El Cheapo Update

Since getting back from Mexico I've been hammering the sporty as much as possible. With gas prices what they are and a bike this fun the team van pretty much stays in the driveway these days. Hey, I've got a low-carbon footprint or whatever Al Gore and the hippies say I need a Prius to do.



Anyway, the bike is loads of fun. A few things I've changed since the initial work; Old tailight mount cracked and the whole assembly folded into the rear tire. Sweet, now the brand new license plate has some patina. A simple repop Sparto was the solution and it looks better than the original anyway. I changed out the Aces bars for some black Friscos. I liked the Aces, but these just felt more comfortable and are great for my lane-splitting commute every day. The pipes are a little short and the lack of back pressure seemed to be affecting performance a little. A cheap set of anti-reversion cones from eBay and the butt dyno says they work. I wondered if they were snake oil or not. I guess in this exact application there are notable improvements. I still might do the washer-welded-to-a-bolt trick just to see if more is better. Added some heat tape too. Not real fond of the look but my leg digs it. I'm making a new seat for it this weekend, because this one is going off to the factory as a prototype.



Other than the short pipes and the tailight falling off the thing is bulletproof so far and has been a blast to ride. I plan on riding from So Cal to the Smoke Out East in North Carolina next month with my friend Joel, so we'll test it's long haul capabilities (and mine!) then.

p.s. Thanks Willis, you little bastard. (For once that's not oil under the 45...) See the post below.