"Thor's Hammer" 1975 XS650 hardtail

Saturday, 4 June 2011 "Helmet head"

One of things that really appeals to me is the ability to get creative and express yourself with a cool helmet.

Unfortunately there isn't a large range of ultra cool open faced helmets available in Oz. Due to our strict design rules and regulations, buying something from Biltwell and Bell was out of the question as they have not been tested by our local authorities. Despite being DOT approved, these helmets don't have the all important AS/NZ 1698 sticker and tag to ensure that I am covered by insurance should the worst happen.

Old School Helmets make some awesome paint jobs, however, they were not suitable due to the helmets not meeting Australian Design Rules. They did inspire me none the less.

So I did the next best thing, and bought a locally made Rjays helmet and painted it myself.

I couldn't have done it without the help of my other half, Lisa Cotterill of Envisage Makeup Artistry, who did a brilliant job on Pepe Le Pew!

All it needs now is some pin-striping across the front and back of the helmet.

I mustn't forget the Possum's help too!

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Monday, 20 June 2011 "Foot pegs and ghetto mounts"

After stewing on it, I decided I wasn't all that comfortable with the positioning of the TC Bros forward controls.

With a bit of thought, I'd decided to see if there was some other way to install them in a mid mount position. As luck would have it, the exhaust mounting positions will be ideal for the re-located forward control mounts.

It will push them a bit lower to the ground than expected, however, I do have the available ride height to get away with it. The exhaust will need to run beneath these, however, it shouldn't be a problem.

I'll need to cut 40mm off the forward control posts in order for them to get closer to the side covers, and to prevent them getting smashed on the first bend I take.

I managed to get the basic ghetto engine mount roughly completed, prior to final tidy up, welding and powder coating.

As you can see, the tank sits neatly atop the new mount. I might even have a bit of extra space for the petcocks after all?

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Tuesday, 21 June 2011 "New guts"

I managed to p-up some sheet metal to begin progress on filling up the cavity I made within the gas tank.

Once I remove the galvanised surface, I'll arrange to get a pro to weld it all up for me.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Thursday, 23 June 2011 "Best seat in the house"

I managed to order my solo seat from Rich Phillips Cycles.

Looks sweet huh!

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Thursday, 23 June 2011 "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!

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Thursday, 30 June 2011 "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.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Sunday, 3 July 2011 "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.


Cheers

Steve
 
Sunday, 3 July 2011 "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.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Sunday, 17 July 2011 "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 "Mjolnir" (Norse) or "Thor's Hammer" (English).

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.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Sunday, 17 July 2011 "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!

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Friday, 22 July 2011 "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.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Sunday, 24 July 2011 "Decisions, Decisions."

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.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Sunday, 24 July 2011 "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.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Sunday, 14 August 2011 "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.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Thursday, 25 August 2011 "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.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Sunday, 28 August 2011 "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.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Sunday, 11 September 2011 "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.

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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.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Monday, 3 October 2011 “Getting bent!”

It was always my intention to have a fender stay that was as discreet as possible, with it preferably running under the fender once attached.

My solution was to grab one of the Triumph fender stays that Steadfast Cycles sell.

Unfortunately it was way too narrow to suit my application, however, with some careful re-bending it now clears my 4.5 x 18 Firestone tyre. It was also way too short to clear the wheel, so I decided to give myself a flexible fix. This called for some 10mm threaded rod and rod ends.

Now I have an adjustable fender stay!

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Monday, 3 October 2011 “Tight squeeze!”

As part of today's mock up session, I wanted to test out the fitment of the coil that came in my Pamco ignition kit from Mikes XS and the backyard slimline engine mounts that I'd made up.

Talk about a tight squeeze!

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
Monday, 3 October 2011 “She's coming together!”

It's been a big couple of weeks with the tank and chassis welding having taken place.

Arthur from North Shore Radiators did a great job of soldering my tank back together, cleaning, sealing and pressure testing it to ensure a leak free result.

This long weekend was spent removing any slag from the chassis welding, and just giving it all a once over as I move closer to getting it prepared for powder coating.

Other than the seat sitting too far forward, it's easy to see how all of the elements are coming together.

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Cheers

Steve

http://inmotionphotogxs650.blogspot.com/
 
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