He did it!!! The birth of the "Magnaceptor"

Friend and fellow Magna rider Bob finished his winter project -- transplanting a motor from a VFR into a Magna.



He calls his creation a VFR750C -- Part VFR Interceptor, Part VF750C Magna. The Magnaceptor.

By his own reckoning, he spent 3 months on the project. He mated the Magna heads and carbs to an Interceptor's motor. He spent 2 weeks of evenings wiring the harness. He used VFR wiring harness and ignition.

Hitler's got the wrong bike

What part of "Honda" do you nitwits not understand?
All that money...
You could have bought a really nice bike for that!

Custom V30 Headlight

My first-ever foray into motorcycle customization; I wanted to give my wife a windshield for her V30. There are very few options which work well and look nice for a cruiser with a rectangular headlight; there are far more options when dealing with a round headlight. So, I decided first step was to convert from rectangular to round. Also, at the same time, the stock turn signal location simply would not do. I would have to relocate them lower in order to make room for the windshield.

I ended up installing custom fork ears to hold the new headlight. I had purchased both the headlight and the fork ears for my aborted GL1100 Interstate "make-into-a-standard" project. Ended up selling the bike instead of customizing it.

I will install similar turn signals on the back.

I've posted pictures.

Photobucket Album

I'm almost finished with the whole project. I didn't get a chance to route the main harness properly but buttoned everything back together. Ran out of time. Shouldn't be much time remaining to route the cable properly. Also haven't shrink-wrapped the wires yet.

I had to lower the headlight which meant doing away with the stock fusebox and horn housing. I mounted the horns, splayed them at a 45 degree angle from the mount points, which positions them slightly wider than stock. Didn't want to leave the fuses sitting out exposed to I used a radio shack plastic project box to house them. Mounted the project box to the lower triple tree (where the stock "Honda Emblem" chrome-plastic piece is supposed to mount).

I wonder if I need to be concerned about heat inside the fusebox? Stock was not airtight. This one is. Could drill some airholes in the underside if necessary.

Hit and Run

Working in the yard Sunday afternoon I hear commotion from the front of the house. Before I reached the street, I heard the sounds of squealing tires and a car speeding away. When I arrive at the front street, I see a rider lying flat in the middle of the road, bike on its side, and other neighbors like me moving toward the scene to help. One sets up the bike -- A brand new Suzuki Boulevard S40.

Other gather around the rider. I decide to direct traffic rather than add to the gaper's block. Soon the cops arrive, and the fire truck, and the ambulance.

The onlookers are comforting the rider, and having her stay flat on her back. She's not moving, but I hear her ask someone to assess the damage to her bike. Actually I don't hear her, but I see a neighbor look over the bike, and call back a litany... bent forks, dented tank.

Eyewitnesses saw the black sports car speeding away, one even gave chase, but noone saw the license plate.

Paramedics picked up the rider and put her in the ambulance. She was wearing a full face helmet, blue jeans, short sleeved T-shirt, and riding boots. Her left leg was banged up maybe broken.

At least she was wearing a helmet.

I think the car turned right in front of her, was struck by her, then panicked and fled the scene.

Potato Potato Potato

My wife and I and our two kids were on four wheels today. There were lots of bikes out. At a traffic light, there's a Harley beside us. My wife, being an unabashed Harley Girl, eases down the window to listen to the exhaust note. They were stock pipes, so they weren't too obnoxious.

My 6-year-old daughter chimes in. "Is that a Yamaha?"

"No", my wife replies, "it's not a Yamaha it's a Harley. Don't you hear it say 'Potato Potato Potato'?"

My 9-year-old son chimes in. "If it were a V-Rod, it would say 'Sweet Potato'" That's a quote from Willie G himself; my son once saw him interviewed on some documentary about the V-Rod.

My daughter turns to me and says, "But the Magna is best of all. It says 'Hot Potato'"

HJC Breath Box Review

I rode my motorcycle to work today. It was a chance to try the HJC breath box I bought and installed in my HJC CL-14 helmet.

Fogging is my chief complaint about my CL-14. With temps in the 40's or lower I cannot keep my visor closed when I'm commuting. At a stop light, and even at city-street speeds the visor will fog. I spent my cool-weather commutes with the visor cracked open -- fine for visiblity but very cold on the face. Sometimes the wind chill takes my breath away.

In all other ways, and at all other temperatures, the CL-14 suits me fine -- certainly a price performer.

The breath box snaps into the two circular air vents in the chinbar of the full-faced helmet, and velcros to the lining. It stays in the helmet. But when the helmet is on, it looks like I've donned a painter's mask, mounted over my nose and mouth. All breath is deflected downwards.

With the mask in place I had zero problem with fogging.

The mask smelled rather strongly of polystyrene. I'm sure that smell will dissipate over time.

My chief problem with the mask was that my sunglasses wouldn't fit properly with the mask in place; the mask came so far up on the bridge of my nose. With the mask in place, the glasses couldn't fit as tightly, and ended up compromising my field of vision. It was distracting and dangerous. For the return trip I side-stepped the whole issue and left the sunglasses off.

I might be able to find a different pair of sunglasses that fit properly over the bridge of the mask. Or, I might try a tinted visor instead.

But the mask itself was worth the $9 I paid for it. It will allow me to keep the visor closed on those cold days, and still be fog-free.