Triumph Chop - Microphone Tail Light

You can turn pretty much anything into a tail light. This is the method that I've used before but never taken pictures of. Bought a vintage microphone and removed the mic from it. I always have to draw out what I want to do so I don't screw it up. Bought an 1157 Red LED light and an 1157 socket. From there, it's just working with what you've got. My mic body has a little lip on the inside so I turned a washer down to fit snug on that lip. Welded a 2" pipe to it and then used another washer for the light socket. A couple really basic tabs with some bolts and there you have it. I like using the Red LED cause I don't have to use a lens. Hope you all find this info helpful. Before I had a lathe I always did the exact same thing with my bench grinder and hand files. 

Triumph Chop - Headlight Perch

Worked on the headlight perch yesterday. First got the triple tree all cleaned up and bored out the hole where I'd be mounting the headlight. Cut off a section of hex leaded steel and turned down the end to fit the hole then drilled and tapped it. Cut off half the upper section lengthwise and drilled it to accept the headlight.

Triumph Chop - Fender and Oil Tanks Mounts

Bungs! Feels like I've just been making bungs the past couple days but I did get my oil tank and fender mounted. The tank is an old Santee horseshoe tank. Thank god for my JD2 notcher because it made the coped angles super easy. After spending a few hours on the lathe drilling and threading all the bungs, I got them all tacked in place. 

Triumph Chop - Finishing Seat Mount

Put some final touches on the seat mount. Threaded a piece of 3/8 rod for 2 1/4" socket head bolts. Made it look real clean. Also got the spring perches done. Just need to burn it all in and move on to the next project.

Triumph Chop - Seat Mount

Finally got to work on the seat mount since it seems like nothing else is happening on the bike right now. Pretty simple concept and not too fancy but I think it'll work well.

Triumph Chop - Speedo Drive Cover

Since I'm still a beginner on the lathe still, I can use all the practice I can get. I know that I can buy a speedometer drive cover for like $40 but decided I would just go ahead and make one since I had the aluminum on hand anyway. My little lathe isn't up to the job of parting so I just had to cut it with a hacksaw and face it after the cut. Turned out pretty well after I made a couple HSS tool for the inside cuts. 

1996 KZ1000P

If you've seen even a fraction of the posts on my blog, you know that stock bikes aren't my thing....but since a 1978 KZ650 was my first bike, I have a soft spot for the Kawasaki KZ. I've seen the KZ1000's making awesome time on the 1/4 mile not to mention the badassery that was the KZ in Mad Max.

My problem is that since I'm always working on a bike, I never have one to just hop on and ride. I'm saving up for a Shovelhead but in the meantime, I couldn't resist picking up this former Twin Falls County Sheriff bike. This thing runs like a dream. It is the antithesis of every bike I've had. It's quiet, fast, smooth, comfortable, all the electronics work, has good gauges and is clean. Long live the KZ!