How to ruin a perfectly good stock frame

[mlc216]

Steve,

Thanks! I haven't quite decided where exactly the footpegs will go... or what they will look like, or how they will mount haha. I have gone back and forth on where to put them... Forwards feel great, but mids make for safter riding on bumpy back roads. With mids I can kinda stand up and soak up bigger bumps that would otherwise bounce me up off the seat anyways. Forwards don't really allow for that. I think for now I've settled on modified mids, which will end up a little lower than the stock position for the footpegs. I'll then, cut, bend, weld the shifter lever and brake lever if I need to make any changes to them. For added comfort, some guys in the 70's would mount a bar with pegs on it to the down tubes to use as "highway pegs", so I may do that to stretch my legs out a little.

I should add though that I'm only 5'8" so mid controls are usually plenty comfortable for me.

oh yeah, I'm also quietly wondering what the paint will end up as! haha

-mike

 

[Guest]

I'm lovin' it MLC and glad you've got a sense of humour with my stirring too

Full forwards would be tempting, but I completely understand why you're thinking of mid ones instead, and I think that would possibly be a suitable compromise on the whole chopper thing given the roads I know you have to travel on. I'm thinking it would be boring to find yourself going 5 miles an hour because you put forwards on and can't get yourself up off the seat for those bigger bumps...

 

[mlc216]

So I got the sissy bar finished up. Here's a pic with the tag ziptied on where it will be and the taillight ziptied where I'm thinking it will go:

Here's how I tied in the fender mount and sissy bar:

I made a bracket using a random piece of the stock frame to mount the seat... Didn't take any pics of that, but here's some more overall pics:

 

[mike-s]

That, is looking hell cool. Been a long time since i've seen anyone use springer forks in a new project.

 

[Guest]

Definitely looking good MLC!! That sissy bar is huge!

Definitely has some svelte lines from the rear though...

 

[mlc216]

I just realized how dirty that back wheel is from riding gravel roads on the other bike haha. I was thinking about stripping the powder coat off the wheels and trying to polish them up a bit... does anyone have pics of these wheels polished?

svelte... I like that word haha

 

[Guest]

This is all I found with a quick Google:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19371629@N07/1935723504/

Your wheel isn't dirty, it's well run in

 

[mlc216]

Ha I don't want to polish comstars! I want to polish the gs450 mags! Somebody has to have done it...

 

[Guest]

Hahaha ok, I thought you had the comstar on the back still... in that case I'm sure someone will have, do some searching on here and I'm sure you'll find something

 

[mlc216]

No time for searching, I leave for barber in 7 days!!!

So I was just going to move the petcock back and otherwise leave the tank alone, but the holesaw didn't work as planned...

So I decided to go ahead and increase my fuel capacity while I'm at it:

Made a bracket to mount the new tank:

Turned down to bolt heads and slid them through the new flat bottom for the tank:

Oxy welded them in place:

Also drilled a hole and oxy welded the petcock tube in and started oxy welding the tank back together... But forgot to take pics of that

 

[oohsam]

Awesome. So will the tank be permanently welded to the frame or will u weld threads to the tank floor and bolt it on from underneath?

 

[mlc216]

Oh that's what those two welds are... They are bolts that I turned down the hex head a little bit and slid the bolt through the holes. Then I welded the head to the sheetmetal so the threads come out the bottom and go through the bracket on the frame...

 

[Guest]

Nicely done MLC! Extra fuel means extra time in the saddle... can only be a good thing

 

[mlc216]

The tank still has a LONG way to go... Oxy welding is great for welding thin metal together... if you know how to do it that is haha... And it's defintiely something I need more practice at

 

[Guest]

You lost me at Oxy

 

[mlc216]

Oxygen-acetylene torch welding...

 

[rustybronco]

Be careful using the word torch with those down-unda types. you'll have them all confused like. they'll start wondering how you weld with a flashlight! (j/k!)

 

[Leigh]

Be careful using the word torch with those down-unda types. you'll have them all confused like. they'll start wondering how you weld with a flashlight! (j/k!)

Put more batteries in until it glows real hot..




(pssst. I think Pete knows what Oxy is but implied that's where his skill ends)

 

[mlc216]

It's kinda like staring into a flashlight for a while haha

Pete, let me know the next time you're in Mississippi and I'll show you all about oxy welding. I figure I should be really good at it by then haha

 

[rustybronco]

And I thought Pete was playing off the words "you lost me at Hello"

silly me...