A Change is as Good as a Rest - 911 Back to Stock Look

OK well I've now owned my 911 Carrera 3.2 for over 15 years. One of the very first things I did was put on a ducktail spoiler. The ducktail is my absolute favourite Porsche spoiler design and if I couldn't have a 1974 Carrera RS, I figured I could at least make my shorthood '85 911 kinda sorta look like one. So I did, and kept it that way for almost 15 years.

But I've been kind of jonesing to do something to change up the look of my car. I have a set of Ruf-replica 17" wheels in the garage but those really wouldn't go with the ducktail would they? So I decided to revert the car back to its stock look. Well nearly - I'm not removing the front chin spoiler that I added when I put on the ducktail.

Anyway here are some photos of the car as it sits now. Very different than the ducktail look, but I like it. Although many enthusiasts go into hysterics at the thought of having a spoiler at the front or rear without having BOTH front and rear spoilers, I don't think it'll make any appreciable difference in the type of driving I do. I did say at the last Cars & Coffee that I could feel the lack of downforce at the rear end at 80km/h though :-D

 

I have to say that it was a bit of a faff replacing the decklid by myself though. It does take some alignment and a third or fourth hand would have been welcome, especially with the floating shims etc. that have to be lined up. Also, for anyone else doing this - PLEASE make sure to install the grille on the decklid BEFORE you put the decklid on the car. Ask me how I know.

Fortunately the stock decklid didn't seem to suffer significant ill effects from sitting in the garage for 15 years. The Carrera script got brittle and the tail on the terminal "a" did break off, but superglue fixed that well enough for me.

So there you have it, back to stock. Comments from my fellow PCA'ers have generally been positive but I know Bruce T. will be gutted, he always talked about how much he loved the ducktail. However there's at least one other G-body with a ducktail in the Region now so that should do :-)

Spec-1 SP67GBZ Alloy Wheels for the GTI

So! It's been awhile but I wanted to post some photos of the new boots I got for the GTI. These are Spec-1 Racing SP-67GBZs in 18x8, shod in Sailun Iceblazer tires.

I actually needed a new set of winter wheels for the car as the 18" Lizea soft-alloy wheels I'd had since the S3 had completely given up. Winnipeg's potholes finally damaged one wheel to the extent that it was losing about 10-15lb or more of air overnight, and I was getting pretty tired of airing it up on a daily basis. So off I went to find some new wheels. I'd have gone 17" but two of the 18" tires on the car were still OK (the others were bulged like crazy) so I kept my search to 18" wheels.

I found these nice Spec-1 alloys in 18x8 with correct backspacing and bolt pattern for my VW. The best price was from Wheel Haven in Ontario but DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM. I ordered the wheels off their website but after the sale was made they didn't answer emails and their voicemail box was full. After three weeks I cancelled the order and noticed that the pending Visa charge had been reversed. Good riddance.

Next up was Grizzly Trucks in Edmonton, another Spec-1 dealer. What a difference in the customer experience. They answered my email inquiry very quicklyand when I emailed that I was ready to order, Manny called me on the phone and we got it done. The shipping was free and the wheels arrived by UPS literally three days later. Talk about great service.

The wheels do look sharp don't they? I decided to try gloss bronze as I'd never had gold wheels before and I reckoned they'd look good with the dark grey paintwork. I think I was right, certainly much more eye-catching than black wheels.

The boxes arrived on Friday and my local tire shop was able to get me in the next day for the install. The fit is great without the spacers I was using on the stock wheels. All set now for the last couple months of winter. Oh and here's what Winnipeg does to alloy wheels :-(

Flashback: 1975 Honda CB400F Cafe Racer!

Well here's a blast from the past: my old 1975 Honda CB400F cafe racer. I was recently reminded of this machine by my buddy Rick, the local CB400F guru. More on that later.

I don't remember where I got the bike but I'm pretty sure it was cheap. It certainly had a few cosmetic challenges too. I got it when we were at the old house, probably around 2003 or so...? The point of picking it up was to build a low-budget vintage cafe racer.

Anyway it did spend quite a bit of its early time with me in pieces in the enclosed front porch. I got a set of ace bars for it and some headlight ears to drop the headlight down lower. That's one of my pet peeves on vintage Hondas; the headlight sits too high up. I like the look to be long and low, and this is as low as the headlight would go without major mods.

I'm pretty sure I replaced the silencer and I did cut back the rear fender and re-cover the seat. Alloy mini turnsignals got added, as well as a set of "Superbike" grips (didn't everyone have a set of those? At least mine were back and not pink or something).

I didn't do much real mechanical work to the bike. Unfortunately though the "bulletproof" Honda engine packed up with a terminal problem. However the local shop I used (Motor Parts on Arlington Street, long since defunct) came to the rescue with a parts bike that donated its engine to this bike. The parts bike only cost a couple hundred bucks and I even got to keep the frame. The tank might have come from it too, I can't remember.

After getting its new engine the bike ran pretty well and I rode it around town and on short rides out to Headingley. I had fun pretending I was off to the Ace Cafe wearing my leather jacket, pudding basin helmet and goggles. Pam liked it too, especially the flat seat. She said it was her favourite of all my bikes.

My recollection is that I sold the bike around 2006 when I got my Ducati 900SS/SP. Three bikes were too many back then as I had the Hawk GT and no garage. And I was able to re-home the parts bike frame by giving it to Rick the 400F guru. Recently I had to give him a hand registering that frame as part of a very cool custom endurance racer he just finished, I had to swear an affidavit saying where I got it etc. Pretty easy but it was a bit of a pain for Rick to have to do that.

I listed the 400F on kijiji and a guy came from Toronto pretty promptly to see it, he was an airline pilot I think. Anyway I think I was asking $1,500 for the bike and got it - the machine went back East on a railway car. I hope it's still riding around somewhere. It was a good, and a good-looking, machine.

 

Arai Regent-X and More Hawk GT Pics

So after nearly 35 years of motorcycling I've finally bought a premier-class helmet. Don't get me wrong - I've always tried to buy quality (on a budget), after getting my first full-face helmet for $10 at a second-hand store in Brandon, Manitoba (true story but not recommended)...

My first decent helmet was an FM (remember them?) bought from a bike shop on Dundas St. W. in Toronto back in the early '90s. Scott Russell had one and I liked the brand. Since then I've owned HJCs and a pair of really sharp Icons, one of which was originally owned by moto-journalist and Hawk-lister "Double-A-Ron" Aaron Frank. That one was in the memorable "Technicolor Puke" colourway, was given to Aaron by Icon and worn at the launch of the Kawasaki ZX-10R in Malaysia. I said at the time that the helmet will have gone faster on Aaron's head than it ever would on mine...

Anyway I've always been partial to the Arai brand. I think you're either a Shoei person or an Arai person and Arai has always been my favourite - Kevin Schwantz, Mick Doohan and "yer maun" Joey Dunlop wore them and that just about convinced me. So after all these years and miles I finally decided to buy one last year. This is the Regent-X, the entry-level Arai and one positioned by the company as most suitable for "western" (i.e. white guy) head shapes. But even though it's an entry-level helmet it benefits from all of the hand-finishing and quality work that goes into all Arais (have a Google if you want more info about their helmet construction processes).

I've taken a medium in every helmet I've owned and the Arai is no exception (fortunately I was able to try one for size at a local shop) but I bought it online as said local shop couldn't bring in this colourway for me. It's the "Rock Multi" and I love the colours - so bright. Plus you get all kinds of cool Japanese goodies in the box, including some Arai stickers and lubricant for the shield mechanism.

I'm really pleased with the helmet. The paint quality is sublime, the interior materials are luxurious and comfortable - it's just a great helmet. It's reasonably quiet on the road and the fit is pretty much perfect. The only thing I need to get used to is opening and closing the shield - it has a funky lever mechanism that takes a little getting used to. But I'm so glad I bought it.

The first long ride I took in the Arai was on the Hawk GT along my usual 50km route south of the city, with a stop for photos at the usual spot,

What a lovely machine and I'm so happy with how it's come together, The paint looks great and the bike moves along very nicely for a 650cc twin. The last thing I've got planned is installing the CBR900RR shock, the main benefit of which will be to increase the rear ride height a bit. It's needed for sure, as even a person of "average height" like me (!) finds the seat to peg distance pretty tight. But raising the rear will lift the seat and increase that distance a bit, which will be great.

GTI Gets New Suspenders!

Praise the Lowered! My 2024 GTI 380 Autobahn is back from the shop. H&R Sport springs and CTS Turbo wheel spacers are installed and man, it looks good doesn't it?

I'm not sure what it is about stock VWs, but they come from the factory riding like 4x4s. My Reflex Silver MK5 rode high, my Carbon Steel Grey MK7 rode high, and this Dolphin Grey MK8 rode high too - but no more.

My local specialists Speed Factor Racing recommended H&R Sport springs to work with the GTI's DCC adaptive suspension. They were about $100 more expensive than the CTS Turbo set I'd had my eye on, but I'd had H&Rs on my MK5 and they were good, so I went that way. 

The spacers from CTS Turbo were quite inexpensive, came with wheel bolts, and had good reviews. I went with the recommended combo of 10mm front and 15mm rear.

The H&Rs have settled down to pretty much a perfect ride height I think - the car looks really good.

Got the obligatory (for me anyway) country-coded decal on - D for Deutschland. But it's not exactly a decal on the car - as with past cars I stuck the decal on thin magnet material so I can stick and unstick it from the car. Handy when you want to wash the car.

It does look pretty purposeful with the springs and spacers doesn't it!

The 380 Autobahn GTIs only come with a six-speed manual transmission and these pretty fancy gloss black Golf R wheels. 

You can see those meaty 235-section tires pushed out to the edges of the bodywork. I think the MK8 is as good-looking as any previous generation GTI.

Anyway that's it for showing off the springs and spacers. The ride is noticeably firmer than stock and there is ZERO body roll in the corners. So that's the suspension done, save for some adjustment of the DCC damping. Next up? Not sure. The guys at Speed Factor have been talking up the new APR tune package for the car, over 325hp and 390lb-ft of torque, all on regular fuel. That sounds tempting for about $700. Power certainly doesn't come any cheaper than that. I'll keep you posted!

Hawk GT is Done!

Well I reckon the Hawk GT project is done! The panels are back from Brandon the painter and fitted to the bike. I applied the gold striping and decals myself. I think it looks pretty good in the RC30 colour scheme.

The colour blocks even line up pretty well, which was a concern if I'm honest. The gold stripes set off the colours nicely don't they.

I figure this would be a good time to go over all the work that was done, before I forget!

• RC31 fairing, brackets, headlight kit (Facebook Hawk group)
• Bodywork and paint by Brandon Graham, local painter
• Powdercoated wheels (Villain Motorsports)
• Dunlop GPR-300 Tires - 110/80 and 160/60R17 (Fortnine)
• Stainless steel brake line (Facebook Hawk group)
• Rear wheel hubcap (Hawk GT Forum), painted by me
• Clip-on bars (Chinese, eBay)
• F1 mirrors (eBay from the UK)
• Seat cover (eBay, installed by Guy Anthony)
• Battery (Fortnine)
• Fuel filler cap restored by me
• Fork lowers sanded by me, much improved!
• Honda decals (Honda-decals.com); tank wings and stripes (eBay)

This cap is funny story. I posted on the Forum looking for one and some joker said he'd sell me one for $45 or something. Then I got a message from another user offering me one for free. Nice!

The striping was mostly straightforward but getting it round the curves was a bit tricky. Hairdryer heat helped.
 

Here's what we started with last year. Good mechanicals but poor cosmetics. The fairing was all cut up, the PO had trimmed it back to fit raised bars but that meant no top bracket and wobbly mounting...

This was fixed with the fresh vintage RC31 kit, it came with all the brackets and even the original paperwork from Two Brothers Racing, pretty cool.

Takes you back doesn't it! Although I still have a couple things to do on the bike (the horn stopped working, not sure why) it's pretty much done. I had it out for a ride over to my photo spot tonight and fortunately it fired right up with some gas added to the freshly painted tank. Man is it ever tiny though - the seat is so low it feels like a cruiser, next to the R1 or even the Buell XB9R. Fortunately I've got an old-school 900RR shock modded to fit the Hawk GT. My old Hawk GT had a 900RR shock too and it was a great mod, really improved the ride and usefully increased the rear ride height. Anyway I'll likely get that fitted this summer at some point. Then it will REALLY be done :-)

Cheers!