Ceasefire over. Der Ratte Attack Stage 2 continues ...

I was confronted with the prospect of a day of beautiful weather upon crawling out of my bed around midday today. My first 4 day break after near a month on the new shift pattern with the new contract, so it was about time I got to treat myself to staying up Really Late, and then similarly sleeping in Really Late too.

So, what to do ? Do I put the boat in the water and go for a cruise down river ? Or do I do some more damage to the CX500 Rat in the making ?

Having decided that because too many folk were getting used to/accepting of the increase in fugliness I have already inflicted on an ugly by default motorbike, it was now high time I resumed hostilities against the rideable metal, and see how much more fugly I could make it.

So I figured that the river could wait, coz it was time to break out the Made in China safety boots, angle grinder, drill, rusty mild-steel bar, blunt drill bits, striking devices of various sizes, weights and shapes ... and the odd cuss word.

First to do was to rip the seat off again and then the rear mudguard. This meant that the stoplight and number plate cluster had no where to go. Hmmmm, time for the first bit of rusty mild steel bar !

Above picture is the planned new rear-guard. Gunna make it so it swings up and down with the wheel rather than the wheel swing up and down into it. Except there won't be any swing having decided to Hard-tail it anyway.

Take a last look at current battery position on the airbox, and the old rear-guard on the ground to the far lower right. Note the handy holes at the end of the Harley sissybar. See where this is going ?

Ok, you can see that I have my Made In China safety boots on. This is important. So too is taking the guard from off the angle grinder. Safety First, Folks ! Then it was a case of bashing a right-angle into a bit of mild steel bar, roughly marking off where the number plate finished and leaving enough for the other end to be bashed over when cut. After the cut, a quick score with the angle grinder makes for an easy bend. A bit of drilling, muttering and cursing while looking for non-blunt drill bits, and yowser, the following was soon possible. I was a little bit worried for a moment that the stop-light and number plate cluster could easily end up pointing towards the ground with a bit of a push ... and it probably could if one had the mind to do so. Heh. Anyway, then it was time to break out some more mild-steel bar and do some crafty bending in order to provide a new way of holding the seat on now that the rear-guard was gone. Note hurled to the ground drill bits. Heh++

Seat now securable, time to get the new rear-guard on. Before that though, it was at last time to remove the battery and air-box ready for the new plans for that to come later. Here is a pic of the airbox gone and most of the electrics swinging in the breeze and my crafty front mount for the seat involving a stainless steel bit of bar held onto the frame with some hose clips.

Next is a view of how one end of the rear-guard is now secured to Der Ratte. I found a stainless steel bit of angle in my boat stuff, so after more muttering and cursing while trying to drill it (don't you just HATE how stainless steel can kill a dying drill bit in no time flat ?) and a few thumps with a hammer to bend it over even further (I jammed it into the boat trailer to do that) it was simply a case of a stainless steel bolt and nyloc nut cushioned by a rubber washer between the guard and the bracket, then another stainless steel bolt and nyloc between the bracket and the up-and-coming battery tray that came pre-equiped with a suitable slot for proper centering.

Yes, I realise that this anchor point will have to change if I don't hard tail things, but I'm determined to give it a go for a week or two. Alternative is to drag the welder out and tack an anchor point mid swing arm under where I've currently bolted it ... or better still, loop it with a large U bolt ? Did that make you shudder ? Yes, I realise I'll have to rethink certain clearances too. Nothing that can't be sorted out with an angle grinder and a bit of muttering.

In that above pic, you can also see my front seat mount a bit better. Maybe I'll weld it on, maybe I won't. Anyway, I ran out of daylight, so more tomorrow ... gotta have it back on the road by the end of the day. Will break out the matt-black rattle cans another day. The fish-oil spray will need a day or two to dry out and set properly anyway.

While I'm repositioning all the electrics in that area I'm going to make a point of doing away with every connector and solder every join instead.

I call that the "take off and nuke it from orbit - it is the only way to be sure" approach. :)

regarDS