The Koolaid Project

Did you look at this: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/p=2 ... tml#216845

Seems like he's got the sidemount plate figured out. I've got those same lights though mine are not going there. They're getting mounted on the end of the frame.

 

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=25477.html

Koolaid, looks like this tank is up in the swap meet - dunno if it will work?

 

That's an X tank I don't know if they're the same dimensions as the other 650/750 Maxim tanks.

 

thanks for the help guys.... I have a 650 tank on the way and I'll see if I dig that or if I need to keep looking.

Unless I see a license/brake light dealio go up for sale soon I won't really worry about that until I'm at that step. I have way too much else to do with this between now and then though.

 

Sportster tank with the springer seat, once it's it's cleaned up I think it would look good. Strip all the junk off it and look at it, it'll give you a better idea of what the finished product will be If you were doing a cafe the Duc tail would be sweet.

 

a cafe/fighter is what I got the duc tail for. That was my original plan for the cb750f. That and switching it to a mono shock.

I have a 650 AND 750 tank on the way I'll be keeping two out of the 4 tanks probably and selling the other two.

Off to PA in about an hour, so no work will be done for awhile.

 

Shipment from TCBros will be delivered on Wednesday

 

Big Brown Santa brought me the TCBros shipment. Now I just have to get off of my butt and get those carbs cleaned up and back on the bike. After it's running I can put on some of my new bits.

 

carbs are back on after being a dumbass and installing the foats upside down... hahahahaa Bike is idling NICELY at 1k. I'll be moving on to forward controls, ape hangers, and the maxim 750 tank that I got in the mail today. Actually I now have a 650 AND 750 tank sitting in the garage, so I'll be deciding if I want to go with the skinnier sleeker 650 or the kick ass fat 750 tank. I'm leaning towards the fatty, but not positive yet. The 750 is in better shape too, so ......

Stay tuned for pics. Hopefully I'll have them up tomorrow.

 

I think you should just forget about doing all that and just send me all your parts

 

Hey Tank - have you made any progress lately?

If you are going to order anything from the TCBros guys I highly suggest emailing them. They're great and will most likely hook you up with a better deal than if you just order straight from the site. It put all the crap I got down in my price range AND they gave me a free t-shirt

 

Ok, no more leaking carbs and the bike started right up when I went out today. WOOOOOHHOOOO.... I was so excited I slapped the seat on and took a spin with it still hooked up to the aux tank. It looked like it was hooked up to an iv going through the development. I only went for a minute ride, but it was enough of a taste to know that this is going to be a VERY fun little bike when I'm done with it. I'm super motivated now. The only issue I saw was some smoke from underneath the motor. It was coming off of the H part of the exhaust (the collector?) I'm just going to keep an eye on it for now. I SHOULD take off the exhaust and give it a good cleaning, but that will probably wait until this winter. Hardtailing it will probably be put off until then as well. I think I'm just going to rock the shorty shocks for the rest of the season, but who knows....I change my mind about everything 10 millions times a day, so I guess we'll just wait and see.

I just popped on here to remember how to use my synch gauge then I'm going out to do that.

 

alright... off to the garage again. I got the right size bolts in the mail today for the forward controls thanks to TCBros. I can't say enough about Tyler and their customer service. So, here is the list of stuff I got in and have laying around the garage to work on.....

- Side mount license plate/brake light
- mini speedo
- sportster seat (2up)
- maxim 750 tank
- longer clutch, throttle, and choke cables (front brake cables have been ordered custom from motionpro and should be in the mail)
- forward controls and linkages
- front headlight
- rear fender

as far as buying parts I think all I have left is maybe some turn signals and maybe a sissy bar.

I think I need to read up on how to attach the rear fender too. I'm clueless . I only cut the very ass end of the frame off, so I THINK I want to have the fender right up under the frame and connected to it. Then I was thinking of having a sissy bar welded on down near the axle, going up and welded to the rear fender to provide more support and comfort for the rear seat. How does that sound? Adcice....criticism??? Let me have it. I should have some pics for you guys by Monday.

 

I also got the longer throttle cable put on, but I'm not sure about it. There is some slack in it. I have to twist the throttle a good inch or so before the slack is out. Is there a way to fix this? The only thing I can think of is to modify the "catch" or whatever that is above the carbs that the cable sits in. If I could move that up an inch or add a spacer or something it would fix it. I don't know... I'm a moron

 

Theres an adjustment on the control where the cable goes into. You may be able to take the slack out with, it is like adjusting the clutch lever.

 

I should have specified... that is with that adjustment already made. It's still that far off

 

if you have a welder or know anyone wh9 does, just take the mount off and add another inch...

 

I got one, but haven't taught myself how to use it yet. I was pm'ing with chacal and he suggested a nylon spacer shaped to fit tight in the carb mount and on the cable end. I might go that route or attempt to weld a piece on.....not sure yet. Maybe I'll attempt the nylon spacer first and then after I DO teach myself how to weld I'll pull it and do it up better this winter.

 

Ya know I kinda thought after I wrote that you would know to adjust it there. You should throw up some pics of the apes I am curious how it looks.

 

I'm going to be working on it the next few days and I'll pull it out of the garage to get some pics at some point.

 

I did the spacer thing on my 'altered' controls koolaid. Actually I took an the clear body from an ink pen (Like the clear bodied bic pens..). cut it to length then carefully used a coping saw to cut a slot in it length-wise for the cable to slip into. I'll try to get a pic posted later today or tomorrow if you need it...

 

that is an out-STANDING idea. Thanks man. I walked around O'Riley Auto Parts yesterday looking for something to use, but didn't see anything, so I thought I'd just search around the garage instead. I don't think I have a normal bic pen, but I'll look around for something similar.

 

My application was slightly different in that I was trying to fit a Harley cable to my new hand controls and carb, but the principle shoud work the same...




The pen was one of the more 'fancy' pens with the silver tip that screws off when you want to replace the cartridge.



cut to length and slotted..




As you can see, the threaded portion of the pen fit perfectly in the cable cup on the carbs..

 

that's perfect. That's exactly what was in my head. I'm going to see what I have laying around to do something similar. Thanks

 

OK! A bit of work has been done since I posted up any pics. I did a bit of work today on my day off and actually got it to the point that I could take it for a spin around the neighborhood and......f'n-A.....this bike is a blast.

Just ignore the varios parts being supported by zip ties for the meantime and feel free to speak freely and let me know what you really think.....

Oh, and ignore the IV that is feeding the bike for now. I still haven't done anything to the new to me maxim 750 tank.











and then some with the munchkins. They're digging the new bike a lot.

One with two sweet kids.....



and then two badass kids rockin out....

 

I know none of the pics I took real quick today with the cell phone today show much detail, so if you want to see anything closer let me know. The new parts in the pics include: TCBros forward controls and 15" apes, maxim 750 tank, sportster 2up seat, screamin eagle slip ons, license plate/brake light, and a whole lot of shit removed.

Stuff I still need to get done.... work out some more wiring to get the headlight (round one not in the pics) and brake light hooked up. Find some turn signals that I like (any advice or suggestions here?). Make some brackets to attache the exhaust better (zip ties are just temporary...hahahaha). Figure out the rear fender and how to attach the sporty seat (again...just zip tied for now). Throw on the mini speedo. Drill out the lock on the tank and swap over the one from my Seca tank. Check out how the inside of the tank looks, clean it, and get it all hooked up. Hook up the air box. Synch the carbs again. Tune it......aaaaaannnnnnddd.... THEN I might be ready to get this bad larry registered and insured.

Paint will probably wait until this winter. I'll tear it all back down with the frame staying black, motor back with fins polished, and tank/fender color is up in the air at the moment.

 

and for those of you that haven't been following my thread or those of you that have forgotten, because I've been dragging my feet on this one... Here is how the bike looked the day I brought it home....



and here is how it sits now....

 

Hey koolaid, looks terrific! I'm not really an ape hanger guy, but your bike looks like it'd just be fun to cruise on when all wrapped up.

Question for you, how does the Sportster seat mate up with your old seca tank? Or had you not tried them together?

 

Thanks....I'm really digging your bike too man. Looks great. I haven't checked the Seca tank with the sportster seat, but that's not a bad idea. I checked it out with a 650 Maxim tank and the 750 Maxim and like the 750 the best out of those two. Monday I'll toss the Seca tank on, take some pics, and post them up in here for you.

 

Stance is great, crazy how much it has changed since you got it.

 

thanks a lot man.... I hope to make even more progress next week. Headlight and tail light wired up, exhaust mounted properly.....then...

rear fender figured out
seat mounted
tank cleaned/painted (along with rear fender and custom made side covers)
oh, yeah....make side covers
turn signals decided on and ordered.
...... and a ton more

oh, and Raven - I put the Seca tank on there last night and wasn't feeling it AT all. Sorry......didn't even bother taking a pic. The way the rear of the tank is DID let the metal piece on the seat slide up under it, but I didn't like the overall shape of it with the look of the bike....just looks out of place. I'll work out the seat mounting somehow.

 

I picked up some exhaust adapters at O'Riley's last night, but didn't quite get the right size, so I'll be going back after work if they are still open and make my 2nd attempt. I really want to get those screamin eagles on there good, so I can rip around the neighborhood tomorrow :banana:

I also picked up some paint and sprayed it on the fender to see how it was going to show up on the metal. I got two cans of Rustoleum Metallic from Home Depot the other day. One black and one silver. Then last night I got a can of Duplicolor Red Metal Specks. This is how it looks on the rear fender.....





sorry for the shitty lighting and cell phone pics, but you get the idea. I'm not sure what the paint scheme is boing to be quite yet, or which of these colors will be involved, but I do dig all of them. What do you think?

 

Did Motion Pro hook you up with the cables? How were they to deal with? The limited dealings I had with them left me with the impression their customer service needs to be serviced. So for that reason I've been hesitant to get my cables from them.

 

2 nice xj's ya got koolaid5

 

16ozbud - I had a great experience with motion pro. I emailed them to see if they could do what I needed. I had already ordered all but the brake cable from chacal, so I only got the one from MP. My choke cable is still a bit short though, so I might be ordering that from them as well.... not sure. Anyway.... the guy responded to me a few days later with some questions to get the specifics. I shot them back to him and he replied the same day with some more info he needed. I sent that to him, payed via paypal, and they were in the mail a few days later. Great customer service and quick too.

ReconvicteD - Thanks a lot man. I think I'll just be working on both of them forever. The projects will never be done. Are you a fan of the HEEP Cherokee's as well? Do you have a thread with any info on your bike?

 

my thread

i love chrysler period.jeep being in that catagory lol. owned a 96 grand cherekee limited. 318 , 31's and i beat it somethin fearce lmao. the tranny went out after about 3 months, lost reverse. but it was a epic 3 months for that jeep :twisted: . if ya look close you can see the smashed up rockers , jeeps fit thru narrow atv playground entrances perfectly haha.



had a few older dodge trucks too and that burban in the pic (only chevy i ever owned) .

got a '00 durango now, 360 4x4. leather power everything. it was supposed to be my summer project. lift tires hydro steering snorkal, solid axle swap .....etc. but ran out of cash so now im hacking this yamerhamer.

 

I emailed them with what I needed. Got a response about a week later. Replied to the email with specifics on the cables and pretty much gave the go ahead and asked how they wanted payment. Never heard back from them. Kinda hurts my feelings to give them my money now, but I may have no choice. Still going to be awhile before I really need them, so I'll keep that money in my pocket as long as possible. Glad you had a great experience with them.

 

recon - NICE!!! I've ALWAYS loved Jeeps. I had an XJ when I was in Hawaii. It was stock though. I also had a '99 TJ, but when we started popping out kids I traded that in on a '98 Grand Cherokee....both stock. Then I got back from a deployment and picked up an '01 TJ. Then to pay off some bills I sold it for $8k and picked up my '92 XJ Beater for $300. I put a few grand back into it, but love it. I'll eventually have another Wrangler....maybe a CJ.

160z - sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

 

Damn, I was hoping to see what it looked like...I've been contemplating a Sporty seat on my bike, and trying to visualize Thanks anyhow!

 

I'll get it for you Friday man....sorry

 

The apes are awesome I wish I had some.

 

tcbros.com for the apes and cables either from the resident parts man on here or custom made from motion pro. I LOVE 'em

Thanks brawler

 

** UPDATE **

The longer clutch cable that I got from chacal isn't quite long enough and when I took it for a spin yesterday the clutch engages when I turn the bars to the left....hahahaha... so obviously that's not going to work and I'll need motion pro to make me one of those asap. They hooked me up with the custom length front brake cable and I was very pleased with their customer service and price wasn't too bad. I dented the Maxim tank when drilling/prying out the old lock, so I have to clean that up, body work, paint it, and install the lock and petcock from my Seca tank. Still have to figure out what I'm going to do with the rear fender and how I'm going to mount the 2up sporty seat. I installed the screamin eagle exhaust, but I'm not happy with it. I don't know if I did a good enough job or if I have an exhust leak there.... plus I don't like how they turn up like the stock exhaust. I want to have them lay more flat, so they aren't right under my kids toes, the rear brake arm doesn't hit the right pipe, and I just think it looks better. I want to just take it somewhere and have them do it up right, but I probably won't and it will just be like this for a bit. I just got my signals in, so I have to install those. I have to get the right size bolts to screw into the side of a round headlight I had laying around for another project, so I can install the headlight. I threw a mini speedo on, but I'm going to go with no tach.....uuuuuuuhhhhh..... and some other little things here and there like finishing up the wiring....

Oh, I got my YICS eliminator a month or so ago, so I want to toss that in there and synch the carbs again now that I have the new pipes on. I LOVE the way the pipes sound compared to stock, but I'm getting ALL kinds of popping and cracking and it's bogging down when I give it gas.... at least is was bogging down when it was cold. I think it started behaving a bit better after it was warm, but I'll have to check it out again, becaus I was rushed and was only half paying attention. I was messing with the bike, putting rollerblades on the little girl, and tossing football with my boy all at the same time, so I wasn't real focused I'll see how much progress I make with the carbs synched and then I'll look to see if I need to change the jetting. I already have the jet kit.

more progress will be made in the next 2 weeks. I have to get caught up on my college work and do some stuff to the HEEP Cherokee (other XJ) not to mention regular work and family time.... I'll squeeze some time in there for the bike though. I can't wait to ride this thing on a daily basis

 

koolaid ill be out that way this weekend, we should ride a bit.

 

how so? Your bike and my Jeep The bike isn't road worthy yet. I wish I could take you up on that though. Saturday I'm wheelin and Sunday I'm taking the kids to fantasy lake in Hope Mills, NC (google it.....fun place)

 

Well, the bike has been sitting neglected for long enough. This is what I do. I go balls to the wall on a project and it's all I can think about and then I get side tracked with ANOTHER project and I abandon the other ones that I was previously obsessed with.

Ok, so I got even longer cables from motion pro to install. I tried to install the screamin eagle mufflers a month or so ago, but I wasn't happy with them, so tonight I took the exhaust off the bike and chopped off the part of the exhuast after the H pipe with the upturn. Now after I get done using a flap wheel to clean up the rust, painting it all, and wraping the header I should be able to install the sreamin eagles and have them shoot straght back instead of swinging up all retarded looking.

With the exhaust completely done I can tune the carbs again. I also have a por-15 tank sealer kit on the way, so I'll strip the tank, seal it, do a bit of body work, and paint it. Tank - check, exhaust - check, tuned - check..... I'll be down to some wiring, seat mounting, and rear fender mounting/fabbing and i should be done for awhile.

I hope to be done with all of that within the next month. We'll see if I get distraced by another project though I have a lot to do to my Jeep at the same time.

 

Sweet!!

Yeah they do look a bit similar! I like the pipes, great job!

 

those aren't on there right now. I chopped the angled part after the H-pipe, so they will be running straight back when I'm done. The seat s also just sitting there. I have to figure out how to mount it exactly.....the fender too.

I was going to work on it today, but I'm doing brake work on the HEEP Cherokee right now. I'll try and get to it on my next days off.... Wed/Thursday.

 

the project is coming well, i like the route your going with the high handlebars. check out my build i uploaded a video on there today to hear it run finally.

 

Ok, so I finally got some more work done. I hit the exhaust up with some VHT header paint and then wrapped the header down to the collector. I bought some motorcycle exhaust clamps to attach the screamin eagle pipes, but they didn't work that well, so I decided to just use some automotive ones I had laying around for now. They don't look as purty,but now the pipes are on there and don't budge a f'n bit.

The exhaust is on there with some new exhaust gaskets, but then I went to start her up and ...... nothing It turned over just fine earlier. I just tapped it to see if it WOULD turn over. I was really trying to get it up and ready for a test run down the road tonight.

It WILL turn over if I jumper the starter solenoid, so NOW what??? it's always something, right?