Q-Dawg

Thank you for the reminder, Derek. Knew I was forgetting something lately. Just booked for Erin and I. See you all there!:)

I voted Custer, as it's marginally closer and Rob and I barely got a taste of it on the way back from SumSum1 and I would love to explore the area more. That being said, I would love Dillon again and want to go back sometime. So either choice is good. I just hope I/we can figure out a way to attend this year as "we" can't bike together anymore. Missed everyone this summer! Not wanting to miss out next year.

Take a bow, Mr Seb. Nicely done. Like other posters have mentioned, the closer shots reveal many subtle touches that impress. I sat here for 10 minutes looking the pictures over in detail. It wouldn't be "your" project without the trademark clear clutch cover, hehe. How long did it take to clean up smooth and paint that swing arm? That's two AMAZING streetfighter builds on VFRD this last couple years (yours and apexandy)

Dragonfly (my wife) and myself (Q-Dawg) are booked at the hotels mentioned at the beginning of the thread. See you there! BTW, what is the official attendance count now? Last list I saw was on page 4 of this thread.......

Thanks for the ABS info, Jamie. It confirms my guesses on the strength of an ABS printed part. I think that would work adequately for my needs, should I decide to pursue my projects further. Well for my immediate (starter) project, I think I will look at just buying some ABS sheet, cutting and gluing/welding the parts together. I may decide to make a production run of about a dozen of these parts, just for fun. But I think it would be just as easy to cut pieces from a pattern and shape by hand, as it is a fairly simple shape.

Ditto. Better confidence inspiring tires, some seat time, and lots of left-handed (side I spilled on) sweepers helped me a lot. And patience. The key was to overcome my panic instinct (to let up off the throttle when I felt threatened: almost always a bad thing for you and the bike) and push my comfort level SLOWLY. I still get that feeling once in a blue moon it turns out. Like when I was pushing a corner hard in Utah and experienced some noticeable front tire slide over tar snakes, it kicked in again. I drifted wide in the corner and crossed the centerline, much to my disgust. I really think track days would help, and I plan on taking part in some next riding season, if possible.

I know they aren't as strong as a solid part, and can suffer from poor fusing of layers adding to weakness of part. Some people are reporting that dipping their ABS parts in acetone helps "glue" any poor bonds and results in a smoother, glossier part. I don't mind doing a bit of sanding, etc. I wouldn't be expecting to mass produce parts, just make some things otherwise difficult to make and might have to be made of fiberglass otherwise. Custom gauge / car stereo pods, some small molds for making C/F parts for bike, etc. I am also very much into plastic model making, and these machines are good for that (as long as you have one running good resolution) to make model kits or model kit conversion parts. Say you buy a Japanese car model kit with the RHD version only offered but want to make the US version. Scan the dash, flip it with the software, and print out the correct version. May not be that simple in practice, but these are the sort of ideas I am toying with. Also a set of plans for a model kit could be scaled into different model scale sizes at the push of a button without investing in expensive injection mold tooling. And model kits do not have to be overly strong; they just sit on a shelf anyway. I agree the technology has a ways to go, but I think there are some good niche markets outside the rapid prototyping world.

Thinking about trying my hand at 3D printing, for a variety of reasons. I think it is a wave of the future, and more importantly, suitable for making small run plastic parts. Some of these parts I had planned in my head and was struggling to come up with a way to manufacture for my own use. Just wondering if anyone here has played with one. I think they offer a lot of possibilities in their current form, but once metal printing becomes more attainable it will turn the manufacturing world upside down. I want to try to make custom light housings among many other personal things. I am particularly interested in how to interface with Google Sketch-up, and if that is a good software platform to begin with. I know it may not seem like much of a bike mod question, but it has a lot of applications that could be useful in this area.

Haven't booked the vacation days for this event yet, but shouldn't be a problem with this much notice. Count us in! Just got back from ride down to Baker City. Some fantastic roads there. Tried the Middle Fork Road (cut-across from #7 near Austin, OR to #395 north of Long Creek, OR) and it was fantastic! Lots of relentless 25 to 35MPH curves. What the road may have lacked slightly in terms of asphalt condition (and abundance of cattle gates) it made up for in epic twisties and no traffic!!!!! What a great ride! The ride down from Lewiston, ID to Baker City, OR is pretty nice too.

www.theretrofitsource.com is the place where I bought a lot of my HID equipment from. I can attest that their customer service is great and they stand behind their products. Had a couple issues with one order and they sent me replacement harness, no questions asked. I've installed the 55w overdrive ballasts on my wife's hyundai minivan and I'll attest to there being minimal heat. I want to do an HID install on the VFR too, but too many other projects and there's the matter of the EMF generated from teh high tension wires interfering with my Pro-Oiler and where to mount the ballasts, as my cruise control servo is inside the left front fairing where a lot of people put them. Anyhow, there are lots of good resources on retrofitting HID's and the proper way to do it. It is more art than science at times, but the end results can net a real WOW factor that is hard to match. And the lighting performance of course is second to none! Hope the link helps with peoples' interest on the subject.