V star 650 hardtail

[dowood1]

Hi, I’ve got a vstar 650 1999 ( dragstar here in the UK ) Modifying it somewhere in the bobber chopper ball park . Not really that planned it’s just sort of growing .
Have got a hankering to hard tail it now aiming to get rid of much junk and weight as I can ( but on a strict budget ) .
I like the way it sits at the mo and it looks easy to keep the stock axle plates and just join them up to the back of the four tubes on the back of the main frame loop .as they are the same height (After cutting the old tubes away of course lol )
Has anyone done this or similar and does it (I. ? ) sound at least half sane 😳

[TriNortchopz]

Sounds like an option here:

"Just take out the mono shock and weld together a 9.5" strut to replace it....It lowers it and slams it....."
and
"As said above, took out my shock and put in a strut. Several thousand miles and no probs. Lowered it 'bout 2-3 inches."
http://www.clubchopper.com/forums/me...-hardtail.html

"Building another vstar, this time a full hardtail...not just the rigid bar in place of the shock. Had a friend help me do the frame and finally doing the rest of it now..."
https://www.starbikeforums.com/forum...ail-build.html

Lots of v-star threads on this Chop Cult site too.

[dowood1]

Thanks for the reply and that’s a nice looking bike .
But I wanna go for the minimal look and also loose the weight of all the spare tubing and shock.
With probably an ally battery electrics box right down beside the drive shaft .
Also considering ( loosely ) having the fuel tank under the seat as that can look really minimal . But not sure about that one yet !

[dowood1]

I also seem to be considering a single carb conversion as I have already bought an SU carburettor to fit , in the near future whenever that may be !

[dowood1]

Dunno if this pic will load ok , but I’ll try .
This is what it looks like at the mo , complete with growing pains , lol
It’s my daily commute or will be when the new regulator arrives for it !
So I can only modify / experiment with it a bit at a time
But I love riding it ,

[dowood1]

Quite like the look of this but think it might sit to high or be to big , even if I do a single top tube conversion ( would have to lose the badge indents tho ) not in that colour scheme or design as well )
Or maybe a sportster tank with a second tank underneath the seat , to cover the small size of the sporty tank .
As I said it’s my daily commute and I also want to do some serious mileage on it , in the not to distant ( I hope ) future

[dowood1]

Sorry TriNortchopz didn’t see your hardtail in progress . That looks nice and the sort of route I’d like to go frame wise .
The inlet manifold looks cool too , hate to a poss kill joy here but are the expansion rates compatible between the stainless steel manifold and the ally engine , not my area of knowledge at all , but have read of concern bout it somewhere else !

[TriNortchopz]

Not mine,just some shit I found online and thought it may be good as a reference for ya.

[dowood1]

Oops ok , thanks anyway .
Read that well didn’t I , lol

[dowood1]

New regulator arrived yesterday , fitted it today , and seems to have solved the problem . The old one had developed a a short in it of about half an amp .
Now I suspect the battery may not be holding its charge , ho hum Will check it out before I throw any more money at it .
Looking forward to riding it again

[TriNortchopz]

You asked,"Has anyone done this or similar and does it (I. ? )..."

Seen this thread?

2019 Thread: Hardtail vstar build

http://www.chopcult.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52949

and similar:

4 weeks ago; Thread: Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Hardtail

http://www.chopcult.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53121

[dowood1]

Thanx TriNortchopz , hadn’t see the second one , and every bit helps , starting to form a idea for what I want to do now

[dowood1]

Battery is on way out , charged it last night and left it at 13.53 volts checked it 8 hours later and it was 12.7 and labouring to turn the motor over.
Gonna have to save up for that now , lol

[TriNortchopz]

If the loss was while it was connected in the bike, could be a bad connection somewhere that is drawing it down. Check all connections. Could also try to repeat the 8-hour test with the battery not connected to anything...sitting on a bench...see if you get a different result.

[dowood1]

Yeah thanks TriNortchopz gotta be worth trying that , with the cost of a decent battery today.
Although I should have added that I tried a multi meter set in amps across it before charging . And it showed no drain .
But it won’t cost me anything to try it again off the bike !

[dowood1]

Phoned the local battery depot today and they said that nearly all batteries will drop in voltage like that .
It’s the drop in power that really matters , so I’ll have to take it down There and see how it fairs

[TriNortchopz]

They could do a load test on your battery for you, but there are a few tests you can do yourself first- it may be your starter that is the problem.
What type of battery you got - regular lead acid(electrolyte level? specific gravity?), AGM or a lithium?
Bit of easy reading here with a couple of tests...again, make sure all connections are clean and that your grounds are well grounded.

Installation, Testing and Maintenance of Motorcycle and Powersport Batteries
https://www.yuasa.co.uk/info/motorcy...d-maintenance/
a chart in here with voltage and state of charge:
https://www.revzilla.com/common-trea...rcycle-battery

[dowood1]

Thanks for your help again TriNortchopz ,
Got them to do the load test and was sposed to read 10v upwards under load , mine managed to make about 7.5v and was nearly flat afterwards lol.So it’s been junked and I got a new one which also has a higher cca
It now spins the engine over happily ! !

[dowood1]

Thinking of using a strut till I can afford to modify the swinging arm / frame .
Possibly simply by using an ally bar drilled at both ends with it looks like spacers at one end .
Haven’t measured the bushes as yet , would that be strong enough ! It looks like some replacement shocks are ally bodied ,
Trying to avoid welding here , as I can’t find a cheap welder or someone local that I can trust to weld it at this point in time

[TriNortchopz]

A billet aluminum strut should work good, just use a good grade of material, such as 6061-T6; here is an example of 1" thick billet aluminum struts: