I've got a couple HD's under my belt, but never done an XS before - but I came into a cool old (VIN #...485) hardtail frame kinda accidentally (long story). I was gonna sell it at a chop show that we have here in SoCal every month, but then my 12 year old son asked me if he & I could build it together so he could ride it to school when he gets old enough (bad ass). Couldn't say no to that. Besides, I always think it's pretty cool when an old bike gets a chance to come back to life and rolls down the road again.
I've posted a couple pictures of the frame here & there, but now all the pics will be in one place haha
So I picked up the frame from a guy in Utah that bought it a million years ago in the hopes of building it into a chop one day but never got around to it (sounds vaguely familiar...). The VIN is OLD and all the welds seem to be in good shape, but I'll be giving them all a good last look before it goes to powdercoat, as well as a few new welds here & there probably. May be able to keep the rear wheel and fender if I can cut/form it better, but that's probably going to be about it (will powdercoat it black as well I think). I've got a few spare HD tins laying around that I may mod to work. Forks are shot, top clamp is cracked & the front wheel is too small.
Finding a good motor in SoCal was a real b#tch, but I ended up finding one that was complete, a little rough, but all there.
Tore into the motor a little bit to give it a look. Looks OK, although there's a couple things so far that I'm going to need to replace for sure. Countershaft sprocket, clutch ramp, gaskets, etc. for starters. Gonna need carbs, exhaust & ignition ($$$, $$$ & $$$). I'm a little lost on the ignition side of things, but I'll figure it out. Probably just better to pull out what's already on the cam & replace it with a Pamco setup. Will be referring to Hugh's Handbuilt tutorial religiously (thanks for taking the time to write it up Hugh!)
More shiny bits to be installed, but it's coming along. I wish I could send it off to HHB for a rephase, but for now I'm gonna run it as is
The plan is to do a springer front, but it seems like the more I try to figure it out the more complicated it is. It'd be easy if I was putting one on my Ironhead but not so easy for this chop
Stay tuned.
I've posted a couple pictures of the frame here & there, but now all the pics will be in one place haha
So I picked up the frame from a guy in Utah that bought it a million years ago in the hopes of building it into a chop one day but never got around to it (sounds vaguely familiar...). The VIN is OLD and all the welds seem to be in good shape, but I'll be giving them all a good last look before it goes to powdercoat, as well as a few new welds here & there probably. May be able to keep the rear wheel and fender if I can cut/form it better, but that's probably going to be about it (will powdercoat it black as well I think). I've got a few spare HD tins laying around that I may mod to work. Forks are shot, top clamp is cracked & the front wheel is too small.
Finding a good motor in SoCal was a real b#tch, but I ended up finding one that was complete, a little rough, but all there.
Tore into the motor a little bit to give it a look. Looks OK, although there's a couple things so far that I'm going to need to replace for sure. Countershaft sprocket, clutch ramp, gaskets, etc. for starters. Gonna need carbs, exhaust & ignition ($$$, $$$ & $$$). I'm a little lost on the ignition side of things, but I'll figure it out. Probably just better to pull out what's already on the cam & replace it with a Pamco setup. Will be referring to Hugh's Handbuilt tutorial religiously (thanks for taking the time to write it up Hugh!)
More shiny bits to be installed, but it's coming along. I wish I could send it off to HHB for a rephase, but for now I'm gonna run it as is
The plan is to do a springer front, but it seems like the more I try to figure it out the more complicated it is. It'd be easy if I was putting one on my Ironhead but not so easy for this chop
Stay tuned.
He's not a big kid but wants to play football. I told him that he could play but he'd ride the pine more than play because he's just not built like a football player...but ride this chop to school and he'll be giving the QB's girlfriend a ride home 
