the hass build: my 550 rat chop

Ive liked my 550 maxim since i got it last year, its an amazing little bike. but i could never stand the way the rear end looked. so a week ago after "planning" for a while(read, couldn't find a way to get a stock seat from another bike to fit) i started cutting up the rear end to make it into something i liked.

After a week of faffing and sweating in my unvented, unopened garage (i get yelled at by the hoa if i leave the garage door open so i have to work by lamplight in secret) here's the result:







i wanted the bike to be pesudo stock looking just without the ugly rear end

i tore all the ugly stuff off the back like the fender, grab bar, luggage box, etc. til i got down to where i wanted the seat to be. I got a busted up stock seat off ebay and pulled the cover off then cut the back part of the seat off. i reshaped the foam to get rid of the ugly raised seat, then had my girlfriend make a cover for the newly cut down seat.

i got a trailer fender from a local trailer supply shop and cut it down to size, then mounted it up on the frame. i grinded out some holes to mount the blinkers and modded the blinkers to fit. mounted the tail light, wired everything and now its sexy.

i like the ratty rough metal look of the rear fender i'd like to be able to get the same look out of the front fender. another small problem is the tail light is kind of dim. the brake light is very bright but i'd like to get more out of the running light. i read another thread about led replacements for 1157 style bulbs that showed theyre much brighter but i'm not sure if i should spend the $15 or so if its not going to be any brighter on my bike.

the back feels lighter and stiffer, but that may just be the new seat. i never really realized how much it cradled me in place until it was gone. I have a lot of stock parts for sale that i don't need now, the seat, luggage compartment, stock tail light, all 4 stock blinkers, handle bars, rearsets and passenger pegs, grab bar, and fender

next on the agenda is smaller gauges and probably some bondo over the missing yamaha emblem mounts and new paint.

 

looks good

 

there is a standard bulb that is much brighter than an 1157...i"ll see if i can find the article. Here it is...

http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle- ... -bulbs.htm

 

thanks, i put in a 2357 bulb and covered the back piece in the light with red reflective tape and it seemed to help. i might try the silver tape since it should reflect more of the light spectrum instead of just red.

 

looks good so far. they really bob up nice.

 

question....is that seat meant to fit one person? or two? lol

 

haha just one. i know it looks big, but i didn't want to have one of those tiny springed seats that look like they could barely contain a 12 year old's ass let alone mine. i sit a little back on the seat so i go about as far back as the seam in the middle. i was getting sick of people asking me for a ride, now they can't.

 

If you want more light, just line the inside of the tail light housing with aluminum foil (shiny side out of course) It will reflect more light off the bulb and fill the housing with more light. I've laways switchedmy tail light bulbs to 2357s too to get a brighter brake light in all my vehicles.

 

I'm not usually a fan of the bobber look, but that I like....
Nice compromise between stock and total bob

 

Nice job mate! I wonder if you could modify the end of the frame tubing to hold signal lights if you see what I mean??! That would cover those holes AND tidy the rear up even more. Maybe adapting something like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MOTORCYCLE-BABY-B ... _500wt_928

 

I really like what you did... What material did your GF use to recover the seat?

 

You mean like this?

 

i like those. i originally used the blinkers i had because i already had them and well, $0 is a good thing. where'd you get those lights boston?

the seat is made from some nice vinyl we got at the fabric store with a table liner padding added underneath.

i've been considering just getting some frame plugs for the rear but at $35 shipped i'm a little wary.

 

I used 12 gauge shotgun shells with a little electrical tape wrapped around them to plug my frame rails. Looks cool IMHO

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pho ... 0442267325

Couple other pics there

 

Killer job on the seat man. It evens out the balance of the bike nicely!

 

Bike looks nice. For frame plugs, I just grabbed some black plastic ones at lowes for less than 2 bucks...in the hardware section...link here

 

man, good call on those caps! i picked some up tonight after work. i really was more interested in just capping off those holes than having them look pretty.

i mean, the whole bike is ratty having fancy plugs wouldn't look right. picked up a pair for $1.34 and they fit/look good. now i don't have to worry about if it's going to rain anymore. sure beats the $10-20 people were looking to get for those fancy shmansy frame plugs on ebay

 

That looks sick man I like it. Looks really dragster.
I love the 550 seca tanks I'm using one on my xj650 maxim to make it look more cafe racer.