The F model simply does not lend itself to become a cafe bike. It has its own sexy lines, and I'd like to preserve those lines as best as I can, minus the tail section. Yes, I know the purists will hate me, but this is my bike, and I hate the stock tail. So, to the best of my abilities, I'll be trying to make a new plug, and play with a different style tail.
Lessons learned? Plenty: take my time; use rigid foam and not the crappy expanding stuff in a can; draw before you cut (hmm, sounds obvious, doesn't it?); fiberglass is a learning process; a better, more expensive resin does not stink as bad as the cheap stuff; mat is stronger than cloth; and time (again) -- don't try to rush it.
Thus armed with my newly acquired knowledge, I bought some pink rigid foam at Home Depot, got some 3M glue, and got going again. This time, I started with a solid block of glued-up foam layers. I went below the frame rails, as I want those to be hidden, for a nice, clean look.
Here is the current concept for the tail section. Don;t laugh at my drawing in-abilities.
And here is the clean, blank block of foam.
From the rear (decreasing width like the gas tank).
In the end, this may not work out. I'm having fun with some foam and a rasp nevertheless.
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