[Frank White]

Currently in the process of teardown. I am waiting for my 30mm fork cap socket to arrive to break down the forks and send them to get blacked out instead of the hard chrome. Sending out the valve covers and other parts for powder coating a semi gloss or gloss black. Also using Insta-Blak on the details on the heads and cylinders as I do not like it. Was going to paint the valves and the other stuff myself but figured the Insta-Blak and Powder was better. I have used versions of Insta-Blak before but never on an engine. Anyone have any input? It is far easier to just powder the valve covers. Paint can peel off the little design and "I" logos especially when pressure washing. I figured that insta-blak would be a great alternative...Thoughts anyone? What a b!tch to get that rear valve cover off. Needed to unroute the whole wiring harness and probably should have pulled off the mid-frame which I will likely do when I reinstall as I would not want to hurt the new powder. More to come over the next few months. Tell me any of your suggestions or things I may need to know in advance. Fork tubes need to be ripped apart and there is supposedly a piece on the inside that needs to be removed that is plastic I heard. The hard chrome tubes are being placed in several acid baths to remove it. Then will be getting into a bath of molten salts to change the outer color of the raw steel to a black with very little sheen. I am hoping that they do not get ruined in the process and crossing my fingers all goes well. Other option was DLC which costs more and can chip but has a similar look. I know the process has been done 1 other time on a Scout 60 so it should be ok. Below are a few pictures if you want to see my project. I will be making a YouTube channel to show the reinstallation of all the parts.

 

[Zolkalf]

This is going to be special. Consider me subbed!

 

[K9F]

Hi Frank,

You getting the dent in the tank sorted at the same time? Respray in the offing perhaps as well?

 

[Frank White]

Hi Frank,

You getting the dent in the tank sorted at the same time? Respray in the offing perhaps as well?

Yes, towards the end. I am going a simple route for now though. Will sand around the dent carefully then fill it. Resand it then prime/paint just that tiny area with the rest taped off. I should be able to get it really close without sending it out. Then I am going to put side patches of 3M vinyl wrap on each side of the tank to match. If I have any left over I will do that small strip on the top of the tank coming from fill cap area. A little too cool for painting right now as you already know and I rather not waste money on that as I barely have any miles on the bike haha. This should be good enough of a cover up. I have newly powder coated to match my wheels Indian Letters and such that I need to recut the 3M tape for 1 by 1. Good thing I saved the tape I removed from them as my template.

 

[K9F]

These are the first pictures I have seen of your bike Frank, and like Zolkalf who has also gone to some great lengths to produce a lovely looking Scout, this thread will captivate my interest greatly. Good luck with your endeavors and I look forward to seeing progress. There is/was a guy on here that was producing laser cut templates to adhere to the letter 'I' in just about any color you could think of. But I think you had to avoid them with a pressure washer anyway. Will have a dig about and see if I can find it and 'late edit' this post later.

Brave Wolf and Moore Speed do some nice decals for the tank.

Late Edit

Couldn't find it on the forum but had better luck on E-Bay. Hope the link works.

Indian Scout Motorcycle Cylinder "I" Script Decal, Sticker, Emblem | eBay

 

[Zolkalf]

Frank, keep the build here in one thread and not all over. I love these Scout builds and am excited to watch another one.
Thanks for the words K9.
Good luck
Z

 

[Richo]

Looking forward to seeing your work
Good luck hope all goes well 👍

 

[Frank White]

These are the first pictures I have seen of your bike Frank, and like Zolkalf who has also gone to some great lengths to produce a lovely looking Scout, this thread will captivate my interest greatly. Good luck with your endeavors and I look forward to seeing progress. There is/was a guy on here that was producing laser cut templates to adhere to the letter 'I' in just about any color you could think of. But I think you had to avoid them with a pressure washer anyway. Will have a dig about and see if I can find it and 'late edit' this post later.

Brave Wolf and Moore Speed do some nice decals for the tank.

Late Edit

Couldn't find it on the forum but had better luck on E-Bay. Hope the link works.

Indian Scout Motorcycle Cylinder "I" Script Decal, Sticker, Emblem | eBay

For sure. I have the old sticky backs on the powder coated new letters so I am sure they will work great as a template. A decal would not work as a backer as I will have powder coated matching letters to my wheels, headlight bucket, Monza gas cap, etc. But yes Brave makes some nice stuff.

 

[Frank White]

So today I removed some more items. The forks are slid out of the triple tree. The chain guard, sprocket cover, & rear shocks. I will be removing the swing arm and mid frame as well. I feel the mid frame gets in the way for when I will putting in the rear valve cover. Any tips would be appreciated with that or to avoid that. That wiring harness has some wires heading to the rectifier, computer, and I assume ABS module as well which is why I cannot fully remove it. Also I though I read somewhere about not fully draining the brake system due to the ABS. I wanted to change my brake lines to black but these morons at Indian made one removable mid frame on one hard pipe, and the other seems to go to all the way to the ABS unit. WTF?! They really made this bike a time consuming mess to work on some of the areas. Any help with the mid frame, abs lines, and rear swing arm would be appreciated if you know. I have the service manual and read it front to back. If anyone is interested the front wheel axle is 16mm Allen/Hex. The rear swingarm bolt is 14mm Allen/Hex on the left side. I will be getting these items blackened as well.

 

[wolfrider06]

Powder coating would be the better choice on everything except the forks. There you’ll need to have the inner fork done with DLC due to the thickness of the powder coating. Otherwise, you have a great project going and am looking forward to to seeing pictures when you’re finished.

 

[Frank White]

Powder coating would be the better choice on everything except the forks. There you’ll need to have the inner fork done with DLC due to the thickness of the powder coating. Otherwise, you have a great project going and am looking forward to to seeing pictures when you’re finished.

I am already powder coating items that I can. Others that I cannot or will not like the cylinders/heads I am likely going to try Insta-Blak. I mentioned I have used on small touch ups but not sure how it will look on a strip against a matted out engine. As far as DLC I would do it but I am trying SBN QPQ (Salt Bath Nitriding) (Quench Polish Quench) which I know works but still worry some due to the extreme temperatures they will endure to color the metal. Like I stated one other custom shop has done this on a Scout 60 so I should be ok.

 

[Zolkalf]

So today I removed some more items. The forks are slid out of the triple tree. The chain guard, sprocket cover, & rear shocks. I will be removing the swing arm and mid frame as well. I feel the mid frame gets in the way for when I will putting in the rear valve cover. Any tips would be appreciated with that or to avoid that. That wiring harness has some wires heading to the rectifier, computer, and I assume ABS module as well which is why I cannot fully remove it. Also I though I read somewhere about not fully draining the brake system due to the ABS. I wanted to change my brake lines to black but these morons at Indian made one removable mid frame on one hard pipe, and the other seems to go to all the way to the ABS unit. WTF?! They really made this bike a time consuming mess to work on some of the areas. Any help with the mid frame, abs lines, and rear swing arm would be appreciated if you know. I have the service manual and read it front to back. If anyone is interested the front wheel axle is 16mm Allen/Hex. The rear swingarm bolt is 14mm Allen/Hex on the left side. I will be getting these items blackened as well.

I had to change my break lines to the extended for the Beach Bars and it was a pain. What worked for me is there are 2 banjo bolts going to the ABS module. You can access one from the battery bucket from the top. The other banjo is directly under the swing arm and I couldn't get to it from the top. I had to take out the 4 (2 left-2 right) bolts to drop the tray on the rear end under the bike, Then looking up under the bike you can see that banjo to get a wrench on it but it's awkward and tight.

If you have to do that because of new bars, then you have to. If it's for looks, I get that too, but you don't have to. I guess it's on what your vision is.
When I did my break lines in retrospect I was thinking "Man, I wish I would have gotten them in Black".

Then I had a Eureka moment.....This may not be a solution or option for you but I ended up putting cable covers on the lines and it looked factory installed. I liked it so much I did every cable on the bike, and I think the thicker looking cables give it a little more Brawn.
The covers were the perfect diameter for the break lines and I think they were like $1.20 a foot or something like that...cheap. And depending on your vision I would think you could get them in different colors. It may not be the solution for you but I'm just throwing it out here as an option.

Here is a pic of the clutch cable, front break line and the lines on the side going into the tank with the wrap. Before and After to see the difference.

Good luck
Z

 

[Frank White]

I had to change my break lines to the extended for the Beach Bars and it was a pain. What worked for me is there are 2 banjo bolts going to the ABS module. You can access one from the battery bucket from the top. The other banjo is directly under the swing arm and I couldn't get to it from the top. I had to take out the 4 (2 left-2 right) bolts to drop the tray on the rear end under the bike, Then looking up under the bike you can see that banjo to get a wrench on it but it's awkward and tight.

If you have to do that because of new bars, then you have to. If it's for looks, I get that too, but you don't have to. I guess it's on what your vision is.
When I did my break lines in retrospect I was thinking "Man, I wish I would have gotten them in Black".

Then I had a Eureka moment.....This may not be a solution or option for you but I ended up putting cable covers on the lines and it looked factory installed. I liked it so much I did every cable on the bike, and I think the thicker looking cables give it a little more Brawn.
The covers were the perfect diameter for the break lines and I think they were like $1.20 a foot or something like that...cheap. And depending on your vision I would think you could get them in different colors. It may not be the solution for you but I'm just throwing it out here as an option.

Here is a pic of the clutch cable, front break line and the lines on the side going into the tank with the wrap. Before and After to see the difference.

Good luck
Z

View attachment 728289

View attachment 728290

Sweet ride. I already purchase the extended cables when I bought the beach bars but that was easy as it was only the clutch cable and the front brake lever cable coming from the master cylinder which is the easily removable one under the tank. Just had to lift tank a bit to change it out. That was last year. I was thinking of getting a black clutch cable, black front caliper line, and a new front brake lever line. But like you stated I will have to start tearing more apart. I still cannot believe that Indian puts one brake line with an easy to remove short section of pipe on one but the other goes zig-zagging around to China. Wonder if the pipe can be severed and put a similar fitting there to make it a cheaper cost and less work. Thanks for the tip btw. Yes very familiar as in a former life I owned a AV and IT business. Split loom isn't really what direction I want to go in. But I will need a black clutch cable otherwise it is pointless to get the new brake lines made. I will call Spiegler and see if they make custom clutch lines or have access to a sleeve that is smooth to cover like a heat shrink.I am also hiding a crap ton of wires inside the bars. Heated Grips, Cruise Control, Bar End Lights, My DVR & Camera Remote, & a Switch with 4 wires to control License Plate motor. Think I am going to need a miracle getting all that inside the bars lol

 

[Frank White]

Ok, so today I lifted the bike high onto a special steel welded stand a repurposed,and ratchet strapped it in. I removed the shift rod, foot pegs, front forks, chain cover, chain guard, sprocket cover, and needed a 14mm allen key for the rear swing arm removal which should be done tomorrow. Still waiting for my fork cap socket 30mm which arrives Wednesday so I can start ripping apart forks and have them sent out ASAP. Their turn around time should be a week and a half round trip. So I should be able to button up the front forks, and have the handlebars all wired, prepped and mounted,

So the stuff that needs to get powder coated is getting gathered together but may need a week or two before I fabricate some light brackets, license plate mounts with light bar, and the rear fender supports, etc. Also thinking about powder coating the abs tone rings and or the same process as the fork tubes (Thoughts Anyone?!) That all should be a quick 1-2 week turn around so end of March is probably when I will see all that stuff and I can start assembling the bike and post daily video links.

Right now I am burning the candle at both ends refinishing my Parents basement for my Brother to live in and working inside the unheated barn on my bike. Today was a bit chilly and I prefer to be warmer if possible. haha. I want this bike finished way before I start complaining it is too hot to work in the barn! haha. Little update for you all, hope you enjoy! Mind you I am a tinkerer and can fix anything, make anything, etc. but I am not a professional by any means. I just do not see the point in having someone else be intimately familiar with the bike that I ride when I should know that bike in and out. My blood, sweat and tears and nobody else's!

 

[Frank White]

Today I worked on drilling out holes in the Beach Bars so I can run all wiring inside the tubes. Keep in mind I have much more than a typical Indian Scout Bobber setup. Imagine the normal wiring going to the electronic controls, now add Bar End Lights, Heated Grips, Cruise Control, DVR/Camera Controller, and an additional 2 button MotoGadget Switch to control a License Plate . Test fitted all the wires and it seems good. The only thing I will try working on is hiding the heated gip wires on the clutch side inside the headlight switch housing. It is 2 decent sized wires and I do not like that it has to wrap around it and go into a separate hole I have yet to drill. I am going to see if I can route it inside and just make the existing hole I made slightly larger. I had to cut a few wires that had non removable plugs that were too large. Tomorrow I will have the bars all completed with all hardware installed but off of the bike still, but ready to go when needed. I am going to leave a "Drag Line" inside each of the switch housings on each side and a taped loop on the exiting harness as if I ever need to add a wire someday I would have an easy pathway back up. Obviously the whole idea is to have no visible wires and only see the Brake and Clutch lines. I will take some pictures tomorrow once all wired up.

 

[K9F]

Frank Top Tip: Pack the Motogadget switch with dielectric grease. They are not waterproof and the small connections will rot over time. I have the Motogadget 3-push switches one either side and did exactly the same with my Fehling Fat beach bars but the holes were pre drilled.

 

[Frank White]

Frank Top Tip: Pack the Motogadget switch with dielectric grease. They are not waterproof and the small connections will rot over time. I have the Motogadget 3-push switches one either side and did exactly the same with my Fehling Fat beach bars but the holes were pre drilled.

View attachment 728671

I noticed that when I first got the switch and thinking I was going to do exactly that. Was also complaining aloud that I paid $80.00+ for a hunk of powdered aluminum with 2 cheap switches. Don't get me wrong it is beautiful be come on, really!? They can do better and I am disappointed in them for this. Like a motorcycle isn't going to get wet?! Haha. Thanks for the reminder now I have to dig up my Dielectric grease.

 

[Frank White]

So the right (Front Brake) side is completed. Stock wires went through easily and I only had the additional thin bar end light wires with them. This issue is everything needing to get mounted like the bar end mirrors and bar end lights as the wires pass through a bolt with a hole through it an you cannot make any splices in those wires or they will never fit through. I pretty much have the left side (Clutch Side) all done but will be taking that side apart one last time as I was not happy with the tightness...I never uttered those words ever until now! I like it tight in almost all other cases haha. Long story short, between the bar end lights, and my 2 additional wires that enter into the OEM switch housing it is proving quite a challenge getting it all closed up without squishing some wires around in ways I do not feel meet my standards. I certainly do not want a damaged wire shorting inside my bars in the future so I am going to redo it tomorrow at some point. I will make the hole even larger, polish out the inside some more till smooth. Then I will try again. I am really happy with the results though and although my back hates me, I will be super stoked when I conquer it. Here are pictures of the completed side up close. I will be sealing the hole around the wire housing with some black silicone after it is all done and cleaned off. i will also take apart each housing cover and adding a cut piece of rubber around the wires as they pass into the bars.

 

[K9F]

...... you cannot make any splices in those wires or they will never fit through.......

You can with the correct splices and tooling.

In tight spots Frank I use Raychem in-line splices. They are Military Grade and were used prolifically when I was in the Service. They come in three different sizes red, blue and yellow being the largest, they have heat-shrink covers that have resin in each end. The resin melts when you shrink it down and makes a hermetically sealed splice which supports the cable repair too. In certain applications you can use normal heat-shrink on the repair instead that would make the profile of the cable almost the same as if it didn't have a splice in it. Best in-line splices out there in my experience. Of course you need the correct three jawed crimping pliers to form them. You can also 'stagger' the repairs instead of putting them all in the same place which would make it easier to feed them through too.

 

[Frank White]

You can with the correct splices and tooling.

In tight spots Frank I use Raychem in-line splices. They are Military Grade and were used prolifically when I was in the Service. They come in three different sizes red, blue and yellow being the largest, they have heat-shrink covers that have resin in each end. The resin melts when you shrink it down and makes a hermetically sealed splice which supports the cable repair too. In certain applications you can use normal heat-shrink on the repair instead that would make the profile of the cable almost the same as if it didn't have a splice in it. Best in-line splices out there in my experience. Of course you need the correct three jawed crimping pliers to form them. You can also 'stagger' the repairs instead of putting them all in the same place which would make it easier to feed them through too.

View attachment 728816

View attachment 728815

I use something almost the same. I come from the audio/video, & IT world so I and am wire monkey of sorts. I have them with solder in the middle as well as adhesive and heat shrink on the ends. Place wire inside, heat up till solder melts and such, done. They are a lot better than using dolphin connectors and others I have used in the past that make a mess. I used to put a piece of heat shrink on the cold wire away from the splice, braid wires inline, solder, slide heat shrink on joint and heat up. Obviously I like the shortcut. haha. Thanks for the suggestion though as maybe others will read and get some pointers. My issue is that I really needed a few test fits of putting wires in and taking them out before I call it done. I have one section that is just too many wires and it seems to be right where 2 different bunches of wires have splice joints. Likely I am going to mark the wires at where they are not and how much needs to be taken off the splices. This will allow me to stagger the splices better so that there is no real bulges. Then I will likely be able to wrap the whole bundle and send them through a final time. It is just a process when you have OCD and need it neat and tidy. I was also thinking of getting right hand connectors for the brake and clutch switches to be able to use a slimmer wire cover as well as shorten that wire a bit by pushing some back in the housing. I am a little crazy with things I want done right haha.