Loose Nut: DrFxr's Twin Cam Softail

[DrFxr]

I started off with this Softail Springer I got dirt cheap off a buddy who never rode it. I figured I'd just ride it and flip it for a nice profit.


The bike was pretty mint, but the tank had a bubble in the paint. The deal included a brand new stretch tank, so I planned to give it a good generic paint job that would appeal to a guy with a lust for Kuryakyn and a big wad of cash. Well, the new tank fit like shit, big time. And stretch tanks are just kinda ugly to me. So I scored a like-new Sporty tank on Craigslist for $60...... and began the completely unplanned cut-off wheel carnival I'm gonna share.
As stated, I didn't have any plans to do all this. I did everything as I went, as one thing lead to another with fitment/ appearance. What was supposed to be a quick paint job has turned into making a "mild custom" or whatever you want to call it. I also had no budget, so everything I did had to be on the cheap. Please note, the pictures will not be the best. All I have is a shitty phone with a shittier camera, my apologies.

I mocked up the Sporty tank, and found the rear fender just looked too fat.



Now I'm liking the look of the new tank, so I decide to go balls deep and order a stingray fender from lowbrow and cut the struts off.

Here she is when the fender arrived. Think this gives her better proportions.

[DrFxr]

I wanted to keep the tank rubber mounted, so I grabbed some steel spacers at the hardware store.

The stock bushings fit perfectly inside them. I did some figuring and notched the spacers to fit around the frame. Then I mig welded them on and drilled a hole out through the center.



I also migged a nut onto the frame for the rear mount.

[DrFxr]

Next I did a bit of trimming to the sporty tank brackets. I wanted the tank close to the frame, with just enough room to put a thick piece of leather under it for cushion. I used some masking tape as a template to get both sides the same shape.

[DrFxr]

My uncle was kind enough to make me some bungs at his machine shop, which I miggged onto the swingarm.

[DrFxr]

So I'm too broke to be buying junk I can make, and the man says I needs me a license plate. I had a piece of heavy duty rectangular tube stock kicking around.......Why not?

[DrFxr]

I did what I could with a cut-off wheel, then heated up the side and hammered them flat to accommodate the taillight I re-used from the old fender

[DrFxr]

I cut out a piece of sheetmetal the same shape as the light, and a 1/2" strip. Mig welded it to the back, along with some nuts, to hide the mounting/wiring stuff

[DrFxr]

At this point, I did a bunch of mundane crap, like drill a hole in the backbone between the inside of the motor mount brace so I could run my wiring through there. I will probably rip the whole bike apart in the winter to mold the frame and replace the square lower tube with a round one, but for now we are running bootleg. Touching up the frame and getting so I can ride it without cutting any permanent corners.

[DrFxr]

Now, its beloved Bondo time. I brought my goods and wares over to my good friend Justin's place (Justin's Auto Body), where he was kind enough to deal with me and my dust making shenanigans. The lowbrow fender was pretty decent, one skim took care of all the waves. The front fender had some surprises, I was glad I stripped it completely. I also ground off the rivets and welded it to the bracket so it would be nice and smooth

[DrFxr]

Here's das swing arm and all the other stuff awaiting some epoxy. I used Custom shop DTM epoxy, first time, worked good.

[DrFxr]

Here it is epoxied, then I sanded it, and put some 2K fill primer over that. Sanded that, and sealed it with epoxy.

[DrFxr]

Now, the only thing I had a budget for was paint. I of course spent way more than I had planned, but I didn't plan on doing an "old skool" candy paint job originally. But I was getting into this project and wanted to try something new. This kinda stuff was the reason I got into bodywork, and I finally have a chance to pull it off, so fuggit, I'm going for it. I started off with a brilliant silver base on all the tins

[DrFxr]

Let's start masking! By the end of this journey I used about 180 yards of fine line tape. Here is the first round. I just winged all the designs, through the whole process.....

[DrFxr]

I mixed some brilliant silver with some triple black base to get a deep charcoal color. Sprayed that over the silver after I masked it

[DrFxr]

Unmasked and I got this going on

There's my man Justin, can't thank him enough for letting me do this at his place!

[DrFxr]

Mask it again, Tonto! This time I masked it for a triple black outline between the charcoal and silver, and some black lines here and there to break it up....

[DrFxr]

And on with the triple black.

[DrFxr]

I unmasked the tins after the black tacked up, and hit them all with a mid-coat clear. This allows you to scuff the panels when you are ready to do your artwork, basically extending the window you have to your next coat. It will also add a little more depth to the finished paint job. Here's them puppies out in the sun

[DrFxr]

Here's where it really gets fun. I haven't messed around with an airbrush in years, so here goes nothing. I actually remembered how fun this is, and plan on doing it a lot more now. Here is the rear fender, airbrushed with triple black

[DrFxr]

and the front....