Just thought I'd finally say hey. I've wanted an RC since the first video clips of one I'd seen. The day came a year or so ago that I finally rode mine home. It was repainted a beautiful gunmetal grey, had spikey stuff all over it, but was clean, well maintained, and...honestly the only one around for sale heh. She already had yoshi pipes, corbin seat, and not factory paint(not a huge fan.) Only bad thing was it was lowered...like ALOT. Made it handle terrible, ride like a brick (my insides hurt), and just too small feeling for me (6')
Unfortunately, going from my 83 interceptor to this thing was quite a jump. a few weeks into owning it I accidentally locked the rear tire in a corner (was late, and I wasn't really thinking about riding..also think the bump I hit and lack of suspention added to it) I high sided and thats all she wrote. I flew in the air and landed in a grassy yard. Thankfully all I had was a sprained thumb and some bruises...physical and mental. Bike wasn't too bad- had alot of minor and cosmetic damage. After I recovered, the teardown began. I replaced all controls (clip on, pegs, rear brake bracket assembly, muffler hanger/rearset) on the right side of the bike with good used parts. Right muffler pipe was bent in half so I drilled the rivets out, seperated the CF can from the pipe, and used a torch and MANFORCE to bend it back into shape. I didn't want to chance a fiberglass ebay body kit and didn't have the money for honda panels/paint at the time...so she got some...creative color.



Rode it like this for the remainder of the season..and it was kinda nice not having to worry about any little scratches ect. During this time I got tired of a few backfire issues. and the crappy ride. so apart it came again! Set the bike back to stock ride height on the forks, and re installed the stock shock arm thing/ and kickstand. Also installed a powercommander, changed the plugs, cleaned the K&N filters, changed the oil/coolant, New chain/sprockets +4 rear, fresh set of 2CT's (changed to a 180 rear) and new brake pads(EBC HH's) with a brake flush all around. She was mechanically sound and riding much much better than ever.
I soon lusted after a pretty RC again, and during this spring the tear down began. I sort of stole the paintjob from other internet pics I'd seen, but made it my own. I always liked the B17 flying fortress, and flying tigers p40's, so figured...what the hell...why not base it off of them! With the addition that my other cars are flat colors I went with olive drab.

My headlight and tail fairings were destroyed so I bought two "new to me" ones on Craigslist and had them shipped in...the tail fairing had a few scratches that sanded out, but the front fairing was fubar. The "small" hole turned out to be a 2" section of the LF corner burned off via the pavement. I was going to buy another...but my pop stepped in. He noticed that the left side of this fairing was destroyed, and the right side of my fairing was cracked off....so He went to work. He cut the two fairing directly down the middle and put plastic welded them together using sticks of the old fairing pieces as welding rod. I couldn't believe my eyes...it actually worked...and looked perfect once sanded out. headlights, ect even bolted in correctly. The side panel and tail scratches were sanded out and painted via rattlecan using Krylon fusion millitary paint aquired at the local wally world.

At this point I thought it looked good...but was missing somthing...it needed big snarly teeth to match the big snarly v-twin that growled to life when started and sounded like a nosediving plane when winding out. I had talked to a local artist/personality a few times as he liked to hang out at the local WAWA for coffee and we bumped into each other a bunch. Kobbie's been hand pinstriping and airbrushing hotrods locally for 20+ years plus after looking at the work on his daily driven hearse I was sold.

I explained what I wanted...gave him a basic idea, and got this back a few weeks later.!!




Needless to say I was ecstatic and couldn't have asked for anything else. During those short weeks it gave me a chance to disassemble and clear the tank of any fuel. We borrowed a friends bodyshop stud gun and puller and went to work. After alot of banging and pulling we got the tank very close to its original shape, and filled the rest in with body filler. That also got a coat of OD, and sent to kobbie for his magic touch

Concerned about the durability of the spray paint we did a test on the old plastics...with a slight spill of gasoline it wiped clean off....that wouldn't work...so I Bought some automotive grade satin clear with flex agent and put several coats on in my garage. The plastics were not painted and protected...and not to mention looking mean!
I cleaned up the frame, rerouted alot of wiring in the tail, secured the PC, and other modules that were flailing around and started re-assembly!






Hope you like it!

 

That's actually pretty damn cool.

 

Nice work. Resembles A10 paint schemes.

 

nice touch with the rivets.

 

not sure why but i think i like it!

 

Not something you see every day but diggin it man, Nice attn to detail ride safe.

 

alot different

 

Def different

 

I LOVED this paint scheme as a kid.

 

imo, it would look better without the teeth/eyes. looks great with the paint alone.

 

That thing looks hella-tuff!!! LOL!!! I always wanted a RC51 but settled for a TL1000R at that time. My 04 R1 is getting painted jungle camo right now!!! Painting it like an old Sherman or Abrahms tank!!!

 

looks pretty sweet man, nice refurb

 

Im realy digging the rivet trim. Much respect

 

Damn nice job!....... inspirational!!

 

bummmpppp good job

 

Small world. I just bought this bike. It still rides great. I bought it because of the wicked paintjob! I'd love to chat with you about her man

 

check your PM's Adam-

 

Yeah, I'd ride that. That's awesome.

 

Ancient thread is Ancient.

 

The new owner bumped it a few posts above.

Adam, got any updated pics of how it looks now? Is the paint holding up well?

 

Sometimes the obvious doesn't set it when it comes to lost old men.

Killer RC51....damn it went from super ugly, to OK..