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I’ve had this thing for a year and a half now and finally started making some changes that i had been thinking of from the beginning, so i figured I’d share here to document it and post some questions I’ll have along the way. Here’s the bike as i got it…
Nice little machine but definitely needed some straightening out. Here’s the photochop concept i had whipped up for it shortly after picking it up…
So i rode it for the first season i had it before starting to tear into it a little. First order of business was making a new seat. Made new pan…
Two layers of kayak foam glued together and to the pan…
Then some sanding to shape and i ended up with this…
Then came the tank. Blasted off all the surface rust, shot it with some black, some new decals, and a nice 2k clear over it and it was looking pretty nice. Replaced the cap and petcock as well…
Cut a couple inches out of the middle of the apes that came on it to get a more narrow look. Too narrow for the stock clamps so had to make and weld some mounting posts to the bottom. I always thought that looked cleaner than clamps anyhow…
Between the bars, the tank, and a seat cover made by my momma, it was looking alright…
Next came the shocks. I knew i wanted covered shocks, but the upper mounts on a ‘79 are different than other ironhead models, so i wouldn’t be able to fit the top dome caps on. Didn’t really like how square the progressive style covered shocks looked without the domes, so i went the sacrilegious route and mounted these off a late 80’s Honda shadow vt1100, haha. A little more shape to them, which i thought added some subtle style. Never mind the low bars in this pic…for a hot minute i had some long shocks and low bars on this thing with thought of doing something of a tracker, but I’ve had that fun before. Decided to stick with my original plan, but the bars stayed on for a bit…
Starting to match my photochop! Not sold on the seat profile, but it works for now. Also not sure I’ll go with the fork shrouds or not. I actually fit some on a while back, but wasn’t convinced on them. Maybe because they were covered in surface rust just like the tank. I might polish them up or shoot them black and try them again sometime…
So that’s where I’m at currently. Next I’ll be doing a remote front master cylinder set up because my brake perch had a crack in it and split in pieces when tightening it down the other week. Better in the garage than on the road, but now that i need to do something with it, i thought I’d try for a cleaner look and something I’ve been very curious about for a long time. I’ll update with progress on that next time.
Nice little machine but definitely needed some straightening out. Here’s the photochop concept i had whipped up for it shortly after picking it up…
So i rode it for the first season i had it before starting to tear into it a little. First order of business was making a new seat. Made new pan…
Two layers of kayak foam glued together and to the pan…
Then some sanding to shape and i ended up with this…
Then came the tank. Blasted off all the surface rust, shot it with some black, some new decals, and a nice 2k clear over it and it was looking pretty nice. Replaced the cap and petcock as well…
Cut a couple inches out of the middle of the apes that came on it to get a more narrow look. Too narrow for the stock clamps so had to make and weld some mounting posts to the bottom. I always thought that looked cleaner than clamps anyhow…
Between the bars, the tank, and a seat cover made by my momma, it was looking alright…
Next came the shocks. I knew i wanted covered shocks, but the upper mounts on a ‘79 are different than other ironhead models, so i wouldn’t be able to fit the top dome caps on. Didn’t really like how square the progressive style covered shocks looked without the domes, so i went the sacrilegious route and mounted these off a late 80’s Honda shadow vt1100, haha. A little more shape to them, which i thought added some subtle style. Never mind the low bars in this pic…for a hot minute i had some long shocks and low bars on this thing with thought of doing something of a tracker, but I’ve had that fun before. Decided to stick with my original plan, but the bars stayed on for a bit…
Starting to match my photochop! Not sold on the seat profile, but it works for now. Also not sure I’ll go with the fork shrouds or not. I actually fit some on a while back, but wasn’t convinced on them. Maybe because they were covered in surface rust just like the tank. I might polish them up or shoot them black and try them again sometime…
So that’s where I’m at currently. Next I’ll be doing a remote front master cylinder set up because my brake perch had a crack in it and split in pieces when tightening it down the other week. Better in the garage than on the road, but now that i need to do something with it, i thought I’d try for a cleaner look and something I’ve been very curious about for a long time. I’ll update with progress on that next time.
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