Author Topic: Calvin Touring Build  (Read 1121 times)

Offline JC85

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Calvin Touring Build
« on: May 01, 2022, 04:52:17 PM »
When I first bought my '07 Calvin, a year and a half ago, it was with the intention of building it into my ideal touring machine. Well, she's finally done, and I absolutely love how it looks and rides. Here she is:




Ain't she purdy?  :grin: For those who may be interested, here's a list of what I did:

First was the seating position. It was a bit tall for me, and I didn't find the handlebar position to be all that comfortable. So first, I lowered the rear end by a little over 2", using 12.5" Progressive shocks with heavy duty springs.



In addition to not finding the bar position to be all that comfortable, I also hated the odd sized stock bars. It made finding mounting hardware for accessories impossible. But I already had a 7/8" bar clamp for it, so I put on a set of repop Eldo police bars, then added some Rox risers to bring them back by about an inch and a half. I found this position to be perfect.





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Next was Performance. I redid the exhaust system by getting rid of the catalytic converter H-pipe, in favor of a straight Mistral. The previous owner had already swapped out the mufflers to a set of Harley's. With the two together, it breathes so much better and give way more power.





I also loaded a Beetle map onto it for better running and mileage. It gave me smoother running, a bit more mid range power, and I now get 50-55 mpg on the highway. Mark is a super nice guy, I love his map, and he was a joy to deal with, helping me with anything I needed along the way.

Finally, it was time for touring accessories. The trunk is an old Bates trunk from the mid 70s that I found as new old stock. I made a separate post about it, when I first got it. The fairing is a Pacifico Aerofoil, which came to me through the extreme generosity of Twodogs and an adventure that involved losing my wallet 6 1/2 hours from home, and having to borrow $100 to make it back.  :laugh:

They both went to my oldest friend, Phillip Sawyer, owner of Reanimated Customs, a classic Volkswagen shop in Salina, KS for paint and striping. He had a bit of difficulty with the fairing, but I personally think he did an amazing job. I gave him creative license on the striping design for the fairing, and I think he absolutely nailed it.






Mounting the fairing was the most difficult part. First, I couldn't find mounting hardware for it, anywhere. My solution was to cannibalize the upper mounts from a National Cycle Plexistar that I had. I carefully popped the ball sockets off, using a razor knife and screwdriver, and Phillip attached them to the fairing using 3M Panelbond. For the lower mounts, I just fabbed up a couple of aluminum tabs to bolt from the forks to the lowers, which I understand was common for these.



Next, the spotlights were directly in the way of the fairing lowers, so after puzzling for a bit and going through my tub of old parts, I employed a bit of creative engineering. I took the stock windshield brackets, flipped them upside down, and did some drilling and cutting to turn them into standoffs for the spots. That moved them forward just enough to clear the fairing.






So there she is. My Calvin Tourer. Hope you guys enjoy.


« Last Edit: May 01, 2022, 05:26:21 PM by JC85 »
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Offline flower_king001

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2022, 05:03:53 PM »
Nice!
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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2022, 05:25:00 PM »
the pacifico was the first windscreen I bought about 40 years ago.  I still count it as one of the best I have owned.  If you don't love it, let me know.
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Offline guzzisteve

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2022, 08:15:32 PM »
You need to drop the tripple trees on forks about 1/2" or bit more, it'll handle better with the shocks. You can tell the difference.
Great  Job.
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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2022, 08:15:32 PM »

Offline wavedog

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2022, 08:32:24 PM »
Nice bike!

Offline Chatmanx

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2022, 08:41:27 PM »
Outstanding work and result.

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #6 on: May 01, 2022, 08:59:05 PM »
Beautiful build looks amazing.
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Offline JC85

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2022, 09:05:43 PM »
You need to drop the tripple trees on forks about 1/2" or bit more, it'll handle better with the shocks. You can tell the difference.
Great  Job.

I didn't mention it in the post, but they've already been dropped about 3/4".
« Last Edit: May 01, 2022, 09:06:28 PM by JC85 »
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Offline Guzzistajohn

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2022, 09:09:13 PM »
Hey JC, I forgot to tell you I did a tubeless kit install, working nicely 👍 your Cali looks the shiz 😀
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Offline JC85

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2022, 07:02:31 AM »
the pacifico was the first windscreen I bought about 40 years ago.  I still count it as one of the best I have owned.  If you don't love it, let me know.

Haha, I think I'm gonna be plenty happy with it, but I'll keep you in mind.
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Online Gliderjohn

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2022, 07:08:16 AM »
Looks great. Enjoy!
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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #11 on: May 02, 2022, 07:10:49 AM »
She's a purty thang!
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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #12 on: May 02, 2022, 08:39:11 AM »
That turned out really well !

 :thumb:


Now - time to take a "tour" on it !

 :bike-037:

Offline motogoro

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #13 on: May 02, 2022, 08:57:57 AM »
<snip> "First was the seating position. It was a bit tall for me, and I didn't find the handlebar position to be all that comfortable. So first, I lowered the rear end by a little over 2", using 12.5" Progressive shocks with heavy duty springs." <snip>

Mind sharing the Progressive part numbers?  I might do the same modification. 

How's the ride feel with the heavy duty springs? 
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Offline JC85

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #14 on: May 02, 2022, 09:57:59 AM »
<snip> "First was the seating position. It was a bit tall for me, and I didn't find the handlebar position to be all that comfortable. So first, I lowered the rear end by a little over 2", using 12.5" Progressive shocks with heavy duty springs." <snip>

Mind sharing the Progressive part numbers?  I might do the same modification. 

How's the ride feel with the heavy duty springs?

The ride feels fine. Slightly stiffer, but not really noticeably so.

The shock number is 03-1318B or C, depending on whether you want black or chrome. The springs are 1201B or C. Unfortunately, the springs may be hard to find. I checked one week and found a dozen different suppliers who had them. Went to order a week later, and everyone was out of stock. Took me two hours of searching to find one supplier who still had a set. Apparently, Progressive is having trouble getting the material for them, right now.
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Offline twodogs

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #15 on: May 02, 2022, 10:45:44 AM »
Looks great JC85 and it was a pleasure to meet you, a little rough for you the next day but you made it work  :boozing: :bike-037:
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Offline JediMasterII

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #16 on: May 02, 2022, 10:46:56 AM »
Great job. Looks great!
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Offline MGrego

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #17 on: May 02, 2022, 11:11:24 AM »
That's nicely done !  :thumb:

Offline aklawok

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #18 on: May 03, 2022, 12:10:59 AM »
 I am envious! room for two in that bathtub? I did not expect any aftermarket fairing would fit so well behind the spotlights, and the pinstriping is superb! my calvin still in storage....few more days it is that time of year we call "break-up" here, temps here still in low 30f.'s and muddy.
« Last Edit: May 03, 2022, 12:16:31 AM by aklawok »
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Offline JC85

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #19 on: May 03, 2022, 11:13:36 AM »
I am envious! room for two in that bathtub? I did not expect any aftermarket fairing would fit so well behind the spotlights, and the pinstriping is superb! my calvin still in storage....few more days it is that time of year we call "break-up" here, temps here still in low 30f.'s and muddy.

Haha, I love that trunk. Plenty of storage capacity, and the sloping line of the lid fits perfectly with the side cases. The spots did take some modification to clear the fairing, but like I outlined, it wasn't too much. Took me maybe 45 minutes to modify the windshield brackets into standoffs.
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Offline CalVin2007

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #20 on: May 07, 2022, 08:45:09 AM »
 Hey, I recognize that CalVin! Nice work JC...hope it's treating you well.  :thumb:

  Terry
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Offline 80CX100

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #21 on: May 07, 2022, 10:57:02 PM »
     Very very nice  :thumb:

     I'm really curious about those progressive shocks, do you notice if if has tightened up the handling?

     My old CalVin is still running the stock shocks, if I take it easy it's fine, but if I get stupid and hammer it really hard and do a very high speed pass, when I come back over the seam in the middle of the road, I can get quite the wallow going.

     I've looked at Ikons and Bitubo, but I may have a set of Progressives already that may be surplus to my needs, that I could use. I have no idea what weight springs would be on them.

      Are your heavy springs marked with a C so you can tell the difference or was that just on the packaging.?
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Offline JC85

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #22 on: May 20, 2022, 02:20:03 PM »
Hey, I recognize that CalVin! Nice work JC...hope it's treating you well.  :thumb:

  Terry

It's treating me great! I have to ask, though: when you remapped it, why did you change the ECU? Had to have Mark send me a special map, as the Calvin one wouldn't load lol.
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Offline CalVin2007

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #23 on: May 23, 2022, 07:53:04 AM »
Ah, I swapped the ECU so I could try a few maps from generous forum members here. After that I just kept the older 15M ECU and made my own map with GuzziDiag. Never gave it another thought...that probably WAS a surprise when you tried to load a map. Sorry I didn't tell you about that!
   You've done a fine job-looking great.  :thumb:

  Terry
« Last Edit: May 23, 2022, 07:57:50 AM by CalVin2007 »
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Online scra99tch

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #24 on: May 25, 2022, 08:32:00 AM »
One thing I've been waiting to do and should for this riding season is machine the old fuel pump to accept a BMW quick disconnect for the fuel line.  The red plastic one will break in a heartbeat if your not careful and leave you stranded.  The part is not sold separately. 

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Offline JC85

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Re: Calvin Touring Build
« Reply #25 on: May 26, 2022, 11:12:28 AM »
Ah, I swapped the ECU so I could try a few maps from generous forum members here. After that I just kept the older 15M ECU and made my own map with GuzziDiag. Never gave it another thought...that probably WAS a surprise when you tried to load a map. Sorry I didn't tell you about that!
   You've done a fine job-looking great.  :thumb:

  Terry

I don't suppose you still have the original, newer ECU laying around somewhere, do you???
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