LET THERE BE LIGHT

The alternator problem is fixed. The amperage draw dropped from 23 to 18 with high beam, 16 with low beam. The light output difference is amazing and I know they are not adjusted correctly in the photo so it will get even better.

ALTERNATOR

I drove the other day with the headlights on for an hour or so and that ran the battery down to the point that it wouldn't crank the engine. Not good. I put an ammeter into the circuit and found that I was drawing 23 amps and asking a 20 amp alternator to keep up with it.

So there are 2 options: get a 40 or 50 amp alternator (300 to 500 bucks) or reduce the load. I chose the 2nd option and bought these two items:
http://www.amazon.com/Vehicle-Motorcycle-Signal-Reverse-Backup/dp/B00BWDPJ5K/ref=sr_1_5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1424793422&sr=1-5&keywords=1156+led+bulb+amber

http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/3800-Lumen-H4-LED-Headlight-bulb-_p_83.html

I'll report back when I get them installed and measure the amps.

CORRECTIONS

A couple of other things needed fixing. The turning radius was always not enough so I moved the rack to the right by about 3/4". This allowed the tie rod to move to the right 3/4" and decrease the turning radius a great deal. To make the left turn the same I cut 1.5" off the right end of the rack housing.

You can see from the photos that the clamping strap is now over the alum. hub. The mounts did not change just the position of the rack housing. I had to machine the area of the housing to allow the clamp to fit there.

The next issue was the rear suspension. I had removed one of the two springs inside the Honda Goldwing air shocks thinking it was too stiff and raised the rear ride height. It ended up that it was way too soft and would bottom out on the slightest bump. Today I put the springs back inside the shocks and now driving it with 2 up was really great. It never came close to bottoming out . It has however raised the back of the car and the shocks are fully extended with no passengers aboard. I drives fine so I'll leave it for now.

Here is how much turning I get. The left wheel looks like it is cambered out but it is just a camera angle. It is actually cambered in a good bit. Lots of Ackermann too!I also trimmed the alum. plates under the ball joints and they look much less noticeable.

FRONT END WORK again

All that I had done on the front end and I still didn't get enough caster. Driving up to about 50 got really scary. The steering was so sensitive. I tackled the problem by adding more caster. I found that I had very little. I machined up 2 plates that would lift the lower ball joint above the lower a-arm so that I could move it forward by about 3/4".

I did this because there was so much mixed opinions about it making any difference and I could put it all back the way it was if it didn't work. What this did was to make the king pin angle change to 7 1/8 deg. as viewed from the side. This is not the proper way to measure caster from what I've read, but the result is nothing short of AMAZING. After setting the toe in to 1/4" in, I took it for a drive. Up 60 MPH it was steady as a rock!!! When it warms up next week I'll take it out on the Interstate and see how it feels at 70+. If all this proves out I'll trim off the edges like the lines show and pretty it up.

Moving the ball joint also added a lot of negative camber so I'll have to fix that too. I hope I have enough thread on the upper joint to do this. Lowering the inner pivots of the upper arm moved it inward and I had to extend the ball joint to cover that too. I'm running out of thread. As to cornering I've hit it as hard as I can with no lifting of the inside wheel, little body roll and some understeer. The outside wheel stays square to the road. Harder cornering would just mean more understeer and sliding. I'm a happy camper!!

Stay tuned; more to follow.

TAG

I was rained out last Monday but finally got my inspection today and got my title and tag. Been driving all morning. I need to get the front wheels balanced; it shakes badly at 50 MPH.

FINALLY. A TITLE?

I finally got the Fl. DMV to accept my paperwork. They will register it as a "motorcycle built from parts". I now have to get the inspection done and get the title. It's been a 6 month ordeal but it's now Game ON.

COCKPIT MOLDING

I started the cockpit molding today. This starts with a piece of 1/2" clear tubing slit and slipped over the edge of the fiberglass. Next is some foam pipe insulation (the smallest they had). I remove about 1/3 of the foam lengthwise so it wraps around better and is not so bulky.

The leather stitching left a little pocket at the outer edge and I shoved a 3/32" brass rod into the pocket. I think that finished it off nicely. Lastly I got a spool on 2.5mm round rawhide and drilled holes and punched the leather and laced it all up. It was quite difficult coming around the corner.
the piece for the other side will butt up in the center and a short rawhide piece will tie it together. The outer end will be finished off by trimming and folding the leather over and glueing a round patch on the end.

Down the body side I bent an alum. angle from flat sheet and bent the angle into a curve. That will be easy to cover.