Atomic update: spent some quality time with the front fender today. I pulled it off for repair and repaint last year – thank you Todd Wilcox – so I have to put all the doodads back on it. It doesn’t seem like I got a lot done today, but getting the tailgunner lights reinstalled took some time.
I tested them before I went too far. They are single wire, meaning the housing provides the ground, but when I tested them, nada. Even though they will probably work once the fender is bolted up to the bike, I didn’t feel like waiting to find out that maybe I still didn’t have a solid enough ground. So I just ran a ground for each light anyway.
I took my time figuring out how and where to run the wires, but I got it done. Hooray.
So I am about halfway done with fender duty.
A while back I got some “atomic stars” to decorate the front fender with. They are really just repop chrome bits that go on a Chevy, but that sounds so boring… I don’t have the stock strip that hugs the back of the front fender, so I decided that area needed a little shine.
Thanks to Tom Delavan who answered my questions about how to attach them. Today I successfully drilled the fender and installed the atomic stars.
Still have the fender ornament yet to do, but I feel a nap coming on.
A little more work on the front fender. I am almost done, but I need a 20-degree wedge, 1″ wide to mount the fender ornament sitting on the bench beside the fender. Dang it. I had a little wedge of aluminum but I tried getting fancy with it, and screwed it up. Twice. So I will have to wait till I can get that wedge made before I can finish the fender completely. I did get the stainless strip installed though. Sooooooooo close to done….
I needed a 20 degree perch for my fender ornament, so I swiped some aluminum from my old job, and enlisted Anna Szafranski to help me make it happen. She’s in a machining program, and I thought it would be cool to have a little piece from her hands on my bike. So yesterday, she popped by and got the perch made. Today I drilled it, and had to cut a D shaped hole in one side. Then I drilled the fender and mounted the fender ornament! I am SO HAPPY!!! Almost ready to bolt the fancy pants fender up to the bike….
Long, hard fought couple of days finishing the bike completely. I needed different hardware to make the red jewels work on the windshield because the brackets are so thick. So I waited for that to come in.
Yesterday I put the battery cover back on, and in so doing, found the power wire for my heated gear had shaken loose, so I fixed that. I tightened up the right rear turn signal. Then I got busy putting the jewels on the windshield. Surprisingly, that took HOURS!! The shovel was fighting me at every turn.
Today I installed the front fender, wired the tailgunner lights in and tested them. Closed up the headlight again, wiped the bike down, and then made an insert for the top of the left saddlebag to hold a few more tools that I realized I needed. I packed and repacked the saddlebags to get the best use of space, and by some small miracle, there is room for everything. Mostly…
Sooooo the Atomic Shovel is unofficially ready for the Utah run. I have to get it inspected, and do a couple more serious shakedown rides. Then it goes back for a final check on the motor rebuild, and I am ready to go.
I will take better pics tomorrow in the sunlight, but these will do for tonight.
The Atomic Shovel 