New Guy

[Tonka]

pretty as could be but doesnt run....... makes no damn sense!

Agreed, I dont always work efficeintly. But Ill get there in the end. Plus Im really having alot of fun customizing this one so for me this is just as enjoyable at this point as a finished bike would be. Will I end up doing things twice....probably, will I learn from mistakes......most definiatly. Do I get excited and do things out of order because Im too impatiant to wait....you bet your ass I do!

The motors in great shape. Its just missing peices. Plus Ive got three out of 4 bikes in the shop right now for various things. I cant bring myself to take the fourth their. Not to mention the bike was free. If the worst happened and the engine is shot I can still get a donor motor and be within a decent budget. As it is Ill have less than $100 in parts for the cafe conversion so that leaves me plenty of room. Plus Im less motivated to work on it when it looks like a turd

I stripped it down to the frame, sanded and painted so all the crap is off and it looks clean now. Cut and painted the front fender. I found a 70's helmet at a yard sale and cut it to make a cool cafe seat out of that and sheet metal. Got it all together and painted and it looks good. I pulled the clubman bars off of the bobber (i got 8" apes for the bobber for $20) I also have a new ignition all but wired in, just finishing the bracket that will hold it. After that- battery, spark plug boots and I can try to get her started up. I also dished the tank but pulled the emblem brackets so I need to get the holes welded before I can do the bodywork and paint.

 

[Tonka]

O and heres the latest pic of the 78 bobber with the ape hangers. Looks much better now.

 

[Pat D]

pretty as could be but doesnt run....... makes no damn sense!

 

[richardthemotorcycle1]

Tonka, welcome to the forum, nice copper man, both awesome bikes

 

[Ranger]

I havent gotten the bikes back yet hopefully soon as I would love to shoot down to the oc md bike weekend coming up. Otherwise, Ill post this over in the build thread but Ive picked up another xs 650. This one is bone stock and I believe its a 75 but I havent checked the vin yet (I got it for free so I wasent all that worried about it). Anyway this wil be a cafe racer build since Ive already got two choppers and a bobber. I also picked up a Dandy Hauler off of ebay for $90. These things get alot of bad press but I for one think its great for someone like me that only needs it occasionally. Plus Uhaul wont rent trailers to open top vehicles. I used a drop hitch and not only put 5 wratchet straps from the bike to the hauler but also 2 from the hauler to the d- rings on my bumper. I also took the chain off of the bike. Otherwise I drove 3 hours with it and it was great! I think people that have had issues with these might not have gone overboard securing the hauler and the bike, any play will cause a massive amount of lean in the bike around turns. Here is the bike as I got it and after I stripped some of the junk off.

I was wondering about these. Good to see someone with experience. I have a truck/trailer, but I'm considering getting one of these to tow behind the minivan to save on fuel mileage. How do you think it would fare for a 1,300-mile trip? I'm doing the xs buildoff this year and am debating how I'm going to transport my bike. Considering a hauler like this, removing the chain, and maybe even going as far as picking up a spare mag wheel and putting a car tire on it (if i can find one that fits).

 

[Tonka]

I was wondering about these. Good to see someone with experience. I have a truck/trailer, but I'm considering getting one of these to tow behind the minivan to save on fuel mileage. How do you think it would fare for a 1,300-mile trip? I'm doing the xs buildoff this year and am debating how I'm going to transport my bike. Considering a hauler like this, removing the chain, and maybe even going as far as picking up a spare mag wheel and putting a car tire on it (if i can find one that fits).

Sorry for the delay. I havent been on in awhile. I think it would do fine. There are alot of people that give these things a bad wrap talking about tire wear and bikes being damaged but I think its all just speculation. First of all the tire only has the weight of the bike on it so I dont think it wears nearly as bad as being ridden. As for damage to bikes, if you rig it up right and drive carefully youll have no issues. I wouldent hesitiate to dolly my bikes on a long trip. Good luck!

O and 1 thing to be carefull of. When unloading the bike, or unhooking the wrathcet straps. Wratchet one down directly in front of the tire to the center of the dolly and make sure that is the last strap to come off. If you dont do this then when release tension off of one side the bike will spring towards that side. I made this mistake when I brought the last bike home, luckily I was able to hold the bike up and release the other strap without doing damage but I could see how this could cause a bike to go down.

 

[Tonka]

As an update, I still havent gotten the other bikes back yet but I cant complain about free winter storage since they are still at the shop. The cafe was coming along nicely, the tank is ready for paint, I got a battery and rear tail light mounted and wired but then it cold out and I havent touched it since around november.

Also to answer the question of why modify the bike before verifying that the engine is good, I got the bike for free, if the engine is bad I can get a rebuilt worked over engine from a local guy for $950 ready to bolt in. Even if Im building a sweet roller right now, it's still worth the time and effort.

 

[CDNTX650]

you own old bikes and wont even work on them?....they are gonna sit a lot if you don't get past that hurdle. Wiring, and doing simple things like carb work and basic engine work etc. are all apart of owning these things....especially more than one.

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[Tonka]

you own old bikes and wont even work on them?....they are gonna sit a lot if you don't get past that hurdle. Wiring, and doing simple things like carb work and basic engine work etc. are all apart of owning these things....especially more than one.

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I work on them plenty a$$hole. Why dont you read the thread instead of posting dumb comments. Im sorry Im not a guru like you but Im learning and there is nothing wrong with getting a profesional mechanic to do a final tune to get things straight. I am all done with posting though since you feel the need to be a dick.

 

[richardthemotorcycle1]

Hey Tonka, don't let one guys attitude turn you from our forum, we are all learning and most of the Guru's here are very helpful.

 

[Tonka]

Well its been a couple of months. I dident get discouraged........a bit po'd but its all good. Ive not been on because Ive been busy with my Jeep Rock Crawler. It took over as the winter time project with custom tube fenders, beadlocks and a rear axle rebuild (because I grenaded the pinion gear). Good news is I competed in a rock crawling event last month and my team won so it was all worth it. Anyway I finally pulled the cafe out of the garage this weekend and got the tank sanded and painted, the tank dishing came out pretty good. Its not perfect but it looks good for the rattle can job thats on it. I bled the breaks and found that the actuator for the rear brake signal is missing so I ordered one. So now Im on to the grunt work....making it run. The electric starter button is missing but touching the wires together did nothing. I ordered a starter button and a hand throttle because both are crap at this point. The clutch seems to be seized so its stuck in nuetral but Im no longer feeling any compresion with the kick starter so Im going to take the clutch apart and see if its binded and then dig into the starter. Ive got no time frame on this one so Im hoping to dig into it and use it to learn more about these motors. I got the manual and printed about 10 additional wiring diagrams from the site so I can figure things out. Now that it doesent look like a turd ITs more apealing to work on, ill probably ruin the paint by the time im done though I still want to raise it in the rear with bigger shocks but untill it runs Im not buying any big ticket items. Ive only got about $120 in it so far and the bike was free.