Well, I guess it's time for a build thread. The name comes from Trailer Park Boys. I freakin love that show, and the name just fits.
So, seeing as how I joined just before I finished the project, I figured I'd wait until it was done before posting it. Here you go. It's an xs400 with an xs750 front end, tank, and rear wheel/mc. Fiberglass seat. Bronze swingarm bushings in back. Tapered roller bearings up front. New pistons/rings. Raask rearsets... bunch of other stuff... anyways
How the bike looked when I got it. Rat for sure, but a good start in the right direction.
Strippin it.
Stripped and new shocks fitted. The redwings were temporary as I couldn't find anything else long enough (she needs super long shocks for the short tail), but I'll see how they do. Would like to find a set of Hagons eventually.
The previous owner had removed the side covers and all mounts. I wanted to run the battery here, so I had to weld on some new mounts.
I can't stand a small tail on a bike with a big tank, so I needed some height. Stripped original seat down to fiberglass where needed and sculpted some foam.
New tail glassed and bondo'd.
Since I planned to have it painted anyway, I figured I'd save myself some money and strip all I could for the painter. When I stripped the tank, I found it completely covered in bondo, which was ruined by the aircraft paint stripper. I also found a spot where the previous owner had attempted a bar dent, realized it looked like shit, and filled it. nice.
The bike came with an ignition switch where the side cover should be, so when I redid the wiring I had to put the switch up front. As the bike has xs750 triple trees there is no mount for an ignition switch like on an xs400. I think the xs750 mount is on the gauge cluster, but I retained the xs400 gauges so... I had to make one. It acts as a washer for the bar mount bolts, and provides a near stock location for the switch.
Getting started on engine for cleaning/painting and new pistons/rings.
When I bought the bike, it was only firing on the right cylinder. After finding holes in the left pipe from a shotty welding job (fixed) and a tear in the associated carb diaphragm, I figured it was due to a vacuum leak. Boy was I right, and still wrong though- there was a large chunk missing from the carb boot/manifold gasket. Hope it didn't get sucked in! Lesson: wd-40 vacuum check would've found this right away.
I wanted a paint job that would last, so I had that step done by someone who knew what they were doing. I took it to my uncle's painter (uncle's a mechanic) and asked for British racing green. He took it one step further and sprayed it with factory Jaguar green. Made my day.
And apart from waiting for new carb diaphragms it's done. ...In my hurry to get a couple pics between snow flurries I forgot to put the oil filter/cover on, in case anyone was wondering.
So, seeing as how I joined just before I finished the project, I figured I'd wait until it was done before posting it. Here you go. It's an xs400 with an xs750 front end, tank, and rear wheel/mc. Fiberglass seat. Bronze swingarm bushings in back. Tapered roller bearings up front. New pistons/rings. Raask rearsets... bunch of other stuff... anyways
How the bike looked when I got it. Rat for sure, but a good start in the right direction.
Strippin it.
Stripped and new shocks fitted. The redwings were temporary as I couldn't find anything else long enough (she needs super long shocks for the short tail), but I'll see how they do. Would like to find a set of Hagons eventually.
The previous owner had removed the side covers and all mounts. I wanted to run the battery here, so I had to weld on some new mounts.
I can't stand a small tail on a bike with a big tank, so I needed some height. Stripped original seat down to fiberglass where needed and sculpted some foam.
New tail glassed and bondo'd.
Since I planned to have it painted anyway, I figured I'd save myself some money and strip all I could for the painter. When I stripped the tank, I found it completely covered in bondo, which was ruined by the aircraft paint stripper. I also found a spot where the previous owner had attempted a bar dent, realized it looked like shit, and filled it. nice.
The bike came with an ignition switch where the side cover should be, so when I redid the wiring I had to put the switch up front. As the bike has xs750 triple trees there is no mount for an ignition switch like on an xs400. I think the xs750 mount is on the gauge cluster, but I retained the xs400 gauges so... I had to make one. It acts as a washer for the bar mount bolts, and provides a near stock location for the switch.
Getting started on engine for cleaning/painting and new pistons/rings.
When I bought the bike, it was only firing on the right cylinder. After finding holes in the left pipe from a shotty welding job (fixed) and a tear in the associated carb diaphragm, I figured it was due to a vacuum leak. Boy was I right, and still wrong though- there was a large chunk missing from the carb boot/manifold gasket. Hope it didn't get sucked in! Lesson: wd-40 vacuum check would've found this right away.
I wanted a paint job that would last, so I had that step done by someone who knew what they were doing. I took it to my uncle's painter (uncle's a mechanic) and asked for British racing green. He took it one step further and sprayed it with factory Jaguar green. Made my day.
And apart from waiting for new carb diaphragms it's done. ...In my hurry to get a couple pics between snow flurries I forgot to put the oil filter/cover on, in case anyone was wondering.
