Hardtail 550t

[blmiller8]

Im taking my bike to a friend today who owns a metal fab shop. We are going to turn my bike into a hard tail. He thinks we should cut the frame from behind the gas tank keep the swing arm and just weld pipes down to the swing arm. Makes sense to me but I want to take the swing arm out and make the hard tail. Has anyone done this to a gs550t. If you have please post a pic or shoot me some pointers.

[Wheelie]

Leaving a swing arm in and running struts to make a hardtail is one of the worst things you can do. The swing arm has bearings in it at the front pivot. When you add struts to create a hardtail, you induce stresses in the pivot point that it was never designed to handle. As you hit bumps in the road, those impacts transfer directly to the bearings. This will eventualy crush the bearings and loosen the joint. Now that this joint is loose vibrations will start traveling around and cause cracks in the frame. Maybe you get lucky and find the crack when you're washing your bike. Maybe you're unlucky and find it as you're skidding down the pavement on your face.
The biggest mistake I see in chopper building as in most endeavors is the lack of research and planning.
Read the "Chopper Builders Handbook". Look up "The Font" by a Brit named Blackjack and take whatever he says as gospel. Get over to The Chopper Underground.

Steve

[blmiller8]

Same thing I was thinking I will take the swing arm off and have him weld pipes in place.

[blmiller8]

I would also like to put a bigger wheel on the rear end where can I locate a sprocket that offsets the difference.

[briyenkieth]

I hard tailed mine. Should be picks of it in my profile. Not the only way it can be done, just how I did mine.

[blmiller8]

I hard tailed mine. Should be picks of it in my profile. Not the only way it can be done, just how I did mine.

Yours looks good I dont want to tear that much into the frame. I would like to just cut it where the seat is and take the swing arm off.

[blmiller8]

Finished the welding today I thought I was done then realized one of the tubes I welded on wasnt straight but taking it off will mess up the alignment on the bike any suggestions on how to fix?

[Splittie]

Doubt you will get the answers you're looking for without some PICS
It's been mentioned already, but I'll say it again.... go to The Chopper Underground, post up some pics, wait for some advice and go from there.
IMO hardtail is the way to go.
Measure and test fit twice so you only have to weld once.

[brveagle]

I would also like to put a bigger wheel on the rear end where can I locate a sprocket that offsets the difference.

I wouldn't worry so much about the sprocket as i would getting a larger rear wheel to fit.

It's sad that another GS will end up being chopped up.

[blmiller8]

Ok the hardtail build is in full swing now. I had a friend come over he laughed at me when he saw my welds so we cut everything off yet again. Starting over. Good thing I have a couple of backup frames. I just took the swing arm off one of them and we started the measurements today. Here is a pic of the chopped frame we plan on starting the rebuild tomorrow. I will keep updating this thread with photos everycouple of days. We are also making the wheel sit further back from the frame by about 2". Means I am going to have to get a longer chain.

[blmiller8]

I wouldn't worry so much about the sprocket as i would getting a larger rear wheel to fit.

It's sad that another GS will end up being chopped up.

Im going to stick with the stock wheel much less work.

[briyenkieth]

go to "thehorsebc.com". There's a straight forward article on how to hard tail a jap bike. Even stretches the swingarm. This isn't as hard as it seems, just gotta measure and measure and measure.......

[briyenkieth]

I wouldn't worry so much about the sprocket as i would getting a larger rear wheel to fit.

It's sad that another GS will end up being chopped up.

What's so sad about it? As long as it gets finished and he enjoys it. I'll give it to you though, sucks when any project ends up in the recycle bin.

[badbrown]

Looks good. Use the swing arm as a guide to align the other tubes and the wheel. Then attach the other tubes, and remove swing arm. I've seen pics of other gs like this seems reasonable. I plan on testing this method in due time....Good luck. Post progress.

[badbrown]

I found this pic somewhere.