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xs650 > > Custom Work: Chop, Bob, Cafe and Flattracker - Streettracker > > Did you say Bob? No I said Bobber! > > my hopeless project fun


my hopeless project fun
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toe.
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PostPosted: September 24, 2009, 9:44 pm    Post subject: my hopeless project fun

okay. so you know your buddy that runs off and does something without thinking and then finds himself in over his head but refuses to admit it?
i guess for my friends that's me.
for example. i am not handy. i have a desk job drawing pictures all day.
6 months ago i didn't have a firm grasp on what a bobber was and yet here i am.

i started building about 3 weeks ago. this was probably ill advised. i picked up my '78 and immediately started to make a mess of it.

not having any really mechanical know how led me to make only one proper choice, to date, which was to have someone knowledgeable weld on a hardtail for me.
after that i received a quite tutorial on welding and was left alone to figure things out by myself... which is perhaps going to be a problem.



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toe.
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PostPosted: September 24, 2009, 9:53 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

so joey welded up the hardtail and gave me a couple hours of instruction on how to weld something to something else.

from there i tried to think about how to do things. looking around at other people's pictures and trying out ideas. attempting to learn some skills.

first thing i did was make a battery box (it took a few tries)
and foot pegs.



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toe.
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PostPosted: September 24, 2009, 10:02 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

which brings us to where we are today.
ive been making things up as i go without much input and without really knowing how to do anything.

ive been recycling a lot of things scrounged from the old frame or using things just found about to hopefully look pretty cool.
i work with a bunch of bike builders that think the whole project is pretty funny... while bad for the ego. the free parts are more than worth it even though i have no idea how to use them yet.

i have learned several things so far.
1. my peg on the right side is about half and inch too short and will have to be remade.
2. my exhaust pipes will clearly not fit.



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TeeCat
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PostPosted: September 25, 2009, 6:52 am    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

Man... I give you credit! I don't have the stones you do.

There's plenty of corporate knowledge here to keep you inside the lines, so to speak. And think what you're learning in the process!

TC
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LDO107
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PostPosted: September 25, 2009, 7:51 am    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

This is a great thread. Keep trying and keep doing!
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Teebs
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PostPosted: September 25, 2009, 11:28 am    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

lol great thread and great attitude. keep at it, brother.

While the railroad spike foot peg looks cool, keep in mind that this isn't a static piece of art. Those sharp edged protuberances will be in motion, and anything (such as your lower leg) caught on them is going to be peeled like an orange.

I'm not saying not to do it, just that whenever you're thinking of ideas for your scoot you need to keep in mind that it's a rolling mass of metal, not a paperweight. Something a lot of guys forget.

It's looking great. Can't wait to see it finished. Be safe.
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blackwidow
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PostPosted: September 26, 2009, 8:18 am    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

Thats good your doing it yourself the whole point of it is trial and error and learn as you go you'll be happy with the end results that you did it yourself. Take your time read as much on it as you can and thats all the advice I can give you oh have confidence
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benztech
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PostPosted: September 26, 2009, 8:56 am    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

if you want an easy escape just buy the batt box/ electrical box and put it on. you can also purchase a set of mid controls or foward controls.
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mmasac
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PostPosted: September 26, 2009, 3:35 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

Wow, this is a great thread. becuase I am also that friend. I'm the guy that never thinks anything through. I saw someoen else did it, I could do it to, and I have no clue even where to begin. I havent actually bought my bike yet. I have scrounged up some parts, I think i will need, and bought them on flebay. But, I'll watch closely, and when I find the right bike to start with, I aswell will have a similar thread.
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toe.
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PostPosted: September 26, 2009, 4:58 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

thanks guys. i appreciate all of the good support.
i haven't done anything on the bike this weekend yet, mostly because i'm waiting on a few parts to finish figuring out what my spacing looks like.

tomorrow, with any luck, i'll go work on the pipes a bit more... try and get them in to a place where nothing rubs or gets kicked.
i would rather run them long and straight by the bottom of the frame but that requires getting some more pieces... so i may just screw around a little with whats left of the stock pipes. see what happens.


TEEBS: i have an idea on the sharpness of the foot pegs. but its more akin to the cosmetics of the bike so i was going to leave it for a bit, after paint.
i totally agree that when i first bought them i thought they would just be cool. but when they got here... way heavy, pointy, and something else that ends with "y" kind of like rusty but not really rust.
had to come up with something else on the fly.
i hope you'll like it when you see it.
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djsifu
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PostPosted: September 26, 2009, 5:45 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

Thats really cool to see that! I'm about to embark on something similar. I have no skills, just some vision, and people around me who are willing to teach. Looking forward to the end result!
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Dirka
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PostPosted: October 3, 2009, 12:01 am    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

looks to me like you are on the right track. not sure if that really counts since i am in the middle of my first chop too. keep building and post your progress.
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toe.
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PostPosted: October 3, 2009, 7:44 am    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

i hate waiting for parts. i hate not getting anything done!
i've noticed something odd. i seem to get pretty depressed if i don't do something on the bike for a day or two. that's really really weird.

going to a bike graveyard in a bit to scrounge for an exhaust set up. mostly because making a new one from scratch makes me nervous and i want a back up plan. also cause i made a mess of the stock pipes.
sorry restoration fans. one less set of stock pipes in the world for no real purpose.
and then to the Art Bike festival to recon some more ideas.
will post some small updates and such tonight or tomorrow.



Benztech: the fun of the project is the struggle. think i've spent total of $100 since buying the bike. i'm going to do as much from scratch as possible. so far the only bit i think i could have fabbed here instead of bought (not including the hard tail) are the handle bars. everything else. home grown, idiot boy originals... and by that i mean something i saw somewhere else thought was cool and tried to replicate.... poorly.
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Teebs
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PostPosted: October 3, 2009, 11:43 am    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

A fairly cheap way of building pipes is with old car exhaust manifolds. Any manifold with a 1.5" O.D. pipe will work. It's a common size so there are a lot of them out there, and a couple of manifolds will give you plenty of bends to work with. Just a thought.
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toe.
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PostPosted: October 4, 2009, 7:53 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

okay. so i didnt get a whole lot done this week due to issues with the as yet not here seat pan. lot of sulking and bitching and such...
whatever... it worked itself and will be here early this week.
so only a few small updates. hopefully next weekend will be more productive.


so while doing almost nothing i started tacking things.
i changed the battery box a little. now instead of being welded to its under bars its bolted in four places and the under bars tacked to the frame. should be able to remove it if there are problems now. dont know why i didnt do that originally... seemed sort of dumb in hind sight.

tacked rear brake pivot point. will need gasket or something as had to move lever further out to clear motor... which created a gap. must think on this.

i practiced actual welding a bit by reshaping the bar that holds the rear brake assembly. it now clears where i want the rear fender to sit. must make tabs for its permanent home.

started fabbing a rear tail light/ license plate braket. i dont know. its different... but i may change it. final position also not set yet. spent way too much time trying to figure it out.


TEEBS. will look into that exhaust manifold idea in the morning. i definitely wouldnt have thought of that on my own.



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Teebs
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PostPosted: October 4, 2009, 8:26 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

Very cool. keep at it. I like the pointless ego pic.
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toe.
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PostPosted: October 25, 2009, 8:36 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

okay, so stuff happens.
as much as i would like to be the braggart every moment of every day. life gets in the way. personal things happen. set backs delays ... the nonsense stress of life.
that said i havent done too much lately and i would like to fix that.

went to the shop today to make some piddly little crap that probably will seem like old hat to most of you guys but if i havent done it then its new to me.

today was mostly spent making tabs out of ten gauge flat stock.
mocking up the seat springs.
moving the brake assembly (again)
remaking the tail light/ license plate bracket so that its... ahem.. right side up... (the more experienced people wandering around the shop got a good laugh out of that one)
locking down the rear brake.
pounding out the stock rear fender. filled some of the holes where the old tail light section used to be. im so gonna need bondo for this.

anyway pics below.

edit: sorry for the pic quality. the camera was dying and i couldnt find the spare battery.... also... apparently there arent pics of the new tail light/ license plate bracket... stupid camera!!!



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Last edited by toe. on October 25, 2009, 8:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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toe.
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PostPosted: October 25, 2009, 8:38 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

more stuff.


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toe.
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PostPosted: October 25, 2009, 8:40 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

a little bit more


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Teebs
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PostPosted: October 25, 2009, 9:50 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

Your chop is going to look great when she's done. (already does) Keep at it!
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acbanks
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PostPosted: October 25, 2009, 10:30 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

A chopper with front and rear discs. I like it.
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Dirka
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PostPosted: November 1, 2009, 8:18 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

looks awesome. what kind of paint scheme you thinking?
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toe.
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PostPosted: November 22, 2009, 10:25 am    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

havent decide truly yet.

was thinking about having the frame in red or a ridiculously loud and obnoxious color... and then leaving the tank and fender all raw and gnarly looking... well clear coat raw.. not exposed metal raw.

not sure on the seat yet as the seat has just been a pain in the but in terms of placement. figure i'll deal with its cosmetics later.

ill do a short update sometime tomorrow. i didnt get a pic of my disaster so ill do a little write up on that too.
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Dirka
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PostPosted: November 23, 2009, 11:59 pm    Post subject: Re: my hopeless project fun

i am trying to figure out a seat mount too. my problem is, i have to incorporate a rear tank mount in there somewhere too. i am trying to use those same springs. they look cool but i dont know how functional they will be. are those 3"ers? sorry about the hijack, all done now
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