Biltwell riser extension tech

[specialseventynine]

I contacted Billdozer about a bike build I'm about to begin. This was the conversation.

"Bill, I was wondering if Biltwell would like to be involved in supplying some parts for a bike build?"

" Sure Jay, as long as you're not a dickhead and you share some of the tech involved in the build."

The conversation didn't really go like that, but I wouldn't have been offended if it did. Bill and Chris @ Biltwell have been great supporters of my small fabrication/bike part/bike building business, and in turn I'll support anything they have their hands in.

First things first. I start with a set of Biltwell's cast stainless risers, some thick walled 1 1/4" 304 stainless tubing, and a little South Bend 9" workshop lathe.

Turn down some of the stainless tubing to the length and profile you like.


Next, turn down the profile of the lower section of the Biltwell risers if you need to.



This is where my camera died, so there isn't a photo of the 1/2" 13 tpi bung I welded in the top of the riser. Thread a section of 1/2" 13 tpi rod into the riser extension. Thread on your Biltwell riser and check to see how it looks.

[specialseventynine]

Now go make the other one.

[Markee]

Nice work man. The the defference in material tint is interesting. Are the biltwell risers 316?

[BigOscar]

Ext

Very nice I wouldnt mind a set of those, maybe a lil longer

[ditto]

yea dig em a bunch they gonna be available for sale er did I miss that somehwere in my illiteracy?

[Flatironmike]

mmmm, freebies

good stuff, Jay. thanks for sharing

[Toecutterp]

Stoked to help on this build. Ready for the parts if you want to send them you got my address.

[Isgro]

Nice work Jay. Looks great.

[Guest]

This is awesome. Thanks for the love, Jay. I'm following up where Billdozer left off. He's in Mexico testing a 2010 H-D Spring-a-Mabob chopper with some skaters. ..

[redsox716]

looks great man! you fabricate some awesome stuff.

[specialseventynine]

I'm just throwing this out there, but extensions seem like an easy piece to have produced by the good peeps @ Biltwell. Man would it open up the options in using the risers.

[Boylecomm]

Those are real nice Jay, As usual.
I need to come sweep your floors and lean over your shoulder for a couple of weeks.

Oscar will need a pair of 18"ers.

[Guest]

I'm just throwing this out there, but extensions seem like an easy piece to have produced by the good peeps @ Biltwell. Man would it open up the options in using the risers.

Re: risers as line extension for Biltwell product range; an excellent idea, but unit volumes for this kind of esoteric, personalized stuff are always a consideration for us.

To keep our MSRP's reasonable, we need to design high-volume stuff.

In other words, we have to sell hundreds of them in the first year, and thousands of them over time.

For instance: we thought 7/8" OD handlebars for the chopper scene were a no-brainer when we started, but we sold 78 bars in 8 different SKU's in 12 months in our first year of operation. That's fewer than 10 pair per style/color, which isn't a pinch of gorilla shit in the world of mass production.

Moral of story: pick stuff that the majority of the chopper universe can use.

That's why we now make 1" OD bars with dimples for stock controls. We thought EVERYONE knew how to install non-dimpled bars on stock H-Ds... turns out they didn't.

Kim brings up another good point about risers that we learned the hard way:

If we made them available in three lengths, somebody would want them in a fourth.

And that, dear friends, is the nature of custom motorcycles.

Given this fact, we make our risers in one (short) length to fit "most" stock and custom bikes, and we count on badasses like you guys to customize them to your liking.

I hope this explanation helps. Thanks again for the great how-to.

McGoo

[gigastatt]

Nice job Jay!!!!! You've got all the fresh Ideas!!!!

[specialseventynine]

[QUOTE=Halwade;19311

Kim brings up another good point about risers that we learned the hard way:

If we made them available in three lengths, somebody would want them in a fourth.

And that, dear friends, is the nature of custom motorcycles. [/QUOTE]

Isn't that the truth. You would think a couple choices in length would work, but that's never the case. Something I'll look into with my production machinist for costs.

Speaking of my machinist friend, Tim, any luck with that new bung design?