My bike, The Fat Panda (lots of pictures)

So, back in December '11 I got to hang out with a few friends on their bikes, and got to put around on one of their new 2011 Ninja 250s. From that point on I was hooked. So I went to my motorcycle class, and got my license.

Spent a few weeks checking craigslist for bikes in my budget (under $2000) and wasn't finding much. So I upped it to $2500, and got way more bikes showing up. After lots of thinking and research, I didn't want to get a 250, since I do quite a bit of interstate driving (400miles+) and wanted something with more power. Ended up finding a few older Ninja 600s, and a wrecked GSXR 750, but didn't want to spend $500 on fairings, and god knows what else.


Anyways, test rode a 2009 Ninja 250, a 1999 Ninja 600, a 1996 Katana 600, and finally a 2001 Katana 750.

The 250 didnt have the power, the Ninja 600 wouldn't come off his 3k asking price, and the Kat 600 didn't ride well at all. (destroyed fork seals, and had been improperly lowered)

The 2001 Katana was the heaviest of the bunch, the biggest by far, and didn't have any proper manners. So I picked that one of course.

This is what she looked like right after I got her home.





Main issues were, the gas cap was busted, and had no support ring, the windscreen was yellowed and cracked, and the seat was torn and split where it meets the tank.

First thing I did was paint the windshield. Looked so much better than it did.
Second thing was fixing the gas tank cap. Just got a billet one from Ebay.



So that went on for a few months, until March 24th. Went out for a little fun ride, check the weather before hand, looked plenty clear, wasn't supposed to rain for the next 2 days. So I went on my merry way putting around the few twisties we have in my area, just having a grand time. On the way back home, out of no where it started pouring rain. No dark clouds, no warning. No drizzle. Just suddenly a deluge.
It was so bad that I could barely see out of my visor, even tucked down. So I started slowing down from 55, to about 45, as I was going to pull into a gas station up the road to get out of the storm. Well, right around 40-45mph, my back tire caught a small pothole that had oil in/around it, and caused my rear tire to lock up. I tried to ride it out, but the back end kicked out too far and I lowsided. I separated from the bike, hitting right on the point of my right shoulder, and I rolled and bounced for about 50-75 feet before coming to a stop.

Sat up, checked my hands, feet, and neck...all there, all working. So I went to stand up, and couldn't. A few people at the gas station saw me go down, and ran over to help. 2 guys picked my bike out of the road, and 1 other helped me over into the parking lot.

Bike was scraped up, bent the brake pedal, tore the mirror to hell, and scraped the new exhaust some. After about 30minutes, I got the bike to start back up, got my jacket, gloves, and helmet back on, and limped back home.




Thank god for protective equipment.

Yay roadrash



Helmet took the most of it


I split my right shoulder pad in half when I hit, and tore most everything from my right elbow, to my right shoulder-blade. No breaks, but I spent the better part of 2 months regaining use of my arm. I damaged my knee cap, and no longer have any feeling where the scar tissue is (the entire road rash spot in the above pic) Needless to say, I didn't ride any.

Finally got back on the bike after I was healed up...with a little more caution this time. Felt great though to be back on it after so long.

So, after riding around on the scraped up, ugly bike for a few weeks, I decided I needed to fix it...which of course meant it needed to be painted. Rode to a few places to get quotes, and to color match the fairing would be close to $200. So I decided to paint it myself.

Granted, I really did like the color, but decided to make it unique, to make it mine.

Tore the bike down, and circled all the little nicks, scratches, cracks, chips, etc...
Then went to town sanding out what I could, and then filling the rest in. The day after I started, I got really sick, so progress went at a snails pace.. Took about a week to repair the cracks, and fill everything in.

Fairing off the bike


The worst of it all


So, I dremeled all the damage down to be filled.


Dont really have any pictures of the body work. (Remember the whole dying sick and hating every minute of sanding and filling)

After much debate, I picked Matte White to spray the bike. Why? Because there aren't many white Katana's (only know of 3 Post 98+) and white is highly visible. (Yay safety)

So after 4 coats of paint, wet sanding, and more wet sanding, I came out with this


Body work came out decent, 7/10 or so. The middle section (Between the 2 large openings) came out the worst. I couldn't get the shape back, so I said **** it.

Detail of the wetsanding. It's glossy because it's wet.



These pictures are in no specific order.
They are from when I was slowly painting, and mocking up.

Tank


Tank with the cap back in, fueled up so I could run the bike for the first time in 2 weeks. Paint looks like an egg shell, with a slight reflection to it.




Was excited to see how the bike would look white..as there are almost no reference pictures.






The reason the front fender didn't get painted until a week later is because it's a total ***** to get off. Gotta pull the front tire, which means pulling the brakes, and jacking the bike up. That, and I was rarring to go for a ride.
Also, it was taking ages to get the decals I ordered to come in. (some from Great Britain, and some from Hong Kong)

So basically the bike sat like this for a week

B*tchin bike, looks pretty good white, ever since i was a little kid I've loved bikes, especially those crotch rocket types, one day i will own one...... one day

Then, Tropical Storm Debby decided it'd be cool to make it rain for 4 days straight. So, I finished the front fender, and slowly put decals on as they came in. Couldn't do much besides that due to being under water.




Doesn't look like much, but I live right on the St. John's river, and the river crested our seal wall. So we had a good foot + in the backyard, and more in lower areas. (Under the carport is the highest ground on our property)


Went out the other day, and my last decals showed up, so I finally got them put on. But we've still been hit with rain, so no good chance to clean the bike until today.

Spent a couple hours cleaning the chain and all the gunk from the underside of the bike. Gave her her first bath since paint, and did a little photoshoot with my ****ty camera phone.

Welcome to the new and improved "Fat kid" now called The Fat Panda.
*Bunch of friends kept making fun of my fat bike, so the Fat Kid name stuck. Then once it was white and black, only made sense to call it the Fat Panda*



I recovered the seat, and it turned out 95% awesome, and 5% ****ty, so mind those lumps right at the tank.





My Delkevic carbon fiber can and mid-pipe





The obligatory butt shot



Decided I didn't want the bike 100% symmetrical, so no bombs on this side



My tank pad, and my riding buddy



Then GF wasn't too happy about the windshield decal, but it's my bike and I like it, so it stayed.



I tried to get a picture with no shadow, but that's really damn hard with a noon o'clock sun

I know in the "What did you do to your car today" thread, a few people wanted to see the carbon fiber wrap on the matte white, cause it looks tits awesome.



Don't mind the metal scrapes on the cover, it's purely for weight saving


Then I really really like this picture, just came out well.

Nice bike!

Thanks. I saw your car for the first time the other day (in your sig) and it looks damn good.

Originally Posted by machinegunsquid

Thanks. I saw your car for the first time the other day (in your sig) and it looks damn good.

Thanks. You no longer have the GP in your sig do you? I think that looks pretty awesome.

Nope, been gone over a year. Thanks though.

im suprised u didnt get stainless steel brake lines yet. best upgrade for a bike period.

The mods are slowly rolling in. Plans are SS brake lines, HID lights, Corbin seat, Double bubble windscreen, and powdercoating the swingarm black, and the 3 spokes on each rim white, but leave the rest black.

you take a lot more care in doing things to your bike than i do, haha.

it looks good, though.

Ha, thanks Bio. How do you like the shorty exhaust? I've thought about it, because the bike sounded so damn good at idle with only the headers on, but not sure I could deal with it for hours on end.

do yourself a favor and take it out for a ride with the exhaust off. most likely it sounds okay at idle, and revving, but under load without any baffling it's going to sound terrible. i had to be really crafty with baffling and exhaust packing before i got it how it is now. i still dont like how it is because it's running too rich (too restrictive).

im thinking of cutting down my V&H pipe so it isnt as long and putting it back on because it sounds a lot nicer and the bike actually runs how i want it.

Nice bike man. i might have to make a ride page for mine now too

Man that is a filthy lookin' bike! So fresh, so clean. Love it 5*

Haha, thanks. Never once got a compliment when it was that blue/grey, but seems like every time I stop somewhere now, someone has to come over and look.

wow that white and black theme looks SEXY. nice bike man, makes me wanna get one.

Yeah, I was thinking about just white, but didn't think it'd look good without contrast, so, STICKERS yay