Sportster Rescue

Mike Lawless

2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
So I found the decrepit and f-ugly 1987 Sporty for cheap. Both of my other bikes are riders and not much needs doing on those, so this will be a fun project. Cheap enough to where I can cut it up and do whatever I want.
It wouldn't start when I bought, but took a chance anyway. I got it home and found a rats nest of wiring with a bunch of disconnected and poorly done rewiring.....all in black wire. So, I hot wired it. Bypassed the the starter relay and got it fired up. So, now that I know it runs, I can begin!

First thing to knock all the ugly off to get to the bones of the thing. I'm thinkin' a dual purpose tracker. Bare bones, light, loud and obnoxious! First things to go....tank, seat, forks, exhaust and those gawd-awful handlebars!


As purchased....
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Kinda what I have in mind....
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I'd like to say I was shocked after pulling the tank off to find that only three wires were actually connected to anything. The rest of the wires….mostly black ones, were either disconnected or pulled apart. Some with an inch of stripped wire next to the connectors. A whole bunch of butt connectors too! I had to laugh.
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After I get the rest of it knocked down, the hunt will be on for a GSX, Hayabusa or Buell inverted front end. Seems like the gixxers can be had fairly reasonably, but a bit more work to fit than the buell.
 
Bike is about 75% deconstructed. I have GSX forks in hand along with two 12" long chunks of 5" X 1.5" aluminum flat bar to make custom trees with. The GSX forks came with trees, but the lower is a bit tweaked, and the steering stem to fork tube offset is much less than the stock sporty trees. I don't wanna mess too much with the stock sporty geometry. Custom trees also solves a lot of other problems, and it's really just time to do the machine work. It'll be fun!

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After getting into this bike, the incompetence of the work on it really gets to me. Some people just shouldn't be allowed to own wrenches. Aside from the wiring being a total mess, some of the mechanical aspects were just as bad. The guy I bought it from told me up front that there was something wrong with the clutch. OK, nothing really complicated about a clutch. The lever is rock solid and can't be pulled in. The bike is in gear, it can be moved back and forth as if it were in neutral. So I figures to meself, the diaphragm is probably broken, sprung, collapsed...whatever. So I go to start taking that apart and the center adjuster for the clutch ramp is crewed ALL the way in. Which in effect, was like having the clutch lever pulled in. Unscrew it adjuster, and bingo. Clutch works fine.

Getting back to the electrics, virtually nothing is useable. So, a scratch built wiring harness will be built. Probably be minimal. Doubt I'll use HD controls. Maybe use levers and switches from a honda, yamaha, or kawasaki or something similar. I'm looking at that motogadget "M-Unit". That would vastly simplify the wiring, but she is pricey. Probably not needed on a bike like this
 
I don't know. Maybe something with "Fat" in the name. It'll be craigslist fodder. If anyone from this forum wants it, all it will cost is the price of shipping. Be warned....it be f-ugly!
I'll be using a 2 gallon peanut tank like on the white bike above.

canyoncarver said:
It doesn't look like a stock sportster tank on yours. What is it?
 
I'll get some all-over photos tonight. The bike had gas in it, so I know that at least it holds gas!
 
The tank has the console, it's not not in the picture. That includes the speedometer, ignition switch, and holes for the idiot lights. No idiot lights are there, and the overall console is fairly crusty. It would probably clean up OK, but the chrome will never be "show-worthy."

I know the ignition switch works, because I managed to get the thing running by hot wiring the starter relay.

Over-all, this thing may not even be worth the cost of shipping. At least not to me. But, if you're going for that rat-bike look…..well then! Here ya go!

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Some progress made on the fork conversion…
I got the two blocks of aluminum onto the mill and got the three holes bored. I did 'em all on one shot so they'd be exactly the same. Clamp bolt holes drilled and tapped, then slotted. I ended up making a steering stem from 4130 steel rather than use the stock HD stem. It just worked out better all the way around.

So now I have it fitted up and I can begin making an axle and spacers for the front wheel. It'll be an HD hub mated to the Suzuki forks. It seems that the stock disc diameter is really close to what the Suzuki calipers fit, so maybe all I will need to do is make a spacer to center the disc.

After everything is fitted up, I'll put the trees back on the mill and carve off the excess material

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It's been a while since I did an update on the "Hooligan" Sportster as I pursue other projects, and spend time ridin' rather than wrenchin'.

Since then, I've done a good bit of work, and it's starting to take shape. At least it's done being disassembled. A lot of the parts came are left-overs from other projects, such as the tank and headlight, among others.

Since the last update, I've trimmed down the triple tree, made an axle to adapt the HD hub to the Suzuki fork as well as fitted the proper suzuki brake disc. I made handle bar mounts and sourced a used set of Triumph Bonneville controls. I wanted a simpler and more elegant set-up and these happened along at a good price.

I made a speedometer bracket, although I'm going to make another that will incorporate LED indicator lights for turn signals, oil light, neutral and high beam.

Not much in the way of frame modifications. Fork stops to suit the new front end and modified rear struts.

Electrical coming up. Again, as simple as can be. Necessary functions only.

Initially, I was gonna go with 18" wheels front and rear. I thought about 16s with fat tires, but dual sport tire selection is nearly non existent for that rim diameter. So, I'm leaning toward 17s for better tire selection. Tires will be dual sport type. Maybe 140/80 rear, and 120/70 front. Probably Shinko 705.

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Starting on the wiring. First order of business was to get a wiring diagram for the Triumph controls. The system will be very simple. ignition, start, lights, brake lights and turn signals. Just that which is necessary. A simple six fuse block, a relay to switch that on, a starter relay and a flasher. Then it's a simple matter to connect the dots.

I made a new speedo bracket which has space for the little LED indicator lights for the turn signals, high beam, oil light, and neutral light.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have most of the wiring done for the non motor functions. It's amazing what one can find once they venture outside the normal motorcycle parts channels. Electronic flasher - NAPA, $11, (made a little mount for that from 16ga sheet steel); Turn signals, $14 for ALL FOUR - Amazon; LED Brake and tail light that fits the curve on the fender nearly perfectly, $18.00 (I made a shrouded mount for that from sheet steel, TIG welded to the bottom of the fender).
Most of the non-engine electricals are pretty much done, and all circuits are functional. All that is left is to run the wiring for the lights themselves, and that part is done.

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Man, I want a sportster sooooooooo bad...........

Looks cool.............like it !!!!!
 
Nice. I just started on a couple Ironheads. Thinking about getting an evo to do next.
 
Thanks guys!
I think once the wiring for the lights is done, I'm gonna knock the chassis back down and get some paint on it. Then move on to getting the motor prepped. The initial plan was to powder coat the side engine cases and rocker covers. I think for the short term, I'm gonna sand/scuff those parts and paint 'em. So, I'll pressure wash the motor and start working on the oil plumbing.

So far, the biggest expense is yet to come….building a set of wheels. I've decided on 17s, but can't find bare steel hoops anywhere. Aluminum would do, and I found those at Buchanan Spoke, but I kinda wanted steel. The plan was to paint or powedercoat the hoops red.

Any idears on where to find steel 17" hoops?
 
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