Introduction and first project

[Roughshod]

Hello everyone, I have been lurking on here for about a year and I finally got started on my project. My father-in-law gave me a 1981 Special with less than 5000 miles on it. He bought in brand new. Unfortunately the bike has sat for 25 years, some outside and then in an old barn, so she looked pretty rough when I brought her home. The bike had not ran in about 20 years. The forks were horribly pitted, so I found an 80 Special II parts bike. I wanted to get her running before I started stripping her down so I swapped the carbs from the parts bike over, but no spark. I then put the coils on from the parts bike and she fired right up. Now she is down to the bare frame and I am waiting on parts. I picked up a seat from a 1976 Bonneville and I was surprised how closely it matched up. I am planning to take cues from cafe and brat style on this build, and I will post pics here soon. I have already learned a wealth of information from this forum and would like to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge.

 

[xschris]

Welcome to the forum Post the pics

 

[DARKMIDKNIGHTWARRIOR]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like fun. On the bright side you know who had it before and what has been done to it.

 

[Roughshod]

Here are some pics, I'll post some of the Bonneville seat in mock up later

 

[willem]

Welcome! sounds like a fun project

 

[xschris]

Looks like a lot of work Keep updating

 

[Roughshod]

Yes it will be alot of work, fortunately my parts bike is very clean, I got it cheap because it didn't have a title, so I'll swap alot of parts over from it. I've been using it for mock up and trial seat fitment. I would rather mess up a cut on the junk frame. The Bonneville seat fits pretty close, the cover is loose, so the foam is decompressed, but it will take just a little shaping of the foam to get it to look right. I was pleasantly surprise how close the Bonneville seat matches the tank, The width is almost exact, just needing a little finesse work.

Im am mocking up right now to determine which seat hoop to order. I've shortened the factory rear fender, but I need to get the seat hoop and tail light ordered so I can mock and fit before I transfer my measurements to the good frame.

 

[Roughshod]

The rusty tank is off the original bike, I am putting the spoked wheels on the good frame, they are clean, just coated in alot of dust. I am debating if i want to powdercoat the hoops and hubs blank and re-lace them.

 

[xschris]

The seat looks like the earlier 78-E and 79 F/2-F xs400 seat

 

[Roughshod]

I am debating if I want to go with the older, square tank. What all fabrication is required to put one on my 81? I thought I had seen a thread on here last year, but I couldn't find it.

 

[xschris]

The rear mounting bolt has the be moved forward.

 

[Roughshod]

Thanks xschris, thats what I figured. I'm need to decide if that is the direction I want to go with the tank. I want to get all of my fab work done on the frame in one shot. I love the look of the older tanks, but they seem to be pretty tough to find, I don't see any on ebay right now. I really want to get this project back together over the summer. I am a high school science teacher by trade, so this is my summer project (even though I am working part time this summer). But I worked as an auto tech for 5 years in my first career, so I enjoy having a summer project, it gives me a mental reset.

 

[xschris]

It's good to have some skills with an old bike Makes it a lot easier.