Prowler

[LIAW]

well having a reasonable look over the bike, I can see that our years apart have not been all good (for either of us),

mainly what is needed is cosmetic but also a few new parts are needed, lights, horns, indicators and tank, plus I can see a new radiator guard building in my mind,

poor thing has been used in bad weather,

this is it now

 

 

[leehenty]

I hope the family member is currently hanging up by his thumbs in the cellar, regretting not taking better care of her.

[LIAW]

my son got hold of it from another family member where it had stood for years decaying after it was crashed, I helped him get it back on the road and painted it blue for him (unfortunately the tank is shot), and now my wonderful son has gifted it back to me 

[leehenty]

Result !

[LAURENCEAUX]

At last someone who prefers silver wheels with the blue.

[Snowbird]

I gotta say that looks cracking with the naked look and no hamster cheeks.

I like it.

[LIAW]

so what is the usual method of adding pictures here now, I used to use a page called photobucket to add pictures on forums but that went expensive,

is it ok to add pictures direct from a computer as in those above or is there another method, I don't have one of them smart phone things, mine still wears DM boots, I'll ask the other me for some advice the next time I pass a mirror, he's always there with that stupid look on his face

[dablik]

Post pics as above LIW, they can also go into your own folder in Gallery but will eventually fill up  :good: wish i could get my old crashed 9r back  it's on holiday.

[leehenty]

Another niner is what you need Cliff, a proper bike.

[LIAW]

so yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away no no not that !, yesterday was forecast to be a dry day so I thought I'd wash the muddy stuff off the bike and take it out to give it a proper test ride,

it started to rain as I washed it.................. but I'm a tough biker so I went indoors and did some moaning,

it stopped raining after a while so I carried on with my plan but with less enthusiasm on the cleaning bit,

the ride went well apart from two things, one was that the bike needs new steering bearings (ordered) and the other is that it has a slight miss-fire at very small throttle openings, maybe this will clear up after a basic service or maybe it needs the throttle bodies cleaning or maybe it is something else, it's definitely one of those three....maybe

 

and the other thing I did was to fit new chrome headlights instead of the awful black ones that are on it (originals got smashed), these black ones had projector beam style lights and were good if you wanted to pin point the opening to a mouse hole but rubbish if you want to see something like, I don't know maybe the road in front of you !,

the chrome lights I originally had on the bike were ok in quality but they never gave out the best light spread, it was just enough but that wasn't a problem as to be honest this bike for me is about looks as much as anything, so the new replacement chrome ones I bought I expected to be the same as before,

now when you search ebay you can find things that appear to be the same but at vastly different prices, I have now learnt that there is a reason for this as my replacement lights cost £25 and other places were £60,

as I started to fit them it was clear that these lights were so cheaply made that some made by 'Blue Peter' out of sticky back plastic would have been better quality, the wires are so thin that stripping the insulation off just pulled copper strands out, the part where the bulb (H4) fits had no spring clip to hold it in place but 'tangs' to bend over to keep the bulb in place, the bulbs that came with the lights are so awful that when I pushed the electrical connector onto it, the locating parts of the bulb just bent back and the bulb went nicely through the hole and into the light housing, the 'parking' light bulb was such a gentle push fit into place that a butterfly could pull it out, and after a very large amount of cursing I got them temporarily in place and found the amount of light given off by them barely lit up the back of my shed wall without the internal lights on,

a £60 set have now been ordered (I can see better electrical connections in the picture),

nothing else will happen now until my steering bearings come and then it depends on the weather and temperature as I'm old and arthritic now    still it will give me time to carry on carving my wooden dolphin 

[Catteeclan]

Hope you have more luck than my mate with a Suzuki gt125. He got a cheap off eBay which had the same wires you speak of and the chrome rubbed off the bowl while polishing. So he went for the more expensive one which was exactly the same.

[LAURENCEAUX]

Sounds like stainless steel pipes (admittedly for my 2000 Royal Enfield Bullet from the only store in town) that rust after 6 months. We've got to face it - good stuff you pay through the nose for..

This post was last modified: 11-11-2024, 08:46 AM by LAURENCEAUX.

[LIAW]

that's it, fill me with confidence  , that's why I try to make my own bits as much as I can

[fixitsan]

so what is the usual method of adding pictures here now, I used to use a page called photobucket to add pictures on forums but that went expensive,

is it ok to add pictures direct from a computer as in those above or is there another method, I don't have one of them smart phone things, mine still wears DM boots, I'll ask the other me for some advice the next time I pass a mirror, he's always there with that stupid look on his face

 

Flickr is still free as a photo host

[chrisbee]

[attachment=o15680]



That looks great 👍

I really like it without the fairing

[leehenty]

Where did they hide the ecu ?

[LIAW]

I did away with the big multi block connector and soldered all the wires together, the ECU fits into the underside of the stainless steel clock housing along with some other wiring for lights and indicators, the coils are still on the sides of the frame and the reason I made the frame covers under the tank

[leehenty]

Clever stuff

[LIAW]

I haven't done anything yet but my replacement lights have arrived, I am pleased to say that they are a hugely better quality item and they give off a light beam that you can see,

I am adding a picture to show the difference between an item that I thought was the same but different in price, lesson learned but no doubt I'll make similar mistakes in the future 

 

note the cheap one with 'bend over' tabs to secure bulb and a simple push in parking bulb with nothing but very slight friction to keep it in place, oh yeah the chrome is much nicer too

 

[attachment=o15681]

[Rallyist]

chalk & cheese