Hello everyone,
I have been quietly enjoying the forum and learning from other members for a few years now. For this, I say thank you.
I now feel I have something of interest to share with the community. This is going to be an ongoing post which I will try to update each month, depending on progress.
A bit about me...
I currently live in Houston Texas. Since arriving here I've been supported by the team at MPH Cycles. I'm also very lucky to have MPH maintain my car.
I did ride years ago, but have only been riding seriously since 2011 when I purchased a used V7 Classic from MPH. I guess you could say I'm an old(er) new rider. I ride to/from work and you can usually see me riding around town on the weekends. There is nothing better than rolling up to a parking spot that can only be accessed by a motorcycle when shopping for groceries or running other errands.
I'm very happy with the V7. I looked at many bikes when shopping and it was the one that ticked the most boxes. I wanted a light, easy to ride bike with classic styling.
Equally important I wanted to work with a shop that had a positive attitude to maintenance and sharing knowledge. I don't know a lot about mechanics (I can change oil, check fluids, tire tread and change batteries. I also have a good idea of when one should turn the engine OFF and seek professional assistance) but I want to continue to learn about all aspects of motorcycles. MPH have been fantastic. They are a big reason why I'm enjoying riding so much.
A bit about the project...
After having the V7 for a few years, I was interested in making longer road trips. I also made the mistake of taking a Breva 1100 for a test ride. The shocks on the V7 were upgraded to Ikons but man - the Breva 1100 was smooth; Highway miles melted away. I let the first opportunity pass by (a used grey B1100) but a year later a red B1100 came up for sale. The price was right so I bought it. 50k miles. Just broken in.
April of last year I rode up to the Handbuilt Motorcycle show in Austin Texas. It was an amazing weekend spent enjoying Austin (I visit often) and seeing what custom builders can accomplish in personalizing a motorcycle.
For me a bike is a bit more than a vehicle. I like classic styling and I highly value comfort and utility. I like to look at, but do not want to own, what some have called "showroom bikes" - nice to look at but not practical on a daily basis. I decided to customize the B1100 to change the style of the bike. Necessary? No. Desirable? Yes - at least to me.
The objectives of the build were as follows:
>Long range comfort/function
>Retain luggage capability
>Seated more 'on' than 'in' the bike
>Clean look
>Removal of plastic
>Transformed to neo-classic look
>Factory reliability
>No engine/emissions changes
>No modification to electrical system, all wiring protected
All I needed at this point was to find a builder.
The next installment will discuss my search for the builder and the beginning of the project.
=July 2016=
The first builder I considered, but quickly discounted was... Me. I discounted this for a few reasons. For one, I can do some mechanical basics, but I don't have any experience outside of basic car maintenance (very basic) and I've never worked on a motorcycle. Add to that I don't have a garage and I own very few tools.
Another consideration was that my typical work day is 12+ hours with many days running longer.
The second option I seriously considered was a builder outside the city I live in. I was very close to following up this option, but I wanted someone closer to home. The builder outside of Houston had an excellent reputation and guzzi experience. On a side note, I did not find anyone who had done something similar with a Breva.
The option I ended up going with was a builder here in Houston. The builder is
http://www.scalesstudio.com/Trever Scales was just in the process of setting up his shop. He was recommended by another business and I liked the quality of the work I had seen. He had not worked on a guzzi before, but then again, nobody else seemed to have worked on a Breva for this type of build.
Trever and I met and in July I dropped the bike off. Over the next few weeks, we discussed options for the build. I set an initial budget of $4k to get started (excluding repair work and parts)
Over the next few weeks the plastic was taken off and the bike laid bare. I wanted a more classically styled tank for the bike, but nothing I researched seemed to fit. It looked like all of the off the shelf options was built for either specific bikes (that were not close enough to the Breva) or for a 'Toni' frame.
"There are a lot of ideas floating around my head as to how to go about building the bike. The one thing that set this bike apart is how far up the air box protrudes the frame. This greatly limits other stock tank options. Building a custom tank around this wont be a problem. - Trever Scales"
At a high level, the plan was to cut the frame, narrow the back end, build a custom tank and side covers. I wanted to keep the panniers on an functional as the bike would be of little use (to me) without luggage.
=October 2016=
The first work was done and invoiced. The plastic was off and the frame was cut for the modification. The cost so far was $450. The stripping of the bike actually happened at the end of July, but the first cut of the frame came later.
free url hostingI can't seem to find that first picture of the cut frame, but over the month of October work was being done to reshape the back end. The idea was to use a spare v7 classic seat I had handy. During the month of October I was traveling for work. The first week of November I had the following update...
upload pics to internetFor reference, Trever included the following picture...
Just a reminder; this is the end result, with a few modifications, that I am chasing:
More updates to come....
December 2016
All of the required parts were decided and a plan for completion agreed. Between October and December some mechanical issues were found and repaired. The best way to summarize would be to share the parts list and costs. Note that the parts are marked up as they were ordered by the shop and not directly by myself.
One of the issues we agreed on was space for the custom fuel tank. To allow for more fuel I suggested we install the Guzzitech air box kit to free up some room. The flash kit took some additional time to arrive.
===Labor===
Remove gas tank, rear seat, front fender, handle bars and wind screen. Replace pedestal handle bars and replace with regular style handle bars. Install handle bar risers.
3h $85.00 $255.00
Remove rear cowling, tail light, under tail cover, battery box and electrical underneath seat.
1.5h $85.00 $127.50
Cut off rear half of frame to accommodate Moto Guzzi V7 seat.
0.75h $85.00 $63.75
Fabricate part of rear hoop, cut off seat release mechanism
3h $85.00 $255.00
Finish fabricating hoop, weld together and dress welds
6h $85.00 $510.00
Fabricate and weld the step up for seat latch
2h $85.00 $170.00
Fabricate uptubes from frame to hoop, tigweld and dress welds
6h $85.00 $510.00
Remove exhaust. Fabricate and tigweld battery box, dress welds
4.25h $85.00 $361.25
Fabricate and tigweld relay holders to battery box. Remove airbox to tuck wiring harness inside of frame. Remove inner spark plugs. Tigweld front seat mount into place. Fabricate bracket to mount seat release mechanism.
7h $85.00 $595.00
Fabricate wooden buck for gas tank. Fabricate outer skin of gas tank out of aluminium.
10.5h $85.00 $892.50
Fabricate license plate bracket and license plate light. Partially fabrication of front fender mount
5h $85.00 $425.00
===Parts===
Part - Ceramic coat exhaust in gold
1 $300.00 $300.00
Part - Carbon fiber front fender
1 $280.00 $280.00
Part - NGK Platinum Spark plugs
2 $21.00 $42.00
Part - Airbox Elimination panel. Reusable air filter. Computer flashing setup.
1 $920.00 $920.00
Part - BMW R-Nine-T Fairing with tall windscreen
1 $930.00 $930.00
Part - JW LED Headlight
1 $390.90 $390.90
Part - Ducati Sport Classic slim taillight
1 $371.20 $371.20
Part - Factory Exhaust gaskets, valve cover gasket, fuel line, O2 sensor, rear brakepads
1 $346.25 $346.25
Part - Metal materials. 1" tubing to build hoop. 5/8s tubing to build fender mount. 1/8" plate to build license plate bracket. 1 $35.00 $35.00
Consumables - Wearables. Grinding disk, Cutoff wheels, sand paper, welding material.
1 $40.00 $40.00
Total parts = $3,655.35
Labor to date = $4,165.00
This is much more interesting if you can see the new parts:
A few points regarding the pictures:
1 - The tank has been fabricated but not yet welded
2 - The fairing is intended for the air/oil cooled r1200r. You can get a better view here:
https://youtu.be/GvJ7LDUeg6A2a - The mounts for the fairing had to be modified
3 - More information about the LED headlight can be found here:
http://www.jwspeaker.com/products/led-headlights-model-8700-evolution-2/===January 2017===
The year started off with a few issues. The tank fabrication used the wrong grade of aluminum (as per the builder) and could not be welded. Had to start from scratch, but I was informed that the process would be faster this time around. I plan to ride this bike to Austin for the Handbuilt show in mid April, so I'm concerned regarding timing.
Finding a solution for the hard bags is now out of scope. No reasonable way to do it in the time remaining and the builder is unsure it's workable to re-mount given the changes to the frame. Leather bags were suggested at some future point.
This was decided late last year, but the tank will not be painted. Going with the aluminum look. Also completed last year was the ceramic coating for the header pipes. Coating done and pipes waiting to be installed.
As of January 17th, the plan to complete is as follows:
1 - Complete front fender assembly and mount
2 - Mount headlight and fairing
3 - Complete side panels
4 - Complete tank
We've also discussed replacing the factory tank as a fall back plan in case extra time is needed.
===February/March===
Dropped by the shop in March and the following items are now complete:
Front fender
upload a new photoFairing mounted (almost complete)
ebay picture hosting===April===
The builder informed me that the bike will not be rideable next week for the handbuilt show in Austin (21-23) as previously discussed; His focus has been on other projects, however the sections of the new tank have been formed and can be seen here:
good image hostingThe overall scope has been adjusted to focus on getting the bike back on the road. Next steps agreed with the builder are as follows:
1 - Fuel tank completion and fitting
2 - Side covers completion and fitting - no paint or finish
3 - Fitting of the fairing (bracket painting and mounting)
4 - Touch up paint for the frame (feathering in the area where the frame was modified with the stock finish)
5 - Under seat panel - no paint or finish
6 - reassembly work
Only the frame (touch up) and new fuel tank (sanded and sealed) are being finished: I thought it better to focus on having a rideable bike. Finishing can be done at a later date.
Luggage is still an open question, but again, I thought it better to pause work on that front for now (and focus on a rideable bike).
I should have another update the first week of May.
===May===
No progress. Please see my update below.
===Aug 7===
See below
===Aug 16===
See below
===Aug 23===
See below
===Nov 28===
See below
===Dec 16===
See below
===2018===
===Jan 28===
See below
===17 April===
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===19 April===
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===20 April===
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===25 April===
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===8 May===
See below
