SBS Project - Sportster Chop w/ Lots of Photo's

slugs

Thank you Kevin, I have learned something new today. I guess I should have known better that especially you and your company would not use something with a potential danger
My Apologies
Gerald

Thanks for posting these Kevin.
I was thinking on adding 2" over tubes to my stock 73 FLH front end. These "extensions" would be cheaper & mucho easier to install.
How are they tightened into the tubes to prevent leaking? Maybe they use thick o-rings, so hand tightening works?
Yeah, I don't get out much anymore!

gerald martin said:

Thank you Kevin, I have learned something new today. I guess I should have known better that especially you and your company would not use something with a potential danger
My Apologies
Gerald

Click to expand...

Man, no apology needed. Who knows what day I will stumble forward with something and not realize what I am doing. I appreciate any and all input!

As a consumer, when I read your post of this...I thought to myself...I better double check this...I coulda just as easily been wrong and be sending these back to the seller!

You CAN rest assured, that anything we make and sell, we have tested it out the wazoo first...and believe me, we've had a bunch of ideas that never got past testing to actual production. lol

peteg59 said:

Thanks for posting these Kevin.
I was thinking on adding 2" over tubes to my stock 73 FLH front end. These "extensions" would be cheaper & mucho easier to install.
How are they tightened into the tubes to prevent leaking? Maybe they use thick o-rings, so hand tightening works?
Yeah, I don't get out much anymore!

Click to expand...

Yes, that is why I am using these instead of longer tubes...before all is said and done I may not want 2" over, I may want 1" over...or end up keeping them stock length, so it is much more economical to use the extended caps.

For sealing, they use the same o-ring as the stock cap.

There is a 1/4" hole (not pictured) near the top of the cap that can be used to tighten them. The hole is then hidden by the tree. You can also use a strap wrench to tighten them.

Here is the link to where I got mine-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111534896488


Kevin

Ok sounds like you've got it covered. Havin trouble posting site keeps kickin my ipad mini off. Good luck

When I installed raked triple trees (purchased from Zook) on my Goldwing trike they came with extended length fork caps to make up for the slight decrease in front end height due to the increased rake. I never had any issues.

Sunman

Yesterday was a frustrating day on the SBS bike.

Went to install the Sproter I ordered...does not fit. Here's a pic of Devin just looking at it in disgust. We tried many different ways of making it work...to no avail.





After we finally swallowed the fact that we are going to have to send this one back, and start looking all over again, we went ahead and thought some more about the 2" extended forks that we installed.

They definitely changed up the looks some, and we're discussing if we want to add about 3-5 degrees to the rake.






A look at the top of the fork tube extensions-





Next was cutting the fender to get it closer to the size it will be.






Checking out some different mounting points for the seat...





...and seat shock angle and mounting points.

Did not take the time to get some hose on the tire for the fender to sit right, will do that another day.






Spent so much time trying to fit a round peg in a square hole with the Sproter, did not get near as much done as expected.


I am liking the look of the spoked rear wheel instead of the mag one that was on there before.

*******************
Today we did no work on the actual bike, but we did spend a bit of time at the computer, looking at parts, and then at our list, deciding how to proceed.


The new tank should be here next week...finally got a tracking #...it was supposed to have arrived here a couple of days ago, but they were a week later in shipping it than promised.

Next week we are going to put the engine back in the frame for chain alignment and top motor mount fab work.

We are still looking at options of Sprotors that will fit.

We ordered a Vulcan Engineering 3 degree rake kit, along with the tools to extract the current fork cups and install the new ones.

After we install that, we will decide if we want to use the 2" fork caps or some 1" fork caps.

We ordered a front brake caliper, that will be mounted on the right side.

That, along with whatever Sproter we end up with, will leave the left side of each wheel clean.

We also looked at some front turn signal options, and some idiot light options (oil pressure and neutral).

Everything is sitting for now.

Tomorrow it may snow (a relatively rare occurrence here), if it does, I am going to get out for a ride in it, and take some video.

Kevin

Good progress on the bike KevinThumbUp
Is the "sprotor" issue related to the hardtail setup?

peteg59 said:

Good progress on the bike KevinThumbUp
Is the "sprotor" issue related to the hardtail setup?

Click to expand...

Yes, my particular hardtail simply does not have the clearance for the bulky Sprotor caliper I got.

It would probably fit with no issues on a swingarm bike. It would also fit on a hardtail that was of a different configuration.

I have already made arrangements to return the Sprotor set up I have, and am getting measurements on other Sprotor set-ups, so that when I order, I know I am getting one that won't have a clearance issue.

Kevin

It's been a week, and we're still waiting on some parts. They should be here tomorrow, so tomorrow or Friday we should be able to get some progress made.

In the meantime, I did carry the engine from my home shop to the DK shop.





For the foreseeable future, the work that needs to be done will be easier to do here. In the next day or two I am going to clear out a semi-permanent spot to be able to work on it and keep all the parts organized.





Pulled the pulley off....my compressor at my home shop did not generate enough PSI to break it loose.





Pic of Matt welding while we were dropping the engine into the frame...





...next time I am going to get his help...I am getting to old to hoist that motor around.






Standing upright. Gotta finish getting all the motor mounts bolted up.






Tomorrow, or Friday, we'll get the raked fork cups installed, get the wheels back on, and then decide on the fork length.

Once that is nailed down, then we can look at
tank placement
seat placement
kickstand placement
rear rail cross member placement
rear fender placement

After we've decide that, then cutting, drilling and welding will commence to get them all in place.

My plan to have that all done this week was overly ambitious, but if we can get all that done by the end of next week, I will be happy with the progress.

We have a drop of 12 gauge steel that should be arriving next week...we will be using that to build an oil tank.

Kevin

Friday the 13th Update.

Got a bunch done today!


We received the 3* Rake Fork Cup Set-





First step was to pull out the factory races. It took all of 10 minutes, with the proper tool.






Next was to install the raked fork cups. There were more parts to the tool, than the actual kit.





We've never installed Raked cups before, so we took are time and made sure everything was lined up correctly....







...before tightening it down, into place. Everything went smoothly.

Since the lower cup as a fork stop, we will be cutting off the one on the frame.






Time to put the new races into the cups...






...again, everything went smoothly. All done!





Pic of the 12 gauge steel that we're going to use to make the oil tank out of.






Continued in next post.

Friday the 13th update continued.


Finished tightening up all the motor mounts.

Installed the front sprocket.

Notice the rear sprotor is gone...we are still waiting on the new one to arrive.

Got both wheels on. Notice the front is still sitting up a bit high, even after the 3* rake.






Tank mocked up.

Fender is mocked up, with some hose between the tire and the underside of the fender to space it out a bit.

Chrome aftermarket Front Caliper is bolted on.

Still need to shave off the fender mounts from the fork legs.


Also, notice the frame rails are almost even now. We slid the forks up the trees about an inch to get it more level.

We will probably end up going with 1" fork extensions, instead of the 2" extensions that are currently in place. We'll wait til everything else is in place before making that decision.







Added the seat to the mix. Also, moved the tank down the backbone a bit.

It looked good earlier today, but after looking at the photo's, I think the tank needs to go back up the backbone a bit, and the seat needs to go forward a bit.

Want to even out the spacing between the back of the seat and the rear fender, to make it more the same as the space between the front of the seat and the back of the tank.







Another angle.







Looks like this is where we'll put the kickstand...right behind the primary.





I'm going to let these pics percolate a bit. Then next week we'll get the tank, seat, cross-member and kickstand all in place.

The seat will be the largest project, need to fab the front hinge, the top and bottom shock mounts, and weld them all in place.

Next week the new sprotor should arrive and we can get that installed and see what, if any, spacer work we need to do.


A note about my work area: I normally work on my bikes on my lift table in my own shop. But since so much is needing to be welded, I have the bike at the DK Shop.

But the DK Shop is Not a bike shop...it is a manufacturing shop... A busy and full one. So I have this one little corner that I cleared a bunch of stuff out of and made it the little "cubicle" I'm working in.


All done for the day, and wheeled it into the corner of the space I cleared out.





We only just barely started...but it looks a lot different today than the day I picked it up!




Kevin

I was not planning on working on the Sportster....BUT, the new Sprotor came in.

I was Very curious to see if it was going to fit without having to cut into the frame.

Sitting in its' corner, waiting for some attention.






Pulled the rear wheel, and when I went to install the sprotor, the hub ring was the wrong size. I went ahead and bolted it up anyway, so I could check the caliper fitment.






Next thing was that they forgot to include the adapter for 3/4" axle fitment. Went ahead and put it on anyway.


WhooHoo! It fits and I may do just a small amount of grinding on the axle plate to get clearance for maximum adjustment!





Another view-




Already got all the measurements for machining the hub ring and axle adapter. Should have them in hand tomorrow.


Next up is getting the seat & seat shock brackets fabbed & welded in place.


Kevin

^...Looking good Kevin:clapping:
It really goes a long way in keeping the bike's looks on the simple & "uncluttered" side.

Its hard to let new parts sit after their arrival isn't it?
Have you used a "sprotor" on anything you've built before?

I've never seen one in use on anyone's bike around here, so I'm wondering how they keep the brake pads clean & free of chain lube?

peteg59 said:

^...Looking good Kevin:clapping:
It really goes a long way in keeping the bike's looks on the simple & "uncluttered" side.

Its hard to let new parts sit after their arrival isn't it?
Have you used a "sprotor" on anything you've built before?

I've never seen one in use on anyone's bike around here, so I'm wondering how they keep the brake pads clean & free of chain lube?

Click to expand...

Yes, it would have been easier to use a sprocket and a rotor on the other side, but it is a much cleaner look this way.

Yep, I had ants in my pants to see if it would fit.

I've never used a Sprotor before. I've seen them on quite a few bikes that friends own, and always wanted one.

I'll be cleaning all the shipping chain lube off the outside of the chain. That is an O-Ring chain, that is supposed to seal the factory lube on the inside, also keeping dirt out of the inside. Centrifugal force throws any lube out, away from the rotor...that is the theory, and mostly works in practice.

Many who run a Sprotor use a little softer pad to keep a good bite. Since I use front brake 90% of the time, I am not worried about going thru rear pads too quickly.

Kevin

Several folks have asked for more details on the tools for removing the factory races and installing the raked cups and races. Here are some photos for them and anyone else interested-

A couple more photo's on the tool for installing the raked cups and matching races.Because everything goes in at a different angle, and off center, the tools are made to accommodate.Photos of the race puller tool-The tool is adjustable.You can see it is smaller than the race here-When you turn the adjuster, it gets larger-You can see here it is firmly gripping the inside of the race-Here are a couple of photos of it, as we pulled the old races out-You can see the race is almost completely removed from the steering head-Kevin

Had a nice 4 hour window that we were able to get the seat done.

Here is what we started with-

Our Premium Leather Seat
A mountain bike frame shock
Misc tabs and a seat hinge.





First step...a strip of 11 gauge steel, drill some holes, tack weld some tabs to it...






...then bolt it onto the seat and test mount the shock on it.






Next, rework the seat hinge to fit the frame and the seat.





Gotta heat it up....






...to get a curve in it...





....to match the seat pan curve.






Both brackets on the seat...






...next is to get their counterparts on the frame.





Seat hinge and shock tabs, both tacked in place.





Continued in next post-

Kudo's to Matt! The entire 4 hours Devin and I were working on the Sporty, Matt was knocking out Tank Lifts, then doing the finish work on them & some TTI's to get them ready for powder.






BEFORE YOU LOOK AT THE PIC BELOW....We didn't like it either and we changed it.










It is sitting up too high for our taste...






...no matter what angle, it just wasn't "right".







That is why we tacked it only. So we left the bottom shock mounts in the same place, and just knocked the seat hinge off and tacked it up 1 1/8" further down the backbone.







That looks much better...also puts the shock at a steeper angle. This results in more seat travel.

The shock has 1" of travel, with the angle it is at, the seat, at the back, has 2 1/4" travel, and at the center of the seat it is 1 1/2" travel.

Hopefully that is enough for my old bones.





btw, the tabs we used for the lower shock mounts are slotted. In the pic above, the shock is all the way forward in the slot. I will probably move it back a bit to get the rear of the seat sitting just a tad higher.



Devin went ahead and welded the seat hinge and shock tabs to the frame, while I did a bit of clean up and prepped the kickstand.



Kickstand mount welded in place-







Gonna be much easier now...






...moving the bike around.






I am hoping to get some time tomorrow, or this weekend, to get the tank mounted, and the sprotor, adapters, & spacers all done.

Next week (maybe tomorrow) we can get the cross-member fully welded in place. Once I see exactly where the tire is going to go in the frame... Then we can work on cutting, bracing & mounting the fender.


Kevin

Yesterday I took about 3 hours to get the tank mounts done. Matt helped me, as you will see.

First off was getting the holes drilled & centered in the front....






...and rear tank tabs.







Next up was to use the Top Hat bungs I got from TC Bros. They have blind threads...once these are welded into the frame, there is no access to inside the frame for any moisture to get in there.






I spent a substantial amount of time getting everything centered and spaced properly Before drilling into the backbone of the frame.

Pilot hole...






Top Hats test fitted into frame.







I test fit the tank several times during the process...and not once did I take a photo. Will get one next week.


Prepping the surface for welding.








Next up was putting some anti-seize on the threads, putting the fasteners into the Top Hats, and tacking them in. Then another test fit...no photo!







Next up was to tack all the way around. Can't do a solid bead, it will draw the Top Hat out of alignment, and possibly distort the threads, even with the bolts in them.

So Matt took his time, doing a couple of tacks, then switching to the other one, back and forth, never getting them too hot.

All done welding.







Partially done smoothing it out.







Matt has some mad skills with the sander at finishing it out. I could have gone for an hour solid and not got half as good a finish as he got it 15 minutes.





Hope to make more good progress next week!


Kevin

chopper

bike looks fantastic. wish I had the ability to build one

gerald martin said:

bike looks fantastic. wish I had the ability to build one

Click to expand...

Thanks!

I am fortunate to work with some guys that are great at welding and finishing. The rest is imagination & grunt work.

Kevin