91 XLH - winter rebuild

[Newporabbit]

I posted a couple other threads lately about stuff I'm doing to my bike this winter so I figured Id just make a winter rebuild thread to document it and take a few in-process pics while im at it. I really dont think I'm doing things like a professional would, but hopefully it will give someone else an idea and they can improve on it.

Here's how my bike ended the year...


Then re did my rear pipe, put an IH wheel on the back and made a seat.

IH rear wheel on and Evo
http://www.chopcult.com/forum/showth...tster+bearings

Shovel seat thread
http://www.chopcult.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15055
And here's a more recent pic with the wheel and seat on

I decided to ditch the gas tank for something smaller since I felt it was out of proportion with the rest of the bike now with a smaller seat and different bars. I had this superglide tank laying around that I narrowed some time back but it was still too long for the backbone.


So I did some overlays with a lowbrow tank I wish I could afford instead to figure out where to cut mine


this method helped a lot.


taped off my lines


painted so i can see exactly where to cut


here it is just tacked together. My buddy who TIG welds for a living just stopped down so he can actually weld it for me at work monday. I have a long way to go on this one, but my main focus is just to get it holding gas again then worry about bondo and paint.

I plan to run it low, so Im gonna need a crossover tube like fat bobs.







That's all I have done right now. Still on the list of things to do, new sissy bar, rear fender, home made mid controls and tons of other little stuff.

[kiel83]

That thing is killer. I liked it before, but it looks even more awesome now.

[Newporabbit]

Thanks kiel

[NHMike]

Ya, sweet job man that tank is going to kill.

[kiel83]

No problem. Keep up the rubber side down.

[66bmx6]

real nice work on the tank. those new bars look comfortable and stylie

[Newporabbit]

great looking bike. I actually love the original seat and bars, I mean both versions look really very good, but to me that first pic it looks beautiful all but the tank. Either way you have though is very nice, very nice indeed.

That's funny cuz my brother rides too and hes been talking shit to me since the day I took those rabbit ears and seat off. And then I had to cut my internal throttle out of them so they're basically fucked. No turning back now I guess. That's the problem with internal throttles, they basically ruin the old bars if you take em out.

[Newporabbit]

not much to update. My buddy tigged up a bunch of the tank at work and we spent a good part of the day working on some round bar trippy designs for it. Also an end cap for the fuel cap but im not exactly sure if that's gonna stay. Probably look for something brass copper. 1 1/2 NPT shouldnt be too hard to find








Grinding Sanding Welding in this one car garage with all the doors shut is killing my fucking lungs so I spent a good part of today installing one of these bad boys



doesnt feel like im trapped in a coal mine when the welders/grinders are on now.

[marsupial]

That's cool looking!

And good to be safe.

[Saltytonk]

Great Job on the tank! whats with the orange clevis ?

[Newporabbit]

Great Job on the tank! whats with the orange clevis ?

The orange arrow looking thing is a magnet holding the tank up off the hand shift. I didnt put mounts on it yet.

[Newporabbit]

That's cool looking!

And good to be safe.

Thanks man, appreciate it.

But the bathroom fan works for shit. Need to get a duct closer to the weld and it should work a little better.

[Newporabbit]

Couple of progress pics. Got sick of the other bars I was running real fast so decided to make a new pair from scrap pieces I had laying around. 8 pieces total











And made a narrow sissy bar. Had to bend the whole thing cold, using my bike lift because I dont have acetylene/ocy tanks but it came out really straight. Got lucky with this one.

[QPACOLIPSE10]

I dig the tall sissy bar, and the gas cap is pretty rad, but my favorite part is the BMW sticker on the oil tank haha

[Newporabbit]

I dig the tall sissy bar, and the gas cap is pretty rad, but my favorite part is the BMW sticker on the oil tank haha

Haha thanks man that sticker took weeks of work to get it just right

[Newporabbit]

i think the bars look awesome, great work. sister bar is very nice also, the bike really has a nice flow to it, very original, great work.

thanks!!!

[xllance]

No doubt some of the coolest bars I've seen. I imagine it's pretty hard to be original with bars but you nailed it!

[Newporabbit]

No doubt some of the coolest bars I've seen. I imagine it's pretty hard to be original with bars but you nailed it!

Thanks dude really appreciate that. I knew I wanted different bars but couldn't think of anything. Funny thing is I was so disgusted after a week trying to come up with a design in my head but I had nothing. I finally said fuck it and just started tacking cutoffs together to get the ball rolling and came up with these. I was really relieved when I bolted em up and realized theyre actually kinda cool..


gratuitous outdoor shot from today

[Newporabbit]

Rolled it outside today, figured I'd post a few midway pics from the rebuild. Really sucks deciding to do a "winter rebuild" when we've had nothing but warm days here in PA lately hearing all the bikes riding through town.

Once all the fab work is done, the plan is to take it all apart and get the frame and tins powder coated pearl white and find someone to do some minimal pin striping on certain spots.

[Smallston]

Is that a weld on rear frame section? If so which one?