my 1981 xj650 true hardtail project

so i got a little work done on my headlight housing. I am making it out of red oak to match the seat. It will have the speedometer built in, which is the flat section you see with the rectangular pockets. I'll be making a custom aluminum speedo face that will fit perfect there and will blend with the housing. It will use the stock mechanical speedo guts though.
I glued a bunch of oak together and let it dry in my 20 ton press, then cnc machined it all out. I still have to "antique" it and stain it to match the seat, but i think it'll look ok. I'll also be making an aluminum "beauty ring" or whatever you want to call it to retain the bulb in the housing. I'll also be making a bracket to mount it to the forks.

 

wow. Im really diggin it man, nice work.

 

I hate to pee on your parade but your headlight bucket is going to warp n split with the sun and moisture. And I hate to see all that good work go to waste. I would recommend using a straight grain wood to cut down the warppage, or use what you have as a mold and make it out of carbon fiber or fiberglass.

 

it'll be fine, i'm not keeping it outside or anything. There's no moisture either, i live in San Diego. My buddy that has a surfboard repair shop and we're going to put a layer of fiberglass on it. It'll be clear when it's done so you wont see the fabric.

 

Cool, with the humidity we have around here, I'd swear metal would warp.LOL

 

oh i hear ya, it's wet down there (that's what she said!)
I grew up in CT, it was pretty bad there too. It's nice now being able to open and close the doors in my house year round without them sticking lol.

 

update:
two halves glued together. needs some sanding, stain, glass, and epoxy. I'll be making a retainer ring out of aluminum for the bulb, as well as a new gage face and needle for the speedo. The face will blend in with the flat spot in the housing. i just threw the bulb and speedo in there so you can get an idea what it'll look like.

 

Nice headlight setup! Are you going to stain it the same as the seat?

 

thanks!
Yep, it's already stained to match, no pics of that yet. I have to buy the epoxy and fiberglass for it still, i'll probably take pictures when it's completed since i'm starting to feel like a picture whore lol

 

Really nice, what are you going to use to seal the wood? Thompson's or something else?

 

That is awesome work. Looks good.

 

Thanks! i'm taking it to my buddy's surfboard repair shop on Monday and i'm going to fiberglass it with a 4oz fabric and a 2 part poly or epoxy. The fiberglass will be clear when it's done, so you wont see it at all. This will protect it from the sun, heat, and moisture and keep it from cracking.

 

Ok ,I get it now. That'll look nice, Maybe put a polished brass ring around the light.

 

here's a small update. Got the exhaust pipes bent. I managed to use the stock header tubes, and maintain better ground clearance than the stock 4 into 2 system. It was a bitch to bend them to fit in the tight area where i needed them to go, and i'm glad i bought extra pipe. I did have to remove a tube in the frame that i had welded in on the bottom across the 2 lower chainstays, but i will just weld in another one a couple inches further back.
The pipes are sagging a little in one of the pictures because they arent clamped yet, but they are all even. The exhaust isnt done yet, i'm making sort of a muffler that will go inbetween the tire and the motor, in the space where the pipes end. There will be 4 2" exhaust tips coming out of the muffler, 2 poining out each side of the frame. It should look pretty cool when it's done, if it comes out how i have in envisioned.
The goal is for it to not be too loud.

 

update:
Got some work done on the headlight housing. I got it stained and fiberglassed. I also made the headlight retainer ring. There will be some brass spikes or something of the sorts that will thread onto the studs to hold the ring on. I also started working on the speedometer. The plate is all machined and anodized/polished. All i have left to do is make the lens and lens cap, make a new needle, and install some hardware.

 

Looking good wish I had your talent !

 

In my mind motorcycle building has always been an art, and you are a true artist.

 

thanks alot for the kind words guys!

 

Vanimal how is the spoke rim swap going?

 

as soon as i get it, i'll let you know!

 

jeez, this is really nice

 

Hey, Schoot, definitely no cookie cutter going on here.
Nice work, Van. Excellent. This should turn out to be one of if not the best build on this site.

 

haha great, no presure or anything! j/k


Thanks alot guys, appreciate the comments, it's my motivation!

 

Beautiful bike man, just found this post and read through the entire thing, beautiful bike, beautiful proportions, and most of all, exceptional craftsmanship. Love it!! Will be watching this thread from now on.

 

No pressure, buddy. Just keep doin' whacha doin'...

 

Here's some pics of my pain in the ass exhaust project, mid stage. I machined some flanges and welded them on, then i started working on the muffler. I got a few sides welded up so far. The big holes are where the exhaust outlets will shoot out, about 4 inches long, 2 on each side, pointed up and back at a slight angle. The muffler will be baffled inside.
I got high heat gloss black powdercoat to do it all in.

 

that looks very trick.looks like youve got this modifying malarkey down to a very fine art.i for one am very very impressed.

 

Thanks dude!
I dont know about fine art though, my welds are kinda fugly lol
I've been getting alot better so i think when i get the bike built and then stripped for paint, i'm going to redo most of the welds on the frame. Shouldnt take very long.

 

love your work so far but if u decide to start machineing triple trees i would love to buy a set from you.

 

wow, I've gotta sub to this thread. Nice work, man!

 

You are an artist... Love your work... Look forward to seeing the finished result

 

thanks guys!
Had to disapear for a while, been pretty busy.
I did get rid of the tripple backbone, and when i'm done with that, i'll post up some pics.

 

I think every one would agree with me when I say CAN'T WAIT T SEE THE PICS.

 

I gotta say this build absolutely blows my mind, the quality of this work/ the commitment and time theres just so much thought into something like this your doing a really good job man keep the pics coming!

 

yes we have a fabricator in the house. Great jub keep it up

 

Yes, great jub! LOL

 

Beautiful work man. Love thinkin outside the box with the addition of the wood fixtures and what not. Keep it up!

 

that bike is bad ass!! I dont think it gets any better. Keep up the good work!!

 

Thanks guys! I'm hoping to get back to work on it in a few weeks after i get some stuff out of the way. I'm itching to ride, it's been so hot out lately.

 

Hot? I am in Florida... And it hasn't been nice here. Still cold! Nice to hear someone is warm.

 

yea, it's been in the 80's and even the 90's for a while now here in San Diego, CA.
I don't like rubbing that in at all
I grew up in CT, so i have respect for the cold.

 

weather sounds very nice for this time of year

 

i wish i had the skills you did man, that bike looks amazing so far. i like the speedometer "hold on" XD

 

Update? I have a feeling this is going to be an awesome piece of work.

 

Nice looking build so far, glad to see you decided to salvage that bullet-proof shaft drive. I've seen lots of pictures of xjs that have had the shaft exposed to accommodate a wider tire, but what you've done looks nicer and is much more likely to help keep your drive shaft in good shape. I'm in the process of finishing a bolt-on hard tail conversion on my xj750 maxim that I have fabricated out of a piece of 5/8 " thick by 1.25" diameter perforated titanium box tubing I cut to fit shape/location of existing rear shock mounts. I lowered the tail 4" from stock with my newly attached (via a combo of spot weld to existing mounts, insertion of steel spacing sleeves inside of mounting locations, generously applied 5 ton hold steel 2 part epoxy) "hobo struts" as I have dubbed them. They look a bit out of place at present, but once I have my new tail lights mounted to them and have fabricated something to cap the tops with, they are going to be filled in solid with either a bronze or iron pour and the permanently affixed.

 

wow, you ^ need to shorten your signature

 

+1

 

bike is looking real great man! I found this thread and had to join the forum, I am also working on an 81xj650, and am in the process of rebuilding the engine and hardtailing it... but here in chicago, the harsh winter weather and record snowfall is dampening the progress at my garage home shop untill spring.

your craftsmanship is excellent and i have no doubt that your build will be a diamond in the ruff and something for all xj owners to be proud of!

so here's some shop talk.

i also intended to stretch the bike out so i bought a driveshaft and ujoint off of a mid 80's vmax12. when i saw your modified driveshaft I immediately had concerns with the integrity of the shaft, but i'm somewhat of a noob myself, and i'm sure you know what your doing.
should give it a few inches extension after i have the ujoint rebuilt.
i love what you did with the swingarm driveshaft cover, I was gonna leave mine uncovered, but that looks great!

good luck with the build! can't wait to see more progress.

 

thanks!
There will be no problems with the driveshaft, it'll be plenty strong and it runs very true between centers.
As for your driveshaft, you can probably just pop the shaft out of the u-joint and put the xj650 one one the end. It's splined, and you can generally pop it out with a screwdriver.
You might already know that, but i wasnt sure if you were going to rebuild the joint to put the xj flange on, or or only because it's worn out.

 

yeah, i know, ha. I just put them together for the pucture, to show the difference in size. the driveshaft is a bit too large for the yolk on the u-joint. it fits the final drive perfectly. I need to frankenstein a u-joint that consists of a xj flange and v-max yolk to make it work.