Picked up an extremely neglected 2008 675 a few weeks ago for a cafe style rebuild. I've long been a sucker for Triumphs and currently have a 2004 TBS with a vintage fairing (and a long list of mods) and a brat style bonnie in the stable, but a blown head gasket on the TBS had me looking for something reliable with a bit more power to serve as a daily while the TBS gets tucked away for an engine rebuild/955 upgrade. Came across this 675 that was beaten to within an inch of its life, and decided it deserved a new life. My plan is to go through the mechanicals but keep it mechanically stock and focus on cosmetic upgrades (anyone who recognizes my name from Triumphrat or Customfighters knows this is not my usual approach, and I'll probably be changing my tune towards the end of this thread but we just bought a 120yr old house so time/funds are in short supply).
Anyhow, I've named her Zip Tie, because the bike was essentially held together by zip ties and dreams. There were a total 39 zip ties holding together the bodywork and wiring harness. There was not a single panel that wasn't cracked or otherwise damaged, so new fairings were in order. Ever since seeing the Spirit of the Seventies 675, I've had an itch to integrate a vintage fairing onto a modern sport bike so decided to bust out the fiberglass and get to work. I have some experience with fiberglass but nothing of this scale. Mostly I've made fenders, cowls, seats, and reworking existing pieces.
Here is a mock up of what I'm going for:
Here she is on day 1:
As you can see, she needs a lot of love. First step was to take off the bodywork and assess what I'm working with.
Subframe is a bit tweaked and rear swingarm has a gouge on it from the rearset hitting it during one of the many lowsides this bike has endured, so both will be getting replaced along with the right clip on, controls, and left rearset. Thankfully the forks are straight and the engine runs.
Although she looked good naked, I really wanted that vintage style fairing, so mock up began.
Going to go with louvers a la 80's yoshimura gsxrs for airflow, but otherwise keep the fairing as smooth and rounded as possible.
The cowl will house a single 5 3/4" round headlight.
Once I had the general shape down, I went back over it with aluminum tape. Although this is certainly not the proper way to do it, it's effective for a rough shape. I do not have the space nor resources for clay or foam modeling, so the plan is to get a working rough fairing that I can tweak here and there, bodywork, and pull molds off of for the final fairing.
waxed and ready to lay some glass
glass going on. Used chopped mat because that's what I had laying around. Like i said, this is going to be a rough shape to serve as a base for tweaking the design and then smoothing out w/ body filler or clay to then pull molds.
And that's where we stand. My fiberglassing was interrupted by friends coming by to use my garage. (Please excuse the mess... we still haven't completely moved in as renovations are ongoing)
Anyhow, I've named her Zip Tie, because the bike was essentially held together by zip ties and dreams. There were a total 39 zip ties holding together the bodywork and wiring harness. There was not a single panel that wasn't cracked or otherwise damaged, so new fairings were in order. Ever since seeing the Spirit of the Seventies 675, I've had an itch to integrate a vintage fairing onto a modern sport bike so decided to bust out the fiberglass and get to work. I have some experience with fiberglass but nothing of this scale. Mostly I've made fenders, cowls, seats, and reworking existing pieces.
Here is a mock up of what I'm going for:
Here she is on day 1:
As you can see, she needs a lot of love. First step was to take off the bodywork and assess what I'm working with.
Subframe is a bit tweaked and rear swingarm has a gouge on it from the rearset hitting it during one of the many lowsides this bike has endured, so both will be getting replaced along with the right clip on, controls, and left rearset. Thankfully the forks are straight and the engine runs.
Although she looked good naked, I really wanted that vintage style fairing, so mock up began.
Going to go with louvers a la 80's yoshimura gsxrs for airflow, but otherwise keep the fairing as smooth and rounded as possible.
The cowl will house a single 5 3/4" round headlight.
Once I had the general shape down, I went back over it with aluminum tape. Although this is certainly not the proper way to do it, it's effective for a rough shape. I do not have the space nor resources for clay or foam modeling, so the plan is to get a working rough fairing that I can tweak here and there, bodywork, and pull molds off of for the final fairing.
waxed and ready to lay some glass
glass going on. Used chopped mat because that's what I had laying around. Like i said, this is going to be a rough shape to serve as a base for tweaking the design and then smoothing out w/ body filler or clay to then pull molds.
And that's where we stand. My fiberglassing was interrupted by friends coming by to use my garage. (Please excuse the mess... we still haven't completely moved in as renovations are ongoing)