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Engine w/ battery relocated under seat


Side view of license plate tool box


Tool box close up


Secret hidden tool tube underneath bike


Relocated speedo #1


Speedo #2


Speedo #3


Speedo #4


Those diamondplate kneepads I never finished


Old pic from the rear...(even got the old ba.com watermark from the photopost RIP)


Pic next to my buddy's Bonnie

How is it riding in the rain with no front fender?

I love the white walls for sure!Very cool ride.

Bitchin.

Awesome custom man. VERY COOL.

You got my vote! Beautiful bike man.

Another one of my favorites. Thanks for posting these.

Cheers, this bike is one of my inspirations.


~Brent

thanks guys, posting these pics reminded me of how long its been since I worked on it. And I got a decent shed now so I can work through the winter too.

Love your bike Tom, looks tough!! The hidden tool box is such a cool idea... may have to steal that one!

SWEET!!! I like the diamond plate knee pads very cool, maybe with some diamond plate covers for the peg/control mounts.

Stunning, simply stunning! Great attention to detail - class act

I like the diamond plate knee panels... you should finish that idea

Yeah Ian (thedogg33) gave me the idea originally. Basically the problem was that the tank not only curves front to back, it also curves top of tank to bottom.

So this bend was easy to get I just used my thigh and a little elbow grease...


but this other curve was harder because when you bend it this way, it unbends the other way


So then the thought was that an english wheel could do the bend, but you really cant roll the thing without messing up the diamond plate surface. So to the shelf its been ever since.

There was also the problem of hiding the rough edges properly. I thought of trying door trim molding. Then the problem of sticking them on with the right adhesive but not having it leave a mark on the paint n the future.

So then I thought that I could buy some triumph brand knee pads that are a pretty thick rubber, and carving a space for the diamond plate to set into sorta like an inlay.

Then how would you mount the plates?....Well maybe a pop rivet or one-sided set screw thingy, recessed in the inside of the pad so the rivet/screw backing doesnt touch the paint?

Then I wondered if anyone besides a triumph fan would understand it. Would I really need to explain what those diamond plate pieces were to every motorcycle enthusist everytime I stopped for gas?..............well.....they look cool.

haha

Yeah but... THEN what happened?

I sure do sound like an old timer, rambling on and whatnot

Could you scribe a line/shallow cut on the back side of the plate? Then when you bend it on that third plane, the other plane would stay in place? As far as the edges go, round them off. Mounting it? Get some of that glue that the rubber knee pads use. Then get a very thin piece of rubber and glue that as the meat between the slices of tank and plate.

Coffee. Nuff said?

the tank is sorta spherehical at that point, so fitting is hard. Its hard to explain, but if you take a piece of paper and fold horizontally towards you, then vertically away from you, the second fold will fight the first fold.

glue....yeah yeah, its hard to just glue something straight on the paint if your not sure about the long term practicality.

That's why I would use a thin sheet of rubber between the tank and metalica knee pad. After removing the knee pad all you might have to do is remove the gummy f'ed up rubber material.

Walking back from the eleven seven today at noon with a greasy tacito and a nastier hot dog, I observed a cager's sun reflector. The kind you place on the inside of the windshield. You know the thing that focuses the sunlight on your dash and fries it? Guess what is was made to appear as? haha diamond plate!

yeah thats why i was thinking about using the triumph rubber kneepads and just inlay the diamond plate. Best of both worlds. Bleh, too much work for something so petty though.

That diamond plate gets around....well graphic depictions of it anyway..haha

Is that diamond plate polished or chromed? You can try putting some heat to it(not when it's on the tank )to help you make the compound curve.

"Theyre all gonna laugh at you"!
"Theyre all gonna laugh at you"!

Very Very Cool always liked yer ride. It was yer early photos that gave me the courage to spray mine matt black.

went into my local homebase for some DIY stuff. saw they do small 12 inch checker plate wall tiles in very thin alloy. They also do a scaled down pattern. It should be easier to bend or just glue on?

Checkerplate inlaid in the top of those triumph knee pads would be cool. Kind of a 2-tone Ska thing kicking. Might be a bit loud for me. I like to keep it <subtle> (?sp?)

Beautiful bike.

Even though I ride a gee gaw & whimmy diddle transport unit, with every other doo dad that JC Whitney can bark up, I do have a powerful hankerin' for a stripped down maybe even a bobber style Trumpet.

Maybe a pre-fire in black...

Maybe when I win Powerball...

Maybe I'm just wide awake at 4:15 am listening to Gus sing me a little baby song... (He likes to sing after a meal)

Maybe all of the above...

yeah that stuff is addicting I'm sure. First you need a little fork bag and the next thing you know you got a full batwing fairing on the front with highway bars/pegs, coffee machine, faxtrola. etc. cant forget the gps and iphone docking stations just in case one of your friends has to email you a funny picture on the texter dealy.

seriously nice bike,love the space you created around the engine moving the battery back,none of the clutter of a v-twin.man have you got taste or what

Nice ride! I am not crazy about white walls but I think they look good on your bike. I am still debating on the battery relocation brackets that you sell too, hard to make a decision. I also like the tool pouch that you made as well. What size of tube is that? Nice ride with some good ideas!

Just to demonstrate the dearth of submissions for the homepage, Tom's up.

http://www.bonnevilleamerica.com/black-pearl-toms-2003-bonneville-america/

(Kidding!)

Many thanks John...it reads very well. (on the second try...haha)

Werd

That's a cool ride!! I like your hidden tool box. Gonna have to steal that idea. Can you get some more pictures of the tool box? Is it mounted to your swing arm? Or the underside in the middle of the bike?

Its been a while since I took some pics. Mainly because she's been pretty dirty for the last year or two. New things since I posted would be the tail light and mirrors.

Looks good Tom. Always been one of my favorites.

Looks great! One of my favorites too!

yeah erle that other bike reminds me of yours in that shot

Lookin' very cool there, Tom!

(...ever think of maybe puttin' white handlebar grips on that beauty...might look even cooler, ya know)

This is a bike of great beauty. You have crafted a Fine looking machine.