Less is more... polished cafe triple clamp

Well, not quite polished I guess, but a lot shinier than the old top clamp. I used good 'ole scotchbrite and WD40, just like I did the engine covers. I'm not a big fan of chrome - or polishing for that matter :sick:

I have clip ons on my bike, so I really don't need the handlebar risers. They were just sitting there making my bike messy. Little bastards. So I decided to clean things up a bit.

I wanted to retain the stock Z1 gauge mounts (two stubs on the front), which complicated the whole thing a lot because they’re one with the handlebar risers. The easy way out would have been to start with a KZ650 or 1000 clamp, because they just have two rings at the front of the clamp for mounting the gauges and are much flatter on the top. This would make taking off the risers on hell of a lot easier. Easy is no fun though right? It’s all about the challenge, man against machine and all that good stuff. Besides, I could always get a 650 clamp if I effed up :lol:

I work in a welding shop on Saturdays, so I have access to air tools and such. This project can probably be done using a disc grinder and some basic hand tools, it will a bit take longer though.

About the only thing we don’t have at the shop is a mill, so I used the drill press with a large bit to drill out as much of the risers as I could without punching through what was going to be the new top surface. Then I took the disc grinder to it to remove the bulk of the material and shape things crudely. After sanding things down to the surface with the air sander, Don welded up the threaded holes, followed by more sanding. He ended up having to weld up the holes three times because the casting on the old aluminum clamp is so porous you get little bubbles that will show every time you sand the welds down. He also backfilled the back edge of the clamp so I could sand it down to a straight edge, seen from the top. This edge has a slight curve where the handlebar riser is, and I wanted it straight for a cleaner look. Shaping the clamp while keeping it symmetric is what took the most time. The finish work was done using 320 and 400 grit, then scotchbrite and wd40.

This job took quite a bit of time and patience, especially on the part of Don dealing with my picky ass, and my wife dealing with my picky ass spending al my quality time with my bike. Don’t get her started :whistle: Many thanks go out to both of them.

Here’s some pics for y’all… enjoy.

Old

new

before

after

Very nice!:woohoo:
That looks great!
Good job!

Nice, creative use of tools and elbow grease.
Looks great!

Wow, is that nice! Your machine just keeps getting better and better.

Sure makes a big difference.

That's a nice piece of customizing. Looks profesionaly made!

Wow, Dutch, that is really nice! Mine came out with some pitting after I sanded and I was too lazy to re-weld. I could body-putty it, I suppose... still too lazy to do that too.

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2006/08/12 13:08

Dutch, your bike is my favorite on the whole site.

Goed-gedaane baan, mooi resultaat!

Dankjewel gg! Looking at that picture I realized the hardware has uhm... patina. I'll be scouring e-beh I guess...