Recent changes to Mozi

Ok, I have named the motorcycle and find myself somewhat attached to the new look and feel of her.

Thank goodness for Ebay!

I have found so many priceless items which fit Mozi and will provide me with a more comfortable ride and safety out there on the open roads. Here are a few recent additions and changes I have made:
A pair of Black fiberglass saddlebags by Wixom. These saddlebags were designed for the early 70's Moto Guzzi and bolted up nicely after I modified the brackets that came with them. I also painted the brackets before installing them with new stainless steel fasteners. I removed the original hinges, latches and aluminum trim from the bags as they were all pretty cheesy looking. Now, the bags are void of any exterior hardware. I have designed hinges that are totally hidden inside of the bags and stronger than the original type. The internal latching system is still in the design stages. Hmmm...

I replaced the civilian handlebars with police type to give a sleeker look and move comfort to the hand that will be caressing these babies for hours at a time. Folks refer to the position of these larger, back-swept bars as close as you can get to the feel of running a tiller. Really? A piece of farming machinery? Is that what they really aspire to replicate? Anyway... I appreciate the new grip on life, provided to me at this moment.

Let's not forget about foot comfort. I removed the standard footpegs and installed original equipment running boards. These are great! They provide a large flat surface to rest your aching feet after a hike up some mountain trail or a walking tour of many small tourist stops I will encounter. Who am I kidding? Why walk further than to a hotel room, campsite, counter barstool in some roadside cafe or a late-night stroll thru a 24 hour Walmart to find motor oil, travel-size toothpaste or fresh underware to replace the ones recently destroyed by some jerk coming head-on, driving straight at me, in my lane, at over 75mph. (That's a story to be told at a later date).

Now, where was I? Oh yea. I replaced the 40 year old bench seat with a single, solo-gunfighter police type saddle. It has a nice contour but is lacking proper gelfoam. I will re-work this in a couple of days. This seat is used and came with 6" chrome springs which looked really flashy at first but were way to tall. I cut them down to 3.5" tall, heated and formed a small ring on the cut end to accomodate a bottom bolt to secure them to the frame. I will also design and build a companion seat which will have a contour and padding to match my seat.

This seat base will be molded out of fiberglass and padded with the same gelfoam as mine. Soft, black leather with detailed stitching will allow the two seats. To blend in as one.

I found an original turn signal switch on Ebay and was happy to install it and remove the toggle switch and rusty sheetmetal bracket which someone thought was a good idea, long ago.

I have replaced all of the control cables with new ones. Some were in "ok" condition but I felt better knowing they are all new.

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