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Zip Tie: 2008 Daytona Cafe'd build

6K views 25 replies 10 participants last post by  Knolly 
#1 ·
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)
 
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#2 ·
Sub'd! Really looking forward to the finished product. Question about the "venting" of the engine heat. Any concerns about it rapidly overheating since you are covering the openings of the fairings on the sides?
 
#3 ·
I kind of roughed out the vents with blue tape, but for clarification, I'm planning on using some vintage style Yoshimura vents such as these from air tech:


Kind of a mashup of decades/styles but I think it will all work well together. Slab side fairings are just for rough mock up. The openings will be cut and I'll either fabricate louvers (difficult) or bond in a set of pre made louvers (easy).
 
#7 ·
Thanks guys, to be honest, I wasn't expecting such support. When I started tearing apart the TBS, the purists quickly came out to criticize my decision to hack up such a rare bike (well... modern Triumph rare). Anyhow, pulled the fairing to start trimming and test fitting.



have some fiberglass cloth coming in the mail to do the outer layer but first want to test fit and make changes with this thin layer of glass as it's easier to cut and manipulate and then bond back together without getting too bulky. I'm not 100% happy with the angle of the upper fairing/windscreen mount. Would like to bring it a bit more horizontal and extend the front cowl a bit.
 
#8 ·
Thanks guys, to be honest, I wasn't expecting such support. When I started tearing apart the TBS, the purists quickly came out to criticize my decision to hack up such a rare bike (well... modern Triumph rare).
Except you're not hacking this one up; the previous owner already took care of that. We're happy you're saving it from an early grave and making it into something unique.
 
#9 ·
not too much to report, got more layers of glass on and made some fitment adjustments. Going to do one more layer of glass cloth on the outside then lightly sand everything down and start the filler process. Need to get the windscreen area finished first so I can order a custom windscreen from Gustafsson.

bottom getting glassed in:




rough trimmed shape

 
#12 ·
a shit ton of bondo later and the fairing plug is starting to take shape. Have the dimensions pretty much set but trying to figure out the vent now.



laid out some tape lines for what I was originally thinking:


then did a quick and rough 'chop of a different design. Not sure I'm feeling either though.

 
#14 ·
well... head gasket on the TBS is toast so I currently have 3 non runners and the DGR fast approaching. After a call to my local triumph dealer, the gasket kit would take 7-10 days, making me either pull and replace the head gasket in one long marathon the day before the DGR, or just focus my attention on the 675 and hope to have something resembling a motorcycle finished in 9 days. I've decided to try for the latter (with a friend's Harley has a backup) and push to get the bike roughly done. Realizing I am going to need a seat, I decided to glass the seat early this morning (i was up at 4:30am to drop off my girlfriend at the airport for a bachelorette party weekend) and then was able to pull the seat after work and trim it to get ready for the upholsterer.

Progress pics:

as I need to make a seat to accommodate a passenger and i'm under a bit of a time crunch, I decided to go for one long seat and will then make a removable cowl

I am going to make a new tail piece to house a tail light... not sure if I'm going to attempt to use the stock one or go with an LED strip.
profile shot with some foam and felt batting. Also sat on it, and it's really not that bad. Slightly thinner profile than the stock seat.
 
#15 ·
brought the seat to the upholsterer today, should be ready by tomorrow and then I can figure out the tail light situation.

I was out with some buddies this weekend and Zip Tie came up. The word "marshmallow" was used more than once to describe the fairing. The criticism resonated with me and when I got home, I sat there in the garage staring at the fairing progress and decided to go in a different direction. Given the DGR time crunch, I decided to use as much of the stock fairing as possible, including the vent. My girlfriend was out of town at a friend's bachelorette party, so I had four uninterrupted days/nights of working on the bike.


given that the fairings were toast anyway, I decided to use portions as reinforcement as well as a shortcut to using the stock mounting points. As abs doesn't play well with fiberglass, I drilled a ton of holes in the fairing to give the resin something to bite.



to make mounting easier, I cut the fairing in two and the bottom fairings will be attached via dzus fasteners.


and now bodywork has begun. Rough shaping with filler


Have a bunch of friends coming by on Saturday for a last minute thrash to get it buttoned up as much as possible, but right now just hoping it's rideable. I know there is no chance for paint in this timeframe, but I do hope to have it mostly bodyworked and in primer for the DGR.

That's all for now.
 
#18 ·
Ha, it was for me too. I recognize that any composites professional is probably cringing at this build, but gotta do what I can with what I have.

I am pretty happy with how things are coming out. Now have to figure out the headlight and front air intake
 
#19 ·
got the seat back from the upholsterer and am very happy.


and on the bike:


girlfriend wanted to test it out:


Also, earlier today got the windscreen fitted. Couldn't get a custom one quick enough from gustafsson so found a used, generic windscreen on eBay and trimmed it down to fit. Took a bit of time with a flap disc on the grinder (learned the hard way in the past that it's always better to sand it down than cut it) but got it close enough. Not bad for a $30 used windscreen, but I plan on tinting it.



Lastly, rummaged through the parts bin and found a headlight that seems like it'll fit. Threw in an LED bulb salvaged from another bike. Debating painting the lens yellow, but not sure at this point.

better sense of how it'll fit
 
#20 ·
girlfriend wanted to test it out:
The bike is great and all, really, but OK whoa hold on here, back up. You cause all this mayhem in your garage, spend countless hours on this bike, and not only is your GF not pissed, but she actually wants to "test it out?" And she's not wearing a ring...why? Dude.

On a more serious note, those tires have to be original. Hope you're swapping them out soon.
 
#22 ·
Freaking awesome! Keep it coming!

My girl is too supportive of my addictions too. We went on a '4' hour ride together on day... ended up taking about 9 hours..... on a daytona.... and she didnt leave me

ask @harcourt about it!

Glad this build is going well, your relationship is stronger from it, and that you got a house! super awesome place to be in life!

Cheers! :thumbsup:
 
#25 ·
had the squad over yesterday for a full day thrash to get Zip Tie rideable for the DGR. Dunlop Q3's mounted, tank stripped, fairing in primer and roughly installed, seat and tail cowl installed, headlight and tail lights wired in. She's going to get blown back apart for detail powder coat and paintwork, cleaning, street triple wiring harness, proper air intake and gauge mount, but close enough was good enough for today. She ran a bit hot but the NYC DGR was essentially 700 bikes stuck in gridlock for 2 hours.

It was all hands on deck:



this was the scene at 3am:


And of course some shots from today:


 
#26 ·
Happened to stumble on this thread again, I didn't realize I never saw the end product. Looks fantastic!!! That's such cool work. I've been wanting a vintage fairing on something modern and this is such a great and creative way to do it. Is the bike still looking like this or has any other work been done?
 
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