KI Hestad

One of my New Year's resolutions is to get my Honda CB400 cafe racer project done during 2026. Perhaps not completely done, but at least get it running and mostly finished. It aligns well with my Ctrl-MC project, since I need an oldtimer to test the wiring system I am working on. I restarted the project yesterday, and my next video is in the makings.

It’s honestly beyond due time to get back to the project. If you are one of my most trusted (and incredibly patient) viewers, you should know that it's now almost 6 years since I started the rebuild. I have already made 25 videos documenting the process, and I’m pretty sure some of you have literally finished degrees, raised children, or travelled the world while I have been wrenching on this bike 😅

This year, I’m gonna be disciplined: I’m officially banning myself from any distracting side projects. 2026 is the year this CB400 stops being a dust-collecting garage ornament and actually starts making noise! 🤞🤞🤞

1 week ago | [YT] | 59

KI Hestad

It’s a beautiful first day of 2026 here in Molde, Norway. I normally spend most of my time staring at my computer screen these days, learning about electronics and designing PCBs. I should probably look out of the window more often to get a wider perspective, perhaps even get outdoors now and then 😝

I am just about to order two new PCBs from JLCPCB now, I will start my next video in the Ctrl-MC project as soon as they arrive. New mistakes for the new year are on its way 😅

I wish you a Happy New Year!

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 54

KI Hestad

Preparing the first test for the Ctrl-MC motorcycle wiring system. Soldered 200 pin headers and fitted 50 DuPont connectors this evening. The next is plug in all cables and power it on - and hopefully no blue smoke happens 🤞😝

1 month ago | [YT] | 100

KI Hestad

I'm almost done with my next motorcycle video. It's the longest one I've ever made, and it has a new high score for video clips in the edit, too — 770 in total. The project itself was filmed over two days, so it was probably the easiest I've ever made into a video. The editing, though, has taken way more time 😓 The video is actually mostly for me, but it'd be fun if someone else enjoys it or finds it useful, even though it's very niche. I won't be disappointed if you skip this one. It's more or less two days of work compressed down to 43 minutes 😊 The picture shows all the 770 clips, I am impressed if you can guess what it is about 😁

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1 month ago | [YT] | 47

KI Hestad

Wow, AI is getting real good. Click on the images to get full size!

I asked the new Google Gemini version 4 to imagine my cafe racer project could look like when done. I gave detailed instructions on my plans and provided an image how it looks now (image number 3). The first suggestion had a brown seat and a scrambler exhaust (image numer 2), and it makes sense according to my original prompt. I mad a follow up comment and it ended up like what you see here (image number 1).

Pretty amazing, it's exaclty as what I am planning to make it. What do you think?

Here is my initial prompt posted with the first image:

Envision how this cafe racer project can look like when it is done. It is planned to look like a scramble / brat style hybrid. The wheels, tires, tank, engine and frame is not to be changed. A carburator, exhaust system, seat and tail lights is to be added. The frame should be painted black, while the rims and the tank should be white. The tank should have red and blue stripes and a HONDA decal similar as a Honda from the 80s with a HRC color palette. Remove the noisy background and envision the motorcycle standing in a showroom with a very clean backround.

Here is the second prompt for refinig the image:

refine the image, make the seat black and switch to a low exhaust that ends right below the center of the rear wheel

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1 month ago | [YT] | 30

KI Hestad

It's finally home! It has been in the family for four years now. My son has used it as his commuter motorcycle, but some rather unfortunate happenings has changed the status from commuter to project bike 😓 My son upgraded to a newer motorcycle and I have now a new project on my hands.

I will take a totally different approach to this project compared to all my other motorcycle projects. I have always improved my motorcycles gradually, one and one improvement. This one will be totally stripped down and then built up from scratch 😎

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2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 43

KI Hestad

As if I did not have enough projects 😅

2 months ago | [YT] | 63

KI Hestad

I am not suggesting that the STM32 is better than ESP32 in general, it all depends on the use case. For the Ctrl-MC project where the goal is to create a compact and reliable system with canbus for controlling motorcycles electric components - I think it might be a better choice. I have now ported the system I built for my adventure motorcycle from using ESP32 to a STM32G4 microcontroller. It took me just a few hours. I can even debug the code step by step, and it was rather easy to set up. This looks very promising.

2 months ago | [YT] | 46

KI Hestad

I am possibly ditching the ESP32 😬 Testing a STM32(G4) now. It's the one powered on, to the right in the picture. It's supposed to be much more reliable, it's smaller and faster, has more pins (48), has a better canbus controller - and more. But it has not included WiFi or BT, and possibly has less support for drivers/libraries. 🤔

3 months ago | [YT] | 36

KI Hestad

Exiting stuff going on, hopefully a new video tomorrow, if I can make it work 🤞😝

3 months ago | [YT] | 77