custom hardtail

hello all. progress is slow but steady. figured what the heck, try the flip side of the forums out. well here it goes. one of several test fits. should have mostly together in month or two. thanx for looking

 

im guessin by the looks of u havin a sprocket on the rear wheel that u found a chain conversion?

 

at the fear of sounding stupid. what would i need a chain conversion for? front and rear sprocket match up. not exactly sure what size they are or chain is off top of my head, mostly cuz i had originally bought a rear sprocket that was right width but wrong spacing- wasnt aware motorcycle chains varry 520 or say 530. the motor is an 82 550. fill me in if im missing something please. thanx. oh maybe comment was made cuz of my bike listing. sry, need to fill in rest: Bikes: harley scat, 78 honda trials 250, 81 seca 650, 82 custm maxim, 73 rd 350, and crf450 race bike.

 

it's a 550 right? i made the same assumption on tuba's build. the 550s are chain drive the 650+ are shafties

 

Oh ha i was thinkin the motor was a 650 shaftie cause i didnt see anywhere in the post or ur sig that u had a 550. As far as spacing im sure u would be fine.... i think...

 

Trial and error. Thats what makes a build fun right?

 

thanx. yeah plenty of learning opportunities; built awesome looking battery box, spent mad time getn it right. well all but part about chain passn through that area. mother&$@&$$@"! back to the drawing board.

 

Haha take a deep breath throw back a beer and stare at it for a little while, somethin will come to mind. My battery box is my stock one turned to the side. U should put up some pics of the stuff u have done so far?

 

Haha take a deep breath throw back a beer and stare at it for a little while, somethin will come to mind. My battery box is my stock one turned to the side. U should put up some pics of the stuff u have done so far?

 

yeah working on that. I'm not very techy and I tend to really get lost in garage process, but I do have plans to post more. oh and got even sleeker battery box in the making. come on weekend. hahaha. thanx

 

here is an earlier pic of the frame, tank and seat layout. i will be building a daul springer seat that is low profile- drag style. this pic is missing the extra crossbar i ran to brace under seat. im building this to be a quick sporty handler. the frame is just 56" long, about 7" shorter than stock. yes the tank is "dented", however i did those dents. tough to see in pic but the sides are also in; sort of 60's vette style. mags come out sick with lil time and skill- can't go wrong w black and polished aliminum. will post more pics as find them. thanx

 

Well im really diggin the concaved tank. Wont be another one like it. As for a more sporty look i have drag bars on mine with a lowered seat platform with 3" springs on mine and it looks killer and it handles like a sport bike. My buddys r6 and gsxr cant leave me behind on the turns. I have a pic in my gallery

 

thanx. yeah tank thing is def a risk. i have a picture of what the finished product looks like in my head, haha, the trick is to bring that to life. the colors are really gonna have a drastic influence on how it looks. really toyn with spin off of 60s vette's side panels. the pic does no justice on frame- its got more time into details than anyone would put into 80s jap frame. every weld has be grinded out, rewelded and cleaned up- all metal too, no bondo. i dont do half ass, usually. lmao. a good "rig" has saved mine a few times. again thanx, oh btw really like ur version; clean.

 

Hey thanx. I did the same with my welds. Weld grind weld grind and then hrs with a dremel. R u doin any metalic or pearl or candy paints

 

i definately lean towards the black is boss scheme, though i am tossing around few dif ideas for paint. im also thinking there is going to be minimal areas to paint. i mean, i got the frame, which will be black, gas tank, front, and rear fenders. also have been toyn with idea of all-in-one sheet metal that would serve as side panels and drag-style rear fender. definately a ongoing project, and time is on my side.

 

My rear fender is also my seat platform bottom i just extended it out to cover 50% of my tire. I have to pass safety here :/

 

here is a pic of the rear brake forward control and the brake drum arm. the controls are modified stockers from seca 650. i cut off the brake petal and made my own for a lil longer reach and better look. the rear brake arm is pretty basic. just quarter inch flat steel with lightening holes in it, old skool racer style. i like the looks. looking back i should have taken pic or shifter forward controls, however not much flair there either; look same as brake and made, from 650 stock. all stock adjustability was kept as well. unfortunately try as i may i can't get whole picture in there again. thanx

 

When you went to cut your frame, what measurements did you use for the back wheel? I'm researching to do the same thing with the same bike and am having a hard time finding measurement dimensions for the rear tubing. Hope your build is going well, looks good.

 

hello and thanx. first off, i built this on a simple jig. it allows me to take stuff off and put it back on without remeasuring eveything. you can see this setup in few of my pics. its made of 2x4s and has all my measurments on it, as well as wheel blocks. i chose the length of the bike and went from there. other measurments (many of them) are between top of frame and spot chosen to mount wheel. there are many frame building materials out there to familiarize (sure thats not how its spelled) yourself with. measurements, planning and a steep learning curve are in your future. and a lot of fun. i believe i used 1" mild steel tube with .25" walls. probably way overkill though, considering material factory used is much thinner. hope i helped. good luck

 

here are some update pics of the battery box i made. it houses all the electrics, well actually the regulator is under it. its in roughest form; it wii recieve proper treatment after this upteenth mock up.

 

Very nice it looks great! I used my stock one like i said be4 but i got lazy is y lol

 

here is a better shot of that tank i was previously speaking of. its moving along. not sure how it will be recieved. oh well though. i rescued the tank, and it had some nasty dents in it. (how some of these dents get in the strangest of spots and so deep is beyond me) i let the tank sit aside for a little and decided that instead of pulling out the dents, i would sort of progress them. sort of going for the side panel lines of the old roadsters, 60s vette comes to mind. thats sort of the direction on this build; my take on a sportster. thanx for looking

 

figured id put this up for shits and giggles. its my wiring harness, like i even needed to say that. still cant remember where half the stuff goes, or what it goes to but it will come to me. again thanx for looking

 

Wow dude it looks alot better than i coulda imagined! Its def got the ol' school vette goin on. This is gonna be one sick bike. Keep us posted

 

NICE job on that tank!!!

skillet

 

I can't really see how you fabbed the transition in your backbone... Did you notch a new tube and butt it up to the small cross piece between the engine "cradle" rails?

 

Man,all the tanks I've fixed or pitched....I never thought of that.Cool idea!!!!!
:roll:

 

Love the tank!!! That is sick looking, definitely keep the progress pics coming!!

 

thanx a bunch for all the positive comments. iv been mad busy the last week and have been away from the computer. glad to see some comments. the tank is coming along nicely. im sure it will get mixed results but i couldnt see junking an otherwise perfect tank, i got a tight budget. as for the backbone tube- you got it! many times to the grinder and a knack for eyeing angles helped me mate the tubes together. the right side, from standing behind it, was the easy side as i mostly used the existing flat plate and tube. the left side was a bit more tricky and time consuming. btw its all metal, no filler in those seams. got way more time in this frame than many would believe worth it, but the finished product is about details. thanx for lookig, and sharing

 

Yep, That tank is rockin. You will definitely get a lot of attention from that alone. Don't leave us in the cold when you get paint on that thing - post pics!