XJ 650 update

I have a lot of time off over Christmas, and without much in the way of travel plans, I thought I'd be able to get a whole lot done on my XJ 650. It's sadly been sitting idle for a long while. In the past few weeks I've finished striping it down ad grinding off all unnecessary frame bits. It's reduced as far as it needs to go, and now it's time to start mock-up and fabrication for what I'll be adding and altering. The bummer is that it's -24C (-12F) outside right now which makes for a stinking cold attached unheated garage. Combine that with getting over a nasty flu, and the garage isn't an appealing place to be right now.

So instead I'm doing what work I can inside, and started laying out a design for the emblem I'm going to put on the tank. This is based on a sticker that was on the donor tank I picked up for the bike. It was faded almost to the  point of invisible, but I took a picture of it, manipulated a little on the computer and now starting to trace it out and get it ready for a decal shop.

My goal is to have the bike done for spring, so hopefully this deep freeze will let up a bit so I can get back to welding in the garage. Until then, it's bunker down in the house with a steady stream of good coffee and lounging.