In "honor" of the anti-chopper harangue thread last evening, it got me thinking about what's next. I'm nowhere even NEAR done with my probably average, boring, non-standout hardtail...but thoughts have been drifting into my brain of what would be cool to make next, when the chop is done.
Thinking to find a small displacement 4 stroke Honda dual purpose bike from the 70's that has been bastardized or messed up already, and make a really small, light, inner-city duty somewhat cafe style bike. Like maybe from an SL 100 or XL. Meaning stripped, but frame not cut - or maybe slightly cut somewhere, dunno.....maybe standard, lowish bars on but not clip-ons. Definitely retain rear suspension and hopefully find some upgraded suspension stuff to use.
This would be using some of the aesthetic considerations I hold dear with regard to choppers (mainly the rule being no extra crappola on it), but use them to make this other kind of bike. Make an around the neighborhood street-legal playbike. Something to just "kick and go" that could live next to the house, chained up and with a cover thrown over. (rather than having to go inside the locked rear gate, under carport, etc. (all the stuff that makes it time consuming to get my Sportster out, for instance).
Use it for beer runs, etc. Post office runs and the like. Errands!
Would love to run same sized rims front and back.
And lo and behold I see Powroll is still in business. I remember them from way back in the 70's.
So I don't see doing another XS in the foreseeable future. I'd love a stock SR someday, but I don't see that happening.
The pawnshop up the street has a perfectly stock black XS400 that I'd love to have to keep bone stock forever. Its in really sweet orig shape. But dang, they want $1400 for it! Plus I don't have room for it.
One thing really great about the XS thing though, is all the internet info that is available. I think that is one thing that does get people choosing the XS as project bike material, over other 35 year old bikes, for instance.
anyway, we'll see - could be my chop will end up fulfilling that role I mentioned, and I will never do another project bike. Time will tell.
Happy Friday all....
Thinking to find a small displacement 4 stroke Honda dual purpose bike from the 70's that has been bastardized or messed up already, and make a really small, light, inner-city duty somewhat cafe style bike. Like maybe from an SL 100 or XL. Meaning stripped, but frame not cut - or maybe slightly cut somewhere, dunno.....maybe standard, lowish bars on but not clip-ons. Definitely retain rear suspension and hopefully find some upgraded suspension stuff to use.
This would be using some of the aesthetic considerations I hold dear with regard to choppers (mainly the rule being no extra crappola on it), but use them to make this other kind of bike. Make an around the neighborhood street-legal playbike. Something to just "kick and go" that could live next to the house, chained up and with a cover thrown over. (rather than having to go inside the locked rear gate, under carport, etc. (all the stuff that makes it time consuming to get my Sportster out, for instance).
Use it for beer runs, etc. Post office runs and the like. Errands!
Would love to run same sized rims front and back.
And lo and behold I see Powroll is still in business. I remember them from way back in the 70's.
So I don't see doing another XS in the foreseeable future. I'd love a stock SR someday, but I don't see that happening.
The pawnshop up the street has a perfectly stock black XS400 that I'd love to have to keep bone stock forever. Its in really sweet orig shape. But dang, they want $1400 for it! Plus I don't have room for it.
One thing really great about the XS thing though, is all the internet info that is available. I think that is one thing that does get people choosing the XS as project bike material, over other 35 year old bikes, for instance.
anyway, we'll see - could be my chop will end up fulfilling that role I mentioned, and I will never do another project bike. Time will tell.
Happy Friday all....
. Budget is so small that once I get her going (hopefully) ride all summer. Next winter it is tear down time so I can paint the frame.
