Appalachain Chopper Build Thread

spent a little time on the bike the other day...

decided to ignore the electrical gremlins for a little while and get down to some meat and potatoes work.

Made some fitment and visual modifications to the electrical box that i posted previously.

lBnSdFm.jpg


I'm not an engineer and i had difficulty with the top pieces because of the upward curve. Must've made three or four different ones before i got it close enough to use.

Found a laser cutting shop and got it all cut out. Saved me a lot of stress.

GehhYGT.jpg


Here's what i got. Hopefully i can find a good/cool way to mate these two together.

ptUimvG.jpg


Here she is all taped up and ready for ze welds.

KVBGbla.jpg


and after ze welds.

cjwXZAM.jpg


and with a coat of paint to stave off rust

CKAzV1q.jpg


here it is slid into place and almost looking like a complete bike!

BMefJDe.jpg


I have a piece of 1/4" flat that i will be welding 10-32 machine nuts on. I will then weld that into the lower part of the frame and use button head screws to lock it into place. Why 10-32 button head machine screws and 1/4" flat you ask? Well, they're leftovers and they work.

In other news, I ordered a set of forward controls (pictured) and a wiring harness. I also found someone that is willing to help me do some wiring in exchange for beers. I really need to find a kit of different colored 16ga wires to replace all the (almost 40 year old) wiring with fresh new copper. Otherwise i'll be using a spool of black wire with number stickers. :shrug:
 
On to the forwards. These took a little longer than they should have because i didn't read the instructions. It was a straight forward assembly so i figured i didn't need the instructions. That's where i went wrong.
This is the newer version of the tc bros forward control kit with the brass bushings. They call it a kit but it doesn't come with linkage. It also doesn't come with spacers. So yeah. "kit."
When I first put them on they were pointed upwards a lot. Turns out you need to use washers or spacers to level them out because there's a lot of variation in the engine mount area through the years. At least that's what I was told. So i got some washers and got everything level and nice. Got a few extra washers to keep the bolt heads from digging up the paint.

So. There she sat like this for a few days.

VUBNJPY.jpg


After dealing with the shortcomings of the "kit" i decided to fab up my own linkage rods. This was insanely simple. The most difficult part was paint.

Shopping list
Home Depot:
1/4" threaded rod
1/2" round tube
jam nuts
chrome acorn nuts (to be fancy)
bolts
eBay:
1/4 RH Heim joints.

I'm sure you can find the parts cheaper than i did, but overall i spent about $30 including snacks. Not a huge saving, but the tc bros kit requires the same amount of work i put into these pieces.

This is what i ended up with.
XGLJVKO.jpg


Then i took the stock levers and cut them up and smoothed out the casting.

Testing the shift side...
F4VIMd6.jpg


a little closer
cODWIMU.jpg


Then paint, then install. For some reason i didn't take a picture of the brake side, but i did get both sides done.

Pic Dump.

UBCFQ4O.jpg

XnCx6fR.jpg

eRdPYLX.jpg

SCWJKXH.jpg


Forgot to mention, the pain on the exhaust was flaking and the pipes were rusting so i took a day to sand them down real nice like and repaint them. I went with high heat white. It's too much, but it's done. I may wrap them later on.

Next steps are getting a seat hing so i can swing up the seat and open the electronic box lid easily and, of course, electrical components. one of these days i'll take that front fender off.
 
one of these days i'll take that front fender off.

Is there a small rear fender in the making somewhere?
What about using the front fender to fashion a swing arm-mounted, tight-to-the-tire rear fender? The axle plates have the holes for fender stays. You just have to fab the mount on the swing arm end... The bike looks awesome, Boogaloo, and I'll be doing something very similar with the forward controls on "The Basketcase".
 
thanks guys, i did catch a fender on sale from tc bros but i haven't messed with it much. I'm planning on getting some round bar and bending up a short sissy bar. i was originally going to put the front on the back but it was more work than i wanted to do. plus it's been powder coated so i may be able to sell it off later.
Paul, i'm also going to try and get the seat angled upward more so there will be less chance of pencil sharpening lol.
 
Back
Top