My black V2 has been a fun bike, my first recumbent, and now my commuter bike...but geez is it heavy. Saw that Rans was selling aluminum V2 frames for only $175 on the surplus page and I thought "Hey, I'll just get one of those and swap my components over, and it will be more like my XStream!" That turned out to be more true than I thought...
 
So, it started out as a cheap way to lighten up the bike - more than two pounds lighter for only $175 - it doesn't get any cheaper than that in bike land now, does it? Note to self: it would be even cheaper to lay off of the cheeseburgers until the rider is a couple of pounds lighter. But not as much fun. I sure did learn a lot on this project.
 

 
After agonizing about it some, I decided to spend another $114 to get an aluminum fork to go with the new frame. OK, not so cheap anymore, but what the heck. I'll swap my components over an bingo, new bike!
 
Not so fast... This new fork doesn't have threads on it like the old one did. I guess I'll need a threadless headset, off to the LBS. Got back with the new headset, pressed the cups into the frame, pressed the bottom race onto the fork, ran into the next snafu. How do you hold the headset together on a recumbent? Looked on the Rans website, saw the instructions on the headset adjuster and thought, well, I'll have to order one of those too. I didn't want to wait, so I took the one off of the XStream and used it. Cue the slightly ominous foreshadowing music...  
 
Took the seat off of the V2 and saw the seat clamp provisions were completely different on the new frame. Dammit, I need to order a new seat clamp. One like the XStream has. Had. Transferred it to the V2. Of course, you cant just put the old V2 seat on the newer clamp. Need new seat mount brackets for the seat. What the heck, its already off of the XStream, I'll just use the hoagie seat on the V2, try that out temporarily. I might like the more reclined position anyway. As an aside, an XStream is really strange looking without a seat.
 
Ok, I'll just mount the old seat strut flute tubes onto the new bike....uh, no, they're a different diameter, not compatable with the ones on the hoagie seat. Right up until then I was picturing one seat being used on two bikes, quick change out since its only 4 pip pins that hold the seat on.... and now a couple of seat strut tube attach bolts too. More parts migrate from the XStream to the V2. I've compiled quite the shopping list for my next Rans order.  
 
The rest of the components transferred over without difficulty, and I learned how to set up the derailleurs. Gt all of the mechanicals working good, time to install the fenders (this is a commuter bike after all). But apparently I bought a super stripped down race bike frame. Where the heck is the fender.rack mounting hole?  
 

 
 
 
I thought about drilling and tapping a hole, but the position would be wrong, and I didn't want to drill a hole in that shiny clearcoat finish either. And not really having any experience with such things, I didn't want to chance weakening the frame in a high stress area. So I spent some time rummaging around the shop, and made a bracket assembly:
 

 

 
I think this is sturdy enough to mount a rack to, if I decide to do that someday.
 
So there it is, finished!
 

 
I took it out for a spin this evening, and it went pretty well. Made a few shifter adjustments - things behave differently under load than they do when the bike is on a stand. I thought I had it dialled in perfectly - there are 6 gears now where there isn't any chain rattle at all, the bike just zooms along silently! But then on the return trip as I was pedalling up the hill in front of the zoo, I had a couple of uncommanded gear changes. I need to tweak the rear derailleur  just a bit more.
 
Initially I didn't much like the combination of the hoagie seat and the praying chipmunk style handle bars. The hoagy seat needs to be more reclined than the standard mesh seat. As a result, the handle bar was directly in my forward line of sight. That also put my hands at shoulder height, which felt funny. I put the bar down and forward as far as it will go, and that's better for visability, but it also places it as far out as I can comfortably extend my arms to reach it. All of that totally changes the feal of the bike and how it handles. I got used to the new setup pretty early in the ride, but I think I'll ride it for a week or two before I settle on an opinion about that setup.
 
So, while it hasn't been as cheap as I had hoped for, it has been a fun project. It's been too long since I learned how to do something new. Oh yeah, the silver ghost is 2 lbs 12 ounces lighter than the original steel bike.
 

HEY!! Tiger.. When I first saw your picture of the V in the garage it looked like you had made a canopy for it then saw it was a car top, Might want to see if it can be attached to bike, you will need it on hot days, you THANK! remember I am a CLOWN!

Update on the V2 project: after riding the bike for a week with the hoagie seat from the Xstream, I put in an order for a bunch of parts from Rans. The Xstream is now fully intact again, and the standard Rans seat is back on the V2. I like the V2 much better with the standard seat, which surprised me. I really like the hoagie seat on the Xstream, the reclined aero position is very comfortable. What I discovered is the geometry of the seat and the crank position have to be right with each other. The hoagie seat really wants to be laid back, putting much of your weight on the small of the back. When I did this on the V2, I found the backs of my thighs hitting the front edge of the seat pretty hard - the bottom bracket is positioned a little too low relative to the seat. When I cranked the seat more upright I solved that problem, but created others. The smallish "seating area" wasn't very comfortable. The other thing was that when I pulled too hard on the pedals I would shift forward in the seat. Ditto when I hit bumps in the road. It got a little old having to "butt walk" back into the seat every few minutes. The more aero position of the hoagie wasn't especially helpful on my commutes anyway. I'm riding with a couple of DF guys with panniers on their bikes, and on the downhills I have to ride the brakes to keep from running over them anyway.