MP 24 Motorcycle Expo - Extra - Monkeys @ Jonnela - 4th of February 2024 - Helsinki, Finland

 Extra shots of Honda Z50J mopeds from Jonnela section of MP 24 motorcycle expo 😎

Petrol Circus Custom Bike Show @ MP 24 Motorcycle Expo - Part I - Custom & Classic - 4th of February 2024 - Helsinki, Finland

Let's kick off the year with photos from last weekend! I will start with Custom and Classic classes and continue with Street and Racing in my next post. Take a look and stay tuned 😎

Husqvarna 1668

Helsinki Bike Show 2023 @ Teurastamo - 10th of June - Helsinki, Finland

Couple photos from last weekend's Helsinki Bike Show held at Teurastamo in Helsinki, FI 😎

'Great Divide'

'73 Suzuki GT250 - Part 19 - Carbon fibre rear fender

Here's a quick overview how I made a plug and one piece fibreglass mold for replicating '85-89 Honda CR250R rear fender out of carbon fibre. I used same method with front fender I posted earlier so I won't go through steps here with same detail. 

I'm pretty pleased with the result. I only used two layers of carbon fibre cloth which ended up with a very light part. I might do another one later with three layers of cloth to achieve a bit stronger and less flexible piece.

Next steps would be to make a lower piece for the rear fender and a seat pan out of carbon fibre. I have not fully figured out yet how to make plugs and molds for those pieces. I've also been planning modifications to my '01 Honda CBR600F4i PC35. Hopefully I can figure those out and share some of them within this year. Happy new year!

Plug made out of pieces of wood and
sheets of polypropylene

Plug waxed and taped

Close up of waxing and taping

Two layers of gelcoat

Fibreglass and polyester resin
applied on top of gelcoat

Excess fibreglass cut off with scissors and
trim lines marked with ballpoint pen

Edges trimmed with an angle grinder

Closer look of imperfections
in the mold caused by wax surface

Look after first round of wet sanding

Masking with vinyl tape

Surface after two coats of gelcoat

Surface after wet sanding up to 600 grid

Mold waxed and ready for hand laminating

Vacuum bagging after hand laminating

Vacuum bag, peel ply, release film and
breather cloth removed after vacuum bagging

Third attempt gave best result (left)

Part after separating it from mold
and before trimming edges of it

Edges vinyl taped and ready for trimming

Edges trimmed and part ready for clear coat

'01 Honda CBR600F4i PC35 - Part 1 - Introduction

Few months ago I was looking to buy a new project bike. There was one enduro bike for sale nearby which peaked my interest and price seemed reasonable. I contacted the seller but the deal fell apart and he decided not to sell it for some reason. I weighed my options I decided to try to sell my '91 Honda CBR600F PC25. On a whim I made an add for my PC25 and on the next day it was already sold. 

Now that I got more room available in the garage I started to look for a newer Honda CBR600F4i. PC35 seemed like a good option since I had purchased some parts earlier (more about those later) which would be easier to fit to PC35 than PC25. After browsing market places for available PC35s I ended up buying this one a week later. 

It had 50 058 km on the trip meter when I bought it so it was time to get it serviced. I took it to a local maintenance shop. Main thing was to check clearances of inlet and exhaust valves. Engine oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs and coolant were changed and charging, battery, fuel injection, suspension, control system, brakes, lights, tire pressures etc. were checked at the same time.

Overall this bike is in good condition and rides nicely. I haven't got to ride it too much yet but first impressions are good. It feels more nimble and responsive than my previous PC25 and has better ergonomics. There are small things I want to fix along the way such as rust on the silencer, scratches on the right side fairing and crack on the windshield but are not urgent at the moment. 

American Car Show 2019 - 11th of May - Oulu, Finland - Part 3/4 - Motorcycles

Throwback to last year's American Car Show held in Oulu during mother's day weekend. Here's a set of photos of cool motorcycles displayed at the show. Take a look 😊

1950 Harley-Davidson Panshovel

Petrol Circus Custom Bike Show @ MP 20 Motorcycle Expo - 1st of February 2020 - Helsinki, Finland

Check out photos from this year's Petrol Circus Custom Bike Show which was held parallel with MP20 motorcycle show at Expo and Convention Center of Helsinki. Show gathered together around 100 custom motorcycles to compete in four classes: Custom, Street, Classic and Open. 

My personal favourites were Kawasaki powered Sulo Chopper, Kalevala themed Harley-Davidson PanShovel Indian Larry Tribute, brat style/tracker Honda CB400N, 1980 Suzuki GSX750 cafe racer, Suzuki GSX-R 1340 street fighter, 2-stroke Suzuki RGV250 and 184cc Honda Monkey Turbo 😎

Royal Chopper 'Prince of India' @woodlegchoppers

'91 Honda CBR600F PC25 - Part 4 - Custom brackets for round headlight

I've had a 8 inch round headlight lying around which I bought originally for my '87 Yamaha RD350LC F2 project but never got time to install it before selling the bike. I had headlight also for sale for a while after that but no one was interested to buy it so it just stayed untouched in my shelf waiting for another suitable project.

8 inch round headlight

Regarding this build I haven't decided any specific style go with but I wanted test how a round headlight would look in front of my CBR600F. It was also good time to do that while I have front fairings removed. I've made earlier similar type of brackets for '72 Suzuki T250J and used them as a reference for these ones too. I made subtle changes and updated dimensions to suite better '99 Honda CBR900RR SC33 front forks I swapped last time. I still need to design and fabricate a stopper for the headlight to keep it from tilting while driving. I'm not 100 percent sure how to make it yet so it will have to wait for the future. There's also things like what kind of gauges I will use to think about.

Assembly drawing

Layout drawing with main dimensions

After making part drawings for collars and plates it didn't take much effort to start fabricating them out of sheets of stainless steel. It's not the easiest material to work with since it tends to wear out drill bits and warp easily with heat. I didn't end up using many power tools other than electric drill and Dremel this occasion so it took a bit longer to finish them. Quickest way of course would have been to get them cut with laser or water jet cutter.

Part drawing for collars

I cut out blanks for collars with a plate shear
and then marked holes and rounds to corners

I started by drilling holes...

... and then rounded all corners with a file and sanding block

I used an affordable sheet metal bending machine
to bend edges of collars and rest by hand against forks

I finished outer surfaces of collars with a scotch brite wheel

Part drawing for plates

Sketched outlines of plates with pencil
and used washers as templates for round corners...

I started by drilling holes,..

...then cut both plates out with a hand saw
and finished edges with file and sander

I used a vise brake for bending...

...and checked angle of bends with digital angle finder

Last step was to clean plates with scotch brite wheel

Parts for headlight brackets

Headlight installed