How about that for a classy set of wheels?

Here’s a little taster of how it arrived: much hacked about and only partly working

And now after much making of brackets, spacers and wiring

Mark wanted the ignition switch below the tank on the left, but there was only one screw hole. I made this custom bracket with on a rubber pad to protect the frame. It isn’t going anywhere

Modern batteries often need packers to keep them in place. I have decided wood is the best material. Easy to paint black if you prefer

Under the seat we have Dyna 2000 ignition, flasher unit, reg rec and solenoid. I was thankful there wasn’t anything else

Mark made the dash background from ABS, edged with beading

Here’s the other side, with the dash connections. He will make a neat bracket when he has a moment

And previously

Mark’s Harris CB900F

This is a twin shock Harris Magnum built to a very high standard, and I’ve got to say working on it gives you a bit of a tingle. It’s a lot more than just a frame kit: brakes, wheels, suspension, engine and paint have all been thought about very carefully. The motor is a 950 overbore, with racing Keihin carbs and (what else?) a Harris exhaust.

The one thing that let it down was the electrics: erratic running and charging, a wildly optimistic adaptation of the original CB900 wiring harness, and a hideous speedo and tacho arrangement. This is the condition Mark bought the bike in.

Once he’d booked the bike in with me, Mark brought it along to the shop for a chat to discuss the best way ahead. I did the usual blather: avoid lithium batteries, and think really carefully about how you want the dash and indicators to look. Mark went away and chose a Daytona speedo and tacho, plus a set of Japanese-made Posh indicators. (He really wanted their cast aluminium ones but they were out of stock, so he settled for these chrome versions instead.) He also got it running and charging, and took it for a dyno session at BSD Performance just up the road. The result was 92bhp, which I reckon is pretty good for an early 1980s 900.

Getting the bike prepped for a loom build took a long time.  Coils, ignition, indicators, solenoid, battery, ignition switch and fuse box all needed mounting on custom brackets or spacers. The handlebar switches needed rebuilding too, after some bright spark had filled them with axle grease. (Don’t do this, kids; use silicone grease.) And there was the usual old bike stuff about checking and replacing cables, and fitting new terminals where the old ones were too knackered.

I spent more time trying to figure out how to keep the wires to a minimum around the steering. In the end I fitted the headlight relays up with the headlights, so the whole front end could be supplied by just five wires.

Mark plans to take this delicious creation to Spa Bikers Classic on 15/16 August this year. It will go down very well.

Nice

The switchgear had been smeared with axle grease. Don’t do this, folks. It’s counter productive

Here’s the right hand switch, similarly abused

…and cleaned up. I reassembled it with silicone grease

This mini fuse box from Kojaycat is a replica of the one used on FireBlades and Aprilas. It’s very handy

One of the best looking bikes I’ve had in my workshop. Even my old friend Simon Martin, who worked at Harris, was impressed