Jason Jones Art: Key West - Bike Build III

As my memory serves, we got the F4i running fine, once we had replaced the motor. Turns out the motor that I bought with the bike had a bent crankshaft, which was awesome. So, I found another used motor on eBay for $500, called up the guys in Miami, and they had it in Jax by 4pm the next day - perfect. I was SO happy with the bike, apart from one thing. I was not a Florida resident. This meant that I couldn't tag my bike, due to the NY Salvage Title. There were 2 ways around this. I could become a FL resident, or I could buy another frame, with clear title. I chose the frame. In fact, I chose a polished frame. In fact, I chose a polished frame, polished rims, polished swingarm, 929 front end, and ceramic coated headers, plus lots of other parts. I worked out that from the original salvage bike I had bought, the only original parts were gas tank, seat, rear plastic, and hand controls.

On the positive side, I thought the bike would look killer - and it did.

Typically, I like to order all the parts, have them sent to Bri's house, ask him to find someone to polish everything (thanks again, Bri), and build the bike the night before a long ride.

This was a LONG ride. This was the length of Florida. In one day. On a sportbike. 6 of us. With race pipes. Here's how it went..........

This must be day one. This is how I know.

1) It's dark, so we've just arrived from Bermuda.

2) Nothing has been started on the bike.

3) We left for Key West 2 days after we arrived. Early.

Due to the genius that is tagged images on digital cameras, I'll take you through a chronological (re)build of the bike. We built the bike "gubment" style, which is to say, one guys works while 5 guys watch. It works pretty well, especially if it's Bob doing the work........

10:30pm