Hey all! At the request of a friend who’s also a member on this board, I’m copying over a thread I started on some other sites regarding my latest project. So pardon any anomalies or misdirection, blah-blah-blah. If you do find any, grab a pencil and paper, write down your concerns, neatly fold the paper, put it in an envelope and stick it up your ass.
Here goes.
Mid May 2013: Welp ... sold my Nissan 240SX. Not thrilled as it is an awesome car and was nowhere near stock, so yes it was fun to drive. It also had sentimental value as some of the money to build that car came from my mother's inheritance after her death in '99. Sigh.
But, my wife and I discussed many possibilities and since the 240 was pretty much a toy and I had WAY too many expensive dreams for it, we both decided that maybe I could have more fun in modding another bike. ...... I love her.
In any event, I hit Craigslist here locally and went to look at a few bikes knowing damn well that it's for a "project" and I'm not spending too much. I put a limit of $1500. May 24th, 2013 - Here's what I snagged for $750:
'91 Honda Shadow VLX 600
35,000 miles, new rear tire, front bald (so bald I'm trailering her home), starts up good, stock pipes gutted, pops a bit with blue flame from front cylinder (out exhaust), needs fork springs and new chain, and other minor imperfections ... I mean, check out the tank on the right side. In any event, it doesn't look to have been dropped while in "motion" and the dude's parents told me that he dropped it while loading it onto a trailer. Oh well. Guess it's time to put some amateur skills to the test here in Chappy's garage, lol!
Wish me luck fellars and gellars (?) ... I'll make sure to include you all along the way.
As for the plan, she’s going to bobberville. I don't particularly like the big plastic rear fender at all. The thing I like about this frame is the rear swingarm having the 'look' of a rigid frame and that it's chain drive not shaft. Nothing against shaft drive, I just prefer the look of chain.
I'll find ways to add my own flare and I do have a few ideas. Gonna work on some mechanical and safety issues first and then pursue the custom.
As usual, it probably won't be a fast process. But I will most likely be buying some needed tools along the way since many years ago I had major theft in my shop and never replenished some of the basics.
Coming home:
Take a look at some of the "surprises" I've come up with:
Nice, eh? Let some hacking begin:
And here's how she's looking today:
Parts I've ordered so far:
. Front tire (Kenda K673 Kruz to match the almost new rear tire)
. Front and rear wheel bearings/seals (All Balls)
. Front brake pads (BikeMaster)
. Fork springs (Progressive)
. Fork seals (BikeMaster)
. Fork oil (Maxima 10WT)
. Sprocket set, 40T rear/16T front (JT Sprockets)
. 525 BMOR Series O-Ring Chain (BikeMaster)
. Hardtail lowering kit (Scootworks)
I've got a lot to do still. I'm contemplating seats, and yes it will be a sprung seat because if you didn't catch it above, I'm going rigid. Why? Because I can get it lower. That also entails cutting the spacer in the front forks when I install the new springs. I have a lot to do, such as stripping the flat black rattle job off of nearly everything, yanking the stock intake, dismantling the carbs to see what's in'em (cleanliness and jet sizes), locating another stock exhaust system (the innards of the front pipe are broken ... yes broken. The inner pipe somehow separated itself from the top of the pipe at the flange area (leading into the head). Oh yeah, and fixing the tank.
Ah yes, fixing the tank ... I tried locating a replacement and they are not cheap, nor are they available in mass quantities. So I'm going to be experimenting with popping those dents and doing some bodywork. Yeaaaaaaahhhh ... we'll see how that goes.
I have come to realize that the bike was laid down, but not too bad. Even though I've thought about the whole 'flipping' idea, I don't know yet as it will be cutting a close edge between money spent and market value weighted against a unique piece. So this is my experimental bike as it stands now, and I'm just going to have fun making it mine.
I have a lead on an exhaust, and it really doesn't' matter the external shape nor the shape of the 'mufflers' as they'll be cut off. And, as a bonus to myself I'm also looking at welders.
Okay, got a bunch of parts in the mail the other day. Probably not using any of them any time soon as I've still got a lot to do with teardown, cleanup and details. Recap of stuff included:
. Front tire (Kenda K673 Kruz to match the almost new rear tire)
. Front and rear wheel bearings/seals (All Balls)
. Front brake pads (BikeMaster)
. Fork springs (Progressive)
. Fork seals (BikeMaster)
. Fork oil (Maxima 10WT)
. Sprocket set, 40T rear/16T front (JT Sprockets)
. Hardtail lowering kit (Scootworks)
The BikeMaster 525 BMOR Series O-Ring Chain will arrive Monday. I'm also awaiting a new (old) exhaust I picked up on Ebay. Hopefully the innards are in better shape.
So started the day with a few expectations, shot to hell as usual. Assembled my new HF tire changer, bolted it to the floor and went to begin dismount of tires. Crap. Forgot to get the motorcycle tire attachment. Come to find out HF discontinued the damn thing a while back. Grr. Packed it up; returning it Monday. Meanwhile, a few drops of sweat and some swearing later, I got the tires off the poor boy way.
The front rim had a nice bend in it, but the wheel seems to spin true. I'll double check it once the new bearings go in. But it's amazing what a hammer and a grinder will do. I am probably going to dismantle the spokes (front and rear) for some paintwork/powdercoat anyway ... we'll see ...
After removing the makeshift tire tube band (duct tape by the previous owner or before) I then proceeded to strip off the paint using Klean Strip (awesome stuff!) in a spray can. During this time I put some bolts in a bucket of Evaporust. I only had enough to do the one wheel and the tank. I then wrapped the inner rims with cloths soaked in Evaporust. I'm letting that sit over night ... I think you know where I'm headed with these tubed spoke wheels.
Moving on to the forks. Look at this. Obviously worked on before; eesh.
Finally, got to removing the carbs. Went to the local dealer and ordered a rebuild kit. Yesterday I had a nice phone call with TJ Styles and ordered some custom jets along with a couple of velocity stacks - TJ Brutal Customs ... the man is genius.
That's a day. Here's how she sits:
Yeah, that's a portable air conditioner box in the background. I splurged ... it's hot as balls in my garage and the mosquitoes are out of control! I'll chalk it up to shop expenditures.
Here goes.
Mid May 2013: Welp ... sold my Nissan 240SX. Not thrilled as it is an awesome car and was nowhere near stock, so yes it was fun to drive. It also had sentimental value as some of the money to build that car came from my mother's inheritance after her death in '99. Sigh.
But, my wife and I discussed many possibilities and since the 240 was pretty much a toy and I had WAY too many expensive dreams for it, we both decided that maybe I could have more fun in modding another bike. ...... I love her.
In any event, I hit Craigslist here locally and went to look at a few bikes knowing damn well that it's for a "project" and I'm not spending too much. I put a limit of $1500. May 24th, 2013 - Here's what I snagged for $750:
'91 Honda Shadow VLX 600
35,000 miles, new rear tire, front bald (so bald I'm trailering her home), starts up good, stock pipes gutted, pops a bit with blue flame from front cylinder (out exhaust), needs fork springs and new chain, and other minor imperfections ... I mean, check out the tank on the right side. In any event, it doesn't look to have been dropped while in "motion" and the dude's parents told me that he dropped it while loading it onto a trailer. Oh well. Guess it's time to put some amateur skills to the test here in Chappy's garage, lol!
Wish me luck fellars and gellars (?) ... I'll make sure to include you all along the way.
As for the plan, she’s going to bobberville. I don't particularly like the big plastic rear fender at all. The thing I like about this frame is the rear swingarm having the 'look' of a rigid frame and that it's chain drive not shaft. Nothing against shaft drive, I just prefer the look of chain.
I'll find ways to add my own flare and I do have a few ideas. Gonna work on some mechanical and safety issues first and then pursue the custom.
As usual, it probably won't be a fast process. But I will most likely be buying some needed tools along the way since many years ago I had major theft in my shop and never replenished some of the basics.
Coming home:
Take a look at some of the "surprises" I've come up with:
Nice, eh? Let some hacking begin:
And here's how she's looking today:
Parts I've ordered so far:
. Front tire (Kenda K673 Kruz to match the almost new rear tire)
. Front and rear wheel bearings/seals (All Balls)
. Front brake pads (BikeMaster)
. Fork springs (Progressive)
. Fork seals (BikeMaster)
. Fork oil (Maxima 10WT)
. Sprocket set, 40T rear/16T front (JT Sprockets)
. 525 BMOR Series O-Ring Chain (BikeMaster)
. Hardtail lowering kit (Scootworks)
I've got a lot to do still. I'm contemplating seats, and yes it will be a sprung seat because if you didn't catch it above, I'm going rigid. Why? Because I can get it lower. That also entails cutting the spacer in the front forks when I install the new springs. I have a lot to do, such as stripping the flat black rattle job off of nearly everything, yanking the stock intake, dismantling the carbs to see what's in'em (cleanliness and jet sizes), locating another stock exhaust system (the innards of the front pipe are broken ... yes broken. The inner pipe somehow separated itself from the top of the pipe at the flange area (leading into the head). Oh yeah, and fixing the tank.
Ah yes, fixing the tank ... I tried locating a replacement and they are not cheap, nor are they available in mass quantities. So I'm going to be experimenting with popping those dents and doing some bodywork. Yeaaaaaaahhhh ... we'll see how that goes.
I have come to realize that the bike was laid down, but not too bad. Even though I've thought about the whole 'flipping' idea, I don't know yet as it will be cutting a close edge between money spent and market value weighted against a unique piece. So this is my experimental bike as it stands now, and I'm just going to have fun making it mine.
I have a lead on an exhaust, and it really doesn't' matter the external shape nor the shape of the 'mufflers' as they'll be cut off. And, as a bonus to myself I'm also looking at welders.
Okay, got a bunch of parts in the mail the other day. Probably not using any of them any time soon as I've still got a lot to do with teardown, cleanup and details. Recap of stuff included:
. Front tire (Kenda K673 Kruz to match the almost new rear tire)
. Front and rear wheel bearings/seals (All Balls)
. Front brake pads (BikeMaster)
. Fork springs (Progressive)
. Fork seals (BikeMaster)
. Fork oil (Maxima 10WT)
. Sprocket set, 40T rear/16T front (JT Sprockets)
. Hardtail lowering kit (Scootworks)
The BikeMaster 525 BMOR Series O-Ring Chain will arrive Monday. I'm also awaiting a new (old) exhaust I picked up on Ebay. Hopefully the innards are in better shape.
So started the day with a few expectations, shot to hell as usual. Assembled my new HF tire changer, bolted it to the floor and went to begin dismount of tires. Crap. Forgot to get the motorcycle tire attachment. Come to find out HF discontinued the damn thing a while back. Grr. Packed it up; returning it Monday. Meanwhile, a few drops of sweat and some swearing later, I got the tires off the poor boy way.
The front rim had a nice bend in it, but the wheel seems to spin true. I'll double check it once the new bearings go in. But it's amazing what a hammer and a grinder will do. I am probably going to dismantle the spokes (front and rear) for some paintwork/powdercoat anyway ... we'll see ...
After removing the makeshift tire tube band (duct tape by the previous owner or before) I then proceeded to strip off the paint using Klean Strip (awesome stuff!) in a spray can. During this time I put some bolts in a bucket of Evaporust. I only had enough to do the one wheel and the tank. I then wrapped the inner rims with cloths soaked in Evaporust. I'm letting that sit over night ... I think you know where I'm headed with these tubed spoke wheels.
Moving on to the forks. Look at this. Obviously worked on before; eesh.
Finally, got to removing the carbs. Went to the local dealer and ordered a rebuild kit. Yesterday I had a nice phone call with TJ Styles and ordered some custom jets along with a couple of velocity stacks - TJ Brutal Customs ... the man is genius.
That's a day. Here's how she sits:
Yeah, that's a portable air conditioner box in the background. I splurged ... it's hot as balls in my garage and the mosquitoes are out of control! I'll chalk it up to shop expenditures.
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