"A Bird in the Hand" take 2. DR650 Deadtail Bobber, now with a sidecar
- Thread starter Hurco550
- Start date
I dropped a bunch of parts of with @irk miller to be vapor honed, some of which were the xs rear and t500 titan front hub. He sent me a few pics of them, and man they are pretty. I'm thinking good brakes are for the birds again and I'll likely lace up these drums to the shoulder rims like the OG plan.
In all reality, a large 2ls drum should be plenty sufficient to slow this thing down
All the riding I did on that the old 360 before I tore it down was with drum brakes. I was always surprised at how well the brakes worked on the thing. For years before I got it I had ridden bikes w/ disc brakes so when the CL came into my life I was dubious and cautious when I rode. Over time I learned that they did a fine job for me and I never got scared or in over my head. (And, yes, not much in the way of "sport touring" or sporty riding on it anyway, just enthusiastic commuting.) Even though the Bobberer will have nearly twice the power, I think you'll find those 2ls drums more than sufficient and they'll look great on it for sure.
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Not a huge update, but i did pick up an oil cooler that should be pretty neat for this build. I was trying to find something with a bit of a vintage look and was coming up short. That's when I found this at my local motorcycle breaker. Its off of a CM400A (Hondamatic).
I will have to make an adapter to feed the inlet and outlet lines into the DR motor, but i think the cast alloy finned look fits the bill swimmingly.
I will have to make an adapter to feed the inlet and outlet lines into the DR motor, but i think the cast alloy finned look fits the bill swimmingly.
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Funny you mention that, the hubs just made it back to me yesterday from irk in Augusta, via a buddy of mine who was visiting for the holidays. (A free slow train beats and expensive fast one right? Lol)
Pretty excited to lace them up. Gotta do a bit of work to the lip of the rear 18, as it had a bad life before I got it. Excited to get these back together and laced up.
It is always funny to me how much math and figuring can go into something that "is" so simple, at least in theory. I think this is my final design on the girder before I start cutting parts. The front leg is 1"o.d. .125" wall tubing and the back brace is 5/8" o.d. .125" wall tubing.
I went with a smaller diameter in the rear for a bit less weight, both physically and visually.
Note: the screen shot function always makes my cad drawing look much more grainy or choppy than they are.
I went with a smaller diameter in the rear for a bit less weight, both physically and visually.
Note: the screen shot function always makes my cad drawing look much more grainy or choppy than they are.
sandmanred
Been Around the Block
Looks good, what will you use for springs?
Not yet. Building girder bits as I get time. These will end up getting drilled and welded into the fork tubes for the pivots and the axle mounts. All done on the lathe with a 4 jaw chuck. I also have the stem roughed out, just need to finish it off. For the shock, I'm planning on using a single 10.5" lowering shock designed for a Harley rear.
Not a ton to report, but figured I'd post up the little bit I do have. I decided to go with disc brakes after all. A buddy of mine sent me an xs650 front hub to use. I didn't like hour the rough cast looked, so I chucked it up and turned the bulky rib out.
I got a set of spokes from MikesXS and laced it up to the freshly vapor honed wheel from @irk miller.
I bought a used yzf600r front rotor that should bolt up to the 80x6 bolt pattern on the xs650 hub. It should be delivered in a few days.
I made up a quick rough mockup of the girder fork legs to use to finalize things and make sure my dimensions are right. The ribs on the final design will be cut from 1/4" steel.
I got a set of spokes from MikesXS and laced it up to the freshly vapor honed wheel from @irk miller.
I bought a used yzf600r front rotor that should bolt up to the 80x6 bolt pattern on the xs650 hub. It should be delivered in a few days.
I made up a quick rough mockup of the girder fork legs to use to finalize things and make sure my dimensions are right. The ribs on the final design will be cut from 1/4" steel.
Looks nice. I think the combination of the bobber frame and girder forks along with modern tires and disc brakes will combine to make the thing a very unique; "old school" feeling w/ very rideable features. Relative light weight and a thumper with good torque will complete the package. Somehow it'll fit the mold, but still won't be the same ol' same ol'.
