'83 Kaw 1100 Spectre Rat chop. Getting started.

Well, I'm new here so I'll try not to be a dick.

Meanwhile, the last kid is outta school, my tour of Fatherhood duty in the freakin Ozarks is over and it's time to back to my hometown of Hollyweird. Kinda hard to get around or pretend to be a biker there without a bike so I traded a 6mpg old GMC Topkick for this '82 Kaw donor bike. I would have preferred a Harley or at least a chain drive but 5 years in the economy of the Ozarks took it's toll on my ability to solve problems by throwing money at them. Lucky for me I have zero loyalty to corporations so 2 wheels and some go fast is good enough for me. All I really cared is that it was a bike model that had been made in abundance so that parts, wrecks and experienced wrenches would be easily available. I figured KZ, CB and GSXR would all be good places to start.

So as of today, I have the bike running well, put a couple hundred miles on it, got it inspected, tagged, insured and spent enough time on it to know what I like about it and what I don't. So now I have some direction to go in and my main goal is have a unique, low budget chopper that gets me around LA, looks fairly wild and provides me with a rolling storefront to show off my leather working skills. I am also hoping to do the bike in stages which don't take more than a few days of down time per stage. So I won't be stripping this all the way down to the frame and starting from scratch.

So first things first. Here is what this ugly green monster looked like when I brought it home. Not exactly my style.

Obviously the first required step was to fix this ugly ass green paint. Nothin a few cans of Satin black, high temp, rattle can paint wouldn't fix. Ah soooooo much better.

Next is to push the bars up a bit, cut off all the ugly turn signal trash and start adding some temporary leather patches here and there to make it feel like it's mine while I start figuring out the more complex stuff and collect parts. Since I am a leather tooling guy who makes biker gear, I figure make use of stuff I have laying around the leather shop. Nothin too nice since it's all gonna change anyway. First thing is cover that ugly square gas cap with some gator and some imagery which properly conveys my internal dialog regarding current fuel prices.



I was taught how to do leather work by Pascal at RiffRaff of Hollywood. He's a pretty well known guy who spends plenty of time in various magazines and documentaries. His specialties are custom Cowboy boots and Chopper seats but the guy seems able to make just about anything out of leather. Out of the hundreds of seats and boots I have seen him build from scratch, I have yet to see one I didn't love. Perhaps there are other people in this world who can claim to be better at one specialty but I don't know anyone who can do it all as well as this guy does. Now he even does awesome metal engraving.

Anyway, a while back he made a seat that got a spill on it so the cover ended up in the trash. This guy is soooo freakin good, I have a collection of just stuff I pulled out of his freakin trash! lol Anyway, the "King Rat" patch is the only thing on this bike I didn't make and it was cut out of that seat cover I found in Pascal's garbage. How perfect is that for a rat bike eh? hehe



I Just slapped that puppy on there and didn't take the time to form it so there are a few wrinkles but it's only going to last until I build the new tank so I didn't put much effort into it.

I just slapped other various patches here and there to break up the black.






OK So I got some of that crap up there. The next step is going to be building the forward controls. Here we have some junk laid out on the table that I am going to scab them together out of.



So I'll have those old bike pegs for the pegs, welding tubing to the frame, weld bolts into the tubes and have more tubes over the bolts. I'll weld the wrenches to the loose tubes for use as the linkage and weld the chains into the brake pedal and shifter. Down the shifter side of the bike, I'll use that old sword looking corn knife as the shifter linkage rod and on the brake side I am going to use doubled up old chainsaw blades welded stiff. The pegs will have the old spurs welded under them so I can rest my heels on them if I like and I'll wrap them in leather so they don't scuff up the custom boots I made.

A few other things in this picture are the old brake light I found for 50 cents at a yard sale, the old lantern I am going to re-bulb into the headlight, one of two turtle shells I found that will get reworked into the rear view mirrors and some old shotgun parts I'll be cutting up into turn signals by filling them with red or yellow LEDs. Not sure what I'll do with the .50 caliber machine gun shells which were fired as blanks on the War of the worlds" movie I briefly worked on. The flask will get strapped on somewhere as well.

Other plans include building a hard tail section out of 3/8 welded chain with a matching bar to strap my gear too on long trips (I don't allow passengers any more). I am also going to build the ape hangers out of the same heavy duty logging chain welded to shape as well. 7/8 Solid bar at the risers and Harley sized at the controls so I have more choices available when it comes time to rewire and such. I'll prolly cut and rake the front enough to level out the bike when I lower the rear end during the hard tail process. Nothing too extreme.

The other thing I am gonna do is since this beast just gobbles gas and I don't want to cut up the backbone ( I am 300 lbs and it flexes enough at speed as it is) I am going to build a very large coffin gas tank that will trick the eye into feeling like the hard tail section continues at the same angle through the backbone. So the tank will wedge a bit. The tanks top line will match the top line of the hard tail. It will still carry 5 gallons or more and cover the 3 tube backbone.

I'll then cover it with leather and carve it up to match the wood grain in the other coffin patch. I'll prolly add eyes peeking out of broken boards and maybe some skeleton hands trying to break out. I may then carve chains "Locking the coffin" or even put real ones around it.

The goal is for the bike to be easily recognized around Hollywood since I am a stand up comic and also show off my leather skills since leather is one of my day jobs along with various things in the film industry.

Here is the vest I wear which I am trying to get the bike to match.



No idea what I am going to do for the seat yet. Perhaps an old saddle?

Well that's where I am right now. It's a start. I'll add pictures when I get the forward controls done in the next few days.
SD

The leather is a nice touch. I would like to do some gator skin on my bike after the hardtail. If you get a minute could you pm me a quote on what it would cost me to get a finished peice like the one on the tank?

Originally Posted by satanicben

The leather is a nice touch. I would like to do some gator skin on my bike after the hardtail. If you get a minute could you pm me a quote on what it would cost me to get a finished peice like the one on the tank?

In all honesty, it probably isn't worth doing. If you are seriously wanting to, I can do it but this is left overs from a skin that was used to build a pair of custom western boots so it didn't cost me anything to just toss it on there.

If this were going to be a finished piece that would stay on forever, I wouldn't glue it down, I would strap it and I would braid the edges with kangaroo stitching to give it a more finished look and longer life. To seriously do this right, I would have to have the tank it was going to go on and it would be up in the 6-800 dollar range to get it right. What you are seeing here is something I just slapped together in about 15 or 20 minutes out of scraps and it's going to look like hell if I leave it on there more than a year. Especially because the edges are not laced and it's just glued down.

To do something like this in just carved leather and not with gator would be in the 2-300 range without edge braid and 400 with. It depends on the level of detail in the artwork.. I run pretty much like a tattoo shop. It just depends on how much time it takes to do the artwork you want.

Once you get into Gator, Ostrich, shark, stingray and things like that, then the price just gets stupid high really fast due to the cost of the materials involved. Normally I try to avoid those kinds of materials but then again, the customer is always right.

SD

Like it. Big time. Dunno if the .50 cals are a similar diameter, more of a .38 special man, but I plugged my sawn off subframe with Winchester 12 gauge shells. Fit like a glove.

I love the leather work, One day soon I will teach myself how to do leather tooling. But I likey your allot ^_^. Good work keep it up.

Originally Posted by sexybluelady

I love the leather work, One day soon I will teach myself how to do leather tooling. But I likey your allot ^_^. Good work keep it up.

I know you will!!!! this is what happens when someone who is quite able gets the itch for custom leather stuff!!! that way, it only costs you what is costs for the materials!! and, gator, is the highest cost of skin I have seen yet!!! I really do njot understand, but, they have a hold on it, and monopoly gator skins!!!

prolly cuz gators are somewhat endangered swine. OP if you ever find yourself wanting chopped exhaust for that bike id trade you for the pipes you currently have.

Originally Posted by OldSchoolBully

Like it. Big time. Dunno if the .50 cals are a similar diameter, more of a .38 special man, but I plugged my sawn off subframe with Winchester 12 gauge shells. Fit like a glove.

HA! Those shells look great there I was contemplating the ends of the handlebars maybe. We shall see.

D

Originally Posted by Thunderhead1990

prolly cuz gators are somewhat endangered swine. OP if you ever find yourself wanting chopped exhaust for that bike id trade you for the pipes you currently have.

Prolly gonna stick with these pipes for now since they look like they are stock even though the baffles are missing. Cops in West Hollywood are a little uptight about modified exhaust last I heard.

One thing I am going to try to do is get the inside to glow red. Since the baffles are missing I was thinkin about welding in some tubes with glass ends that I can get red LEDs into. I think the exhaust holes glowing red at night would make cool running lights. The trick is doing it without melting lights or wires.

SD

Man that is SICK! Just going ballistic with the satin black like that? Makes me wanna get another inline 4 and just rat it out totally. And your leather work is A+ in my eyes, done in 20 minutes or not.
I love it!
What's your plan on how to chop it up? Since you wrote your gonna make it a "low budget chopper"?

ahhh alright then, the guy i bought my 650 from went ahead and hacked the exhaust. the leD idea sounds cool but id imagine youd have to insulate the hell out of it, or diffuse the heat further up the pipe...cuz wires would melt im sure otherwise.

Originally Posted by Stabler

Man that is SICK! Just going ballistic with the satin black like that? Makes me wanna get another inline 4 and just rat it out totally. And your leather work is A+ in my eyes, done in 20 minutes or not.
I love it!
What's your plan on how to chop it up? Since you wrote your gonna make it a "low budget chopper"?

I am building the hard tail section out of 3/8 chain. As soon as I can find or make a 20mm rear axle that is over 12.5 inches long and under 13.5 inches long I'll do the tail. The only question is how I'll attach is to the front half of the frame. Probably weld it to some cold rolled round bar stock and or plates. Not sure on that one yet.

I haven't decided it I am going to rake the front or not. If I do, I'll do it the old time way. Cut under and over the neck, bend it backwards, fill the triangle space under it with plate and then cover the section with more plate on the sides.

I am going to leave all 3 backbone tubes since I weigh in at 300 lbs. I'll just cover them with a giant coffin tank.

D

I've never heard of that method of raking the neck. I'm guessing it sounds simpler than it actually is....

id be careful about doing your hardtail with welded chain if your gunna be puttin that much weight on it.

Originally Posted by OldSchoolBully

I've never heard of that method of raking the neck. I'm guessing it sounds simpler than it actually is....

Here is a link to an old Chopper magazine article from back in the day. This is how guys did it when I was a kid. Check out the freakin STICK welder lol

http://www.choppersrule.com/chopper_...rake_neck1.asp

Originally Posted by Thunderhead1990

id be careful about doing your hardtail with welded chain if your gonna be puttin that much weight on it.

Yeah I had a sportster I lowered and built struts for that I put a hell of a lot of miles on. The trick seems to be very thick chain and lots and lots of welding.

I accidental jumped that sporty about 4 feet on night and came down so hard that it ripped the cover the right peg was bolted to. I was 305 in full gear at that time and it didn't hurt the strut at all. Glad I had about a 100 bucks worth of gel and high end foam in that seat though Didn't hurt at all though it did scare the crap outta me lol

So I started the forward controls today. I got the pegs in place and the brake linkage working. It's ugly as hell lol just the way I want it hehe. Tomorrow I'll get the shifter working as well. The goal for this bike really is the mad max, ratkenstien from hell. So I am not spending any time at all trying to do things clean or pretty.

I am also just slathering the welds on. Usually with my eyes closed. I used to be a decent welder but no access to decent grinders, helmets, clamps and such so I am just tacking with my eyes closed and head turned and then going back and welding with an old crap helmet held in one hand while I stitch with the other. Getting older and wearing crap glasses doesn't help either. No lift, no table, bad knees all add up to booger that sucker together until it works hehehe.

I haven't bothered to spray for splatter or do much of any prep work like removing rust, paint or proper grinding. I'm just gashing it all together as ugly as possible. The pictures just don't show well at all. Specially the doubled up chain lever.

The parts I used here are tubes, rods and bolts with bicycle buddy pegs, chain, a railroad spike, a rusty old wrench, a corn knife, various nuts and bolts from a coffee can and a piece of strap welded to the back of the corn knife to remove the flex.

I notched the tube, welded the bolts to a rod, welded the bolts and rod into the tube, welded all that to the frame and the engine mounts and then built the linkage from there. I have a feeling I'll have to go back and up the diameter of the bolts before long but it all works pretty well for now. The stock return spring couldn't handle the new friction in the linkage so that beastly spring there is a soldering iron stand lol It all works great now.

Here are some parts laid out.



The sacrilegious frame welding. Since I didn't strip the bike down and go all the way around each weld, I just made sure to spread it out over four places. The two down tubes and two spots on the engine mounts between the center pipes. Not pretty or race worthy but good enough for what I need.




Here it is test fit with the corn knife in place. The knife was full of flex so I have to weld a 1/2 strap the length of the blade at a 90 degree angle to eliminate it. It's really hard to see how the chain is doubled, triangulated and the wrench is braced (more flex) with a rusty old small diameter railroad spike.



Here they are finished with a little bit of black paint on them. I took it for a test ride and it did fine. So the end result is good. If it goes a 100 miles without breaking it's prolly good forever. I have my doubts about the tang of that knife though. I'll probable end up adding chain to the other side of the corn knife handle so the tang doesn't matter. Ugly and strong, that's what I like



Feel free to give me all the grief you want regarding the welding and hack job. In the end it's what I want. I want the bike to look like absolute trash so the leather ends up looking that much better and the bike stands out around all the other flashy bikes I end up parking next to around Hollywood and LA.

All rat. All the time >

SD

Originally Posted by ScaryDAve

Here is a link to an old Chopper magazine article from back in the day. This is how guys did it when I was a kid. Check out the freakin STICK welder lol

http://www.choppersrule.com/chopper_...rake_neck1.asp

Holy shit. That is old school. I wonder who the first guinea pig for that method was and how many times it buckled before they got it right. That's sweet....

haha.. That kind of stick welder is what I use.. Awesome article btw.

Originally Posted by OldSchoolBully

Holy shit. That is old school. I wonder who the first guinea pig for that method was and how many times it buckled before they got it right. That's sweet....

Yeah all the old bikers I knew as a kid had frames done like that. Of course it's much easier with that big ass cast Harley neck. I would venture to say that is stronger than stock because of the added plates it's sandwiched between.

The question for me is how to pull that off with three backbone tubes going into the neck tube. Since this Kaw doesn't have a big cast section like that. I also have to be careful not to hit my vin number which is sitting right there near the weld.

Once I get the hart tail finished I'll see how it looks and rides. I don't want to have the bottom rails at too steep an uphill angle from front to back. When I lowered my sporty with struts it just made the bike look and ride all the better so I left the front end stock. I am hoping that ends up being the case here as well but I'll cut it if I have to.

SD