this winters project '76 bobber build thread

[checkpointGnarly]

figured i may start up a bit of a build thread, if nothing else than just to keep my own pictures in the same place.

here she as as i got it, hasnt been on the road since 86, rode hard and put away wet, but the majority of the bike was there

built my self a quick little work table for the bike and got the back wheel in with some borrowed hardware from other bikes i have in the garage

gonna take some work to make this thing look good again

i let the carbs soak in pinesol for a few days and gave them a rinse.. not perfect, but they came out pretty clean for not really doing any actual work

after i got the carbs cleaned out i installed a new pamco high output ignition since the old coils were toast. the first thing i wanted to do was get the bike running, its much easier to sink money in a project when you know you have a running motor

i put in the pamco, a bit of fresh gas, 3 or 4 kicks later and the bike fired right up, after running for a few seconds, it's now a one kick motor, even with the old spark plugs still in it!


now that i knew i had a working bike it was time to get the grinder out
before

after

i couldnt really decide what style i liked better, the monstercraftsman or the visual impact kit, so i bent up my own hybrid on my lunch break at work and cut and fit it tonight. so far i think im pretty happy with the way it turned out, still gotta finish welding it and out shock tabs on

thats where im at for now, im storing the bike about 45 mins away right now so i only get a chance to work on it once or twice a week. which makes alot of the fabrication go slowly since i try and do as much as i can at the shop at work where i have a full fab shop to use.

 

[Sparky]

keep it up dude!

 

[figure8]

Nice work, like to see where this goes!

 

[checkpointGnarly]

just a quick little update, havent had a ton of time to work on the bike in the last week or so, but hope to put in some work this sunday, i've got a new frisco mount sporty tank on the way from tc bros which should be here any day now, and also just ordered a new welder last night that will hopefully be here in the next few days.

i ordered up the everlast powerarc 160

the reviews online seemed pretty good and comes with a pretty good warranty so i'll defnitely be reporting back with my review when i get a chance to use it, i've done some tig in school, and every now and then at work, but i usually do heavy fab work so i'll definitely need some practice

 

[checkpointGnarly]

managed to get a little bit of work in today, made up new kick pedal to replace the stock one with some left over grating at work.. not 100% sure if im going to use it or not yet, but it was free and turned out alright so far.

my i had a couple extra hands for a bit today so i used my chance to strip down the wiring and get some help lifting out the motor, also threw some apes on it that i had laying around just for shits and giggles, i won't be using them but i want to make up some lanesplitters soon that are close to the same height

also cut out the head tube gusset, i'll probably leave it this way, but i may make up something new

this was the weld that was holding my kickstand on, on top of the exhaust mount bolt holes which i was going to use to mount my foot pegs, so i'll probable end up cutting those off and welding in some threaded bungs in the frame instead now.

thats all for now, my tank should be in early this week, and the welder should show up any day now also, so there will be more progress coming up soon

 

[checkpointGnarly]

been a good week for mail this last week, the new tank showed up, looks pretty awesome on the bike

i need to make up some bungs next week and get it mounted for real and not just zip-tied to the frame.

also my welder showed up, an everlast powerarc 160 haven't had too much of a chance to use it, but from the little bit i have so far it seems to work really well for the price

next up i've gotta start cleaning up the frame and welding on the new rear end and suspension mounts, gotta clean up and polish the motor while i save up a bit to make another parts order

 

[bobber_xs]

nice build so far
keep up the good work!

 

[checkpointGnarly]

made my self some new bars this weekend, pretty stoked how they turned out.

bent up some 1" tubing to what i thought would be a good start,

then i used some 1/2 inch threaded rod connectors instead of drilling out bungs and tapping them my self, they were just a tiny bit too big so i grinded down the corners so they slid in nicely.

i also drilled a hole through the bars so i could put a good sized plug weld on both sides to make sure everything stays where i want it, and beveled the bottom edge so theres lots of room for a weld around the threads on the bottom

threw the risers on the bike using some 1/2 inch bolts and washers through the stock riser mounts to get a feel for how i wanted them to look.

played around alot to get them sitting where i wanted and got the joints coped out nicely then welded them all together, i'm diggin how this bike is starting to look.

 

[checkpointGnarly]

so here's a big update, been a long time since ive posted on this this thread .

added a bit of detail to the bars to stiffen them up a bit

rolled up a seat pan to fit the frame, after getting everything back together again , ive realized i need to re work the seat to make room for the fender and suspension travel

finally got the frame back together and got the suspension mounts done and welded, everything is together now and cleaned up and the bike is sitting on its own weight for the first time since i got it.

i plan on running 4"over fork tubes so i have them slid down in the tree just to get an idea of where everything will sit and im really diggin how its looking so far
i used the front fender off an xj550 trimmed down and stretched open as the rear fender, still needs lots of work but it gives an idea of what its gonna look like.

today i had a chance to bend up a sissy bar now that i had the bike together to take measurements off of

wanted to keep it slim to match the bars, it'll sit somewhere around 2'4" -2'6" from the fender to the top of the sissy bar

next up is figuring out foot controls and mounting the fender
finished up my sissy bar the other day

nothing too fancy but im diggin how it looks, used 1/2 cold rolled round bar, and made up the tabs on the bottom with somes spare 1/4 inch i had laying around. and notched out the round bar to fit.

stands around 34" off the fender

i tapered it as close as practical to the wheel to give it the slimmest look possible to match up with the narrow bars.. may have to narrow the gas tank too as things come along

got a big order from xs650 direct, with new spokes, brake parts, bearings, bushings, and all the stuff that a 40 year old bike needs replacing,

always gotta love coming home from work to find a box of parts at the door! didn't take too many pics cause it's was all pretty boring,yet important stuff that needed to be done.

new bronze swing arm bushings and grease seals for the swing arm as well!

next up was the shitty looking wheels that have been collecting rust and corrosion for 20 years

started with this

took over the girl friends make up station for the night to tear apart the wheels

hit them up with some scotch brite and it was like night and day. the first one i did by hand and and it took forever, when i started the next one i decided i'd had enough of that shit

so i got a carriage bolt,and a nut.and a drill then i cut my scotchbrite pads up into about 3x3" squares, put a hole in the center and threaded them all onto the bolt, then tightened the nut and stuck the whole thing in the drill and cleaned up the other wheel in about an hour. beats the hell out of the 4-5hours i spend doing it by hand one night

after all that was done i brought laced them up with some new spokes from xs650 direct which seemed to go way easier than i was expecting.i just used the tutorial here

im also in the middle of making my self a quick little tire changing stand while i wait for my tires to come in next week when i get some free time at work, so hopefully this thing will be done before they show up.