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cybrhick

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Hey folks. Found this place through a few web searches. I have recently started a build with my 15 year old son. We are building an old school bobber for his first bike. We picked up a 72 XS650 last weekend from a friend of mine in Baton Rouge. We stripped it to the frame the first two days. This bike sat outside for at least 3 years, and sadly, there is not much on it that is salvageable except the frame and motor. So we have begun chopping the frame for the monoshock mod we plan to do. I figure we will be heavy into this for SEVERAL months, so you will all be getting to know me better. LOL

I am a machinist, so some of the parts I may end up making myself. I would definitely be interested in meeting with some of the Houston locals though to learn more about this bike from folks with a little more experience with this engine.
 
Well I'm a little ways away, but I may be willing to ride a little further than normal one day. I go to the woodlands quite often, but you're quite a trek to the coast.
 
It is. My life is just been pretty busy lately. I have a lot of downtime. Just have to be here Mon-Fri. We'll figure something out no worries. Especially since you're a machinist.... :D
 
Fair enough. Not a stranger to making bike parts.

DSC06997.jpg
 
Well, for about 5 years I made aftermarket partsz for the Honda VTX line. Due to the economy going to crap, and a job change, I have a lot less time, and have quite mass producing parts. So some of the parts on my bike are part of my product line. Those include:
Hick Clutch Tension Reducer
Hick A/F screw
Hick Nudie Bar (the front turn signal setup)
Hick Possum Pusher (chin spoiler)
Some of the one-offs on my bike include:
1 1/2" bar clamp for GPS
Shock post mounts for rear turn signals
Modified Harley Davidson license plate bracket
Down under rear brake caliper bracket to mount a 4 piston Wilwood caliper
Wraparound front fender spacers
All stainless wheel spacers
 
So do you only have machinery at work? Or home as well. I will say that my first time using a lathe was last night. It was epic. Nothing complicated, but I'm definitely in love. Just squared off a 2" aluminum tube; to use as my "cup holder" for my capacitor.
 
Haha, thanks Spooge. I don't know how I have survived this long without a lathe.. What I did last night in 20 min normally would have taken me a day to do with sandpaper, a file, a square and a reciprocating saw.... :banghead:
 
i hear ya, my buddy has one in his garage, i want to steal it! but i dont exactly have a good hiding place. and i can get into his whenever i need lol so mute point
 
I bought a Lathe/Mill combo machine about 6 years ago when I first started making parts for the VTX. I used that for at least 2 years and made a ton of parts that I sold for extra cash. Then I went big time. I sold that machine, and bought a small CNC mill. Wish I still had a lathe occasionally, but I can pick one up cheap anytime, and convert it to CNC very easily.
 
Man, I wish you still had that lathe so I could buy it from you!! lol The guy that has the lathe that I will be using now. Got his for free, kind of. He got the lathe itself for free, but had to fix it. As far as I can tell it works just fine, but then again it was my first time to use a lathe. WTF do I know! J/k I have been around them, but everytime I have wanted to make a part myself on one. Someone else was there that knew how to do it quickly.... So needless to say I drank while they worked on the lathe :D
 
How much can you afford? I can point you in the direction of a few starter/hobby lathes that can be had on the cheap, will help ya learn, and can be cheaply converted to CNC later. And a small lathe like that will usually do MOST parts you would make for a bike.
 

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