V star 650 hardtail

[dowood1]

As in my changeable path to building this bike ,
Gonna slice a wedge off the bottom of the tank with the line running from the bottom of the front mounting tab to the base of the rear of the tank , i think this may look real cool , have asked someone to quote for fitting a flat base in its place and losing the tunnel completely .
I fear it maybe too expensive but I’ve gotta check it out as there something I like about the tank !

[dowood1]

Have chopped the tank and it seems to “belong” there now , so I think I’m comfortable with it ! Depending on how much the mods cost, lol
Any opinions welcomed

[dowood1]

Sorry bout the upside down pic !

[dowood1]

Just when I thought I’d got it sorted and I had a tank albeit damaged and needing some reworking !
Just as I was about to pack it away after the trial fitting , I fumbled it and dropped it on my tools on the concrete floor , giving it two more significant dents . DOH!
So I looked on e bay again and found a nicely priced sportster tank on there . And bought it in the spot . Which I think will do the job nicely .

[dowood1]

Ok I like some of this set up
The top rails are easy just slice a bit out the seat rails where they flair out at the front slug and weld back together ,will line up with the back portion of the s/a ok , sorted !
Not so sure I like the lower rails tho doesn’t look right or strong enough to me .
So think I’ll have to get some tube bent up for that . So the original rails flair in to meet the back portion of the s/a again so I can slug and weld them again , Can’t see anyway other reasonably elegant way round that on a budget build ?

[dowood1]

There’s lots of great pics of bikes on this site and the web in general . But even though I don’t own a dog or an umbrella , this is the one I keep going back too for motivation on my build !

[dowood1]

Just realised , Doh !
That with the carb to be’s. Fuel intake sitting a few inches below the tank ( not up in the middle of it ) I will be able to get rid of the fuel pump .
Which will mean less weight and less junk to hide / lug around .

[dowood1]

The guy didn’t wanna post , so I rode 180 miles to pick the “new “ tank up yesterday , my first serious ride on the bike as it now is ! !
The air filter has also turned up .
Starting to get nearer to my target , but still loads to do / spend. Lol

[dowood1]

After putting some miles on the bike , my first thought was the spring seat wasn’t working for me .
So I’ve put the modded virago seat back on but lower and with out the fake springs this time .
A much better arrangement !

[Skjoll]

What does the Virago seat look like?

[dowood1]

This ones off a 535 , it would fit flat on the seat rails ( hard tailed ) but my backs not so keen on that now .
I did take the cover off and trim off some of the excess down turn on the sides as well .
It works well for me

[datadavid]

This ones off a 535 , it would fit flat on the seat rails ( hard tailed ) but my backs not so keen on that now .
I did take the cover off and trim off some of the excess down turn on the sides as well .
It works well for me

Man im loving the traffic cone orange!

[dowood1]

Yeah it’s well cool isn’t it ,it’s officially called VW orange

[Skjoll]

I had a '72 VW type 3 fastback in that color... like this one.

[dowood1]

Cool car and cool colour , I had one, too many years ago now but in a boring off white.
(Dunno what model no it was tho )

[dowood1]

Right the vendor who sold me the orange striped tank lied and told me it was at least 2.5 gals and he had checked that . But it was only 1.75 gals . So it went back on e bay and was sold on.
Just purchased this, this afternoon 2.2 gals , should be much better I know it’s an injection model but I wanna loose the tunnel and have a flat a base in it as is practical , when funds permit which will increase the capacity some more !

[dowood1]

Ok got the ‘new” tank 125 miles this time !
Getting a quote to loose the tunnel and i’m Also thinking of lowering the bottom of the of the tank between the frame rails , to the depth of the frame rails , to increase the capacity .
If it’s financially viable , not sure it will be . But worth finding out I think .
Gonna then just have an outlet pipe to fit a remote tap , , , , , , I think , lol

[dowood1]

Ooh dear , got the quote and it’s way out of my budget £250 to lose the tunnel and nearly £400 for losing the tunnel and lowering part of the base , perhaps I was being to optimistic !
Gonna have to see if I can pick up another cheap 2nd hand mig welder and have a crack at it miself , I think .

[dowood1]

Using the bike a fair bit at the mo , hasn’t seemed surefooted on white lines and road seams . Plus Wanted to see if I could reduce the rear tyre pressure a bit to soften the ride up a bit . As had been running just Uber 50 psi for the both as suggested by several owners . Checked them and the were 29 each end- oops , so took a gamble and tried 25 rear & 45 front and it paid off it handles much better and I’ll prob be able to keep my kidneys after all !

[dowood1]

Apologies to all those who do mods properly / precisely / lol . But just made a sissy bar at the weekend , tried to follow the angle of the forks , to tie it in . Seems to work well for me tho ! !
No pillion intended , but gonna put a rack in front of it for camping gear , eventually !
Oh yeah apologies for the building site of a garden , there’s a lot going on at the mo .