Has been a while since my last post, good news is I just got the FI running after a long delay. Here are some pictures.

 This is what the throttle bodies looked like in mockup.

 Bottom side of carbs with everything ground off.

 Using stock linkage, chokes have been decommissioned.

 These I had originally made out of a plastic, later had them fabbed of aluminum.

 TPS needed a place, drilled the throttle shaft, tapped it, then added a lever. Used a bit of conduit to make the housing, welded a couple of nut to hold retaining screws. A little JB weld, viola!!.

 Ready  for paint.

 I started out using injectors and fuel rail from a 2.3L mazda. Ended up purchasing aluminum fuel rail because it is easier to work. Kept the HI Z injectors.

 Vacuum ports on the bottom side.

 

 

 

 

 

So this is where I hope to go, low pressure turbo with FI.
 

As of September 2014 the FI is in this state, mounted on the GL1000, ready for electronics. There were a number of adjustments I had to do in order to fit everything in place. That said, you must realize that fitting is a part of this kind of customization, so be not afraid, just make sure you maintain the structural integrity of the frame. When I began this project I spent some time reinforcing the frame just for this purpose.



 Right side showing fuel pressure regulator, fuel rail, injectors and plugs that injectors fit into.

 Front view showing throttle position sensor and wiring harness.

 Left side, fuel rail. I had to use a couple of  3/8" nuts as spacers to move left stiffener forward to clear TPS, at left.

 Looking down, front is to left. Note that I removed the cross bar to clear for fuel crossover tube. Also note, I removed bottom half of the two gussets. One is visible over the pressure regular, it is close, but does not touch.

 Looking from right side of bike you can see where left fuel rail clears the left side gusset.

 Here you see the pressure regulator, having had the fuel rail shortened and the mounting flange rotated to clear frame where lower half of gusset was removed.

 Fuel filter mounted where mechanical pump used to reside

Left side showing external fuel pump mounted under tank. I may do an in-tank fuel pump at a later date.

Fuel Injection Install

This installment shows the FI as of September 2014, there was some adjustments that had to be made to get it all in as planned. Aside from a couple minor issues, I am pleased with the look of the thing. I hope to have it running in a couple of weeks, given availability of time to work on it.


Here we have the induction viewed from the right side, I had to shorten the fuel rail in the foreground and re orient the pressure regulator to fit in the space allowed, this includes removing the bottom half of the gussets at the rear cross member. Nothing a visit to Harbor Freight can't solve. Bear in mind that I had done extensive frame reinforcements in the early stages of bike construction, just for this reason. I do not recommend removing structure without compensation.

 This view is from the front, TPS is visible as well as the wiring harness.

 View from left side of bike.

 Looking down , front is to left.

Fuel injection for the YellowJacket

It has been some time since I last made a post, so here's a new one. When I first did the build on the YellowJacket, I had installed the fuel injection setup from an '85 GL1200. It worked alright, but I did not care for the look of it. A little too commercial plumbing if you know what I mean. So I got a hold of a retired set of stock carbs, gutted them, had some plugs, fabricated, plugged up all the leaky stuff, and set up some fuel rails. I will be using a Mega Squirt ecu, running timing and fuel. Eventually, it will have a turbo installed, but I figure it would be best to get the FI nailed down before I blow it up.
Here are some pics.

 

 Above are the bodies after being milled flat and
mounted on the airbox.


At right are the injectors from a 2.0 Mazda, and the plugs made to fit inside the piston bore. The recess for the injectors is angled at approx. 45 degrees, which points down stream toward the head. I recycled the dashpot portion with bolt tabs as retainers for the plugs.

 


I made a TPI mount by drilling and tapping the throttle shaft of #2 carb. A little JB weld and a bit of thin wall and I have a place for the TPI to live.








You can see the TPI in this picture.

 
 
 


 

At first I thought I could use the fuel rail that came with the injectors, why not! The spacing was perfect and I had them in hand. If I would have brazed them, it would have been OK. As it was, they were not going to fly, so I bought some brass fittings and a piece of fuel rail and made a stronger system. These pictures show the first fuel rail setup.

I needed to have  an Idle air circuit as well as vacuum /pressure port for the eventual turbo setup. you can see the intake air temp sensor in the middle of the air box.

Did I mention turbo? Just so happens, I got a T15 online with wastegate, so I welded this thing up. I have removed the center stand and have put together plumbing to fit this thing under the bike in the space vacated by the center stand.  

New look for 1981 GL110I

Since I must carry hand tools with me to work at different job sites, I decided to put bags back onto my 81 GL1100. Of coarse the stock setup would not do, so I took the original paniers and buzzed them on the band saw, thereby reducing their height by about 2 inches, and giving me an excuse to paint them. While I was at it, I took the original pipes and lightly blasted them so they would take paint . The end result is a new interpretation of the old thing.

If you cut them roughly in two, the bottom should slip into the upper half and wedge in there pretty well. Clean the paint off, where they mate, apply ABS adhesive, insert, clamp or temporarily screw together, let cure for a couple of days and you now have chopped bags.

Here is how it looks with modified bags and hardware, painted and installed.

Compare the stock look and the new look. Hey, it was in fair shape when I got it. But was, way too, top heavy for me to handle comfortably, besides, it looked like everybody elses. Had to change that.

 This view you can see the difference in the hardware, took the nerf bars off and lowered the mounting bar for the inside mounts.

 In the lower picture you see the pipes with fresh paint.

Overall, I am satisfied with the end result. Still rides great, and has the quiet of the original pipes, and the added capacity of the modified bags.

About pipes, it has been my experience that loud pipes make you deaf and pisses off everybody else. Going on the beleif that loud pipes will save your life, relies on the belief that someone else is lookng out for you. Other than the Savior, I do not accept that belief.  As a rider of motorcycles, I do beleive that others will run you over whilst they are staring you right in the eye, and they are more than likely not able to hear you as well. Even though you have a fog horn and no mufflers.
Suffice to say, if you take the initiative tobe aware of your surroundings and not let your guard down particularly while on your bike, you do stand a better chance of survival, than those who rely on others to look out for them. Just saying.

It has been several months since I last updated this blog, but to those who are interested; I have completed the "Yellow Jacket", my '77 GL1000. During testing phase discovered an anomally with ignition. Was not sure of the cause. so I installed a rebuilt set of carbs to determine the culprit . Turned out not to be FI related, so somewhere down the road I will be reinstalling the FI, once I have made a few tweaks to the system. In the mean time this is how it looks.

More to be done !

Paint, what a novel idea! I can sympathize, with anyone who has painted a motorcycle frame and found it a challenge. It is bad enough when it is in black. Try it in yellow. Thought I was going blind! So anyway, I did the filler with weld and grinding and a small amount of plastic filler to make smooth. All the prep time pays off when you want it to look nice.

At first I painted the frame black, then decided to make it yellow. Why? because stock is black, and this bike is not stock, so yellow it is. I also put ghost flames on the faux tank, just 'cause. They are very subtle, and just what I wanted. Not real hard to do either.

As luck would have it, I have a hard time with this software, is difficult to layout the way I want it. Must be a generational thing. Although the pictures are in reverse order, they get the point across. First the frame was black, now it is yellow.