General Patton

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tlbranth
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General Patton

#1

Post by tlbranth »

I bought this '75 from Pony Ruiz - a regular on NGW forums - in November 2012. I spent a while fixing problems, taking off all the dodads and making it into The General. My pictures are not too organized so I'll just post a few with comments as I find time and top it off with the final result.
Here's the bike as it was originally
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Terry
Don't own a Vanagon
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Life is good

1999 GL1500 SE
2002 Honda VT750 "ACE"
1975 GL1000
1970 CB750
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desertrefugee
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Re: General Patton

#2

Post by desertrefugee »

:popcornx2

Wow! Looked great "as was". It will be neat to see the progression.
- Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about learning to ride in the rain.
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CYBORG
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Re: General Patton

#3

Post by CYBORG »

I agree, looks pretty good the way you got it
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
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brianinpa
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Re: General Patton

#4

Post by brianinpa »

Yup, this one should be good!
:popcornx2
Brian
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tlbranth
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Re: General Patton

#5

Post by tlbranth »

One of the big things I did was chuck the wiring harness and a lot of stuff attached to it. I used relays to cut down current going through most switches. I also wanted to add some safety features found on newer bikes - for example, prevent starting unless in neutral or clutch pulled and kill the engine if in gear and the kickstand is down.

I removed all the components on the left shelter side and cut out all the lumpy stuff so's I could get things flatter for my relays.
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Things are quite tight inder the left cover so I made some mockups of fuse boxes and relays to see how to fit everything.
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I patched in some sheet metal where I'd cut out the lumps.
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My friend Peter pimped and painted for me. Note the hand-whittled 7v bracket on the left.
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I cut out some 1/8" sheet ABS to go under the components. There are 2 welded ground bolts, one on each end.

Preliminary wiring in. No room for relay sockets so I wired directly. I'll post my final version of the wiring diagram at the end....if I remember.
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Terry
Don't own a Vanagon
Don't work at Boeing
Life is good

1999 GL1500 SE
2002 Honda VT750 "ACE"
1975 GL1000
1970 CB750
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tlbranth
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Re: General Patton

#6

Post by tlbranth »

Before taking the whole bike apart, I fitted several things that would require welding.

Bonneville peashooter mufflers get fitted.
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Then I made a stop for the center stand
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...and a locator for each rear footpeg
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Terry
Don't own a Vanagon
Don't work at Boeing
Life is good

1999 GL1500 SE
2002 Honda VT750 "ACE"
1975 GL1000
1970 CB750
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Re: General Patton

#7

Post by desertrefugee »

Mother McCree and General Jackson (except in this case it's Patton).

That's some serious love you're showing this machine. I love the direction. (And the metal skills).
- Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about learning to ride in the rain.
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tlbranth
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Re: General Patton

#8

Post by tlbranth »

I used a spare '75 clutch lever switch for the kickstand switch. It's a nice compact, sturdy switch and can still be had from Honda for $10 or so. I cut the stupid rubber thing off the kickstand. Positioning the switch was quite a deal. There are very few positions that are viable.
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I made a new dash from sheet metal. This is to house a mechanical oil pressure gauge, a voltmeter, a couple of switches (on/off for the lights and hazard warning) and lots of indicator lights. Fitting this thing was quite a chore.
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I wanted to add gaiters to the front forks and I wanted a more British looking headlight. So the fork ears had everything cut off except the fitting that held the position lights. I welded on tubing above and below this fitting to add these items
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Pimping comes later
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Terry
Don't own a Vanagon
Don't work at Boeing
Life is good

1999 GL1500 SE
2002 Honda VT750 "ACE"
1975 GL1000
1970 CB750
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tlbranth
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Re: General Patton

#9

Post by tlbranth »

Bike gets disassembled. I sent all the zinc plated nuts and bolts out for replating. I also disassembled both wheels and sent the spokes and nipples out to be plated. All the parts got blasted for painting.
here's the frame after blasting and pimping some of those nasty welds Honda does.
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stuff blasted and awaiting paint
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Hardware going out for plating
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blasted and masked
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Black paint
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Terry
Don't own a Vanagon
Don't work at Boeing
Life is good

1999 GL1500 SE
2002 Honda VT750 "ACE"
1975 GL1000
1970 CB750
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Re: General Patton

#10

Post by Rat »

Serious work .... thanks for the excellent reporting ....

Gord
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Re: General Patton

#11

Post by Oldewing »

Attention to detail is amazing........


I put fresh gas in the last one I did lolol
82 GL1100 Interstate-Oldewing October 23 BOTM
06 GL1800 Road bike, as in Rode alot...
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Other times we just hug.......

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Re: General Patton

#12

Post by robin1731 »

Oldewing wrote:Attention to detail is amazing........

:orange :orange anim-cheers1 anim-cheers1

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1976 Goldwing Super Sport
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Re: General Patton

#13

Post by HOTT »

Go get 'em Terry ! action1 action1
Man! great foundation being laid there. tumb2

[quote]No room for relay sockets so I wired directly.[/quote]
Ahh, sockets are way over rated anyway :lol:

HOTT
If we can't fix it, we can fix it so no one else can.
the Condor BOTY 2011
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delling3
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Re: General Patton

#14

Post by delling3 »

I think this has the making of a BOTM. Nice work.
delling3

1979 Yamaha XS750SF

Previous:
1978 GL1000 - JUNE 2017 BOTM: Sold
2006 Kawasaki Concours: Sold
1995 Kawasaki Concours: Crashed/totalled.
1976 GL1000: LAST RESTORATION, sold
1981 Honda CB900F Supersport: 3rd restoration, sold.
1979 Yamaha XS-750F: 2nd restoration, sold.
1982 Honda FT-500 Ascot: First (only) new bike. Family forces sale.
1973 CB500 Four: First restoration, long gone.
1972 Suzuki TS-100: First bike, sold.

Only dead fish go with the flow . . .
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Re: General Patton

#15

Post by sgwilly »

Nice work!
Steve
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