My 94 Streetfighter Project

You are slowly getting there griz have you decided on paint for the panels yet I think a nice high gloss black tank and a black to deep red blend on the tail section would look awesome.

keep it coming

Russ

Thanks yet again guys for your comments!

As for the paint & colours etc, I am all but out of funds & it looks like I'll be hand painting it out of a can! So for the mean time I'll be painting it matt black & putting on a couple of stickers I got for it & later on when I can/ the wife can afford it, I'll sort the paint job out properly...

Griz, did u want the tank matt black? or were you going to get some air brushing/effects on the tank?

fastbikefinder wrote:Griz, did u want the tank matt black? or were you going to get some air brushing/effects on the tank?

No I would have liked a fancy marble effect paint job I've had my eye on but it's way to much, on from that I may have gone with a gloss black with some art work. But I'll settle for me painting it matt black with a couple of punished stickers. Matt black is pretty easy to get a nice ish finish so it'll have to do until I can afford better. I feel abit like I've fallen at the last herdal but what can ya do eh!....

Having to compromise is always a downer.
Consolation has to be that once you are actually riding it, there will be somethings that don't seem quite right, that had you finished it as intended, you'd be kicking yourself over.
Repainting as you'd like once funds allow will be an opportunity to right any wrongs.

Griz, how about glossing it your self?

The best way to get the very deepest and shiniest possible gloss black finish is to laquer matt black! and then give it a light cherry or maroon tinted laquer over that lot and it'll look well in keeping with the rest of the bike

yammydave wrote:Having to compromise is always a downer.
Consolation has to be that once you are actually riding it, there will be somethings that don't seem quite right, that had you finished it as intended, you'd be kicking yourself over.
Repainting as you'd like once funds allow will be an opportunity to right any wrongs.

Yep I get it how I want in eventually!

fastbikefinder wrote:Griz, how about glossing it your self?

The best way to get the very deepest and shiniest possible gloss black finish is to laquer matt black! and then give it a light cherry or maroon tinted laquer over that lot and it'll look well in keeping with the rest of the bike

Yeah I hear you matey, the matt finish is quick & straight forward but avoiding getting a milky finish when doing the laquar can be a real pain! + at £6 a can of paint it soon starts adding up & at the rate I'm going I'm just going to be able to afford to tax & mot it + my insurance is up for renewal the middle of next month too.

I would like to buy a goodish airbrush, compressor & spray air gun & do it all myself after a bit of practice but that will have to wait until my funds recover or should I say my wifes funds

Mrs Griz sounds like a Streetfighter builders Dream.
Good luck with the spraying.
more pix please.

Fringe wrote:Mrs Griz sounds like a Streetfighter builders Dream.
Good luck with the spraying.
more pix please.

Yep your right there matey! She's been brilliant & will even come out into the garage to lend a helping hand when I need it, she gives me her opinion on a job I'm doing if I'm not sure of how it looks & on top of all of that she even brings me a cup of tea once in a while

Thanks mate, I'll try get some posted up when I'm a litle further down the line, I've been going loads of prep work as late so there's not much to see to be honest...

Hi all, after much thinking & sitting on the bike trying different positions for the clock setup to be mounted I've gone against my idea of mounting it all on the tank as it would spoil the lines of the tank plus I'd rather have the safer option of having the clock's higher up where it's safer to observe whilst riding, it would be cool to have it mounted/moulded into the tank but for everyday riding it's not a safe option I think.

So I'm now in the process of making a small carbon fibre case which I'll be mounting on the handlebars.

This is my first go at using carbon fibre so there's been alot of a learning going on

I first of all made up a box to hold all the dials out of fibreglass


Then coated it with carbonfibre & gave it a coat of resin



I made up & applied way to much resin that went to waste & then it took me a age to remove all the excess dried resin to regain the shape, I also found that the carbon fibre & resin gives a much thinner coat than I thought it would & over sized the holes for the dials, so I wasn't at all happy with the top cover & then decided I would use the lower case section (I think it's nicer to look at with all the nice smooth rounded edges anyway)

Here's the old & new to show you what I mean



Here it is now after alot of rubbing down & anothger coat of resin, I'll do the same again tomorrow as it's still not as smooth as I want it


Just got to make a bottom plate for it now which I should be able to finish off tomorrow

Very impressive mate, amazing for a first go!

Glad you've tried the CF Griz it's great stuff.

That certainly looks more the part now buddy.

I've always been a bit shy of having a go with the fibreglass and carbon fibre, after my fishpond waterfall not going very smoothly.
With the waterfall there was not a need for a perfect finish, so figured I'd avoid it with the bikes.

However you seem to be getting to grips with it alright Griz and I'll probably have to bite the bullet with fairing modifications on my next project anyway.

What are your first impression as a new user to carbon fibre?

Is the carbon as a woven matting much more user-friendly than the glass; which always seems to want to clump together when I use it?

Does the carbon bond to the glass fibre or have you then released the glass fibre from it?

I know exactly what you mean YD.I had similar issues with fibreglass when i modified my seat{badly}I found that if i laid the mat down on the area i wanted it,and then i added resin on top.I had a right mare by covering mat with resin and then trying to pick it up.Looks like Griz has sussed it out though.Nice job Griz.Its a shame that you have decided to bolt it on bars though and not carry on with moulding it in somewhere as it may just appear as just another" bolt on"modification?and not so bespoke?Just my thoughts mate,i definitely do not possess the skills you have mate.Keep up the good work.

That Carbon's gonna look Kool.
Some times mouldin stuff in is ok but Raw Fighter is also about havin stuff where its most useful.
I laff when I see an unrideable bike , coz the pegs/bars/clocks are tooo 'out of the way'.
Or, Like them Chops with really long forks that need a 40 point turn to turn in the street !
Dunno if that makes sence.............
Keep goin Griz.... Its bound to be right n if ya dont like it, Change it! ya got the skills

Looking good griz!

You are SOOO talented, I wish i had the skill and knowledge to do something like this. maybe one day tho eh?

yammydave wrote:That certainly looks more the part now buddy.

I've always been a bit shy of having a go with the fibreglass and carbon fibre, after my fishpond waterfall not going very smoothly.
With the waterfall there was not a need for a perfect finish, so figured I'd avoid it with the bikes.

However you seem to be getting to grips with it alright Griz and I'll probably have to bite the bullet with fairing modifications on my next project anyway.

What are your first impression as a new user to carbon fibre?

Is the carbon as a woven matting much more user-friendly than the glass; which always seems to want to clump together when I use it?

Does the carbon bond to the glass fibre or have you then released the glass fibre from it?

Thanks mate, it's lookin even better today for a good rub down & last coat of resin, I'll be able to wet & dry it tomorrow & get the final polished finish!

I first made the base out of fibreglass which I moulded from on a small cardboard box that I made & sellotaped up & then covered with kitchen foil (the resin’s don’t stick to foil!) when that was dry I got the sander on it to take out any bumps & then covered it with filler so I could sand it down for a super smooth finish, I then spray it black & keyed it up so that the resin would stick to it, you then need to wait for 2-3 hours for the resin to go tacky at which point you lay the dry carbon fibre onto the part & tape it on the back where needed, I then give it a coat of resin, it’s surprising how little resin you need in comparison to when using fibreglass, I then left it to set overnight then give it another dry sand down to get rid of any major bumps & to key it up, you got to be careful not to sand it to far down though & hit the carbon, your then meant to give it another coat of resin & wait for it to go tacky & then give it another coat of resin then leave it overnight to fully set & then wet & dry it & then either polish or spray with some lacquer. But when I gave the part the second coat the resin kept standing off the part in places so I needed to constantly dab those area’s with extra resin, your meant it either use a hair drier to pop any bubbles but the mrs drier was to powerful & kept blowing the resin off! lol so I chucked it in a oven dish & rested it on top of my heater which took care of most of the bubbles.

In my opinion the hardest part of using carbon fibre is getting the resin to adhere to the part properly & getting any air bubble to pop. Other than that it’s much easier to use than fibreglass, it stays in place when applying the resin unlike fibreglass & you can bond it to more or less anything! Oh yeah it it amazing how thin it is which just one layer of carbon, if you can afford it I’d use a good 3 layers or do like I did & use something cheaper like fibreglass.

grim1 wrote:I know exactly what you mean YD.I had similar issues with fibreglass when i modified my seat{badly}I found that if i laid the mat down on the area i wanted it,and then i added resin on top.I had a right mare by covering mat with resin and then trying to pick it up.Looks like Griz has sussed it out though.Nice job Griz.Its a shame that you have decided to bolt it on bars though and not carry on with moulding it in somewhere as it may just appear as just another" bolt on"modification?and not so bespoke?Just my thoughts mate,i definitely do not possess the skills you have mate.Keep up the good work.

Thanks mate! I here what your sayin but I think it looks & is very bespoke & I doubt you’ll see another like it! It’s all very well moulding it into the tank & I could have done it no problem, yes it would have looked nice & got more of a wow factor but my bike is for the road not show, yes it has the bling factor but I also want to make the bike safe & comfortable too!

Fringe wrote:That Carbon's gonna look Kool.
Some times mouldin stuff in is ok but Raw Fighter is also about havin stuff where its most useful.
I laff when I see an unrideable bike , coz the pegs/bars/clocks are tooo 'out of the way'.
Or, Like them Chops with really long forks that need a 40 point turn to turn in the street !
Dunno if that makes sence.............
Keep goin Griz.... Its bound to be right n if ya dont like it, Change it! ya got the skills

lol that makes total sense to me matey!

It’s one of the main reason’s I converted my bike as my aches & pains were getting in the way of me enjoying my ride, my bike now in comparision to before is so so comfortable, I love the new riding position & I can’t wait to go for a spin!

Also thanks everyone for your kind comments of my talent, your almost makin me feel like I know what I'm doin!

Done any moreeee done any moreee ?
Im excited!
As im sure everyone else is
I hope your gonna be riding this once its built

if you dont........il volenteer lol

danidge wrote:Done any moreeee done any moreee ?
Im excited!

you need to visit www.eternaldelights.co.uk

NuttyTart wrote:

danidge wrote:Done any moreeee done any moreee ?
Im excited!

you need to visit www.eternaldelights.co.uk

hahah very funny!
Your trying to warp my innocent little mind arnt you?

NuttyTart wrote:

you need to visit www.eternaldelights.co.uk

You been shopping for the honey moon again?

NuttyTart wrote:

danidge wrote:Done any moreeee done any moreee ?
Im excited!

you need to visit www.eternaldelights.co.uk

Hey how did you guys find my website!

danidge wrote:hahah very funny!
Your trying to warp my innocent little mind arnt you?

Innocent????? I think you're lying about your age

danidge wrote:Done any moreeee done any moreee ?
Im excited!
As im sure everyone else is
I hope your gonna be riding this once its built

Hiya yep I've done loads more! & yes I sure will be riding it, in fact I don't think I'll get off it once it's done!

helrazzer wrote:if you dont........il volenteer lol

Not on your nelly matey!

Ok I've done a few bits....

I gave the dials case a 3rd coat of resin & sanded it down ready for finishing & put a layer of fibreglass on the back plate to firm it up a bit





I also cut the carbon can I bought into a stuby can (I decided against the other one I made) I've painted the metal end black to match & also started to fit the other end that was ceramic coated but I've ran out of rivets so I'll post up the end result when I'm done, I've also got to give the carbon a good polish too




I also put some filler on the skin to make it one with the tank & gave it a good sand down & then coated it with what was called a filler putty spray but it was rubish to say the least, so I had to rub it down & put more filler on a few more times to lose all the pit holes, I'll give it a final rub down tomorrow & then start painting






I also rubbed down the seat & gave it a covering of filler & matted down the mudguard ready for painting

Looking good son! Looking good!

Those plastics are really going to set it off mate. That tank looks super huge!

You're on a roll mate.Don't overdo it again though.Looking 150% so far.A++++++++++++

1992fireblade wrote:Looking good son! Looking good!

Those plastics are really going to set it off mate. That tank looks super huge!

grim1 wrote:You're on a roll mate.Don't overdo it again though.Looking 150% so far.A++++++++++++

Thanks guys!

I Gota keep the ball rolling now as I need it all done by the end of next week!

I'm on pain killers & lots of coffee to keep me boosted, I'll rest once I'm done.....