw that??

In 4th piccie are the 3 fibreglass items I copied from the other SR I had, the side covers are my best achievement I think. The sprocket cover was made cos the bike did not have one and I was feeling adventurous with the fibreglass. It’s still quite rough so will be working on it for a while yet

5th photo shows the tank spayed and hopefully sealed against rust (on the outside) for a while.

6. My little quality inspector checking the finish.

7. Tank and panels on the bike, as you can see plenty of work to be done! Seat is again a fibreglass copy of the other SR’s seat base. Was covered but the upholsteres put the foam on the wrong way!

8. Piccie with the home made fibreglass sprocket cover, coil needs to be rewound, cos no spark.

Lastly. Hoping to end up with something along these lines, at least the tank and tail piece!

Posted under SR 500 Project Bike