KZ440 My first attempt

[PeanutHead]

The last coat of matte black just on the tank. Gonna let it dry then lay down matte clear. Fairing Body work was done but waiting for the wind to die down to paint that.

[PeanutHead]

Waiting for the rain to stop to see if I need another coat then matte clear coat.

Side covers are now waiting for stencils (to be made)and paint to arrive.

[Dougtheinternetannoyance123]

Allrighty, I scrolled thru all 6 pages. Cool! Looks like you are having fun and learning a lot. I respect that. You dont have to have the big dollar toys to have fun and thats what its all about.

I know this guy, Dave Morgan, local. Years ago (many now) and asked for advice on starting a shop. He had a decent day job as a mechanic for a school district and I told him, you got a pension, health care and a steady check. KEEP THAT! Dont quit your day job as its a great way to ruin a hobby. He went ahead and quit anyway and opened a shop (its for sale btw). Many adventures later,,, he is still living the dream.
Anyrate early on he built the "Cheaper chopper" to make it clear that you can have fun, and dont have to have some big dollar bike to do it. To illustrate it he chronicled and built this bike on a strict budget to stay under $1000.
For a long time the website had step by step details and many pages but he edited it down to one page, which is a shame as it was very instructive and inspirational. He told me he kept it up because it generated a LOT of web traffic for him for his business.
Check it out here: http://cyclepsycho.com/yamachopper/cheaperchopper.html

[lorax]

Allrighty, I scrolled thru all 6 pages. Cool! Looks like you are having fun and learning a lot. I respect that. You dont have to have the big dollar toys to have fun and thats what its all about.

I know this guy, Dave Morgan, local. Years ago (many now) and asked for advice on starting a shop. He had a decent day job as a mechanic for a school district and I told him, you got a pension, health care and a steady check. KEEP THAT! Dont quit your day job as its a great way to ruin a hobby. He went ahead and quit anyway and opened a shop (its for sale btw). Many adventures later,,, he is still living the dream.
Anyrate early on he built the "Cheaper chopper" to make it clear that you can have fun, and dont have to have some big dollar bike to do it. To illustrate it he chronicled and built this bike on a strict budget to stay under $1000.
For a long time the website had step by step details and many pages but he edited it down to one page, which is a shame as it was very instructive and inspirational. He told me he kept it up because it generated a LOT of web traffic for him for his business.
Check it out here: http://cyclepsycho.com/yamachopper/cheaperchopper.html

Thanks for sharing that resource man. Love the resources and knowledge you guys share - awesome.

Love following this build too. Nice work!

[Dougtheinternetannoyance123]

Thanks for sharing that resource man. Love the resources and knowledge you guys share - awesome.

Love following this build too. Nice work!

Cool, yeah he did all that back in 2002-3. I just checked again and while not ALL the pages he DOES have more details if anyone cares to look
See: http://cyclepsycho.com/yamachopper/yamachopper.html
&
See page 2: http://cyclepsycho.com/yamachopper/page2.html
Page 3 See: http://cyclepsycho.com/yamachopper/page3.html

etc etc,, so the build pages ARE there... hope someone finds it useful and need parts? Contact Dave and tell him Doug sent you. (Ask him about my Chickens)

[PeanutHead]

Thanks guys. Doug- when I got out of body school, i had the thought in my head that when I retired from the Air Force I was gonna open up a hot rod shop. Then I got into motorcycles, so I wanted to open a motorcycle shop. I'm almost 40 now and have 20 years in with the Air Force so I don't really see that happening. Besides, it took me 8 years to finish one little bike lol.

Yes, I'm learning a lot as i go. And I'm having fun making stuff fit that's not supposed to fit. My wife is gonna hate me when after I did ALL this work since March to break the bike down and paint it all over again. But when that happens, I'm gonna find someone/shop that has a paint booth to borrow/rent to paint it.

[Dougtheinternetannoyance123]

Well, I dont know all the details of where you are stationed (on or off base) but when I was active duty most places had a "Auto Hobby shop" so folks were not wrenching on their vehicles in dorm parking lots of base housing more than a tune up or minor adjustment. I KNOW some bases were really strict.
But most places had a paint booth but I imagine these days thats rare. Before I left Mt Home AFB Idaho
(366th TFW) I paid $150 and supplied materials to a staff member to squirt mine in the booth. We just used catalyzed enamel DuPont Centari which was okay, but not great. But I had rebuilt my car
(1963 Nova SS with 67 327 SBC) from the bare frame up and was in a time crunch to finish it before PCS overseas. I had a friend already at the base, Incirlik Turkey AB had PCS'ed 6 months earlier and he said the body shops off base were amazing and cheap.. plus you could get a full leather interior custom done cheap as well so dont worry about it. Make it one color and ship it!

I can post some pix, Driving to the mediteranean with a couple Turkish girls and spending the weekend on the beach was pretty wild with a 60s muscle car,, I was there 3.5 years (I extended)

He was right,,,, the craftsmen there were amazing. I saw a car rolled end over end and sideways 6 times and they rebuilt it better than new (69 Firebird convertible) Plus a Mustang fastback wrapped around a tree killing 2 people and it looked showroom new. The could make anew fender out of a sheet of flat steel. I wanted to ship about 6 of those Turkish guys back with me and open a shop.

(Again,,,I Have pix!)

But I learned to paint because generally I couldnt afford to pay others, I took classes and I did some side hustles with some dudes from "Corrosion Control" Which was the Fighter plane paint shop. (366th was a F-111 base-3 squadrons 2 were F-111s and Red was EF models) But overseas I did fwd ops support for missions with units all over Europe so did TDYs all over Germany, Spain, Italy & UK and we did everything.. F16s mostly but F15s and occasionally Turkish F4s and I even helped repair a WW2 era C-47 our unit damaged (Our bad,, engine test we blew the rudder off).

Back in Idaho I was friends with the guys in paint shop (Corrosion control) and they had a nice side hustle painting private planes off base for a 1/3rd what commercial shops were charging (Back then it was $10,000 to paint a Cessna or Piper,,, we did them for around $3500 + or - and since we "Liberated" some of the material from base,,, It didnt cost us much in materials but 4 guys over a weekend we could pocket some cash. (My NCOIC told me if you dont sleep friday nights its like a 3 day weekend!)

But After I got out,, I always had people who wanted car or bike work done and the better I got at painting I always had side hustle money coming in. Eventually,, while laid off from a Aerospace manuf job I decided to open a shop. I learned a lot (Dont quit your day job) But I still dabble in it.

Im going to see my FIL this weekend and I am squirting his newest restoration. A 52 MG TD.
Here is me a while back painting one of his others. This was a "Bitsa" MGB with some new and some old parts. Nicest MG in Oregon. He is a perfectionist and when done his cars are amazing.


Note!!! Thats NOT a formal paint shop! Thats my FIL shop and we cleaned it, masked it off, added a filtered entrance and store bought box fans for exhaust with Furnace filters. The lights are mine from my shop. I am updating those flourescents with new LEDs,, but I made those 4 panel lights myself.

You CAN make your own booth with 2x4s and rolls of plastic... many neighborhoods with frown on that, some people will assume you are cooking meth.. But back in the day many people did driveway or garage paint jobs and decent results. Ideally a REAL booth works best,,, but many people dont turn over the keys to anyone.

Anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

[PeanutHead]

My current base does not have a hobby shop. I'm an AGR in MD on a guard base. I'm pretty sure theres one at another base close by. I rented a bay in TX when i bought the 440. They gave me a VERY nice deal on rent too since i was there for 3 months. My current house is off base and we had a garage built shortly after moving (no way am i storing all my tools and bikes in my trailer). Maybe I'll do what your FIL did to my garage when i repaint the bike (if I can't find a booth to rent).

And, Thank you for your service brother. Welcome home.


My buddies Gus (left), Homer (ctr), and myself before we left for Bagrahm in 2010.

[PeanutHead]

I was all excited to install the headlight fairing tonight but I am now slightly disappointed. Not sure what the fuck happened but the fairing is grey and not flat black. Grrrrrrrr. Have to wait til tomorrow to sand it down and shoot it again.

The rear fender, side covers, and tank match.

[DoomBuggy]

How humid was it when you painted? Black seems to be the worst for picking up moisture and looking "fogged"

[PeanutHead]

I don't remember how humid it was that night but it was the raining on and off the last 3 days. Looks like the rain has stopped and i might be able to paint tomorrow.

[PeanutHead]

No pictures right now BUT the fairing (which I found out is off an 83 CB1100F) was repainted and cleared tonight. Should be dried enough took install tomorrow. I finally figured out a good mounting set up for the phantom seat and welded it all up.

[PeanutHead]

Well, the fairing was dry, but still too fucking foggy for my liking. Sanded it down again, and shot it a 3rd time (3rd times a charm right?). And while I was at it, I shot the tank again too. Here's a mock up shot. I love how this little bike is looking.

[PeanutHead]

So the fairing turn out good and I layed down some clear yesterday. The tank is another story.

It somehow got a scratch down the whole left side while drying. So earlier today I sanded it down with some 320 grit to take it out. As i was moving the tank inside to dry, my shirt touched the top and left a nice imprint. Really? So i had to wait until later (2 hours ago) to sand the tank again and spray more black. Just checked on it, both fucking sides have fucking runs in the paint. I give up. I'm so fucking pissed.

Oh, was able to annoy my neighbor with the sweet sounds of the 440 as i set the idle. Incant wait to take her for a ride. I haven't taken her for a proper ride EVER!

[shank1kole]

MAN.... be cool.It looks good and it aint rusty no more.You will sand that shit out eventually and have a better idea about how much to spray next time. For real if you don't have climate control watch the weather and spray in the morning,its cooler and lower wind let it sit for a day, THEN put it in the sun to dry.For now ride her, then re paint in the winter if you still hate it.

[PeanutHead]

I spent last night sanding down the tank again. And thats it. Just sanded all the runs out. Gonna check after my son goes to bed to see if it needs more sanding.

[DoomBuggy]

Just remember if it was easy everyone could do it. You are going to have a paint job that is yours and yours alone, major pride points and worth the effort.

The other thing, you are in an area that gets winter. That means every year you can take what you have learned and redo it a little better each time. Help you keep from getting bored with the bike ;-).

[PeanutHead]

Just remember if it was easy everyone could do it. You are going to have a paint job that is yours and yours alone, major pride points and worth the effort.

The other thing, you are in an area that gets winter. That means every year you can take what you have learned and redo it a little better each time. Help you keep from getting bored with the bike ;-).

This is very true. I still plan on trying to get the 5gal tank too mount up to the frame. AND, I've for a little something kinda cool planned for the decals.

[PeanutHead]

So I tired something different tonight. I turned on the A/C in the garage and sprayed the tank a few hours ago. I think that did the trick because I just finished laying down the clear coat. Hope it turns out good because I might take it out for a test ride tomorrow. But on a crappier note, I tried making a window for the fairing outta plexiglass. It was going so we'll until I cracked the corner off. Grrr. Gonna try something else tomorrow.

[PeanutHead]

So here's the tank as it was drying (4am when i let the dogs out).
And here she is now. Tank installed, seat installed, almost ready to go! Just need to make a fucking window/windshield.
I might take her out for a ride tomorrow.