Chrome

My original tank emblems were looking kinda grungy. The gold film on the lettering was chipping off and they didn't look too hot. Apparently emblems from a Yamaha golf cart fit other XS1100 bikes but not my XJ.

At first I figured I'd go the cheap way and try to paint the original emblems. I was informed of a company that would chrome plastic model parts but I went cheaper. I sanded off the gold lettering, got some chrome modelling paint and repainted the letters. They looked decent so I sprayed them with a clear gloss which totally turned the 'chrome' a dull gray. That bit but oh well.
Originally I had planned on building all new steel lettering but had held off on that on account of the painting turning out.

I started with the new emblems by removing the current emblems and drawing them to their exact shape including screw holes on PC with a vector program. I then printed the result, glued that to thin cardboard and cut out the lettering to make paint stencils. I sprayed the lettering onto the steel I wanted to use and cut out the rough letters using a steel bandsaw in the upright position. Yes, I was pretty stupid, considering if I slipped, my finger would be cut off. I ground the letters down to size on the flat side of a griding wheel. I cut out the middle of the 'A's by cutting all the way up to the top of the center hole and welding back in a little piece of steel to make the crossbar. I ground down the weld and the letters were looking pretty good. I gave the letters a curve on their horizontal axis by clamping each one in a bench vise and, clipping a vise-grip on the top, bent them over. The backing was made with thin steel. The mounting holes positioned using a printout from the vector layout. To position the letters properly on the backing, I merely laid the backing steel on the printout and the letter on top of the backing and lined up the letters correctly. Clipping them on with a vise-grip i spotted them on from the back. I started with the outside letters and made sure the middle ones were all on a straight line. Using a steel polishing wheel, I polished the assembled emblem and sent it off for chroming. After installation I realized that the backing piece looked dumb, being chromed so I painted the backing between the letters with black gloss steel paint.

Chroming cost about $20 CAN per emblem and probably took 2 hours to lay out on PC, plus about 7-10 hours in the shop. These letters aren't perfect but I'm fairly satisfied with them. Future ones would look better.

Over the last couple of years I've had the option to stretch out my legs while cruising down the highway on my highway pegs. I had built these fold-up pegs from purchased aftermarket pegs, bolted to 1/2 square tubing and got it chromed. This past summer I envisioned how nice it would be to be able to shift with my foot there out front.

My father impressed upon me that especially in linkage bends, the force this system would transfer might be quite high. Most of the steel used in this project is either hardened spring steel or bolts. The new shifter lever is from an old Suzuki 350. I had to put the kink in it to go around the existing highway peg. The twisting shaft is a 6-point bolt while the linkage arm is spring steel from agricultural field harrows. I had to figure out the leverage and range-of-motion aplification from the rear shifter to the front one but since they're almost the same, the only difference is that the front shifter lever is about twice as long as the rear and so rotates about twice as far.

Chroming cost about $20 CAN per piece, done by the Chrome Pit. I haven't used the shifter at all as it's still winter here. I have sat on teh bike and while some of the joints almost bind, the transmission still shifts.