Dangerously Close to Hipster Cool – Mechanical Sympathy

The Concours customization continues slowly. The (too short) Canadian riding season is staggering to a close, so I’m out on the Tiger whenever possible (3°C this morning). Soon enough the snow will fall, the roads will become salty nightmares and I’ll have lots of mechanical time on my hands. Today it’s a cold front coming through with high winds and torrential rain that has me in the garage instead of out on the road.

The front light is now prepared to go into the wiring loom, as is the rear one. Both front and rear are LED units so I’m having to make a few changes to get them happily connected to the twenty three year old loom. I’m going to mount the rear lights higher up under a rear cover that’ll also wrap up the back of the seat.

I’ve got basic framework in place – I’ll eventually paint it all flat black so it fades into the background, but for now I’m just leaving it metal coloured. I was originally going to get the body panels done in thin metal so it looks Mad Max-ish, but that doesn’t look likely to happen any time soon. I was watching Out of Nothing the other night and they said they’d taught themselves fibreglass body panel building, so I intend to do the same. I’ll work out the panels in bucks and then make fibre glass finished product; it’ll be a good project.

I’d originally tried a smaller coolant tank in the back, but it couldn’t handle the needs of the bike, so I’ve relocated the stock one under the back seat. With panels in place it’ll be all but invisible.

As much as possible I’m hoping to keep the bike looking mechanical and simple, but with some carefully sized fibreglass I should also be able to keep the ugly bits out of sight.

Up next is wiring in the lights and finishing the back end. After that it’s just making fibreglass. Two side panels for the back and the rear cowling for sure. The stock front fender is way too heavy looking, so I’ll be looking at options for that. I might do something strange to frame the radiator – that top rad hose is a natty looking thing.

The only mechanical part I’m looking for is a very basic instrument gauge. I’ve been collecting ideas on Pinterest, so eventually I’ll come across the ideal piece and grab it.

I heard once that Axl Rose bought a new Harley and had it customized so it looked old by adding patina to it. Only a rich person would do something so asinine. The Concours has had a long, hard life; it comes by its patina honestly. What I love about the bike is that it’s mechanically very sound (now). Rebuilt carb, rear hub, bearings, brakes – it’s new in all the right places, but you couldn’t tell from looking at it.

It’s getting to the point where this thing is starting to look dangerously hipster cool; I might have to grow a beard.

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