Ok, So it's not really a one kicker, but it is close and all it needs is to be dialed in.

A little work, button buttoning, and bolt bolting and now it is a running and driving bike. Completely legal and on the road.


So this is technically the third ride. The first one turned out crappy because I was cut off in the middle of the street and I had to pull it over to the side so as not to be kilt. And we were having camera technical difficulties on the second try, so as they say 3rd time's the charm, and by the third ride the bike was behaving a little better.

ENJOY !!



So, this is technically the first ride.

It's a one kicker !!!

Here it is running, all by it's self.



Try as we might Brian and I could not get the bike running last night, it started a few times, and fired a bunch, but it wouldn't stay running.

STUPID, STUPID, STUPID,

So I had this completely dreadful thought while I was driving home tonight. I am pretty careful in the work that I do, and being careful, I packed the intake with paper towels so nothing would get in while working on the bike. During the last month, I vaguely remember mocking up the carbs to see what they would look like, But in my haste to get it running, this week, I some how forgot to unpack the intakes. I am no genius about motors, but I really don't think any engine will run with the intake blocked.

Long story short, I fixed the problem and kicked it a few times, after I tightened up the throttle sleeve for some added security and it was running for short bursts.... Good news. So I figured I needed to have a constant flow of fuel, I reattached the tank, that was the ticket. and now it starts on one kick. My poor bruised leg is really thanking me for that.

It shook loose a bunch of bolts, so I have some puttin' back together to do. That is why the call 'em bone shakers.

HI BOB.

So here is the first bolg in over a month. It will be short, and it will be sweet !!

I promise to do some more detailed updates, as there has been a lot of work done on the bike.

I have noticed, viewing other builders blogs, that they have a lot of detailed posts early on in their builds then a big break, and then all of a sudden BAM a picture of the finished bike. I think the passion for the actual build takes over for the passion to detail the build. I am here to teach, so I WILL detail my build.

Here is a tease.

Old parts new look

I have not done a lot of work on the bike since the last post, it's not he 95 degree heat and the 105 degree heat index, it's the fact that I am waiting on parts from American Classic Motors (www.AmericanClassicMotors.net ) a great website by the way.

After the sun went down last night, and it cooled down to a bone chilling 90 degrees, I decided to venture out into the garage, with a mission to make myself some exhaust pipes. I had a look in mind and the MAC 2-into-1 exhaust that came on the bike. I had already fitted them on to the bike in several configuration, right on left, left on right, left on left, one piece with the muffler cone off, and so on. So I decided that a short set up would be the best for the look of the bike. I had always had my heart set on a super long exhaust coming out as low as possible and behind the rear tire.

much like this

But all the systems I had looked at were very expensive and not quite the right look, meaning I would still have to add pipe to the end of whichever head pipe I decided to buy.

As I mention before, I had this MAC system that came with the bike, kinda hard to see behind the cowl,


You might be asking your self, "Is he really going to chop up a $250 exhaust system?"

Yes. Yes, I am going to. I figured I had only paid 200 bucks for the bike, and it would be more hassle to try and sell the system and purchase a new one that I wold have to work on any way.

So as I had said, I had loosely fit the pipes on the bike to see what I had to work with. the MAC comes in 3 pieces, and I already knew that I did not want or need, the cone on the back.

The pipes are made to separate probably to make it easier to mount them on the bike.



I knew that I need to separate the head part of the pipe from the area where it joins the collector. ANGLE GRINDER AWAY !!

As you can see the 4 1/2" angle grinder is not quite enough to cut through a 1.5" pipe.

so I finished the cut with a hand saw.




After cutting the pipes you'll notice they have very similar shapes even though they used to run very differently on the bike when it was a full system.

I was planning on just cutting the pipes at a right angle and running them straight down, this way if I ever wanted to, I could weld on longer pieces to make the pipes exit farther back on the bike. The problem was with the angle of the pipes, because they are meant to join together on only one side of the bike and not both sides, they have a tight angle, and without making the full pipes right away they exited pointing right at the engine case. no good.
The head pipe part that I had cut happen to have a slight turn out. I put the pipe from the left side of the bike on the right and liked the look.


So, I had to figure out how to make one for The left side out of the right side.

I had to basically find and elbow, and make it work. I really was not looking forward to welding, so something else was in the works. I had 2 elbows left over from the collector and the pipe had a 45 degree left on it, that had to go to make it work. Keep in mind the left is on the right and the right was going on the left. I happen to have an elbow with the flange from the system, and it matched the turn out on the right side pretty well.

It was just a matter of removing the 45 and the rest of the pipe to make the correct length. Then I could turn the connection until it matched the other side.



here is a top shot.

That is why they call them street sweepers !!!

I am going to tape them with some black heat wrap, for exhausts, to cover up the seem, and cap them with some brass tips I have coming from e-bay. LOWBROW customs. lowbrowcustoms.com/



finished product coming soon.

So if you are not in to the work to make you own exhaust, you can go on Ardcore choppers web site and order some for a low price of $225.00 us




UPDATED APRIL 21 2010

Sorry it took so long. The bike has been finished for a while now, so here is the "finished product" for the exhaust pipes.

More Me Now

lots of work done, and not a lot of blogging. I should take the lap top out to the garage with me and actually blog while I am building, That way it might get done more than twice a month. so I might just add photos to the blog and fill in the details later.....

So I now have the frame together so I mocked up the rear wheel with steel rod I had laying around.


You ask "Why didn't I just use the axle from the stock frame?" Well that is because the company that makes the Hardtail, has the axle plates set up for a Harley rear axle. Which is funny, because it is sold as a Yamaha xs650 weld on kit. I can't complain too much though, the company rocks. I think it is funny that the description says it will accept your stock wheel components. I actually found out the axle plate dimensions from their Ebay store. Who knows, maybe different years of the XS have different Dia. axles.

Here is the link... copy and paste into your browser.

http://www.kansaskustom.com/Hardtail_Sections_XS650.php

Harley axles have a 3/4 " diameter and a stock Yamaha has a .7875 axle. So I had to machine, and by "I" I mean I had the guys in the shop do it, off about 15 thousands .015 finish height of .765.

After we had punched out of course.



Thanks John !

I will ad a pic of the axle later, I haven't taken one yet. Now I have the daunting task of making wheel spacers for the new frame.



So in the mean time, I have been wire brushing the paint of the frame, and de-greasing it. (details on the later).



All clean and shinny.

The dangers of the wire wheel.
The funny thing is that I didn't even notice the wire sticking out of my arm until after I had cleaned up for the night and was relaxing on the steps.

So de-greasing the engine:
I got some good advice from a great guy I work with, he said to use good old fashion

EASY OFF OVEN CLEANER - ORIGINAL FORMULA.

Not the environmentally friendly scented foofy stuff.

Before:
after:

and the engine. This was a HUGE pain. only because we had our hose stolen and I did not notice, so it was full of de-greaser with no way to wash it off. so we went out and bought a new one.

Before:

After:

While I was cleaning up the frame of all it's unwanted paint I decided to clean up all the ugly factory welds and brackets:



So, Last night I wanted to try to figure out where to set up the foot controls. I really want to stick with the mid controls for a more retro look. My issue is that the engine was taken out to make cleaning up and moving the frame around easier, so I had to put it back in. 2 hours later...



I put the wheels and bars back on to make moving it around easier, and to get a feel for the final stance of the bike. After getting it together and sitting on it, I might not go with the ape hangers I had originally planned to put on it.


YOUR VOTE:

forward controls:

mid controls:

Much more to come.

More Ketchup, no mustard. Bleack !!

OK, So I am determined to get caught up on all the work I have done thus far, even if it means adding pictures to the blog later. That seems to me the most time consuming part any way.

So where did we leave off? Ah yeah, the fitting of the hardtail on the frame. So As you can see I left the engine in the bike so that the frame would not spring When I cut off the rear end. If you are attempting to make your own rear end there are several ways around this problem, but as I purchased my Hardtail from Kansas Kustoms, http://www.kansaskustom.com I had to remove the very bottom of the back bone where it joins the swing arm pivot.

So I cut everything not needed off and began the cleaning up so the frame would fit and be square. The first time I have ever use an angle grinder was on this project, and it is also the first mistake I made on the frame. I had never cut metal off and so I figured I would just make a plunge cut to break the weld and pry the bracket off, mistake.



I have now become more careful with my cuts. Using a motto I learned in my drafting and design classes,

"never draw more in the morning than you are willing erase in the afternoon."

"never cut/grind off more in the morning than you are wiling to weld back on in the afternoon."



painted so you can see the cut better.



There were some cutting issues that I inherited from the previous owner.



I imagined that the center stand was just cut off, to make it a lighter bike for racing purposes, and the bottom rail was a casualty of this. As I just previously stated, I know exactly how this happens.

Luckily the cuts I had to make extended past this point so it was not a problem.

So after several fitting sessions, and cutting and grinding 1/16" off at a time the frame fit up quite nicely, now it came to the back bone extension where it meets the bottom support of the new hardtail section.

I used this measurement to gauge how much of the bottom 2 rails I need to cut off, and I squared it from the neck just to make sure.



one cut on the extension peice (it was about 4 inches long- removed 1 3/4") and it fit exactly!! First time. I felt very proud of this.


So the welding began, very poorly I might add, but as it turned out it wasn't entirly my fault. The wire spool on the welder was running out, and just as it did, My dad showed up, and helped me replace the spool, and dial it in so it would make much better welds. Oh it is his welder, I borrowed it, so that is why he was the right person to help me with it. Thanks Dad!

well the frame welding went as well as it would for anyone who has never welded anything in their lives! and it was finally together. I could now release the engine from it's metal dust filled tomb. I unbolted all the bracket and turned the frame on it's side and literally shook the engine out.



I really have no idea how I am going to get it back in.... Who knew that something that looks so small, would weigh as much as it does!

I no longer had to lug the frame around the garage floor, I could now put it up on it's stand and work from there. But I didn't, I still have been working on it out in the driveway. grinding cutting and welding it all up. I still only consider the frame tacked up, I am going to have the welds redone by someone who knows what they are doing, so it don't break, and looks pretty.

Next to get welded up was the seat mounts.



The posts, supplied by chopperheadscustoms off their E-bay store, anyone building a triumph should pay them a visit, and the cross member was some welding stock I picked up from Menard's, and cut and shaped myself.



The posts were milled for a 1" cross tube but my hardtail is made of 1-1/4" tubing, to better match the existing frame rails, so I had to get them re-milled. I asked the guys in the shop at my work to help me out, but after waiting for a month or so, I just took them home and ground off the difference with the angle grinder.



The seat mounts and the cross rail are mounted up, and I have cleaned off all the un-needed brackets. and now I have started to wire wheel the frame to remove all the paint, dust, and grease.


I really like that the seat looks like it is floating on the frame, because of the cross bar set under the seat.

Just a blorb, that's a blog blurb.

OK, So as long as we are learning a bit about me and catching up, I thought I would fill the readers in on my unique writing style. We (the wife and I) tend to use a vocabulary all our own and it often involves made up or miss-spelled words, such a intra-web, Geerage, and blorb. So if if sounds weird or is misspelled, it is probably a Leonardism. Think of it as calculated fo-net-ic spelling.

I feel that this form of speak stems from the fact that we are currently residing in the Ge-toe, that is ghetto for those not accustomed yet. It often has us saying and spellin' words in our own way.

A quote for my wife,

"What's a matta Tommy, aint yo house got no inside?"

Have fun reading, and when in doubt, sound it out!