Getting a handle on things

Yesterday was a big step to getting the bobber well and truly under control. The chassis was delivered to get welded together.

I'm also getting key parts of the bike sandblasted over the next couple of weeks in preparation for some powder coating.

I started to assemble the handle bar and switch gear throught the week.The parts include a TC Bros Drag Bar, Mikes XS right side switch, throttle and master cylinder, Posh grips purchased Deus Ex Machina and left switch from Motorcycle Recyclers.

 

Part of today's research was locating a suitable supplier for a single piece braided brake hose to run to the older style caliper. This is a Mikes XS complete early caliper that they sell, with a 10m x 1.0 banjo bolt which happens to suit the same thread and pitch that originally utilised a hard line fitting arrangement.

What a tool ..................bag!

Didn't get too much done this weekend, however, I managed to get all of the metalwork prepared for welding and pressure testing of the gas tank. Once done, prep and painting can begin.

Mounting of the ignition switch was also performed, with just enough clearance available between it and the tool bag that had arrived during the week.

Unfortunately I wasn't quite delivered what I'd ordered, with the tool bag having much more of a red/brown finish, rather than the tan coloured version that was expected. With the supplier Royal Spares being all the way in India, I just couldn't be bothered trying to fight it, and decided it might not be too bad after all. It kind of matches the copper milk urn and outside edges of the seat.

As you can see, it was an opportunity to mock up the gas tank, hard tail, milk urn, tool bag and seat. The seat is definitely well too far forward, and will likely be another 70mm further back. This will get determined when I'm mocking up the rear fender position.

Talk about service!

To my disbelief, an order of new shiny, or in this case black coloured bits arrived from one of the parts suppliers, Webike, that I had discovered.

Amazingly all of my parts arrived in a record time of only 4 days from Japan to Oz! As much as I'd like to support the local guys, you can't beat 30-40% cheaper pricing and free shipping!

Ofcourse I had to do my usual ritual of a test fit the moment I walked in the door last night.

In the shots below you can see the 5 3/4 Bates replica headlight, headlight bracket, blinkers and 49mm Bates style taillight that I'd ordered from Webike.

I also did a test fit of the XS650 specific blinker stays from Motolanna and a headlight grill from a local ebay parts supplier.

Beyond the point of no return!

I took the plunge and finally committed to the hardtail today by chopping my chassis up.

The TC Bros instructions were very straight forward and are a good guideline as to what prep is required prior to final welding.

For all of you seasoned bike builders out there, you will notice that I don't have a motor mount brace to keep the down tube and chassis rails true. I was fortunate to acquaint myself with a very helpful member of the XS650 Club of Australia who is providing me with valuable advice and a helping hand. Thankfully he has an amazing jig that will help square the chassis prior to welding.

Of course, as any excited bike builder has done, I had to do a test fit the first chance I could.

 

 

Well bung me!

The custom tank that I'd had made up, despite being a great shape, had a few areas that needed re-doing.

One of which was the neck bungs. The neck bungs on my tank were not in line with each other, with one of them also being sunken about 4 mm lower than the other.

To solve this, I'd ordered some new neck bungs from Lowbrow Customs. Since I wanted to use their Triumph style gas caps down the track, it was a no brainer to make this mod.

The new bungs are a much larger diameter, however, with them being more even now, I think it was worth the effort.

 

 

Time for an adjustment

One of the minor hurdles I faced was what to do with my chain adjusters to suit the TC Bros hard tail. Being a universal hard tail, the plates where the adjusters attach are 10mm thick rather than the 15mm that my 75 chassis has. This meant that the chain adjuster bolts no longer line up with the centre of the plates when using the original adjusters.

My solution was a simple one, I'd found Honda 3/4" chain adjusters that happened to suit the10mm axle plate. Perfect!

All I need now is some spacers to that will sit outside of the adjusters.

I thought I may have had a solution right in front of my face in chopping up and utilising washers from the original adjusters for a trial fit. It seems that they're just not wide enough, however, it was worth the shot.

 

 

Decisions, Decisons.

I took the time to get a rough layout for the fender length, seat position and milk jug orientation.

Despite not having my actual Firestone rear tyre in place, it was still enough of an opportunity to discover the orientation of the mik jug, which will likely need to sit with the label facing out and handles front to back. This is due to the handles possibly getting in the way of the chain when facing out to the sides.

In terms of the fender length, I'll check what the regs are her in NSW before committing to any cuts. I think where I propose to leave it should be suitable.

 

Got MILK?

I made a decision today that has confused most of those around me. They just can't get their head around the fact that I'm sticking a Milk urn on my bike!

I originally purchased the TC Bros electric box combo, however, I did have the urge to really make my build just that little bit different and off the wall.

I'm going to use this as a housing for my battery, rectifier, fuses, relays and perhaps ignition switch in the lid.

Even with my planning to use an A123 battery pack to save space, it'll be a tight fit. Another major draw to using this urn, is that I can have cabling run beneath the frame of the bike, thus reducing the need to hide them if they were running from a regular style faux oil tank/electric box.

I even had the supervisors give their seal of approval.

Helmet is striped and done!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Gary Howell @ "Signs by Gary Howell", who did an awesome pin-striping job on my helmet.

I'm so happy with his service and workmanship, that I'll be seeing him when it's time to gold-leaf the tank as shown in my previous post.

I must say, having to sand back and age his beautiful work was a tough chore, however, I think it all ties in together really well.

For anybody wanting to get some pin-striping done in the Sydney area, he is your man!

Once again, thanks to Lisa Cotterill @ Envisage Makeup Artistry for helping out with good old Pepe!

She has a name!

Well, it seems that the urge to name and tattoo my baby was just too strong.

I've decided to name my bobber "Thor's Hammer" (English) or "Mjolnir" (Norse).

The origin of this name comes from my Danish heritage, with my dad being a Dane, and my actually being born in Nyborg - Denmark before coming to Oz at the age of one.

It was this bloodline that also led to my first tattoo of Thor's Hammer (see pic below). Tattoo was designed by my mate Luke at Pictishink Tattooz.

I knocked up a rough idea of how my paint scheme will look on the tank, along with how I plan on having the name written. After meeting Gary Howell, my pin striper, it was determined that we'll gold leaf the stripe and writing on the tank.

Cool Video!

Here's a vid of a sweet XS650 bobber with the same hardtail as mine.

Mine will have front & rear fenders as well as a lower sitting tank. Considering my height, I'll need to get that seat as far back as I can get it!

I'm also trying to find out more details on the Monstercraftsmen chain tensioner, as this is exactly what I am looking for!

Cutting and Grinding

I've made some progress with the removal of the tank tabs, reflector posts, coil mount and steering lock mount.

I still need to cleanup any deep file marks and scratches.

I also removed the old inoperable kickstand and a bracket behind the exhaust mount that's got to go before the hardtail gets welded on.

Mulligan Machine Mids Mod

After having spoken to one of my mates regarding my desire to revert to mid mounts, and receiving the same feedback directly from TC Bros themselves, I'm giving up on the idea of using the forward controls in a mid mount application.

Instead I've decided I'll go down the path of the Mulligan Machine Mid Mod.

I do intend to use the mounting block that came with the TC Bros  brake pivot kit, and adapting the original splined brake bracket so that I can easily throw on the forward controls and suitable pivot kit at a later date with minimal mods.

Change of plan

The goodies from Lowbrow Customs arrived already!

Unfortunately there was a small hiccup with the rear fender, with my having to use a single rib version that had been shipped instead.

Kyle at Lowbrow Customs has been fantastic at helping me out in relation to the fender, and is taking good care of me for my next order.

Thanks mate!

P.S. The glasses looked great, however, my freakin wide head is a bit of a problem. Thankfully there's a guy at work that'll take them of my hands.

Fender time

I ordered a handful of goodies from Lowbrow Customs including the twin rib rear fender that I've got my heart set on and some sexy glasses too!