Turning a murdered out bobber into a respectable chopper

Collapse

Desktop Ad Forum Top

Collapse

Mobile ad top forum

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • seandavis
    Junior Member
    • Dec 2016
    • 12

    Turning a murdered out bobber into a respectable chopper

    What's up guys. Figured I should start a build thread for my project that i've been working on for a couple years now.

    Here's my story:

    I've been on bikes since i was 4 years old, raced motocross my whole life, so of course i had to get a Harley fresh out of high-school. (sidenote: my middle name actually is Harley haha)
    Being that i was fresh out of highschool, i was young, dumb, and set out to find the SICKKKKKKEST bobber i could find.

    And here she was:

    DSC_9562 by datwagn, on Flickr
    DSC_9795 by datwagn, on Flickr

    Sick right? 96 Evo Frankenstein bike. Murdered out, giant apes, big sissy bar and a super sick bullet headlight.

    I obviously thought I was the shit:

    DSC_9768 by datwagn, on Flickr

    (my buddy's sporty chop actually was fucking cool)

    I even had my super hot friend model on it. yup i was pretty cool

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr




    Flash forward a few years....
    I rode the bike every now and then but neglected it for the most part. I was busy with my show car build and just kinda got sick of looking at the bike.

    One day i got some wild stick up my ass and decided I was gonna completely tear down the bike and rebuild it from the ground up...

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    Had it down to the frame in just two nights after work, i felt pretty damn accomplished being that i had no air tools and no experience tearing down a Harley haha.

    Remember when i said this was a Frankenstein bike? yeah.. EVERYTHING on this bike was hacked to shit. tons of dead wires that went to nothing, tons of ghetto rigged mounts and stuff.
    Check this shit out:

    Untitled by datwagn, on Flickr

    reallyyyyy nice custom tank mount right? so disgusting

    Anyways, my plan for this bike at first was pretty simple. I was just gonna clean up the frame and send everything off to get powdercoated gloss black. because gloss black is much classier than matte right?

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    While everything was getting powdercoated, i decided I wanted something cool with the tank.
    My buddy's dad is one of the painters for Troy Lee Designs, and he offered to paint my tank completely for free AS LONG as he got to do whatever he wanted... I obviously agreed. The only thing i said was "it just has to be gloss because the rest of the bike is gloss black"

    Couple months later i got the tank back....

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    As beautiful as this paintjob is.. i was super bummed. It was tan, green, and MATTE..... i thought for sure it was gonna look shitty. but i took it to another painter buddy of mine and he threw a gloss clear coat on it, and it ended up looking way better.

    Starting to realize that I didnt take a whole lot of pictures during the build process..... but heres some bitchin Paughco risers that i picked up, and paired them with a set of standard 10" apes.

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    I got everything back from powdercoat and decided that i absolutely hated the 9 spoke mags... so i shelled out some money and had some brand new spoked wheels laced up.
    Went with a 21" front spool wheel. got the spool from lowbrow and the spokes from buchanan, with an excel rim and wrapped it with an Avon tire of course. fuck front brakes.

    Here's my pops showing off his one remaining tooth.
    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    Also picked up a standard headlight from lowbrow and they had a sale on their shaved fork lowers that i couldnt pass up.

    Me and my dad spent a shit ton of time rebuilding the motor, repainting the jugs and heads, changing every gasket and every mismatched bolt, polishing up the rocker boxes and transmission, and i didnt take a single picture of any of it except for this pic of the intake mani that we shined up. but that shits boring right? haha

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    Next step was throwing the evo and trans back in the bike:

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    It was at this point i realized... i fucking hated the sissy bar and the solo seat.
    I bought a "DIY sissy bar kit" but hated the ugly mounts and it was too wide, too short, and just didnt fit the bike. so we chopped up the old sissy bar for the good mounts, and chopped up the new one for the nice bends, and pieced them all together:

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    I wanted the curves to perfectly hug the fender and then still be nice and tall and skinny.

    Onto the new seat... I wanted a sweet king and queen, but still wanted to retain the solo seat mounts incase i ever wanted to switch them out. so we tried to make a seat pan around the mounts.

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr
    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    Oh yeah, found a nice gold chain too^^

    then i realized that was fucking stupid and just chopped those suckers off to make it easier.
    Heres the finished seat pan. super proud of this one. me and my dad spent quite a few nights making it absolutely perfect. all we had was a torch, angle grinder, and a shitty 110 welder.

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    You can also see the new PM rear brake. cost a pretty penny but god damn it is sweet.
    The seat pan is currently at the upholsters house, should be done next week, i cant fucking wait.
  • seandavis
    Junior Member
    • Dec 2016
    • 12

    #2
    Exhaust is something i was super worried about. the old exhaust didnt fit anymore because i switched to mid controls. The mids are MainDrive Frisco mids if anyone is curious. super aggressive but i dig it, even being 6'1".
    I have a daily bike, its a 2004 fatboy. 16k miles on it, i bought it from a family member who had passed away and his wife gave me TONS of spare parts for it, including 3 different exhausts sets. I thought i was gonna have to do some crazy custom pipes which i was worried about since my garage isnt much of a metal shop. (we now have a much better welder dont worry)
    But for shits and gigs i decided to grab all the exhaust sets, took all the big heat shields off, and realized that they actually had some pretty nice bends that i could use....

    I chopped the mufflers off and bolted a set up and this is what they look like:

    Bike build process by datwagn, on Flickr

    Also got some new bars that are a little narrower and have a lot more pullback. gonna slice them up and narrow them as much as i can with the risers i have.

    My plan is to just throw another 10" or so of straight pipe to both exhausts, shotgun style.


    I ditched the mooneyes air cleaner cuz it just didnt match the chrome and polish as well as i wanted it to. Went with a velocity stack from Bison motorsports.
    The mooneyes cleaner is for sale if anyone wants it for cheap!

    Also got bored the other day and was trying to think of ways to mount my sweet little tailight i got from Prism. I welded some washers to an extension, and then welded it to the bolt i was using for the sissy bar fender mount. Just to get a visual of what it could look like and i kinda dig it haha.


    I guess I'm really bad at taking progress pictures, but tonight ill go home and take a bunch of pictures of the little things that i never bothered to document. theres a ton of cool little things that me and my dad did to this bike.

    Hope you guys like the progress so far!!

    Comment

    • Frost
      Member
      • Jan 2016
      • 32

      #3
      nice story and nice bike man

      Comment

      • misfitJason
        Senior Member
        • Sep 2009
        • 1128

        #4
        Bike looks rad!

        Comment

        • seandavis
          Junior Member
          • Dec 2016
          • 12

          #5
          These Paughco risers use rubber bushings that are just way too soft. when you tighten them down they squish and get all warped and oblong, and if theyre not tightened down enough the handlebars move way too much.
          So I got some 1 1/2" brass round stock, made my own bushings, and polished them up. came out pretty cool if you ask me.

          Untitled by datwagn, on Flickr
          Untitled by datwagn, on Flickr

          Im a sucker for nice shiny things, so i splurged on this Kustomtech polished clutch lever and brass fitting.

          Untitled by datwagn, on Flickr

          This bike sit pretty low, i had to take a full inch out of the kickstand and then put a little more bend on it to get the bike to lay over enough.

          Untitled by datwagn, on Flickr

          Heres a little better look at the mid controls and the rear master cylinder. it mounts up to the front of the transmission, pretty sweet little set-up

          Untitled by datwagn, on Flickr

          And heres a quick little video of me welding up the bracket for it. I went to school for welding so thats definitely my comfort zone haha

          Bike build process
          Last edited by seandavis; 05-25-2017, 10:46 AM.

          Comment

          • seandavis
            Junior Member
            • Dec 2016
            • 12

            #6
            got some pics from the upholsterer. seat is foamed. so stoked how its turning out. perfect shape

            Untitled by datwagn, on Flickr
            Untitled by datwagn, on Flickr
            Untitled by datwagn, on Flickr
            Untitled by datwagn, on Flickr

            Comment

            • BlackCloudSalvage
              Senior Member
              • Jan 2015
              • 631

              #7
              Awesome build and heck of a thorough build thread! Keep it up

              Comment

              • Bbqbiker
                Senior Member
                • May 2015
                • 2394

                #8
                Nice bike nice write up your old man looks like a hoot!

                Comment

                • seandavis
                  Junior Member
                  • Dec 2016
                  • 12

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Bbqbiker
                  Nice bike nice write up your old man looks like a hoot!
                  haha he's definitely as old school "no fucks given" as it gets.

                  Comment

                  • Clockwork444
                    Senior Member
                    • Dec 2013
                    • 769

                    #10
                    so far, huge improvement. keep the updates coming

                    Comment

                    • WALLY77
                      Senior Member
                      • Dec 2016
                      • 115

                      #11
                      Looks great so far man keep it up. That tank is fucking awesome, being a dirt bike guy myself ive always liked Troy Lee graphics

                      Comment

                      • montuckymatt
                        Senior Member
                        • Jan 2015
                        • 140

                        #12
                        best thread ive seen in a long time on here. Even though im partial to the older bikes this one is great. Building a bike with your dad is tough to beat. Dig it........

                        Comment

                        • seandavis
                          Junior Member
                          • Dec 2016
                          • 12

                          #13
                          Thanks for the kind words guys! means alot.

                          No update pics as of yet, seat should be done sometime this week which im super stoked about. Still deciding what im gonna do with the exhaust and then ill have to send a bunch of shit off for chrome

                          Comment

                          • WingNut
                            Senior Member
                            • Dec 2010
                            • 499

                            #14
                            Looking really good. Keep it up!

                            Comment

                            • boredomtodeath
                              Member
                              • Mar 2013
                              • 31

                              #15
                              Looks badass

                              Comment

                              300 mobile ad bottom forum

                              Collapse
                              Working...
                              ;