Cogswell

Everything looks groovy, except the name..............

Killer bike mods but who's in peril? ...sorry... ?

I'm guessing mostly his driver's license . . .

That's one helluva way to turn fuel and air in to horsepower. The hoses / plumbing / exhaust looks like it belongs on the Space Shuttle . . .

P.S. Anyone recognize the font?

Anyone that doesn't get that should be banned from the forum!

Love the company's tag line . . .

"Our Stuff Blows"

I'm plannin on throwing on a rear rack and JC top box that i recently purchased from a VFRD member, as well as my darth bling mirrors. If the pocket book allows, I'd like to throw a set of heated grips and a zumo on there as well. That takes care of one weekend. :)

Did you find an alternate source for DB mirror adapters or did you already happen to have them? AFAIK they're no longer made. I think there is still some interest out there in them if they were available.

I did this to my 5th gen on a bet with a friend that it wasn't possible (I'm stubborn). YYMV - but it seems people have varying experience with stripping the powder coat. For me stripping the factory finish off was a real beeotch. After 3 applications of stripper, (and hours of scrubbing with scotchbrite and other pads) I finally got them relatively clean. It's a messy job. The powder coat Honda uses is really tough stuff - it amazes me that the stuff can chip at all. If I did it again, I'd pay either the finisher or a shop to just dip the wheels and get the coating off - it's about $50 a wheel - but you'd have to press the wheel bearings out of the front. I was probably saving about a couple of bucks an hour to strip them myself so I'd just pony up the dough and do something more fun. When you get it off, you'll find that the perimeter of the rim has been factory machined and is relatively smooth and won't take a huge amount of work to polish if you have the buffs and compound. Some people just strip that and leave the spokes alone. The spokes on the other hand, are left rough cast by Honda and are a real chore (you won't be able to detect that under the powder coat). After hours of sanding the rough casting and buffing (to a lousy result), I finally decided I didn't want to make a second career out of polishing my wheels so I took them to a metal finisher. I didn't track my hours, but I had spent probably a good 30 to 40 hours by then and was getting sick of the project. If you want a good result, this project takes commitment - and honestly it's pretty boring. A pro will get a better result than anyone can in their garage in probably less time unless they invest in the equipment. I paid $400 to have both done after having stripped them. Figure 5 bills +/- if you just take them in right off the bike. If you want to check out buffs, Harbor Freight carries some, or you could go to Eastwood.com and buy one of their wheel polishing kits.

Having done it, I wouldn't do it if I rode much in the rain. Exposure of the bare metal to water will accelerate the oxidation process and you'll find yourself spending 30 minutes polishing the wheels after each ride if you want them shiny. If you think chain maintenance is no fun . . . On the other hand, if you live in a sunny clime or ride only in good WX, using something like a Mothers powerball or similar and a drill on occasion you can keep the wheels looking really sharp. You'll get lots of thumbs up. One downside is the front wheel. Metal polish on the rotors is a lousy combination, so I got some heavy cardboard and created two pieces in a crescent moon shape to match the diameter of the rotors, taped them together on the outside edge and slipped them over each rotor as I polished the front wheel. On days I was really paranoid about it I would wipe the rotors with a rag and some Brakekleen just to be sure.

Lastly, the metal finisher told me that some people like to clear coat the metal to keep the maintenance down. I never confirmed this, but he claimed that the metal would oxidize underneath the clear coat anyway (though slowly) and would dull over time. Also, a cheap clear coat can yellow and that would look lousy. At least bare metal can be brought back up to a nice shine with a little work. Once your clear coat goes sour (or chips), you're back to stripping again. Again, YYMV on that one. In the short run, clear coating cuts down on the work for sure.

I think there are some here that have had their wheels chrome plated. I have no experience with that - might be worth checking out - probably less maintenance but more $.

Here's a pic of my 5th gen shortly after they were done.