# I Murdered Colson Loop Tail .....



## XBPete (Aug 5, 2016)

*Wife is off to see grandson graduate from Basic Training and doing the Southern Family tour, so my honey do list is on hold...

I bought this Colson Loop Tail from a CABE member a few months back





Seat and seatpost, Frame, chain cover, fork and front wheel are all that were OG..





Thoughts were to expose the OG black/white colour and get her on the road again, started to take off the yellow and found it had been bodyworked, headbadge holes filled and sanded before the yellow was applied, no primer.





So I am going to murder it, black with minimal chrome, grey shades... she will match my Buell XB12R motorcycle... maybe some twill carbon fiber.... I know most here wish to restore, but I shall save those efforts to be given to less molested bikes, hope I don't get too much crap from you guys but this is gonna be my rider....*


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## CrazyDave (Aug 5, 2016)

Sounds good man!  I'm lookin' forward to checkin out the build.  When I read the title, I thought perhaps you threw it off a cliff or cut it up....lololol


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## catfish (Aug 5, 2016)

Not murdered. More like giving it new life.


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## mike j (Aug 5, 2016)

Yeah, whatever you do, I'm sure will be a vast improvement, good luck w/ it.


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## Freqman1 (Aug 5, 2016)

Thank God it isn't a Schwinn! Just kidding--I agree anything is an improvement. Be sure to post some before and afters. V/r Shawn


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## bikewhorder (Aug 7, 2016)

murdered out
_When a car is completely modified and the color BLACK is the only color used throughout the entire vehicle
Guy 1- "hey bro did you see that NOVA?" 
Guy2- "yeah it was completely murdered out"_


I guess its a term that's been around for a while but I just recently learned it.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=murdered out


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## Saving Tempest (Aug 7, 2016)

The Plasmatics didn't murder out cars, they just blew them up on stage.


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## Euphman06 (Aug 7, 2016)

Murder is bad....


But not in this case


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## XBPete (Aug 8, 2016)

LOL! Great comments by y'all! Thanks for no tar and feathers!

Hand stripped the frame and was pleasantly surprised at the overall condition. One small ding on the seat post tube and two other minor surface pitted areas to deal with, then on to primer.

I have ordered black BB set, headset, crank arm, quill and handlebars, should be here later in the week.


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## then8j (Aug 8, 2016)

It's amazing how beautiful the bike is when it's completely naked.


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## fordmike65 (Aug 8, 2016)

bikewhorder said:


> murdered out
> _When a car is completely modified and the color BLACK is the only color used throughout the entire vehicle
> Guy 1- "hey bro did you see that NOVA?"
> Guy2- "yeah it was completely murdered out"_
> ...




As seen in Grindhouse "Deathproof"


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## CrazyDave (Aug 10, 2016)

Monochromatic black would sounded so last century.  I like the idea, it'll match most of my guns


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## XBPete (Aug 14, 2016)

Repairs are complete, now in primer, parts are coming in, BB set, crank and head tube shims arrived.


 
Ordered new black chain ring from 3G Bikes, I like how the design picks up the dropout plate arch to the center and the ovals continue the loop circular theme, seems chain rings in black are somewhat limited for new designs but I think I will be pleased at the look


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## XBPete (Aug 22, 2016)

Parts are coming in, tyres, tubes, headset, pedals... more in the mail, including a killer seat I will recover in black..

I might change up the pedal set to rat traps... have to see how it looks and feels.

Going with a Shimano 3 speed rear hub, should be an easy pedal for an old fart.


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## XBPete (Sep 30, 2016)

All parts in, found a powder coater that will do my frame, had to source Lab Metal to touch up some slight pitting on the lower arm and the ding in the head tube. Regular body filler would fall out in the oven, buddy owns a Fastenal and gave me the Lab-Metal and primer. 

I went with a Shimano 3 speed hub with coaster brake, had to move the dropouts outboard 22 MM to fit properly and re-square the plates to centerline.

Next step is powder coating and fresh old black leather for the saddle


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## CrazyDave (Oct 1, 2016)

Cool man, hope ya about got everything....ya got two more enroute. lol.


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## XBPete (Nov 5, 2016)

Harvest and canning are done, back to the Looper!

Used the lab metal to effect repairs on the frame blems. Since I will be powder coating the frame I needed to  use a filler that would not bake out, multiple thin layers fixed the seat post and skim coats fixed the other areas nicely. Dropouts were moved out over a half inch to fit the Shimano 3 speed yesterday so on to powder coat this week!



 

Before and after shots of the Lab-metal work


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## CrazyDave (Nov 5, 2016)

Wow, that stuff works great...lookin good my friend.


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## mike j (Nov 5, 2016)

Nice stuff, that frame is great candidate for where you're taking it. Can't wait to see more.


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## XBPete (Nov 25, 2016)

Thanks for the kind comments Dave, Mike!

The chainring I bought did not "feel" right so I got a decent new steel unit from 3MG Bikes, their shipping was insanely good!

I recovered the Persons rail saddle I bought from Ram.1950 in black, I like the curve of the crash rail with the Colson frame so will probably leave it on the bike.

I have all metals prepped except the truss rods I had bought from Fleabay. Installed the old bearing cups and fit the front end and Astabula crank and chainring to see how she will look before powdercoat. 

I left off the black front wheel for the mock up but did have to open the drop out slots and hole in the truss rods for the modern larger axle, might go to a disc brake in the future and wanted to make allowance for it if I go that way, so this is the last pic before final assembly.


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## XBPete (Dec 1, 2016)

Since this has become a custom and not a faithful restore, I dedcided to not use my original Colson badge due to finding one that is totally me!

My user name here is XB Pete, for my love of my motorcycle, a Buell Firebolt XB12R, race/streetfighter, many upgrades since this picture...  she is a little beastie and a blast to ride.






So cruising Ebay, I found a Russian badge for one of their models and purchased it for this custom Looptail


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## mike j (Dec 2, 2016)

Perfect, if you're gonna murder it, getting rid of all identification is a good idea.


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## syclesavage (Dec 3, 2016)

I'm with Mike J on that for sure.


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## PCHiggin (Dec 3, 2016)

bikewhorder said:


> murdered out
> _When a car is completely modified and the color BLACK is the only color used throughout the entire vehicle
> Guy 1- "hey bro did you see that NOVA?"
> Guy2- "yeah it was completely murdered out"_
> ...




I just learned it too from a girl @ work.She just bought a murdered out Camaro.


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## locomotion (Dec 3, 2016)

XBPete said:


> Repairs are complete, now in primer, parts are coming in, BB set, crank and head tube shims arrived.
> View attachment 349719
> Ordered new black chain ring from 3G Bikes, I like how the design picks up the dropout plate arch to the center and the ovals continue the loop circular theme, seems chain rings in black are somewhat limited for new designs but I think I will be pleased at the look
> 
> View attachment 349720





what brand crank is that?


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## XBPete (Dec 6, 2016)

mike j said:


> Perfect, if you're gonna murder it, getting rid of all identification is a good idea.




Yeah Mike, if only the PO had not destroyed the original finish, a resto would have been cool, but can't beat the XB thing, will be bad to the bone when I do bike shows to have two "XB's"



syclesavage said:


> I'm with Mike J on that for sure.




Glad ya agree... visions of resto were in my head when I bought it,,,,,,



PCHiggin said:


> I just learned it too from a girl @ work.She just bought a murdered out Camaro.




There is a show on Velocity and others " Street Outlaws"..  they have a car " Murder Nova" that I greatly admire,,, the thing is crazy fast!



locomotion said:


> what brand crank is that?




It is an Astabula type crank, prolly made in China that I got from 3G Bikes.. here is a link

http://www.3gbikes.com/parts/cranks/


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