WOLFHAWK
XS650 Addict
First and foremost, hey all. Thanks for the motivation and information, it is truly priceless.
A little backstory on my first build: 82 bobber, PMA, Pamco, no battery, no signals, drop seat hardtail from FnA in Florida
The headlight was actually an aftermarket 7" smoked crosshair from my 84 VW Rabbit (I come from a Volkswagen enthusiast and rat rod background so use what you have right?)
I painstakingly sold her to a friend in order to fund my move from upstate NY to Brooklyn, NY and I kept the truck she is sitting in.
Fast forward to 2 years later and I'm now selling the truck to a friend and picked up this 80 special from another friend haha oh the irony
on the truck from Colorado
And here she sits in my VW Rabbit pickup
Not a bad starting point for $600 eh?
As I waited for it to arrive from across the country, I plunked down some coin on known parts I knew I wanted/needed for this build so I wouldn't be waiting on them with a bike sitting in front of me.
Picked up a bunch of stuff from Hugh on his site (bars, fork lowering kit, solid riser bushings, PMA, slim upper motor mount) and in turn gave him a few laughs via Instagram with a small video upon arrival of all the goodies.
Grabbed some necessities including a P-Nut tank from Lowbrow Customs who I can't help but suggest to anyone building a custom bike. Also ordered some bearings from MikesXs, Yo Mama pipes from Pandemonium Choppers, and a few other companies.
Snagged a set of spoke wheels from gggGary on here. Quick smooth transaction. Tires and tubes should be on the way and arrive about the same time. I have a good idea of where I want to go with this build and plan to document as much of it as possible for entertainment purposes for some and educational purposes for others.
Enough of that, on to the tear down.
Not really into the street tracker look so first bit was removing the tank, fender, side covers, and tail/seat section
Next I removed the battery, battery box, harness, and all electrical components.
Cleaned off the bars of the cluster and removed the headlight.
Carbs are proving to be a PITA to get off but that's next as I want to clean them out good and document the jetting before I start resizing for the new pipes (the trumpets my buddy threw on it supposedly sound nice according to him but I haven't heard them myself) so I'll leave them on when I get her running so I can record how they sound and be sure the bike is in proper order before messing with it too much
I have a monster craftsmen brat kit with solo seat to go on and picked up a matching pillion pad for the lady so a rear fender will eventually be in the works but for now, going stag.
I'm trying to leave the engine in the frame with it all strapped down in the back of the truck so that I can cut the tail off and prep it for welding and drop it off locally as my 90amp harbor freight flux welder won't get the job done
While that is going on, I'll have the front end off to rebuild and clean up the forks, clean the swing arm and install the bronze bushing, throw the new bars on with new grips, controls, Hugh's slim MC, and mirror from Dime City Cycles
The mirror isn't installed all the way because I plan on taking some length off the bars after I mount them up.
Gotta run to class but I'll write more later!
Will make separate post for any items that are for sale. (Tank, bars, seat/tail section, side covers, front fender, stock parts, etc)
A little backstory on my first build: 82 bobber, PMA, Pamco, no battery, no signals, drop seat hardtail from FnA in Florida
The headlight was actually an aftermarket 7" smoked crosshair from my 84 VW Rabbit (I come from a Volkswagen enthusiast and rat rod background so use what you have right?)
I painstakingly sold her to a friend in order to fund my move from upstate NY to Brooklyn, NY and I kept the truck she is sitting in.
Fast forward to 2 years later and I'm now selling the truck to a friend and picked up this 80 special from another friend haha oh the irony
on the truck from Colorado And here she sits in my VW Rabbit pickup
Not a bad starting point for $600 eh?
As I waited for it to arrive from across the country, I plunked down some coin on known parts I knew I wanted/needed for this build so I wouldn't be waiting on them with a bike sitting in front of me.
Picked up a bunch of stuff from Hugh on his site (bars, fork lowering kit, solid riser bushings, PMA, slim upper motor mount) and in turn gave him a few laughs via Instagram with a small video upon arrival of all the goodies.
Grabbed some necessities including a P-Nut tank from Lowbrow Customs who I can't help but suggest to anyone building a custom bike. Also ordered some bearings from MikesXs, Yo Mama pipes from Pandemonium Choppers, and a few other companies.
Snagged a set of spoke wheels from gggGary on here. Quick smooth transaction. Tires and tubes should be on the way and arrive about the same time. I have a good idea of where I want to go with this build and plan to document as much of it as possible for entertainment purposes for some and educational purposes for others.
Enough of that, on to the tear down.
Not really into the street tracker look so first bit was removing the tank, fender, side covers, and tail/seat section
Next I removed the battery, battery box, harness, and all electrical components.
Cleaned off the bars of the cluster and removed the headlight.
Carbs are proving to be a PITA to get off but that's next as I want to clean them out good and document the jetting before I start resizing for the new pipes (the trumpets my buddy threw on it supposedly sound nice according to him but I haven't heard them myself) so I'll leave them on when I get her running so I can record how they sound and be sure the bike is in proper order before messing with it too much
I have a monster craftsmen brat kit with solo seat to go on and picked up a matching pillion pad for the lady so a rear fender will eventually be in the works but for now, going stag.
I'm trying to leave the engine in the frame with it all strapped down in the back of the truck so that I can cut the tail off and prep it for welding and drop it off locally as my 90amp harbor freight flux welder won't get the job done
While that is going on, I'll have the front end off to rebuild and clean up the forks, clean the swing arm and install the bronze bushing, throw the new bars on with new grips, controls, Hugh's slim MC, and mirror from Dime City Cycles
The mirror isn't installed all the way because I plan on taking some length off the bars after I mount them up.
Gotta run to class but I'll write more later!
Will make separate post for any items that are for sale. (Tank, bars, seat/tail section, side covers, front fender, stock parts, etc)
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