The Thunder Toad Cometh

[Kev Nemo]

Hmmm-I think the bratstyle bikes have pretty narrow tanks, actually. Most are based on a combination of track tanks and chopper style 'peanut' tanks. It also seems like you could have bought a stock seat, yanked the cover, cut the foam in half, and recovered, which is what I did on my first seat. Next go round, I made a pan out of an aluminum street sign, old seat foam, and marine vinyl from fabric store. What else do you have planned besides the fender?

[dcwp]

Yeah, I don't think anybody will mistake this for a proper Bratstyle bike.  I saw someone the other day talk about ramen bobs - stripped Asian bikes done on the cheap.  I think that sums it up pretty well for the Toad.

As for the seat, my first thought was to just cut down the stock seat, and looking at what I've got now it probably wouldn't have been a huge difference.  I am still considering taking this one a bit lower by trimming the foam to half it's height.  That wouldn't work with a stock seat since the pan has a big arch over the wheel.  This seat achieves two major goals.  1) it covers the rails 2) it gave me an excuse to learn how to fiberglass.  This whole build is about learning new skills since I'm otherwise brand new to bikes.

I don't have a ton of other plans.  For now getting a dead motor running and doing some basic customization is all I wanted out of the bike and it'll be too cold to ride or work very soon.  I'm planning to put a round tail light on the fender, replace the airbox with pods and rejet, wrap the headers, and hide the battery and electronics.  I'm thinking of using a bent piece of sheet metal to do that, like the Gravel Crew bikes.  Next season I may think about more mods or I may start looking for another project to do a little deeper.

I'd love to hear any thoughts you have on other things that would be cool.

[Kev Nemo]

Do you have any good, level 'profile' shots of the bike without the tank and seat? When I started on my bike (and car), I made sure I had plenty of these shots so I could plan it out in msPaint. Here's my bike around the point yours is now:



these pics are great for tracking  progress as well!
Just looked at your og build thread and now I understand your dilema with the frame dip under the seat. Easiest thing to do is make that work for you as a place to stash your electrics. Where are you planning on hiding the battery?

[dcwp]

Yep, the obvious solution is to put the electricals under the seat.  I've seen some other CM400 builds that put a flat seat between the tank and rear rails then sort of a skirt to cover the gap and the electricals in there.  When I yank the airbox, I'll have to see how much room I have there. 

I'm planning to mount the battery against the rear frame and inner fender if I can make it fit.  I'll probably fab up something simple to hold the battery and the electronics in the same spot back there.  Then I'm going to try bend a piece of sheet metal or maybe use glass to hide everything back something like these bikes. 







I'll have to see how the size of the battery and frame geometry allows for it, but since it's AGM, I can mount the battery at any angle.

[Maritime]

You will find a lot of room there once you ditch the air box, it's huge, I was almost going to put a 1 gallon jerry can in the place of it for when I go on ling rides..  I am hoping to do something this winter to hide the battery and electrics and remove my side covers to show off the pods and get the open frame look.

Cheers,

[dcwp]

Sadly I don't have any good level profile shots.  I've got a few of my daily rider (same bike) in its stock form that I look at once in a while while planning. 

That's a good idea though, I'll be sure to take some in the future before I start a project.  One of the problems with this build in general and specifically for photography is that I don't have a garage and just use the protected space between shed and fence as my work area.  A couple of tarps is all the protection I've got for now   Hopefully moving within the year though so that will change.

What kind of car did you build/are you working on?

[Maritime]

I feel yah, all my work is in a gravel driveway.  I do what I can.  I wish I had a garage, but being poor I have to do what I can.  I did a seat though. I will throw some pics up. I wanted to do a tuck and roll brat style to it but my sewing machine from 1955 wouldn't sew the vinyl. It kept tearing the thread up. I am going to try it on my mother-in-laws when I can get there. 1.5 hour drive away.

Cheers,

[dcwp]

Good luck with the sewing machine, you're braver than I am for trying to sew it yourself.  The nice thing about working outside is it makes you organized, no leaving parts and tools laying around out of order.  I'm curious to see what you did with your seat.

[Kev Nemo]

This was my baby-'62 Impala, sold in May.

Before:

After:


used lots of photoshoppin' to get my ideas straight; saves cash in the long run

[baconpocket]

Dan is awesome, just sent me the back half of the first pan he made.

Can't wait to see what your friend does with the upholstery

[dcwp]

Thanks man, I hope you find something to do with the seatpan. 

Hopefully I'll have the seat back in the next few weeks.  Since my friend is doing this project gratis, it's lower on the priority list than her paying projects.  Plus riding season is pretty much over here so I won't actually be able to use it until spring.  I'll be sure to post lots of pictures once I get it.

[troybilt]

Can't wait to see what you do with the seat. Should be cool. I agree about the look of a true bratstyle being different. I think most have major frame modifications. i think the majority have konged the seat rails along with other changes. I do love the look though.

Hey Kev, that '62 is sweet. Shame you don't have it anymore. Do you have a new project lined up?

Hey MaritimeBiker I'm with you on the pain of working on the gravel. I can't help with a roof but I think I can help with a cheap but awesome floor.  I had a garage with a gravel floor for 18 years. I've since moved and now have a concrete floor to work on. Man I didn't know what I was missing. Well I guess I did. I lost all kinds of nuts, bolts, washers and everthing else that went flying into the gravel. Anyhow, I found out about limestone dust. We covered our barn floor with it. First we put down about 6" of gravel then about 3" of limestone dust. It is everybit as hard as concrete only way cheaper. I think we paid less than 6 dollars a ton. Anyhow, I would have given anything to have known about this stuff a long time ago. It packs in so tight it is amazing. The horses don't even kick any up. I'll tell ya it is just like concrete only way cheaper. I'm not sure what it might be called in your area but what it is is pulverized limestone. It is as close to a powder as you can get. A couple of ton goes a long ways. 

[Maritime]

Hey Troy, happens the maritimes are the end of the appelation range and full of limestone too. Yeah I should get some and pack the area I work on the bike in it. I was hoping this spring to be able to get one of those portable work shelters to put up when I work on the bike.

Thanks for the idea,

Cheers,

Maritime

[troybilt]

You won't believe how nice and hard the stuff gets. Even Horse piss will puddle ontop, LOL. If I catch it soon enough (within a couple of hours) I  sweep it out and it makes things much cleaner. Awesome stuff.
A work shelter with this stuff as the floor would be sweet. Just make sure to put a few inches of base under it. I think the size we use as a base is 1.5" . If you've had to work on gravel you will love this stuff.

[Maritime]

I know what horse piss can be like, my uncle had horses for years and I used to spend summers working the farm with him.  Been a while though.  His were all harness racing horses and could be pretty high strung.

Cheers

PS, Sorry for the thread jack DCWP