Yamaha Bolt - Getting so close!

 Had some time to work though the final assembly today. Built up a new set of bars and got the wheels back on it. The "To-Do" list is getting shorter. Yamaha wants it wrapped up by the end of the month, so only a few days left ti make it happen.

Used OEM guards on my exhaust build and did them glossy to contrast the tube behind. Love the subtle details.

Burnt orange looks really slick over the all black machine and the metallic is insane in the sun. Cna not wait to ride this thing. 

This was a bummer. Looks like I blew the seat pan shape. Should have wrapped around the fender much tighter. Bummed I'm going to have to strip it and start over. Guys at Saddleman did such a great job on the cover. 

Here's how it sits. In spite of the seat fiasco, I'm stoked on the stance and pretty sure the bars will piss off more than a few folks. Next up is sorting final electrical and an air filter. Going to be a busy weekend. 

Yamaha Bolt - Orange so burnt, you can smell it!

Love a painter that understand social Media. Paint by Smokey posted pics and sent me spy shots through the entire process. So cool. House of Kolor Burnt orange with a metallic is every bit of what I had hoped for. 

He also massaged out all the welding we did on the tank. Love that guy. 

Saddleman seats stitched up a perfect little cover for my pan. It'll sit tighter to the chassis when it's mounted. 

Yamaha Bolt Build - Planning my work and working my plan...

Bolt Build Video two from Davez Garage on Vimeo.

Yamaha Bolt - New shoes

 I love new wheels.

Folks at Corona Motorsports slipped new rubber onto the Ride Wright wheels. Thanks guys for taking care of me while I waited! 

Easy install and completely changed the stance of the bike. Front is now dropped 3" and rear 1" as well. Rethinking the bars, but otherwise love the results. 

21" wheel fills the void in front of the frame very nicely. 

Built up a set of Japanese Brat style signals, too. 

Yamaha Bolt - Joining the IBEW

Raising the tank and opening up the front of the frame always causes some challenges. The Bolt has quite a bit of plumbing and electrical hidden beneath the stock tank and all of it had to find a new home.

Much of the FI plumbing followed the tank (tank is skirted to hide it all!). The wiring was quite another deal

While everything is at paint, it's time to sort out the electrical. 

Sensors would need to be routed in OEMish location under the back bone, while everything else would have to go somewhere else. Challenge is separating the two. Schematic was helpful and a ton of splicing later it was all sorted. 

Handlebar and headlight wiring is routed though the back bone of the frame. Some MIG wire served as a guide and bundle is wrapped and taped then coated in lithium grease before getting pulled through.


In the home stretch now and ready to starting building it back up. Paint should be ready tomorrow, so if the gods are with me I'm riding it this weekend!

Yamaha Bolt - Time for Paint!

This is both the fun and frightening part of a build. At some point I have to stop tweaking it and hand it off and that's pretty spooky. Really excited to see it get some color, though.

Dropped the fender and tank off at Paint By Smokey. This guy has a long history of making my stuff not suck. Thanks Smokey!  http://paintbysmokey.com/

Picked a burnt orange metallic. Reminiscent of an early seventies Yamaha DT, with a metallic flavor to it. Super spendy, but in love with the shade and have never built anything that was orange. 

Smokey taking care of business. 

Seam from the 3" of center removal is pretty obvious. Sorry Smokey. 

Oh man, that seems like a lot of bondo. Love getting update pics from my painter, but this one is a bit spooky. 

Oh... Now that seems a lot better. 

Yamaha Bolt - Seat build

Don't need much in the way of a seat. Something slim that will transition from the back bone into the abrupt fender.

Cardboard template to get a decent shape. Center line keeps it symmetrical. 

Trimmed the 16g steel with a cut off wheel and hammered it into shape. Also built a lic plate frame and added a binky taillight. That just about wraps the metalwork, time to visit the painter. 

Yamaha Bolt - new shoes

Fresh Avon rubber and Ride Wright wheels! Pretty stoked. 

Yamaha Bolt - Exhaust wrapup

Final version of the exhaust. Cheated a little and used a few existing bends. The Cocktail Shakers look the part and I'm stoked on using the factory guards. Did a simple mount out of 1/2" rod and a few bungs to tie it to the frame.

Crappy pic, but a good sense of how the system flows. Can not wait to hear it!

Yamaha Bolt - Keeping it true

I loves me some four day weekends. My family was good enough to give me some quality garage time and I spent it grinding steel

Background is what's left of the original motor mount (I ground it down, hoping to make it look cooler) and the 1/2 rod based based version I created because my previous efforts had failed.

Wanting to stick with all Yamaha parts (it would be far to "obvious" to bolt Harley stuff to this bike!) I'm using a Yamaha Raider front fender for the rear brat fender-let.

This is kind of what it'll look like. 

...and the finished version.  1/8" Steel welded across the width of the fender and a steel bracket connecting it to the chassis. Pulled the coils off the shocks and cycled the suspension to make sure I had plenty of clearance. All good. Some clean up and it's ready for paint.

More Brattyness

Couple of days off and stuff is starting to happen.

Moved key to side cover and start button off the hand control. Looks pretty tidy.

Wrapped my first exhaust build. Incorporated OEM guards to help keep the Yamaha flavor. Thinking the guards may go glossy. Undecided on the finish for the cocktail shakers. Also built a new upper motor mount drilled out the backbone so I can hide wires in it. 

Next up is sorting the harness. Going to need to get into a zen state to make that one happen. May surround myself with 18 gauge wire and meditate in the lotus position.

Yamaha Bolt Brat build

Getting closer. Liking the stance. Looks kind of pissed off. Really needs the wire wheels. More later this weekend.