Chopper rebuild time!

Yamaha_chop

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Ok everyone, I'm looking to chop up my bike again and make it a bit simpler and more fun to ride.

I've ridden it in it's current configuration for a couple years now. Here's some pics of it now:

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Things I like about the bike:

The front end
Exhaust
Wide rear tire
Gas tank

Things I no longer want on the bike:

Air-ride system
Jackshaft
Too long wheelbase
Wide handlebars
Headlight
Forward controls
dropseat

I've really enjoyed riding this bike as is for a long time, I've taken it to a few shows and gotten some good feedback, but I think it's time for a change. I've done the air-ride thing and now I'm over it. It just takes too long to fill the tank in the mornings, there's endless air-leaks to track down with all the vibrations, but most importantly the charging system on the bike is not strong enough to completely overcome the drain when the compressor is running, so while it's airing up the tank it'll start missing on one cylinder, and this problem is compounded when the bike is cold. It doesn't sound like that big of a deal, and it wasn't too bad for a long time, but I'm tired of it now. I just want to jump on the bike and go.

So here's the plan- I want to make the bike still cool, but with a different look, more upright riding position and just a more sporty ride overall.
I'm going to cut the back half of the frame off, try to use most of the existing swingarm as the rear section and just make it a traditional hardtail frame, no dropseat this time. Handlebars will be Mike's XS superbike bars, the guy I got them from is shipping them now, but here's a pic:

handlebars.jpg


Sorry to Twinsarehot, I stole your pic :)

The current handlebars will get cut off at the fork tubes, and the headlight mount will remain, although it'll get modified to accept a different headlight, This awesome yellow lens 6v studebaker lamp with peeling chrome ;D I just need to buy a voltage reducer to run it.

The bike will be shortened by almost a foot, the bars will be higher, I'll probably switch to mid-controls and this time I'll have a sprung seat so people will shut up about it. Overall my goal is to make the bike a lot more fun to ride, not as much of a cruiser. More responsive for cornering, ect...

After a couple hours work today here's how the bike currently sits:

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I'll get to chopping the frame tomorrow. No turning back now! Thanks for coming with me on this latest journey. I'm really hoping to complete this rebuild in under a month. Much unlike my usual build times.
Sky
 
- RIP her up ... :thumbsup:
- is it like trading the mistress in on her half sister, where you get to define the lines too ?
- or taking your mates ex-model granny and practising some major reconstructive surgery ? :D
 
Chop Chop.... seems a bit shorter now!

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Here's my headlight and the headlight mount with the bars cut off. I still need to remake the part where the headlight attaches as it's a different style than the other light

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Really enjoying playing with my new lathe, turned down some tube to fit perfectly inside the other to make some frame slugs:

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The swingarm has all the stuff I don't need anymore chopped off and is ready to weld back on. Here are a couple pics of it in its planned location:

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Super happy with it so far, and I'm glad it's moving along quickly as well. I kind of have a deadline for finishing it, my brother in law is coming to visit with his bike on the 21st, so I'm really hoping to have this done in time to ride with him.

Thanks again for looking
Sky
 
Cool. I would have been very temped to sell the bike whole and start fresh. Too late now I guess! You might have made some money on the deal though..

Anyway.. Can't wait to see what you do with it... and to see if you can meet your deadline!
 
So is the sport bike on hold now?

Yea, just for a short time though. I realized that I was starting to rush things because I was trying to get it started, and was starting to cut corners. I don't want to do that, so I'm taking a step back from it to regroup.

Progress!

Got my handlebars in, they are perfect just what I wanted!

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I also got some springs for the seat, just cheapo 3" springs

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I'm hoping to have those mounted tomorrow. To what you ask? My new seat:

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Haha, I know what you're thinking. Truth is this bike will still only be ridden about 60 miles at a time, and I'm thinking that a combination of the gel seat and the springs will be comfortable enough. Anything has to be better than what I had right? :)

Got the frame together and welded up as well:

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I've got to cut some new wheel spacers to recenter the rear wheel, but man I'm really happy with how this is looking right now.

Plan for tomorrow is to get my pegs mounted, center rear wheel, remount rear lower fender mount, Cut down rear fender, make new shorter thicker fender struts, mount seat. I'll never actually get all that stuff done, but I can dream right.....

Thanks for coming along
Sky
 
what about putting a 3.3 gallon king sporty tank on there? might look pretty good to balance out the big back tire and wider looking forks. just an idea ;) looking pretty awesome so far though! :D
 
The extra fuel sure would be nice too. I'd like to go at least a hundred miles between fill-ups, something to think about anyway.
 
Was the bike harsh to ride when it had rear suspension? I hope those springs work for you, I bought come Drag Specialty ones and they were way too soft. They just compressed all the way and bottomed out. I ended up using Small Chevy valve springs. Not real soft, but take the sting out. And my seat has very minimal padding. I love that fat tire on the hardtail, 200? Bike's looking way cool.:thumbsup: Good call on the sportbike. Get a fresh mind. No need to rush. Toldya' you'd love the lathe! Amazing how many things you can do with it, right? Thanks for sharing. Wish I had the dough to start another project.:D
 
It never actually never had a rear suspension, it was either up or down, no give when riding.

The tire is a 240 :)

Thanks for the compliments man!
 
More pics....

Didn't get a whole lot accomplished today, but it's coming together. I did get the pegs mounted:

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I realized that I shouldn't go with mids because it'd just be too short for my size. So I just redid the existing pegs.

I got started on my seat mounting, this looks like angle iron, but is in fact two pieces of flat stock, I used what I had around :)

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Front mounting point getting there:

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Tossed the engine back in to check alignment and such, some quick mockup pics:

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I need some opinions here though guys, I'm pondering leaving the rear fender the length it is instead of cutting it down. What do you think?

Also, eagle eyed people will recognize the front seat mounts as being my old fender struts haha,

A couple pics of me on the bike as well:

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I'm feeling good about the deadline right now, lots and lots of little stuff to iron out, but still I think I can make it!

Thanks for looking
Sky
 
- rear guard looks fine to me, if unhappy about it you could always leave it til later - do you have a more side on perspective ?
 
I think the fender looks good. But I would take a little off the back just enough to cover ur ass. But what do I know I'm running no fender right now cause I haven't gotten around d to it!

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Ok everyone, time for some new photos. Worked a bunch today and got a lot done.

First and most important I got my kickstand setup. It was a bittersweet moment to put a kickstand on this bike :)

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Also, since i got pretty much universal hate on my seat choice I went a different way :) I cut down my original seat pan and used that instead. Also I got the headlight mounted and some wiring stuff out of the way. Also I got the chain cut and installed. Basically there's a lot of little stuff left to do. the only real fab left is to make the new fender struts. So here's some pictures of the bike almost finished:

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I love my headlight :)

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Thanks for looking, and right now it looks like I'm going to make my deadline of riding it by next saturday. Actually I'm hoping to have it finished Thursday night so I can do some shakedown rides before Sat.
Sky
 
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