Continuation of the diary:

10. September 2007:

Uh oh, I should have written something a long time ago. But first the time flew by with the assembly of the Morini, then we had the meeting, 2 road trips and not the least riding, riding, riding. Mmm, the little Morini - does a vehicle exist that gives you more joy? - I think not!!!

Well, back the diary. Last time I wrote was in January - still waiting for the frame to be powder coated. Actually, I wanted to describe in intricate details how often I was promised to have it done and how often I was let down, but I'll leave it out. Just this as a warning: think about it twice if you plan to involve family or friends into your projects. It is so much more difficult to exert pressure! Especially, if they aren't directly responsible for the work.

I was promised to have the frame and the other parts back in January and I planned to have the bike ready for "the opening of Bakken" (this marks the official beginning of bike-season in Denmark). But the frame was finished only a week before that. It was therefor impossible. On top of that the engine covers had a different color than the frame (and incidentally had a large amount of dirt in the coating) - they had to be redone. I did it myself because I didn't feel like adding more problems and delays. I had to do a lot of painting anyway.

Wrong color with large grains of sand!!!

One of the many trys!  :o(

This project of painting was also a frustrating experience. Again, I had a three page tale of woes prepaired, but I don't want to bore you with that. In short: I got a wrong combination of paint and hardener, and when I complained to the painter where I bought it, he got quite impertinent to me. I didn't want to have anything further to do with him, so I got new and same make of paint from Middelfart Autolakering. And yet it was a different type (my own fault, should have done the homework!) All in all I had to do the paint job over three times. And still there are some flaws that I have to mend. But I'll do that in the spring (when I'm getting a fairing and a new front fender)

Well, forget about the frustrations! - And by the way, this isn't chronologically correct. I haven't told about the things I've done up to this point. So, now I'm going to tell about the fibre glass parts.
As I wrote in November I wanted a seat of own design. You can buy seats that look somewhat like the one I wanted, but first of all I wanted a seat that goes flush with the frame - doesn't exist - and second of all I wanted a two person seat with fastback that covers the pillion seat - doesn't exist either! Therefore, I had to do some fibre glass work.
Also, I had an idea for an instrument housing and of course I wanted the side covers in fibre glass.

One of the things that the italians (also) do the best is to make light weight, but still very stiff frames, and I wanted the frame to be more noticeable by making the underside of the seat go over the frame and the side covers smaller so that the frame was exposed (that is also one of the reasons for the silver colored frame) So, this is actually the opposites of what was the norm in the 80ies, where everything was covered up.

One of the many sketches.

Half way finished mould

As you can see I flirted with the idea of having a full fairing. I gave up on that idea a long time ago, because it hides the beautful engine and makes the Morini look heavy.

The fibre glass parts were made like this:
Besides the many sketches,  templates and all the calculation needed, I had to make moulds. Because I only needed one of each part I decided to make "positive" moulds. Which means to make the final shape minus the thickness of the fibre glass. This of course requires a bit of your patience and skills. On top of that you get a lot of work filling and sanding the parts, because only the inside will get a smooth surface.

The moulds were made of glued MDF. The advantage of this is that you can us the "glue-lines" as indicators so you can keep an eye on the symmetry. Also, the MDF will get a smooth surface. It's therefore easy to finish to make it "releaseable".

Last year I began working on the moulds for the seat, fastback and the side covers. But it wasn't until the frame also was finished that they were all done. The last adjustments were relying on the frame, for example the placing of tail light. The instrument housing was the last thing I was able to do; the bike had to be assembled to make it. There is so little room that the shape largely was dictated by that fact. But the design was inspired by the new Corsaro - I many was I want to make a connection between the old Morinis and the new with my 3½. That is also why I used the new logo for the clutch cover. More about that is coming up.

With the finished moulds the next steps are quite easy.
What took up most time was of course to make the moulds and also the work with filler afterwards. The most difficult moulds to make were the side covers. They are oddly shaped - have many "oblique" angles. I had to calculate room for the "intestants" and at the same time they had to be as small as possible. The most extensive work was demanded by the seat. It was made in sevaral stages, because I had to build in the brackets afterwards and also it had to fit tightly inside the fastback
 

The moulds were painted red. Partly to se how the final result would look like and partly as the smooth layer. Then the easy work came sticking on the fibre glass. After hardening the parts came off. As you see the paint also came off several places even though the moulds were smeared with a releasing agent. No wonder, though, it was a very cheap paint.

The foam rubber was glued on to the seat and cut into shape. An electric knife (bought for 2 Euro in a 2nd hand store) is the perfect weapon for the job. Again and again I mounted the parts to have an idea of the final result. And finally the instrument housing was finished.

That's it folks. The pictures should give an idea about the process.

Next entry will deal with the alterations on the frame