Ranger's 2016 xs650 chopoff build

OK, so things have been pretty crazy around here... I started a new job, moved into a new house, new shop, and I'm still getting settled in... but I do have a few updates for y'all.

I got my first "care package" from Old Bike Barn for the Greasy Dozen builder collective. My boy Eli claimed the trucker hat and small knife. Which is fine, since this build is half his anyway...

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You can see my motor in the background waiting to be vapor honed after I pressure washed and degreased it.

I also started working on a paper template for my tank. I really like the shape of the first rendition, but I felt I needed a little more capacity, so I enlarged the design a bit. I'm pretty sure I'm sitting at about 2 gallons, but I refuse to do the math to figure it out properly. I'll be building this tank out of aluminum, and it will have hidden mounts and a couple surprises.

The larger tank is about 3 inches longer, and 2 inches taller than the smaller one, and they both are 9" wide.

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I also did some work on my front hub. I only have 4 3/4" of axle clearance... so in order to use the factory xs650 36 spoke front hub, I had to modify it.

I bought 2 HHB speedo spacers to use as my axle spacers, which meant I had to recess the bearing seat on the right side of the hub, and trim the outer portion of the hub down to accommodate the spacer... and once that was complete, I had to trim the outer portion of both spacers to achieve the overall length I was looking for.

So this is how the HHB speedo spacer fits in the left side of the hub:

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And here is what the left side of the hub looks like. There's room for a seal here, but since I don't have a speedo drive to worry about, and I'm running sealed bearings, I'm not worried about using it.

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And here's what the right side of the hub looks like. As you can see, the center protrudes more, and the bearing isn't seated as far into the hub as on the left side... 2 things I needed to change for my idea to work.

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I also wanted to remove this ridge... It's super, extra ugly. Hugh recently posted a picture of one he did that looks pretty damn awesome, but because it technically weakens the hub, he won't do it for a customer. And I don't blame him one bit.

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I don't have a lathe, so I couldn't do this stuff myself. Fortunately, I have several friends with various pieces of machinery, and a fellow Greasy Dozen builder out of Wyoming was willing to make my ideas reality. I mailed Signature Customs Speed and Cycle my hub and spacers last week, and got them back within the same week.

He didn't completely remove the ridge in the hub, but he definitely knocked the ugly off of it. Not only did he make the modifications I requested, but he also polished the hub and spacers, and did a cool contrasting brushed finish on the inner portion of the hub.

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At this point, I had been hoping to show you a picture of the fully laced wheel, but as I sat down to lace it, I realized they sent me the wrong hoop when I ordered it months ago. It was supposed to be a 36 spoke, and they sent me a 40 spoke. When the hoop came in several months back, I never thought to check for mistakes, I just put in on the shelf. So I've got another hoop that should arrive on Monday. And my brother got this one to lace to a Triumph front drum he had.

And for those curious, I have enough room to run my dual 320mm Ducati brake rotors. I have 5" of clearance between the actual fork legs on the girder, and the outside-to-outside measurement on the rotors is in the neighborhood of 4 5/8" (I can't remember the exact numbers).

And even though I didn't show any pictures of it, the bearing spacer was also shortened and installed.
 
OK, so my new 36 spoke hoop should be here tomorrow... in the meantime, here's some stuff I did this week...

Got my motor mounts welded up... i won't be using the upper rear mount unless I can somehow incorporate it into the electronics box, because the way my frame is set up it is about 8 inches from my seat post. So I built mounts for the front, bottom, and lower rear. I likely will come back in and do a mount for the upper front as well. I know there's different schools of thought on which mounts to run... and I don't much care :)

Beginning the front motor mount with this coped tube.

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Added 2 tabs made of 1/2" plate.

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Lower mount consists of 2 pieces of 1" .25" wall DOM notched to rest on the frame rails.

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Rear mounts are removable... which is good so I can more easily remove the motor.

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Once I got the mounts welded up, I worked on drilling these Stainless socket head allens for safety wire. I'll be using these as my rotor bolts. I went through 2 bits and only got 3 usable bolts before I had to stop. Bought a new drill bit today, so I'll finish this up soon... only 9 more to go...

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And to cap it all off, my new intake came in! And its just as badass as in the pictures I had. It seals with o-rings, and I'll be running centered VM34 carb. As you can see from the picture, I left plenty of room behind the head for the intake, carb, and filter.

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The material (3003 grade .080 aluminum) for my tank should be here tomorrow, and if I'm lucky, I'll have it assembled by the end of next week. On Monday I plan to sort out my coil and battery mounts. My fender should be here next week, at which point I'll fab up fender mounts, sissy bar, and my seat pan and mounts.

Hugh says my crank/cam are about ready to go, and the shop that has my cases for vapor honing, valve job, and boring and honing the cylinders should get back to me by week's end with what the damage will be.

Plugging away!
 
Started working on my tank!



Everybody hates the ugly Mikes XS "green monster" coils. I figure that rather than try and hide them, I'll display them proudly in all of their ugliness. Here's where I plan to mount my coils... these mounts are rough and will be tweaked a bit.



And I also worked on mounting my Jumpstreet Customs mids. They ended up in a different location than in the picture, and the mounts are just tacked, until I make sure I won't be having any clearance issues.

 
OK, so life stuff happens and because of some personal stuff I won't bore you with, coupled with some parts I've been waiting on forever, it is very unlikely I'll finish my bike for the chopoff. That said, I'll still be there with bells on, and you should go to. There will be some sweet door prizes, including a custom seat made by yours truly, up to a $500 value, and a set of my axle plate extensions. I might even throw a custom belt or bag or something into the mix... I do things on a whim like that.

Now, I'm not giving up... I'll work on this bike to the last possible second. What I won't do is cut corners and sacrifice quality just to get it done. I just want to be up front with anybody who happens to read this thread. I'm thinking there might be 2 or 3 of you out there.

Sooooooo... on to updates...

I did some work on my tank with my friend Erik at Envy Choppers in Leander, TX. He's a metal shaping wizard and actually LIKES to work with aluminum (I know, right?) So I designed my tank, and cut out all the parts, but Erik is going to do me a solid and weld it all up for me. I had originally intended to learn to weld aluminum and do it myself, but I soon realized that I was an idiot and should leave it to the professionals... at least while working under a deadline.

I'm a big fan of making things more complicated than they need to be, so the clutch hose and the throttle cable will pass through the tank.



I fit up some aluminum tubes for pass-throughs.



These bungs sit flush with the bottom of the tank, for a truly hidden mount on top of my flat backbone.



Both tubes tacked in place.



Tank parts.



Sight gauge with aluminum tank from Billet Proof, and an aluminum petcock bung from Seven Sins Choppers.



All tacked up. Erik should have the welding done this week, and then we'll pressure test before fitting up the filler neck... and then pressure test again...
 
I also got some cool stuff in the mail over the last couple of weeks.

First off, this package from Hugh... Rephased crank with new rods, Rephased Shell #1 cam, and STICKERS! If only my cases were back from the vapor honer :(



And I was really excited about this mail call... Figure8 and Wannaberidin killed it on these finned covers. You should hit them up and get yourself a set. They need at least 10 people committed with cash before they can do another run. Get some. Be cool.



These also showed up. After designing my rough coil mounts, I laid them out in CAD and had them laser cut. Since the laser cutter had a minimum purchase, I ordered 3 sets. I'd sell the other 2 sets if anybody were interested. You have to keep in mind you'd be doing away with your top motor mount, and I don't know if there would be any clearance issues on a stock frame, as I built these around my custom frame. And if you've seen my frame, you know I have plenty of room.

 
Plus I also drilled and tapped my axle plates for 3/8" hardware so I could bolt up the counterbore bungs. They'll be the foundation for my sissy bar, which I can't build until my custom fender arrives... any day now... I hope...

 
Well, the 4th annual XS650 Fest and Chopoff has come and gone. This was my third in a row to attend, and, as usual, Daniel and Kerri of Pandemonium Custom Choppers put on a hell of an event, and we all had a great time!

I was, however, a little disappointed. Not in the event, it was a BLAST. I wouldn't drive 20 hours straight through from Texas year after year if I didn't have a good time. But rather, my disappointment was in attendance. I didn't count, but I think we were sitting at about a third of last year's numbers.

We can do better.

This is the only grassroots XS650-specific event that I'm aware of… and it's smack in the middle of the country. There's enough folks on this forum close enough to come… and I want to hang out with each and every one of you and shoot the shit about the bikes that we all love. I want to check out your bikes. See how you put your own style into them. Or even see the stocker that you've cared for or restored. (Even ride it if you let me). There was a crazy amount of innovation and attention to detail is just the 10 or 15 xs650s that did make the trip.

Maybe the "Chopoff" in the name is throwing you. Well, let me throw all misconceptions out of the window. The winner of the Chopoff was Gracer from Arizona with his board track-inspired xs650. It was based on the early motorcycles of the 19-teens. Basically, it was a bicycle with an xs650 motor crammed into it and 23" dirt bike wheels and tires front and rear. It was a super-cool vintage-style two-wheel death machine that I had the privilege of riding… Probably not what you think of when you hear "chopoff."

When I say all styles of XS650s are welcome as well as appreciated, that's no exaggeration. Every xs650 present participates in the overall Bike Show. A hardtail bobber won this year, but who's to say it won't be a cafe, tracker, or restoration next year. And all the voting is done by the attendees.

Every year, they consider doing away with the chopoff portion of the event because turnout is so low. And every year they decide to continue with it because the builders are so gung-ho when the event is announced. Only 2 builders completed this year… Gracer with his board tracker, and Dirty Dog with "Spare Parts" his hardtail bobber built out of, you guessed it, spare parts. Side note: Dirty Dog has built 4 chopoff bikes in the last 3 years… that's dedication.

I'm picking on everybody, including myself. I bit off more than I could chew and didn't finish my build either. Everybody knows that grownup shit gets in the way sometimes. Bills gotta be paid, babies gotta be fed, and gas ain't cheap (well, I guess it kind of is right now). Hell, KryptoKnight had his bike completely finished, when his shake-down runs made riding his bike a safety issue.

But even if you don't finish your build, come hang out! My brother and I drove up from Texas with no bikes, just a healthy amount of love for the XS650 motorcycle.

To those of you who have read this far (a bit of a rant, I know) I leave you with some food for thought.

Planning a small event like this requires money. You have to pay for food, etc. ahead of time based on what number you think you'll get. You try and get door prizes donated, but maybe you also buy some because you know everybody likes free stuff. So you figure your attendance fee based on what you're expenses are… you don't care if you make any money, but you would like to break even. ($10 is cheap). If you're off too far on your numbers you're screwed.

So I'm going to suggest registration remain at $10 if you pay 30 days before the event, and the price goes up at the door (to what I don't know, this is just a suggestion to the good folks at Pandemonium). So maybe they'll have a more accurate count… or at least, if you don't show up, they'll have your money :)

As for the chopoff. I thought this was a good suggestion, and I'm passing it along. They should have an entry fee, say $100 per builder. The fees go into a pot, with the winning builder earning half the pot, the other half going to event expenses… like MORE DOOR PRIZES! If you don't finish, your fee is forfeit.

I'd be willing to throw in $100 on the chance I could win $1,000. Plus, I think it would be a good incentive for the builders to keep grinding! Benjamin Franklin is a hell of a motivator.

Again, I don't think the point is to make money with the event, but I don't want to leave 2 good people holding the bag. And I damn sure want this event to continue, because you meet some of the best folks doing this motorcycle thing.
 
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Spent some time with my good friend Daniel at Pandemonium Custom Choppers this week learning the ins and outs of building a hotrod xs650 motor. If you need an engine built, I'd highly recommend Daniel. After seeing his process first-hand, I can say his attention to detail is borderline OCD... which in my opinion is exactly what you want. He even properly degreed my Shell #1 cam, rather than just dropping it in and running it. My motor started on the first kick, and we did three heat cycles and retorqued the head. Here's some pictures:
 
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