Dawn's VLX600 Honda Motorcycle Project

Before and After (above)
Enjoy a video of the entire rebuild by clicking here.

Background
It had been a long time since I'd ridden. Years ago, I used to dirt ride with my bro's and owned a couple bikes. I started going back to "Bike Nights" and riding with John, dreaming of my OWN ride. I chose the Shadow because of it's size/height. When I sat on her, I was HOME! THE BIKE. I am a water baby, so I decided to airbrush waves, water, dolphins, and a mermaid on the bike.

John's been an inspiration, helping me quell my PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) enough that I signed up for MSF class, endured the range work, and passed with the best panic stop the instructors had ever seen. I highly recommend the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's course for everyone.

John dove into the project, pulling everything off the bike except the engine, shining and buffing parts to look like brand-spankin' new chrome! Its hard to tell which parts are old and which are new - THANKS, John!!!

The Crew
John is mechanical, analytical, and methodical, and I am artistic and metaphysical and love learning new processes...we enjoy bouncing ideas off each other.

John proposed on Valentine's Day, 2006, and we enjoyed our wedding in Key West April 27th, 2006! :)

The "Mermie" dolphin bike is SOLD
As a custom painter, I wanted this bike to be beautiful and comfortable!

Custom seat and fork bag, custom front and rear fenders. New: Memphis Shades Pop Top windshield, levers, chrome radiator cover, license plate frame, mirrors, engine guards, handlebars, risers, tailights, turn signals, ISO grips, and blue/green LED lights.

With an award-winning custom paint job (and a matching helmet); this bike has won "Best of Show Honda", "Top Runner Up", and numerous other awards at Tampa area shows. This bike starts great, runs great, and turns heads! SOLD.
Some final photos:
bike 1 bike 2 bike 3 bike 4 bike 5

John on JD's Shadow in Malta; Teardown; Fabbing new fenders.

Mermie's Honors:
3/18/06 Biff Burger's Annual Bike of the Year Show, "Best of Show: Honda" (100+ bikes)
12/3/2005 Biff Burger 9th Annual Toys for Tots Bike Show, Top Runner Up (90+bikes)
April, 2006, Knockers in Largo: Bike of the Night 1st Place
May, 2006: Knockers in Largo: Bike of the Night 2nd Place
Fall/Winter 2005: Sneaky's Bike Night: 1st place (~20 bikes), 2nd place (~20 bikes), tied for 1st place.

Wish List:
Loud curvy pipes, saddlebags, fender trim, whitewall tires, mermaid gremlin bell, ~~taillight,~~ ~~mirrors,~~ headlight modulator, ~~solo seat,~~ ~~blue/green LED accent lighting~~, ~~very small windshield~~, ~~chrome radiator cover,~~ ~~risers,~~ ~~bars,~~ ~~fork bag~~, ~~engine guard~~, ~~license plate frame with turn indicators,~~ ~~front indicator lights~~...~~and to ride this baby before Christmas~~!!

Fenders
The seat re-do and the removal of the taillight assembly meant fabbing a new back fender without all the brackets and holes where the passenger seat and lighting were originally attached. John decides to extend the front fender - not too outrageous, but it will make a difference to the overall look of the bike.

Paint
Time to fire up the airbrush! John touched up the frame in black, and sprayed the basecoat white. I'll airbrush the art and he'll clearcoat the project. John leaves suddenly for a business trip to Oman, and I have 4 lonesome weeks to do the mural while he is away.

Posterity shots: 1 2
Pre-Paint/Fiberglass/Prep 1 2 3 4

Seat
To add to the leaner look, the passenger part of the seat is to be removed, which means we need to customize the stock seat and fab a new fender. One of John's coworkers sews vinyl, and John finds a gray to match the dolphins, and the color is called "Dolphin" - go figure!

Prep; Prep; Basecoat White	More tones in the water and sky.	Front view, front fender; Top View of Tank Dolphins
First paint!; deepening the color; adding more color, and dolphins.	Sleeping mermaid on back fender.	Side Covers.
11/13/05 Don't ya love a woman with power tools? John tests the wiring.		The bike is ALIVE! Click for video When John started her up on 11/12/05, I hollered "holy fing sht!" (sorry, Mom) and then proceeded to squeal like a little girl, jumping up and down as if I had a FL lizard running around in my undies.
Thanksgiving Day, 11/24/2005 *Steaks on the grill, an awesome man in my life, and a bike to ride...can't beat it!*	Quaker Steak and Lube 11/30/2005 Mermie's first bike night! 3 words for the night: "gas", "oil", and "neutral". I survived though, I didn't mortify John, and I didn't knock any other bikes over when parking...LOL.	Biff Burger 9th Annual Toys for Tots Bike Show 12/3/2005 I was getting my road legs after being off of bikes for so long; I was nervous about riding Mermie to this big show, but I am glad I did. The show raised over $8000 and a trailer full of toys for the kids! We came home with a Top Runner Up trophy, competing against 100+ other rides.
3/18/06 Mermie wins "Best of Show: Honda" at Biff Burger's 9th Annual Bike of the Year Show. An awesome birthday present! One judge was writing on his clipboard by Mermie before I even entered. Later, he came back and said, "I just HAVE to take another look at your bike" and he was smiling. It's fun to hang around and hear people's comments about her.	Pre-show jitters...I hate parking in the midst of hundreds of bikes, especially when there's a crowd watching you back into small spaces! (BTW, that's John's '66 Honda Benley Touring bike behind me)	A great show, a free pig roast, a few beers, fun with friends, and superb riding weather...we show up around 6 PM, and after the agonizing wait thru judging, they start to give trophies at 10 PM...it's announced that #66 is the winner of "Best of Show Honda"!!!