Metric Bobber Project

[TKRIS]

Hardtail pictures:
Keep in mind that I am NOT a welder.








P.S. A lot of the fresh welds are simply fill passes to fill in gaps so the welds look cleaner when I grind and paint. The intermediate supports on the hardtail have a piece of 7/8" tubing plug welded inside at the splice for added strength.

P.P.S. Yes, my garage is a mess...

P.P.P.S. Yes, my bike is currently balanced precariously on a single floor jack and roll of 14/3 wire...

[Kona9]

Coming together! Looking good as well.

You have to see my work space. 5.5 foot tall by 7' X 10' space. It is not bad at all as I don't have a garage, and I have been messing with this since January off and on. Fire pit near by for warmth.

That jack in the pic has been a life saver while pissin around in a small space. There is enough room to get around the whole bike (wheels off ) but to move it around has made things much easier!CDN Tire. $120.

[TKRIS]

Buying a bike jack would have been a smart move right off the bat, but that's not my style. I prefer to do things as awkwardly and backwards as possible so as to make my life more difficult.
I'm using an engine hoist and I have the entire bike lifted off the ground at the moment, and that works awesome. Allowed me to get underneath and cut off the brackets for the center stand, as well as get access to the kickstand so that I can modify it to fit the new stance.

I've finally got my tank to look almost not embarrassing (I'm constantly amazed at how shitty I am at body work) and I'm hoping the paint I put on last night will turn out to be the final coat. I've painted almost everything else that needs paint. The bike is very, very black.

I cut and formed my seat pan last night out of ~10 gauge sheet metal. That was a pain in the ass, since I don't have the right hammers/dollies, and I had to cut the thing out with a reciprocating saw and cut-off wheel on a grinder. This project has put that poor fucking grinder through its paces, and I certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Makkita grinder after seeing what this one has survived.
I'd like to get my seat upholstered soon, but I need to find someone who has a cutting torch or plasm cutter so I can fabricate a couple brackets first.

I should have pictures up showing the bike mostly together to give an idea of the stance and look. Not to toot my own horn, but I really think it's developing a real badass attitude, and looks better than I envisioned when I started out. Black and billet-proof.
I think the way I'm mounting my solo seat will be the showcase of the bike. The mock-up thus far really makes it stand out, IMO.

I've still got a fair amount of work to do, but at least I can put everything together enough to make it look like a bike again, which is encouraging after having it cut into a dozen pieces scattered around the shop for so long.

[Jlude]

SICK!

[TKRIS]

I just made the rest of the gaskets I need to get the engine back together. My wife was making fun of me for doing "crafts".
I also got some finicky shit on the seat sorted out. Im using a brass bushings at the rear hinge point, and of course I couldn't get one that was the right size, so I had to chock the bushings in my drill and sand 1/16" off the diameter by hand. There is a reason brass is used to prevent wear. Not a lot of fun.
I ended up building the seat brackets with the trusty old grinder, and they turned out pretty well. I should have the seat upholstered tomorrow, and I'll finish off the mounts over the weekend.
Picked up a brake light today, so I'll fabricate a licence plate and brake light mount this weekend as well, and maybe get started on the electrical.

Can someone please give me the dimensions of a motorcycle licence plate?. I don't have one here, and I need it to build the rear bracket. I would very much appreciate it if someone could help me out with that ASAP.

[Kona9]

I just ordered my side mount plate. For 56 bucks shipped I get a black powder coated, curved side mount bracket with LED lights in the license plate bolts. Precision wanted 180 for an unfinished steel one.

Looking forward to pics TKRIS!

[gretz]

Originally posted by Kona9
I just ordered my side mount plate. For 56 bucks shipped I get a black powder coated, curved side mount bracket with LED lights in the license plate bolts. Precision wanted 180 for an unfinished steel one.

Looking forward to pics TKRIS!

$180? crazy lol....

TRKIS
bike is coming along nicely... should look badass back together -

I think the alberta bike plates are 8"x5"

[TKRIS]

I got the seat covered, and I might be worse at upholstering than I am at body work, which I didn't think was possible.
The seat will work for now, but the look isn't right at all. Too padded and the color is just wrong. I was going for more of a worn brown, and this looks orange on the bike. Horrible.
Also, I had to use a 3" spring on the nose of the seat because of how I formed the pan and how I hinged the rear. It doesn't look good.
I will be ordering a suitable seat pan that's nice enough to run in bare steel, and changing the mounting around to allow me to use the 2" springs which look WAY better. I'll also mount the seat further forward. It was almost impossible to get everything together at the same time to see how the leaf spring and seat was going to work with everything else, so it was a lot of guess work. It's almost where I want it, but needs some tweaking to get it to look right.

I still have a ton of work to do, but here's a rough idea of how it's coming together:

[cam_wmh]

F*ck yes!

[topher91]

Dood omg this is looking fresher then hell!

[TKRIS]

Thanks fellas.
Didn't have much time to work this weekend, but the seat has been irritating me since Friday night. I am going to attampt to build another seat pan and form it to keep the nose as close to the spring as possible while keeping the main seating position relatively level.
I am going to cut my mount apart and suck the seat in about 2-3", and I'm going to tilt the spring to get it sitting lower. I'll add another leaf and a crossmember that will ensure I don't bottom out on the tire.
I am still confident that the leaf-sprun seat is going to make the look of the bike, I've just gotta get it right, and it's not there yet.

I'm still working on seat pan ideas. Would love to hear suggestions.

[Kona9]

Originally posted by TKRIS

I'm still working on seat pan ideas. Would love to hear suggestions.

I have read that a stop sign is of the best material for shaping and pounding to the shape you want. Sounds silly but true.

Loving the look of your bike!! Mine is getting there. Fork covers, rear LED's, side mount plate, struts, and I'm ready for a tune up and a ride.

Thinkin of a custom bike plate. Just not sure what to do with 5 characters. I'm lookibg forward to you finalizing the project.

[TKRIS]

Kind of forgot that I even had a bike for 5 years, but decided to get back to it a couple months ago. Tore everything back apart and put it back together. Just got it on the road a couple days ago.
I fully realize this is a dead thread and nobody gives a shit, but in the interests of closure...

[01RedDX]

.

[TKRIS]

Thanks man!
I still lurk on this forum for time to time, but I don't post much anymore.

[firebane]

Not bad but for safety sake PLEASE put a front fender on that bike. You can chop it down if you want but it adds stability to the front forks and keeps them from twisting.

[ercchry]

I don't have fenders on any of my old bikes.... Haven't noticed any twisting.... And a fender does not have a whole ton of rigidity

[schurchill39]

Originally posted by firebane
Not bad but for safety sake PLEASE put a front fender on that bike. You can chop it down if you want but it adds stability to the front forks and keeps them from twisting.

What???

Originally posted by ercchry
I don't have fenders on any of my old bikes.... Haven't noticed any twisting.... And a fender does not have a whole ton of rigidity

I'm with you on this. In all my time and bikes I've never heard of a fender being any more than a splash guard. Definitely not anything to do with rigidity of the bike...

[TKRIS]

No, he's right.
The factory fender has a thickened section that acts as a fork brace and without it you're putting additional stress on the front axle. That said, there's no way a fender is going back on.
I'll build a fork brace if I need to, but I'm still considering doing a front end swap. I'd like dual disks up front, so whether or not I need a brace depends on if I just swap the lower forks, or swap the entire front end for something more modern.

If anyone has the entire front off an R6 that they want to give me a screaming deal on, let me know. Haha

[ercchry]

This is pretty handy for front end swaps

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=5669.0