All right my friends, I spent a day on the new project and figured I'd post it up. I've thought about it for about 3 months now. Researched, pondered, sketched and pondered some more. I really don't have the money or time to do another complete build. In fact my garage is full of hay and I have to do all metal work outside. Yes, I've spent a bunch of time in the tractor seat and that gives me plenty of time to think about changes to the cafe. Yep, I cut her today. I have to tell ya I don't feel bad at all. After all, just a little work and bam... A new ride ;D
I've wanted to do a brat/bobber/boardtrack for some time. I didn't want to do hard tail, but I want it as low as it will go, both in the front and rear. Just skinny and low with good lines. I decided to keep the tank and I will build a little seat. I'll break it down once it's done and repaint paint the places I've fabed. Ride it some, then this winter rip it all apart and repaint the frame.
Anyhow, I still need to add guessets and bracing and finish up all the welds. The swingarm was stretched 4" and will be replaced with a custom made one. I went ahead and stretched the factory one in order to check the lines and ride height. In the near future I'll have a custom one made by rockcity or my uncle who works in a machine shop. It will come down to cost.
I relocated the uppershock mounts and with the stretched swingarm it lowered it quite a bit. It now has about 4" of ground clearance. The upper shock mounts will need to be further braced. But I really like how it sits now.
In the near future the battery box will go just above the swingarm and I want to change out the headlight to a much smaller one. I'm still looking for the right headlight. Keeping the clipons and I'm going back to factory foot pegs/controls. This winter plans are to rewire the entire bike, thenclean up the bars/controls. I want a horn button and headlight high/low and that's it. The key will be relocated underthe seat as will the horn. Then last but not least, new tires. Damn I'm still riding those dryrotted factory tires...
I've wanted to do a brat/bobber/boardtrack for some time. I didn't want to do hard tail, but I want it as low as it will go, both in the front and rear. Just skinny and low with good lines. I decided to keep the tank and I will build a little seat. I'll break it down once it's done and repaint paint the places I've fabed. Ride it some, then this winter rip it all apart and repaint the frame.
Anyhow, I still need to add guessets and bracing and finish up all the welds. The swingarm was stretched 4" and will be replaced with a custom made one. I went ahead and stretched the factory one in order to check the lines and ride height. In the near future I'll have a custom one made by rockcity or my uncle who works in a machine shop. It will come down to cost.
I relocated the uppershock mounts and with the stretched swingarm it lowered it quite a bit. It now has about 4" of ground clearance. The upper shock mounts will need to be further braced. But I really like how it sits now.
In the near future the battery box will go just above the swingarm and I want to change out the headlight to a much smaller one. I'm still looking for the right headlight. Keeping the clipons and I'm going back to factory foot pegs/controls. This winter plans are to rewire the entire bike, thenclean up the bars/controls. I want a horn button and headlight high/low and that's it. The key will be relocated underthe seat as will the horn. Then last but not least, new tires. Damn I'm still riding those dryrotted factory tires...