New guy looking for some direction.....

C

ChopperMechanic

New Member
I plan on building a bobber/low slung bike when I get back next winter. I like the low bars, wide tank, wide back tire, performance almost Vrod kind of look. I really like the clean look of a hard tail, but I want the bike to be a daily driver. I am also leaning twds a bigger cc bike. My question is, what are your guys opinions on good bikes for this kind of build? Also, do you think a hard tail would be too rough to ride every day? My only problem with some of the bigger bikes is having four carbs.....and reliability issues. What do you think?


A lil background info, before i get asked....yes I am a chopper mechanic, a helicopter mechanic. My job is working on turbine engines, but right now I got put in the sheet metal shop to help run it for the deployment. I can weld, torch, and make works of art with a sawzaw, welder, and a grinder. I have been working on vehicles for about ten years, so Im fairly mechanically inclined. Ive never tried building a bike, so any ideas or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
man to be honest... the sky is the limit on something like this. if you ahve an idea where you want to go we can build on that... but a blank slate... first step = snag a bike up
 
Yup Joes right. When youre building a chop anything goes. What bikes do you like? Show us some pics of things that interest you, and we'll try to point you in the right direction. A bike that makes a killer chop, and isnt tiny, is relativly easy to work on, and not difficult to source parts for is the Yamaha XS650.

As far as hardtails... Are they as easy to ride as a sprung up bike? Sure. IF you build it correctly.
Can you have one as your everyday bike? Hell yes, but again only if you build it correctly.

Theres a lot that goes into setting the bike up correctly.

Like Joe said, first thing you need to do is figure out what bike you want to start off with.
 
ChopperMechanic said:
My job is working on turbine engines, but right now I got put in the sheet metal shop to help run it for the deployment.
Click to expand...

Sounds like your "In". If so, where and who are you with?
 
Im with the Army, relaxing out here in Afghani Land for a year or so till I get back to upstate new york. I have been reading over this forum for about a month now, and figured I would try to get some ideas. I have a folder with about 200 picks of different parts I like. Ill look thru and see if I cant find a pic of a bike I like as a whole.

I was leaning towards the XS line. Might even have a line on one for free from one of my Soldiers down in Jersey. I like the Intruders and LTD lines but those are a lil hard to find.

At the risk of sounding retarded, setting up a hard tail.....as many as I have looked at on the net. Seems to be the key parts are keeping it straight and true to the original frame and making sure to gusset all your stress points. Anything Im missing?
 
If you get an xs650, check out TC bros choppers. They sell a pre fabbed, weld on hardtail kit. Its the easiest route. If you wanted to do it yourself, you really need to build a jig. There are plenty of places online thatll show ya how. Id give ya some links but Im on my phone now. When building a hardtail frame from scratch, theres a ton of work involved. everything really needs to be exact or you risk building a death trap. In this section of the site theres a thread about building chops. Take a look at it. Also, thanks for your service man.
 
Yeah, I plan on having the bike up on a steel table with all thread ran thru it so i can make sure its right. As for every thing being exact, I think i can handle it. I work on engines that spin at 57,000 rpm, another that produces 5,069hp, and when i have to do sheet metal repairs we measure in 1/32 of an inch.
 
Right on. Im sure ya can swing it. Just like to reitterate the idea of perfection in frame building.
 
I appreciate it man. Kinda all depends on the bike. I would like to get a chain drive, and if so I would prolly end up chopping it and putting a hard tail on. Shaft driven, I will just stick with the soft tail. Ive got plenty of time to figure it out, but really dont have any way to get the bike till I get back so I guess I will just draw up some plans for a couple different bikes.
 
four carbs are not that bad. It helps to start with a running bike that has fairly well tuned carbs in the beginning. I have both two and four carb bikes and it does make me happy to work on the two carb bike. to me my goal in building is simplicity the fewer components involved the closer I am to my goal. But of course everyone has a different philosophy.
 
ChopperMechanic said:
Im with the Army, relaxing out here in Afghani Land for a year or so till I get back to upstate new york.
Click to expand...

KAF? A freind of mine got back form there a few months ago.
 
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