New tank for the XJ700

Hi all, it's been ages since I've posted on here, but I always check what's going on... I know a lot of folks are keen to change tanks and instruments, so I thought I'd show you what I've done.

Now, before all the purists go mad... yes, I know it's a trike, and yes, non of it's standard, but that's how I bought it... the front end is an XJ 650 (I think) The back end is off a reliant 3 wheeler, but now has disc brakes rather than drums... rear seat is custom made, sissy bar is an ebay find, forward controls are a local supplier but heavily modified and fitted onto custom brackets

All rear lights are LED's, and wiring has been completely redone with additional fusebox etc.

Oh yes... almost forgot... the tank is off an XVS650, and uses a modified front bracket (uses an exhaust clamp round the top tube as the starting point) and extended rear bracket.

 

Looks good to me! Well done. :wink:

 

nice job.... I would love to build a trike one of these days

 

Ayup Sam!
Welcome back.
That is definitely a one of a kind build, but a lot of people modify a lot of things and that has some real custom fab work done to it.
I know that when the time comes that I have a problem keeping two wheels upright, I'll be going to some kind of trike.
Let's face it, why should I give up riding just because someone else thinks a bike modified in that way takes away from the original look of the bike.
Hope to see more posts from you in the future, maybe a vid of the bike while you are riding it.


Cheers, graham

 

Cheers Graham... the trike's very much a "work in progress"... lots of bits were badly put together, or just didn't suit my needs, and loads of bits have been rough fabricated by me as a test bed using easily available parts. I don't have access to a workshop so everything has to be done on the drive, but as I work out the best solutions for problems I take the pattern parts, card templates, wooden mock-ups or scribbled drawings to local engineering companies and get the proper parts made... I tend to over engineer on everything, so hopefully it'll never fall apart on me.

I used to ride big hondas when I lived out in Singapore about 20 years ago, and I actually took my bike licence out there... when I got back to the UK I never thought about changing the licence to a UK one, so my entitlement expired, and the cost of retaking is expensive in England... but a trike can be ridden on a car licence, so I picked this one up about 3 years ago and I've been tinkering ever since!

 

I don't know what your working situation is, but, why not look into a night school course in welding and such. You'd get hands on experience, access to the equipment, and would probably be cheaper than having stuff custom built.
Just a thought.