First chop: 93 Sportster

[Clawhammercycle]

Hey yall. Long time lurker first time poster...

With falll winter finally approaching im getting ready to call it and start the chop on my
93 1200.

Im sure ill be in here askin tons of questions along the way but to start off i wanted to propose my order of operations and see what you think.

First was tearing down, documenting everything along the way. Next step chop frame and weld in Lowbrow hardtail. Next i was thinking based on time of the day, weld in horseshoe oil tank and fender/sissybar if theres time in the day left. If not, hit those the next weekend.

I dont have a welder so i am doing weldin at a friends house so i am trying to consolidate welding tasks. The rest i can do in my garage.

Thanks yall!

[LisaBallard]

Welcome aboard, looking forward to seeing your progress.

[Down]

Welcome!
Order of business sounds about right, there really isn't a right or wrong. Have fun, that's the most important part of building a bike that many people forget.

[Clawhammercycle]

Thanks down. Im super stoked to get to it. Been accumulating parts all summer and im excited to have a creative project to work on

[docmel]

Chop

Thanks down. Im super stoked to get to it. Been accumulating parts all summer and im excited to have a creative project to work on

My honest advice is to keep it safe and road worthy. I have seen so many builds that ended up unreliable and unsafe on the road due to short cuts, (ability or money), and sometimes the rider ends up hurt, killed, or does it to someone else. Or the owner gets so wore out on breakdowns he just gives up on it and sells it

The pic you posted is pretty much a solid and reliable bike. Basic and regular maintainance will keep that evo sporty going for miles

That being said, your gonna do what you wanna do

All I can advise is:

Run a front brake: Some might think they can handle the road w/o one, but its the other folks I would be worried about.

Myself, I'd stay away from some of the tail lights and headlights I have seen. Very small, very poor output, no dimmer. Again, I dont trust the other people out on the road to see me

If possible, get another bike for your project, keep the one you posted as your rider

Tires: I hate buying tires, and most go cheap when they do. Understand, the cheaper tires are VERY hard, get more milegae than the softer ones, and have a poor grip on the road, especially on gravel, rain, etc. The more exp tires are soft, grip better, but tend to wear sooner

Take on your build ONE STEP AT A TIME. Sometimes a build can get away from you, you want it on the road so bad, and that's what causes sloppy and unsafe builds

Electrical: EVERY builder has been guilty at one time or another using cheap connectors and wire splices. Solder your connections where appropriate, have good solid grounds and USE A CIRCUIT BREAKER

Stay away from used sprockets and chains

Good luck, keep us in the know!

[Clawhammercycle]

My honest advice is to keep it safe and road worthy. I have seen so many builds that ended up unreliable and unsafe on the road due to short cuts, (ability or money), and sometimes the rider ends up hurt, killed, or does it to someone else. Or the owner gets so wore out on breakdowns he just gives up on it and sells it

The pic you posted is pretty much a solid and reliable bike. Basic and regular maintainance will keep that evo sporty going for miles

That being said, your gonna do what you wanna do

All I can advise is:

Run a front brake: Some might think they can handle the road w/o one, but its the other folks I would be worried about.

Myself, I'd stay away from some of the tail lights and headlights I have seen. Very small, very poor output, no dimmer. Again, I dont trust the other people out on the road to see me

If possible, get another bike for your project, keep the one you posted as your rider

Tires: I hate buying tires, and most go cheap when they do. Understand, the cheaper tires are VERY hard, get more milegae than the softer ones, and have a poor grip on the road, especially on gravel, rain, etc. The more exp tires are soft, grip better, but tend to wear sooner

Take on your build ONE STEP AT A TIME. Sometimes a build can get away from you, you want it on the road so bad, and that's what causes sloppy and unsafe builds

Electrical: EVERY builder has been guilty at one time or another using cheap connectors and wire splices. Solder your connections where appropriate, have good solid grounds and USE A CIRCUIT BREAKER

Stay away from used sprockets and chains

Good luck, keep us in the know!

Appreciate the tips. Its gonna be a hardtail no way around that.... but as far as safety goes, i have a friend who is a professional welder helping me with all the structural welds.

Definitely plan on running a front brake. I have a super bright as fuck prism taillight. My
Headlight is super visible but has a horrible throw. I plan on changing it over the winter.

All in all im basically just hardtailing what you see in the photo. Nothing crazy...

[farmall]

The low tunnel tanks expose the (ugly) stock backbone but the gussets can be carefully removed without messing up the VIN. I'd suggest a high tunnel tank to hide it instead since the low tunnel tanks were designed for older classic frames with much cleaner lines but the later frames are much stiffer hence the gussets. You do you but there are many kool tank choices (like 3.5 gallon split tanks) that are unusual and classic.

Wise move getting a pro to help out with the welds. Measure often since checking is free!

Study minimalist wiring harnesses if needed but it's not hard to adapt what's there and thin it to suit if the main harness is in good shape. Heat shrink, bare crimp connectors, good crimpers, liquid flux for all soldering because flux core wire doesn't hold much, a Soldapullt style solder sucker (I fucking love those since the Air Force enlightened me) and patience helps greatly. Piss on auto store parts and their terrible crimpers. Electrical and local industrial suppliers are good if you need stuff immediately but you'll save much money buying online. HD circuit breakers work great and you can order the spring loaded mounting clips online.

http://www.chopcult.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12086

Get an effective seat. The mongtarded recent fashion of seats thinner than a Kotex is absurd unless you never leave town or hate your own spine (spinal damage is forever and it can ruin yer life like it ruined mine) Seats are easy to swap if you run the sprung style and you could even use an aircraft ball lock pin to QD them. A clean bitch bar is great for tying on bags.

When you say "weld in horseshoe tank" be sure to fab maintenance-friendly mounting brackets that let you easily replace rubber shock mounts or grommets or whatever you use for cushioning and easily remove and install the tank. Slide it in and out and play around so your end result isn't a pain in the ass due to a bracket becoming a removal obstacle. The end result should be quick and easy to field strip.

Take your time since time is cheap but not getting exactly what you want isn't worth rushing. Bungs of all sorts are so cheap on Ebay it's not worth me firing up my lathe to make them so if a mount would benefit use them for a strong clean result.

[Clawhammercycle]

The low tunnel tanks expose the (ugly) stock backbone but the gussets can be carefully removed without messing up the VIN. I'd suggest a high tunnel tank to hide it instead since the low tunnel tanks were designed for older classic frames with much cleaner lines but the later frames are much stiffer hence the gussets. You do you but there are many kool tank choices (like 3.5 gallon split tanks) that are unusual and classic.

Wise move getting a pro to help out with the welds. Measure often since checking is free!

Study minimalist wiring harnesses if needed but it's not hard to adapt what's there and thin it to suit if the main harness is in good shape. Heat shrink, bare crimp connectors, good crimpers, liquid flux for all soldering because flux core wire doesn't hold much, a Soldapullt style solder sucker (I fucking love those since the Air Force enlightened me) and patience helps greatly. Piss on auto store parts and their terrible crimpers. Electrical and local industrial suppliers are good if you need stuff immediately but you'll save much money buying online. HD circuit breakers work great and you can order the spring loaded mounting clips online.

http://www.chopcult.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12086

Get an effective seat. The mongtarded recent fashion of seats thinner than a Kotex is absurd unless you never leave town or hate your own spine (spinal damage is forever and it can ruin yer life like it ruined mine) Seats are easy to swap if you run the sprung style and you could even use an aircraft ball lock pin to QD them. A clean bitch bar is great for tying on bags.

When you say "weld in horseshoe tank" be sure to fab maintenance-friendly mounting brackets that let you easily replace rubber shock mounts or grommets or whatever you use for cushioning and easily remove and install the tank. Slide it in and out and play around so your end result isn't a pain in the ass due to a bracket becoming a removal obstacle. The end result should be quick and easy to field strip.

Take your time since time is cheap but not getting exactly what you want isn't worth rushing. Bungs of all sorts are so cheap on Ebay it's not worth me firing up my lathe to make them so if a mount would benefit use them for a strong clean result.

Hell yeah! Appreciate all that! I got a wilder factory seat thats super thick and soft. Its a hell of a lot better feeling than my current pancake...

By weld in oil tank, i did mean weld in tabs. Itll definitely be removable.

As far as electrical, the previous owner stripped it down pretty dang good so theres not much left besides the necessities. Im switching to a dyna 2000i ignition module so i can get rid of my stock brick.

One question i did have was i just got some new shinkos put on. I love them aside from when i hit a section of road thats got the rain grooves. Its almost as if the tread marches the grooves and i get crazy wobble... my question is how difficult is it to swap tires after youve welded up your fender since its been radiused and fitted to the previous tire...

Thanks again!

[docmel]

Yeah those road grooves do that to almost any MC tire. Dont fully undertand your last question, but if you are talking width or heigth, yes, if you made the fender very close to begin with, you might have an issue with fitting a wider or taller tire. And making a tire like that fit on the width side w/o getting a new fender is a ball ton of work (sheet metal work)

[Clawhammercycle]

Yeah those road grooves do that to almost any MC tire. Dont fully undertand your last question, but if you are talking width or heigth, yes, if you made the fender very close to begin with, you might have an issue with fitting a wider or taller tire. And making a tire like that fit on the width side w/o getting a new fender is a ball ton of work (sheet metal work)

Yep that answers it. I know all MC tires get affected to some extent, these new shinkos are just worse than anything else ive had.

You answered my question though i think. Switching tires could potentially lead to having to switch fenders. Im thinking of switching to a bates baja from the shinko 270. Guess ill just have to see.

[Clawhammercycle]

Well i got it chopped up today!! Welder
Bailed but i got everything jogged up with the motor. Everything looked good until i tightened it all down. Now the top tube has a slight dip and no space in between the tubing for a weld. I plan on taking off an 1/8” from the top tube to leave space to throw a bead. What do you think about the dip on the top tube though? Pics attached . Thanks yall!

[Clawhammercycle]

still waiting to weld the frame up. I did some research and it looks like a lot of the weld on hardtail from lowbrow do that very, very slight dip. you can even see it in their install video.

anyway, got an 1/8" gap on the top tube now so just waiting on welding friend to zap it up.

decided to throw a couple things on just to see it all mocked up. I think I like it.

[Bruce]

still waiting to weld the frame up. I did some research and it looks like a lot of the weld on hardtail from lowbrow do that very, very slight dip. you can even see it in their install video.

Seems like that little 'dip' is common. Mine has it too, but the tank covers it up no problem. You probably know this, but just make sure your motor is bolted up tight according to the manual directions before you weld. Rear mounts first, then fronts if I recall correctly.

[Bruce]

...decided to throw a couple things on just to see it all mocked up. I think I like it.

Looks Good!! Almost ready to roll.

[Clawhammercycle]

Seems like that little 'dip' is common. Mine has it too, but the tank covers it up no problem. You probably know this, but just make sure your motor is bolted up tight according to the manual directions before you weld. Rear mounts first, then fronts if I recall correctly.

hey thanks bruce. yep I knew I gotta have it all torqued down. my only thing is, in order for me to get the top motor mount to line up, I gotta keep the other fronts loose, and then tighten down the top, then return back to fronts... wondering how much the order matters...it just docent seem possible to even get the top otherwise

Sportsterpedia kind of addresses this also. that the factory manual kind of leaves things out... but basically loosely tighten everything then go around and do factory torque tightening... make sense?


*edit. so I am looking at the PDF version of my manual and maybe I was looking at a different section, but the PDF version seems to have more detailed instructions. Ill go back and loosening everything up and retorque in order