New build advice

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  • 53hemi
    Member
    • Jan 2012
    • 99

    New build advice

    Good morning!

    Ok, I want to start searching for a donor for a new build.

    Here's my current situation - I sold my BSA a while back and bought a Sportster. I didn't know anything then and bought the newest one that I could afford. I ended up with a 2006 883 xlc.

    This bike has been awesome. I absolutely love it, but what I really want is a hardtail and a kicker.

    I don't think I should keep pumping money into it, and if I'm going to build something else I guess I might as well start with an EVO big twin as opposed to another Sportster.

    So - what donor bikes should I be looking at?

    Here's a pic of my Sportster to show what my style kinda is.
  • 53hemi
    Member
    • Jan 2012
    • 99

    #2
    Click image for larger version

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    • 53hemi
      Member
      • Jan 2012
      • 99

      #3
      Or, honestly, should I just not worry and go ahead and chop the super reliable bike that I already own? I've got zero issues with the size and power of the bike...

      Comment

      • Down
        Senior Member
        • Jan 2016
        • 269

        #4
        Chop what ya got. Plenty of aftermarket available for the rubber mounted EFI Sportsters.
        There are weld on hardtails and full frames for those. They look a little bulky, because the down tubes on the frame are thicker than on the solid mount Sporties. They can still look good.
        Forget the kicker. That's just gonna be really expensive.

        Comment

        • CycleFreak
          Senior Member
          • Jun 2011
          • 108

          #5
          I'm a big advocate of always having at least one reliable bike at any given time just so I'm not rushing shit just to ride. However, I see you have some other goodies in the garage, so that may not be an issue for you, hahaha. Still, if budget allows, get another scooter to work on while you chop. While there's nothing wrong with a rubbermount Sportster, they aren't the best candidates for what you're wanting to do. Your current bike is cool as is and would look great sitting next to a rigid big twin.

          Comment

          • farmall
            Senior Member
            • Apr 2013
            • 9976

            #6
            CycleFreak speaks wisdom. He who makes his daily a project is often a pedestrian so buying something to chop is wise.

            The objective of chopping is the classic "seatpost between engine and transmission" frame design. If you want a rigid Evo buy the latest Evo Softail donor you can find in the ugliest cosmetic shape (since you'll be shitcanning so many stock parts) with a clean title. The Evo Softail frames have the classic neck casting which looks far more chopulent than a welded neck. Fab Kevin and others can hardtail them for you if you're not a fabricator and to save freight you can ask where to cut them prior to shipment while leaving extra metal for the fabricator to trim to suit. Here's a nice example from 47 Industries:



            https://www.facebook.com/47fab/photo...2766634119214/ shows a bare frame.

            You want the classic style rear axle plates for best appearance compared to flat stock. Do the highest quality work on the frame then cut expense elsewhere and you can always upgrade later. A bone stock drivetrain works fine for riding and is easy to modify, but frame mods mean a teardown...

            The later drivetrain gets you the splined shaft gear box and a Denso starter (look at the solenoid on your Sporty because that's an instant way to identify suitable donors. The donor engine should either run or if it's a garage sitter (good for the price) and doesn't start, do NOT solve that problem for the seller but do perform a compression test (gauges are simple and cheap, bring one and a spark plug socket and a jump pack or jumper cables but never jump off a running car lest ye overload the little bike regulator. Then get the donor running and rideable before being distracted by cosmetics (which give ya time to plan your hardtail fun). Kicker kits are available and you can upgrade some cheap ones with Baker gears (a Chinesium kicker ratchet gave me my only knee injury in many years of wrenching, piss on that trash). Kickers are certainly handy but it's wise to retain electric starting as the trivial styling difference may not be worth the annoyance. Then you get the kool look of a kicker with no functional loss.

            Save photos of bikes you like and when you want to know which parts were used ask here. Download factory service manuals and parts catalogs from a variey of similar bikes to what you want. If you want to run a narrowglide on a Softail they bolt on but some Sporty front ends may be short for your taste, easily remedied with longer tubes. Early stock single piston calipers only please riders used to awful brakes. A front end like the one you have with the latet calipers works well and the rubbermount top triple clamp doesn't use rubber bushing (which I dislike) and cleans up nicely.

            Also study silly shit people do that may look nice but has functional drawbacks (you can't lose by building a bike to be rideable!). For example an effective air filter doesn't strangle your engine and waste any performance parts you paid for. The stock later CV carbs are outstanding and have excellent driveability, and you can get chrome top caps and pretty air filter housings for them that flow well. If you like mid controls it's easy to fab mounts (to each his own, I hate forwards because ya can't deload your spine on bumps).
            Last edited by farmall; 08-10-2021, 2:59 AM.

            Comment

            • JBinNC
              Senior Member
              • Dec 2018
              • 2706

              #7
              From the looks of your stable, you tend to like the older machines, so a classic chop for you might well be a pan or shovel with the stock four speed, which had the kicker as original, and so the kicker components can be fitted to any of them. That said, these are not really modern machines and so can be maintenance- intensive. With a kick-only set-up, the bike will be a good deal lighter and visually simpler, both desirable chopper features. The swingarm four speed frames can be hardtailed like farmall outlines above, and there are any number of rigid chopper frames, or original rigid pan frames that would make a good classic chopper. This ain't a cheap way to go nowadays, but the result would sit well next to your car choices.

              Jim

              Comment

              • 53hemi
                Member
                • Jan 2012
                • 99

                #8
                Thank you all for the advice!

                I'm scouring marketplace and craigslist as we speak!

                Comment

                • Oxblood
                  Senior Member
                  • Jun 2011
                  • 218

                  #9
                  Alot of good advice in this thread, reasonable and makes alot of sense. Personally I kept a daily, 2006 Softail, and traded off my sportster for for a big twin Evo. I decided to keep things as simple as possible: Paughco frame, 93 Evo engine, shovelhead 4 speed for the kicker, no starter, and soon to be a magneto. Pans and shovels are cool but my Evo is just as vintage to me as my dad's 48 pan was to him in 1975. Couldn't be happier, although sometimes kicking it does get a lil old lol.

                  I agree with looking for an Evo Softail as a donor bike.

                  Click image for larger version

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                  • mayjamest
                    Junior Member
                    • Aug 2021
                    • 18

                    #10
                    Originally posted by 53hemi
                    Thank you all for the advice!

                    I'm scouring marketplace and craigslist as we speak!
                    I am on the Evo Softail donor hunt as well, hope you aren't in CA or we are going to have to fight to death for the next 99 FXSTC lol.

                    Comment

                    • 53hemi
                      Member
                      • Jan 2012
                      • 99

                      #11
                      Click image for larger version

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                      Well, zero self control strikes again! This came up yesterday on FB marketplace and it was just too good of a deal to pass up. It's a 1982 FXS.

                      Comment

                      • confab
                        Senior Member
                        • May 2019
                        • 1337

                        #12
                        Originally posted by 53hemi
                        Well, zero self control strikes again!


                        I fully expect the CDC to link old, HD motorcycles to poor impulse control any day now..

                        Congratulations.

                        Comment

                        • Tattooo
                          Senior Member
                          • Sep 2012
                          • 12407

                          #13
                          Originally posted by 53hemi
                          [ATTACH=CONFIG]104877[/ATTACH]

                          Well, zero self control strikes again! This came up yesterday on FB marketplace and it was just too good of a deal to pass up. It's a 1982 FXS.
                          Very nice looking bike.......Some people like to talk and some like to ride............. Let us know how it runs out?????????

                          Comment

                          • 53hemi
                            Member
                            • Jan 2012
                            • 99

                            #14
                            Ok, so I'm in the tear down process. I'm going to stop posting on this thread and start asking questions with new threads. Thanks!Click image for larger version

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