Hey all-
Just uploaded some pictures of the bike I built. They're in
the "Files" section, in the "Other" folder. The folder name
is "Twinstar photos" or something like that.
Anyway, I thought I'd put these online so anyone interested in
this kinda thing could check them out. Below is a list of some stats
and modifications, for those curious few:
Original bike: 1982 Honda CM200T Twinstar (yeah, it's a small bike,
but damn near bullet-proof, and a lot of fun to scoot around on).
Displacement: 194cc
Modifications:
Stretched frame about 3 inches. Increased rake of steering head.
Removed any non-essential frame parts. Gas tank is a 3.5 gallon King
Sportster tank with a right-hand side fuel outlet. The seat is a Le
Pera medium solo seat, modified and mounted to a hand-built seat
bracket assembly. The rear fender used to be the front fender to my
1995 Honda Shadow 600. Taillight is a non-DOT-approved Sparto
chopper taillight. Turn signals are dual-LED clearance marker
lights. Headlight was originally an off-road truck light, which I
removed the original lamp assembly from, and replaced with a 5.75"
headlight unit. Handlebar switchbox housings are hand-made, and
incorporate lighted switches for the turn signal functions.
Speedometer is a CAT EYE bicycle computer. Indicator lights are
actually LED bolts, mounted to the top of the left-hand side "battery
box" (only the right-hand box contains the battery. The left-hand
box contains all the electronic circuitry and such). Four indicator
lights: green (neutral), white (low beam), blue (high beam) and
purple (running lights). This bike can be run with all the lights
off. Dual fog lights are _old_ prefocused units I had bought about
10 years ago. Left and right side boxes were originally circuit
board project boxes from Radio Shack. Rewired the entire bike, and
it now features a keyless ignition set-up (as well as a motion-
sensitive alarm system built for about 12 bucks). Intake system was
redesigned as a ram-air unit, and filtration is performed by a small
3" diameter UNI air filter. Exhaust is a stepped system, going from
1 3/8" at the cylinder, to 1 3/4" outer diameter for the headpipes.
They merge together beneath the engine in a 2" O.D. collector, and
exit through a rebuilt 2" core Supertrapp car muffler. Rear
suspension was replaced with 1" square steel stock, and the afore-
mentioned seat was connected to a frame-mounted hinge. Two bolts,
capped with rubber bushings and steel washers, prevent the seat from
coming up any higher than in the photos (they slide through slots in
a heavy-guage steel panel mounted to the top of the frame, beneath
the seat). The seat pan is attached to a 150/100-lb Progressive
Suspension rear shock, which is also mounted (at the bottom) to the
frame backbone. This allows the seat to soak up some of the bumps
one might otherwise encounter on a rigid cycle. The back tire is a
4.60 X 16, which is the largest I could fit on the rim without
rubbing against the swingarm (stock tire is 3.50 X 16). The bike was
painted entirely with spray cans (the black paint is a hammered
finish paint, while the top of the gas tank is a color-changing paint
that goes from green to purple). The artwork and lettering I cut out
at work, and sealed them under clear polyurethane paint. And for
those of you wondering what the symbols on the side are, they are the
hieroglyphs which spell Onika's name.
Total price to build? Less than 600 bucks! Total time involved?
I lost count, man. And I can honestly say I will probably never
undertake such a demanding project ever again. I'm now just waiting
for a rectifier unit and the tachometer (which will be mounted on
that flat aluminum panel between the handlebar mounts).
--JMH
Received on Sun Dec 25 2005 - 16:27:52 CST