new xs400 owner

[reed]

Bought a 400 for me and my son to play with and I was wanting to lower seat area. I was kinda wanting to recreate what they sell on the 650 site for the brat-style bikes. I chopped it up before I realized I didnt know what I was doing. I have some 5/8 rebar lying in garage and noticed it fit in the tubing for plugs. Could a guy go ahead and use rebar for the 2 tubes where the seat will rest. I enjoy your site and hope it sticks around I like getting in the garage instead of watching the t.v. all day. I am limited on tools and have no tube bender.

 

[drewpy]

me no comprende amigo!

 

[reed]

ok i will try again, i have a xs 400 that i have cut the two frame tubes going back to the shock mounts noticed the tube was 5/8 hole that apiece of rebar would fit in it, do you think the rebar would be sufficent enough to run down to the shock mounts,or should i should use round tubing. i dont have a tube bender so i am trying to improvize . sorry for confusing you

 

[drewpy]

not sure mate, Travis is good on frames. I only did what you said to make a mount for the tail lamp mount.
I used a hand bender to do mine which I borrowed off a friend. It was hard work but managed it!

 

[hardtailed77]

I would definitely say that rebar isn't safe enough to use for frame rails.....but then again, I've never seen it tried either, so who knows?

 

[ivor]

WTF is rebar ?????

Get the info you need from here : http://www.thefont.info/contents.htm

This is Blackjack's site, he's from Bristol in the UK, he writes for BSH magazine in the UK, and you'll find him sometimes on TCU. He knows his stuff, read what he has written, and you should soon know if what you're talking about is suitable or not

The 'Ford Fiesta' bender is worth looking at, I've seen him demonstrate it in the flesh, sure you can fab one similar over there.

 

[Pawl]

rebar is for concrete re-enforcement, I'm sure everyone has seen it at one time or another, the stuff is made of the lowest grade of steel, quite soft, and I wouldn't weld it anywhere on a motorcycle, unless it was purely for decoration on a rat/survival bike

 

[reed]

Thanks for all the good info. Guess i figured it out while practicing welding pieces of it. Too hard to weld the soft thin metal to the hard thick metal. I did get some to work but it's not pretty or too trustworthy. I will have to get some tubeing and go that route. Can't help it, I'm always trying to be cheap.

 

[ivor]

Ah yes, now I know what you mean, and agreed, only good for decoration on Rat/survival bikes.

 

[drewpy]

Ah yes, now I know what you mean, and agreed, only good for decoration on Rat/survival bikes.

and sissy bars

 

[cturek]

Reed:

Where in MO are you?

 

[reed]

about 40 miles east of kc born raised , except for four years in the marines

 

[Joshua]

this is what i did to lower my seat i bought some round stock dont have a bender either so i just left it straight wielded it on and it worked good,yeah a little bend would look good in there but what do ya do with limited tools and cash