Battle Blurattler!

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:27 am

OK, so I'm hell bent on making some good come out of this. I was involved in a hit and run yesterday and after taking a look at my Blur a day later, it's really messed up. The frame and engine are still true and good, so now I'm looking for ideas on how to get it set up as a naked Blur. Less fairing, more Mad Max.

I'm thinking of styling it after a Rattler or a Ruckus, but I'm looking for some ideas. This is where you guys come in! Toss out some outlandish ideas for what I can do to cover up the essentials of the Blur and make it Gary Busey style crazy. I'm thinking of upgrading the stator and putting offroad lights on it, LED turn signals, spikes, fake or real gun turrets, you name it. I have no idea what insurance is gonna say about it, but I want to optimistically prepare for the worst.

Got some crazy idea for a scooter that you'd never do out of fear for resell value? Screw it, I'll do! What the hell do I have to loose, right? I really don't want an awesome platform like the Blur to go to waste, that would just be a shame.

I've got nothing to loose here. The wife's pretty much never going to ride solo, so the Buddy is all mine again and will do just fine for sporting my hide around while I gather stuff from the parts store and hardware store. I used to work in Theatre as a Master Carpenter, so mold-making and jerry-rigging are actually a honed craft for me.

Spikes, lights, skulls, what the heck ever... get creative!

Racenut · Post by **Racenut** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:08 pm

Can you post pics of how it is now. If nothing else so we know what's left of the original to work with.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:01 pm

That really sucks!

At least you and your wife are OK, which is most important - a scooter can be replaced...

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:45 pm

Or rebuilt stronger, faster, ugglier!

As for a picture... well it's in the shop, and the damaged pieces overfill 2 boxes... if you want a good idea of what it looks like, go stand next to your blur and imagine every peice of plastic gone. now imagine the front forks gone.

That's what it looks like.

Racenut · Post by **Racenut** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:04 pm

Wow.. you musta got clobbered. Glad you're here with us.

Sounds like first thing to do is find some replacement forks just to get it rideable.

Then I'd put some proper headlights on it, since the stock light sucks so bad, it shouldn't be too hard to improve.. a couple Mag lights duct taped to your helmet would have been an improvement

After that.. well if you can work with fiberglass shaping.... you're way ahead of most people.

olhogrider · Post by **olhogrider** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:23 pm

I don't have a Blur but I have seen a naked Buddy! I like the Mad Max idea. Two large headlights for starters. Solo seat? Nasty looking armor/crash bars?

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:29 pm

Not sure if the handle bars are the same as the "Naked GMAX" but just covered up with plastic and a fancier gauge. But say if they were, if the job would be simple enough, you just need to take the plastic off the headset, remove the gauges and cluster, and purchase one from a rattler and mount onto the bars since the naked gmax and rattler use the same set.

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 3:17 am

jfrost2 wrote:Not sure if the handle bars are the same as the "Naked GMAX" but just covered up with plastic and a fancier gauge. But say if they were, if the job would be simple enough, you just need to take the plastic off the headset, remove the gauges and cluster, and purchase one from a rattler and mount onto the bars since the naked gmax and rattler use the same set.

Way ahead of you with the gauge and plastic removal... I think the handlebars look identical, I'd just have to add the center brace that the rattler has and fabricate a gauge cluster housing so that the wires aren't all exposed.

I'll try to snap a few pics when I go down there tomorrow.

I think the biggest trick will to make sure it's aerodynamic enough to not add more drag than the stock Blur setup. that'll be easier to do in some places, harder on other spots.

LisaLisa · Post by **LisaLisa** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:23 am

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:19 pm

I mean to purchase a rattler gauge set, the naked gmax uses it too. Having a standard blur set on a naked bike would look funny because how large it is.

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 3:52 pm

Cool, I suspected they might be compatible but didn't know for sure. I'll take a closer look when I go down there today.

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 2:45 am

Side shot, most of the damaged panels removed.

Front shot. Nice honker on that thing!

Rear shot, sorry it's a little dark.

You can sort of see how the handle bars are similar to the Rattlers, just without the crossbar. Amazingly, the bar ends and grips came out unscathed!

So now it's a waiting game to see what's going to happen with insurance and if the f***tard can be found.

I'm thinking of making a "street fighter" Blur (Google street fighter bike and you'll find some fun references). I'll definitely have a better headlight and a few sets of frame sliders. This might turn into a track bike.... if I could just find a track...

Well, now you have pictures, imagine away!

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 2:47 am

I forgot this one. This is the shelf they have all my damaged goods on:

There's another box behind that, but it was up high and I didn't want to be too imposing. That topcase is the Shad 29 liter case. It stayed closed and attached to the bike, even though the mounting plate cracked! I love that thing!

NathanielSalzman · Post by **NathanielSalzman** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:31 am

Were I in your shoes, my inclination would be to go in the opposite direction. I'd use foam and fiberglass/CF to create an aerodynamic shroud around the scooter like a Bonneville salt flats racer. Even put a rudder on that bad boy. Something similar in concept (though not in execution) to this:

http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/470MPG ... 20P19.html

Imagine the Blur with really slippery aerodynamics and how quick it'd be / how good your mileage would get!

LisaLisa · Post by **LisaLisa** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:54 am

http://www.adrianart.com

I like what this guy is doing with scooters. Now you could take his little pleasant merry go round horsies approach and get all sinister on it.

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:16 am

NathanielSalzman wrote:Were I in your shoes, my inclination would be to go in the opposite direction. I'd use foam and fiberglass/CF to create an aerodynamic shroud around the scooter like a Bonneville salt flats racer. Even put a rudder on that bad boy. Something similar in concept (though not in execution) to this:

http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/470MPG ... 20P19.html

Imagine the Blur with really slippery aerodynamics and how quick it'd be / how good your mileage would get!

I actually like this idea the best. It seems like more of a challenge, which I'm a sucker for. Probably not as extreme, but I've been thinking about redoing the front fairings to block off a bit more wind, especially with the cooler weather.

Maybe I'll make two setups, one for summer (Blurattler) and one for winter (no catchy name figured out just yet). Swapping fairings isn't hard at all, especially if I design fast removal (other than via Corsica's) into the templates.

Thanks for that input, NathanielSalzman, that's getting my brain working!

I'll have to get a heat gun to reshape lexan for a windshield, but pretty much everything else I could fabricate with the tools I have on hand. Maybe I should get a bandsaw..... I *love* excuses to get new tools!

NathanielSalzman · Post by **NathanielSalzman** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:20 am

who needs a heat gun? Build a mold and use your oven. Broil that bad boy.

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:02 am

Lostmycage wrote:I *love* excuses to get new tools!

Nuff said

hi2525 · Post by **hi2525** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:00 am

I would make it so that it could possible shoot some nerf darts at people. Would be qoute amazing. Would be a amazing attribute for rallies and the sort. Should be reload-able.

Also if you added a turbo or the like. Would be a interesting engineering feet. Put the turbo where the old storage bay was. Would be quote amazing.

Then make a summer and winter shell for it. One with brush guards for winter then summer time letting as much air hitting you as possible.

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:36 pm

I just got my Blur back from the shop yesterday. The forks finally came in last friday and I had them put them in and take it for a test ride to check the mechanics and such on it. It's pretty much completely naked right now. All the panels (most of them replacements) are in a box waiting to be put back on. I'll post a pic in the next week or so (when I have some daylight) before I start rebuilding it.

I'm still waiting on the front fairing (the piece that the headlight assembly mounts to) to come in from Genuine. Right now it looks like a zombie scooter. After I helped unload it from the truck in my driveway, I cranked it up and man did I miss that sound. I can't wait to be able to drive it again.

I'm thinking I'm going to leave it looking mostly stock for the time being, since I've got most the parts to do so anyway. One thing I will do is make some hand guards to block the wind a little (the weakest part of my cold riding gear is the gloves). Hopefully I'll have a pic of that soon... time to break out the Dremel and some fiberglass!

Hope everyone else's holidays are as good as mine. Getting my Blur back just made my week!

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:49 pm

Good to hear you're closer to getting your Blur back on the road! For the hand/wind protectors, try going to a shop that sells dirt bike accessories. There are plastic hand guards available that might be easily adapted to a scooter.

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:09 am

Welp.... I just got back in from a nice ride on my freshly rebuilt Blur. Man did I miss that thing! I went out the the auto parts store and next thing I knew, I'd gone through a tank of gas and it was about 3 hours later. I'd forgotten how great it was to just ride to ride. The Blur had spoiled me before, then I was limited to the Buddy.... and now I truly appreciate how great a ride it is.

I'm still waiting on a few parts, but I got the bike back last week right before I headed out of town to visit family, and today I had off of work (I wasn't sure how long I'd be out of town, so I used a vacation day, hehe) and it was in the 60's so I said what the heck. The front "windshield" (or the front fairing that the light is housed in) is one of the two parts that I'm waiting on. It's got some back cracks in it and a couple of the screws were pulled through, so remounting it was a little tricky. I epoxied it and covered up the cracks with reflective tape. It doesn't look perfect, but damn if it doesn't look good to me.

So, while I was at the auto parts store, I was looking for a lamp made by PIAA called the HS1. Supposedly, it's a 35w that's the equivalent of a 65w. They didn't have it of course, but I was tempted to buy a Silverstar. However, right next to the Silverstar was another lamp made by the same company which is their next step up. I'll try and get the name of it and I'll post again to see if anyone's tried it. It's supposed to be brighter and wider than the Silverstar. It's still a 55/65w lamp, so I'm worried that it might burn too hot. The head light is the one thing that I didn't miss about the Blur. You can't win them all, can you.

I'll see if I can remember to snap a pic of the Blur with it's nose tap (think horn-rimmed glasses with a big piece of white tape on them in the middle; yep that's what it looks like). This is a great Christmas present to myself.... but it is sorta like re-gifting... Best re-gift ever!

Hope everyone else is doing as well as I am! Happy holidays!

[email protected] · Post by **[email protected]** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:10 pm

yaaaaaaaay glad your on your baby again so awesome news

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:17 pm

Thanks! Now I just need to get it reinspected so I won't have to worry about getting pulled over (sticker was on the old forks). I still have the receipt from the first one, but I'd rather not have to deal with anymore hassle than absolutely necessary. Looks like I can get it done first thing in the morning and ride to work. I know, another 2 days and I'll have a whole extra month, but I want it now! Erm.. tomorrow!

Modern Buddy

Battle Blurattler!

Battle Blurattler!

Now with naked Pics!

Box O' Blur parts