cutting up a perfectly good motorcycle, not for the faint of heart

[JR Hammer]

So the thread title says it all, I finally decided it's time to follow through with my plan to build a sweet bobber out of my 79 xs650F. The bike has 30k on the clock and needed a lot of chassis work so it's a good time to do this. While the frame is being finished I can re-lace the hubs... the rear was so loose in it's rim it was rattling when I removed it. The swingarm bushings are totally shot -- there was in excess of 1/4" of play if that's even possible-- I think maybe spline was riding on grease and the bushings may be altogether absent. The forks leak oil and feel excessively mushy, more so than is normal. Clutch slips, carbs getting finnicky.. . . . So what the heck... why not cut the thing in half??

 

[JR Hammer]

I'm trying to get these photos to work in the post, not as links..... Hmmm

 

[JR Hammer]

At first I thought the whole process might take a couple days to chop the stock frame clean it up and build an appropriate hardtail but the experienced guys I'm working with assured me it would take much longer. I did all the cutting a cleaning up myself, my neighbor milled slots for the axle plates, cut and turned slugs, and I ground the plates to shape and size andwire brushed everything and it took me, a newbie, 2 days to do that... not sure what exactly I did or where the time went. Maybe the quantity of cheap beer had something to do with it. Either way, I was now the proud owner of a fancy unicycle--- and a growing sense of unease and impending doom "what have I done to MY YAMAHA!!??"

Here's Casey Henderson (courtesy of G&H cycles, ganhcycles.com in Portland) schooling me in proper grinder technique.

after removing the engine, more grinding and some more cleanup and then measurements, considerate thought and reinstalling the engine. we were ready for some bending

And so now my fancy unicycle has some snazzy looking additions... all things considered it looks like it could turn out to be a real head turner... we shall see

The tail section style was inspired by Casey, his enthusiasm for classic brittish bikes and late 60s and 70s craftsmanship. Basically he showed me a picture, I pretended like it didn't look all that great to me, and later decided it was better than any previously considered alternative. The bending technique used is a secret passed down to bikers from visitors from another world who, just prior to departing from Earth, made us promise to build a unique and noteworthy motorcycle.

 

[JR Hammer]

They say that a rolling stone gathers no moss... and though it may be true, I had to get back to my day job on Tuesday and as a result not much has been happening in the shop. I spent about an hour cutting and coping a couple cross braces and found a nice (very large type H7) headlight that might work.

 

[Yamaha_chop]

Pay no attention to those who cry blasphemy, these bikes were made to be chopped. And quite honestly, anyone who's ever seen the welding on the factory frames knows these aren't works of art.

 

[JR Hammer]

Thanks YamaChop-- I know you're right and everyone in the shop here could agree with that statement as well. Lots of dirty nasty looking welds in the stock frame. After the tail section is all welded up I am going to spend some time cleaning up the rest of the stock welds too... no need for all the little brackets and flanges and reflector mounts.

Casey helps me by offering instructions when I get to a point where I feel uncomfortable cutting or bending. His experience is invaluable during this process... here he is working on the final coping for the tail to backbone junction. I was close but didn't want to mess it up-- so I let him take over. The braces you see in the photo are just tacked in to keep the measurements solid while we do the fit-work. Later they will be moved to their proper locations. As it sits, everything is within about a degree of 90 between the axle and the backbone. It should all weld up square and true.

 

[highspeedhamish]

Pay no attention to those who cry blasphemy, these bikes were made to be chopped. And quite honestly, anyone who's ever seen the welding on the factory frames knows these aren't works of art.

+1 on that..

After bead blasting the entire chassis, its almost embarrassing how bad the factory welds really are.

 

[osteoderm]

And quite honestly, anyone who's ever seen the welding on the factory frames knows these aren't works of art.

 

[osteoderm]

I had a weird flashback when I read the title of this thread! Last October, I went from this:

...to this:

...in just a couple frantic days. Even better (or worse, depending on your point of view), I cut the bike with 7800 original miles on the clock... Needless to say, it takes longer to put it back together. Some days I wonder where my "perfectly good motorcycle" went, but overall it's been a great adventure.

Keep at it, it's gonna be so worth it in the end!

 

[ReycleBill]

Don't worry, I've got stock frames still uncut when you're ready to ride them. ;-)

 

[JR Hammer]

RecycleBill, you're a punk I will keep it in mind though... probably not gonna weld the swing-arm tail back on this one though. I did take this one out for it's last ride on the Sandy river road, I forget the name of the road, but we did ride the piss out of it. Having the carbs balanced and mixture dialed in really makes a difference in the performance over 6000rpms. Having mushy suspension and a loose swingarm bushing makes for some interesting antics in the twisties though.

Casey's Triumphs. He says he'll never ride either of them again because he is too busy fixing customer's bikes. Whatever Casey, you inglorious bastard. Fix your own fucking motorcycle and ride it... after you fix mine though... Just kidding....

so here's a pic of the last two bikes built at G&H with my project in the foreground. The one in back is a badass triumph 750 and the white one is a 60s A65 survivor with about 7 feet of springer on it.... (EDIT: I stand corrected, the A65 is NOT a survivor but in fact a re-invented bike that was probably first built in the 1970s then re-chopped again this year to make it proper)

finally, I have my frame all mocked up and tacked down. Next step is to brace the living daylights out of everything and then measure everything one last time before welding it solid. I can't wait to ride this thing now but I suppose I will just have to--- there's no other practical alternative

 

[ReycleBill]

RecycleBill, you're a punk I will keep it in mind though... probably not gonna weld the swing-arm tail back on this one though.

It's okay, the more you cut the more my frames are worth--cut enough and I'll be rich! ;-)

 

[ReycleBill]

Oh and I'm digging those upside down clubman bars.

 

[highspeedhamish]

Oh and I'm digging those upside down clubman bars.

Me too!!

 

[JR Hammer]

........

 

[JR Hammer]

Things have been going slowly, I should say I have been slowly working on this thing. I have been reluctant to dive in too deeply without approval of my mentors.

As it sits now the frame is 100% welded solid and needs control mounts, brake mount, fender mount, tank/seat mounts and axle plates finished.... Today is the day for the axle. everything will line up square.

I want to put together my 750 kit for the bike but I'm afraid if I tear into it now I won't be riding much...

 

[JR Hammer]

OK-- so I got my project home There is still a lot to do and I am a little bit confused on the best starting point for the next phase of the project... Probably the rear fender mount but the bike needs foot controls, tank, exhaust, intakes, etc etc fucking etc... I put it in my shop last night and mocked up various tank/seat/fender combinations. Then basically I sat there and looked at it. Not sure it's great but it is certainly all original not from a kit. I like to think the aliens would be proud

she's a bit of a lowride-- with a classic solo seat and a 1.1gal peanut mocked for photo

 

[JR Hammer]

here's the exhaust progressing along... it's not finished yet.

 

[Yamaha_chop]

Really love the look of the exhaust, but be real careful about your cornering clearance. Maybe it's the angle of the pic but it looks like it'll touch down real early on right turns.

 

[JR Hammer]

I know it does but I leaned it over and it goes really far, I think the photo angle has some to do with it- plus this is only roughly the front half, I am cutting about 6 inches back and adding a 2-1 collector next so it should have even more clearance then.