Bodywork, Decals, Fasteners and the R1 is Back!

Well, here it is... just after the Victoria Day long weekend (May16-18 for those of you keeping score) and my net riding mileage this year is... less than one mile (I had the R1 out for a spin around the block to make sure all was OK after the winter layup and oil change).

Why no riding? For one thing, the weather has been garbage - it actually SNOWED last weekend! Secondly, there's been a bunch of other stuff that has taken up time. BUT, I have done some work on the R1 to get it ready, if summer ever comes. First off - the hundred-dollar oil change with Motul full-synthetic bright-green oil. Clever bottles, clever colour, not so clever price. Next - getting my repainted right lower fairing and buffed out tailsection back from Corydon Autobody. Wes is a top chap and biker's friend, he even delivered the panels on a weekend. Thanks Wes! After that, installing the repro decal from The Image Works on said lower panel. And lastly, bolting it all back up with shiny new fairing hardware from Speedy Fasteners.

The oil change went relatively smoothly, except for the most important part - removing the drain bolt. It was stuck fast, so fast that I actually broke a (very cheap) ratchet trying to remove it. Time to call in the big guns... 24" breaker bar purchased from Canadian Tire, job done. The rest was cake; the filter loosened easily and new one went in its place, oil was filled and everything buttoned back up nicely. Sorted.

 

  

Wes from Corydon Autobody dropped off my panels on a weekend afternoon and they looked great - his shop did a terrific job on the colour match, as you can see. The next step was to install the fairing decals I'd obtained from The Image Works. That's the company that made the decals for our GSX-R1100 project and they are lovely, so I thought I'd get the replacement Yamaha decal from them too. The decal installed easily (it's best to use water and a credit-card squeegee for this job) and I'm pretty happy with the result. However the look is not 100% identical to the stock piece - as you can see, the aft end of the decal fades to the blue colour, while the stock decal ends the fade on greyscale. The other difference is that the stock decal is one piece - the speedblocks are all connected by a clear section. The replacement decal has each speedblock as a separate piece. I also needed to trim the replacement decal to fit around the holes in the fairing, but this turned out OK with the help of a hairdryer on "low" to stretch the decal slightly to tuck in around the edges. That's job two done.

The last thing to get at was to replace the fairing bolts. The originals were still serviceable - for the most part - but were definitely looking a wee bit crusty and well past their best. Speedy Fasteners sells a package including pretty much every single bolt and fastener you'll need for your fairings and bosywork - including windscreen hardware. They make their hardware out of genuine stainless steel with pan head Allen fittings. Installation was (mostly) just a matter of unscrewing the old and screwing in the new with only a couple hiccups along the way from fasteners that hadn't been unbolted since new. But these issues were easily dealt with and the look of the machine is much improved. Third job down.

 

 

 

 

Now the last - and most difficult - job looms. That's the job of finding some time to ride that intersects with decent weather to do it in. Stay tuned...