My attempt at a rigid bobber XJ

Well I picked up an XJ after seeing a particular bad ass bobber build on this site. I was originally going to find an XS but I couldn't find one that I wanted to spend the money on. So I picked up my XJ that the guy couldn't get to start. I brought it home, threw it on the charger, played with the choke and rode it around the block on a balmy 14 degree morning on Sunday.






On to tonight. Well I had a lot of running to do tonight after work along with not getting off until late. I got about an hour or a little better outside to work on it.




I've got another hour or so to go before I switch venues to use a welder. I hope tomorrow I have the chassis tubing and to have the seat and drag bars coming.

I hope I can hold a candle to the other bobber I had seen on here gone rigid as it is a slick looking ride and I learned a lot from his thread. I plan on a close mimic with my own touches.

Thanks all, I get updates as they come.

Dustin

 

cool cant wait to see her

 

keep the pics coming!

 

looks good so far man. I live in Ames and am currently working on an XS750 and would eventually like to convert mine to a hardtail too. Want to collaborate efforts?

 

Doesn't look a whole lot different, but it's ready to head out to get cut on and welded at Jason's. I picked up the 1" OD 11ga. DOM tubing from Des Moines Steel on my way back into town from work. Can't wait to get choppin'!





I'd have no problem helpin' ya chop on the XS as soon as I'm done with this one so I have do's and donts for ya.

 

Sounds good man. Im looking forward to progress on yours.

 

Don't forget to remove your ignition components before buzzing your frame.

 

Just a question or 2 or ....

Why would you want a rigid / hard tail ? because you can slam it to the ground? just wondering . it seems to me they hardtail type would be a rougher ride. or not? i like the look but would it be practible on long rides? and last Wouldn't the hardtail / ridgid ride be rougher on the engine as well?

 

TimetoRide - Already done, but thanks for the reminder.

flash1259 - It will be a rougher ride, but I like the rigid look. I don't plan on running several hundred miles at a time on this, mostly back and forth to the local bike nights. The furthest one away is a 20 mile ride each way, not bad at all. I can get the lines I want with the rigid is the short answer as to why I'm doing it.

 

hey QuarterHorse, what changes are looking to make on this bike? Hardtail aside?
Are you thinking of making changes to the exhaust or puttin pods etc?

Some help would be awesome. Its hard working out of my garage with little to no tools haha. Cheers...

 

Thanks QH never had the chance to ride a ridgid . but Like you said its looks good

 

Going with pod filters, open header with something done to the collector, maybe a turn down/out and a re-jet in the carbs when I do the rebuild. I'm going to black out the motor and do a re-paint to it all.

Crath did an awesome job on his bobber, I just wanted to see one with a few differences/changes.

I have ordered the seat and the drag bars. I have to get some more material for the sissy bar I want to make and start calling around to some chrome places to get things lined up. It'll be slow this next week or so but then some pics should start to come in.

 

Had a few minutes in between work and crashing out tonight so I figured I could get the muffler pulled and the stance figured out. I'm liking this. I also pulled the front fender, I don't need/want it.

 

you are inspiring me to blow off work and get some "work" done on my bike!

 

Thanks for the compliment quaterhorse. I'll be watching your build. Good luck with it and have fun!! you will have even more fun when it's done. People's heads turn on these bikes! I would only suggest going with slightly larger jets if you run the same pods/exhaust

 

Zookie400 - I've been pounding down 60+ hour work weeks, so finding time to work on this can be trying, but I have most of my materials it's just getting a friends bike sold to get it into his garage to get the major fab work done.

Crath - I'm using the *I'm not sure if it's stock* 4-1 header with no muffer and I'll use some sort of turn down on it. I didn't figure I would need to jet it much, but thanks for the heads up on only 1 size.

 

I got home late tonight but found a package at the door for me. Threw the drag bars on and slapped the seat in the rough location so I could get a feel. The highway pegs are going away for forward controls.

 

Q, I love the way your shop looks. Kinda like an A-bomb collided with a Maxim! I've started picking up after myself because my neighbor gives me a hard time about it when he comes over to clean parts for me.

Anything to keep the dude happy!

 

Looks good so far. You will be amazed how it feels to sit lower, with your legs forward riding on the same bike. Myself, I've always liked the idea of sitting "in" the bike instead of ON it, like most of the older bikes with the flat seats. It's like riding a completely new bike. Your going to like it! Keep those photos coming >>>>>>>

 

wamaxim - It's not my garage, otherwise things would be put away on shelving etc. I'm borrowing this space until our house is finished. The only thing other than the bike parts in there is my tool box and some odds/ends Mustang parts. It's embarassing to me, thus I only try to take tight pics of the bike haha.

PainterD - I sold my VMax last fall and I had put forward controls on it with a lower seat. It was night and day. I won't have another standard/cruiser style bike without them. I'm not a big guy at 6'0" but they make a HUGE difference, especially since I'm lowering this bike anyway with a butt dragging seat height.

 

One more before we start choppin'. On the way to the other garage.

 

Got some chopping done and could possibly have frame back under it this weekend. We shall see.

 

Ran out of welding gas. I guess next week it should be done as far as the frame fab goes.

 

Got a late start on it tonight. Got over to Jason's after he was done with his running and got the other down tube fab'd and welded up. I'm not happy with my welding after 8+ years of not doing it, and re-teaching myself on round tube is more difficult than I thought it would be. I'm going to be doing a lot of grinding and probably having Jason finish the welds. Mine are structural and getting good penetration, just not pretty at all. Anyway, snapped some more photos with the phone.







Kind of what it'll shape up like, but not really haha.

 

NICE!

 

Cool man, keep it comin' and you'll be bobbin down the road in no time!

 

Yeah I hope so haha. We'll see how soon I can get 'er done....... There are a few more things to be done and a few changes made to how it's "lay'd on" the bike to the finished product.

 

nice work so far mate im takin mine off the road this week in prep for winter and the whole hard tail forward controlled chopper style is what im wantin so i will be payin carfull attention to detail here cheers

 

Got the tank mount in, bent the flange on the tank down to mount it, got a battery box done but not mounted, got one of the rear fender mounts done, and got the engine/trans out for a clean/paint/gasket/stainless bolt kit. Should have the engine/trans painted and all the hardware on this weekend and I hope to have my forward controls here too.

 

I think this is going to be a nice bike when you are finished. I had an xs650 I bought that had the hardtail welded on. I had the ape-hangers on it though. Either way they look good. Cant wait to see more progress!

 

love the bike looks like the one im building now cant wait to see the turn out nice job so far

 

Thanks guys

P2 - I saw your build and comented on it. I'm jealous of the tools you can get your hands on. I have to borrow a welder haha!

 

I got over last night to work on it a little. I'm still brainstorming on exactly what I want for pieces and a look.

Got the battery mount fabbed. My old man is going to bend me up a cover for it.


Pulled the gauges and headlight as I'm not using the stock light, and running no gauges or just a small speedo, all depending on money. I like how clean it will be up top without the bulky stock cluster.



Just for a size comparo I put the bike at ride height. Behind it is a project a friend of mine is getting ready to start in a '77 Goldwing


Another size comparo, I'm 6'0" 270lbs. I may look a tad big on it, but I don't care.

 

Nice! The shocker!

 

Got more goodies in today, but did not recieve my stainless bolt kit.

 

No SS bolts yet so I'm waiting on those. I also have a sheet of stainless that I will make some inlays with but that will be after I move into our new home which the bike will be done before that. Here's the "low gloss" engine paint I used. I like it minus the fish eyed parts I found which aggrivated me. I'll deal with it later. So other than the SS bolts and me scuffing the fins so there's a contrast, here's the engine.

 

i was thinking of painting my motor now i can wait and see how this turns out it will help me decide looks good so far

 

I planned on the Satin engine/fork lowers gloss tins/frame/tripples/wheels. Stainless/chrome touches here and there. When I build the sissy bar it will go out for chrome.

 

nice work.. i'm also looking forward to see how the engine turns out. I've got mine to do and I'm still unsure what to do with it..

 

Awesome build so far. I got a 81 xj550 I am going to go hardtail with as soon as I get my garage. TC Bros Choppers has alot of awesome stuff on ebay for xj hardtail project bikes. I had planned on ordering those same exact forward controls on my bike as well. Keep it up. Looks great!

 

Two where you're born, one where there's corn!!!! :twisted:

 

Just got back into town late last night, long day at work so work on the bike was minimal. Got the SS bolts in, well what I recieved. My "kit" I got was a little incomplete, so I'm going to see if I can get a few individuals so I can finish the other side and the valve cover. Also got my pod filters.



I'll get over tomorrow and hopefully get the majority of the fab done, and what I don't I can finish up by Sat night and get ready for paint!!!!!

 

Lookin good Quarterhorse. I like the contrast of the stainless bolt kit. good call.

 

One more thing... where did you get the stainless bolt kit from?

 

save yourself the heartache and get some carb kits pull apart them cabrs and clean the hecl out of them. bench sync and have them ready to roll. It is up to you but polished carb bodies(or soda blasted) would really look nice on there too but that is alot of meticulous work.

The project is looking very nice I look forward to seeing the finished product. I dont' have the heart to tear apart my Xj even tho I like the looks of the bobbers.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, this isn't my first go around and had already planned on tearing the carbs apart, bench syncing, then syncing on the bike. I'm leaving the vaccum caps alone for the moment as I'm not sure what I'm going to do with 'em. I'll ride it a season just to get a feel for what color would go best. I didn't get any work done on it this weekend but will be over there tomorrow. I hope to get the fab work done by mid-week so I can tear it all down for paint by the weekend.

 

just did my carbs i bought a micro drill bit kit and went through all the jets and blew them out with carb cleaner and air put them back on its runs awsome now

 

glad its running good, where did you get the micro drill bits at?

 

And what sizes?

 

quarterhorse not to thread jack you ill check the sizes tommoro when i get to work and they are blue-point got them from my snap-on dealer