Update on my recent work

festy

XS400 Enthusiast
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Hey guys its been a while since i've posted anything on here. This past year i have been so busy i didn't get to everything i wanted to. Fortunately now ill have a bunch of time on my hands so i might as well continue the addiction of working on my bike haha. Got myself a welder and a torpedo heater for this NY winter which has been crazy so far.

I would definitely love some feedback and opinions on what i've done, and will be doing to this bike during this frigged winter.

Here is the paint scheme i went with after i did a lot of repair work to the tank.

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OK now for the tail section. After some serious thought i think i would like to do the tail section out of metal and not fiberglass (except for the seat pan for the seat itself). What i have done is make essentially a skeleton of the tail section out of 1/4 and 1/8 rod (hand bent). Its a little hard to say exactly what my plan is so ill describe it the best i can.

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it may be hard to see exactly what is done in the pic but my idea is leave the back "hump" i guess ill call it bare with no metal on it so you can see the rod l kind of like this exposed frame look and havnt seen anyone really do it(might be a good reason why). So then i will make the section i sit on (Sides and where my ass will be up against) out of metal ( maby 12, 16 or 22 gauge steel really not sure yet?) then weld that to the skeleton i made. For mounting this basically it will be all bolted on to channel i picked up which will be welded on the frame.

This new setup makes me bunch up a little more then id like, im sure it wont be to comfortable when i finally take it out in the spring so im sure rear sets are the best option to go with, but after searching around the web for a long time today im not so sure its worth the $$ and headache. Definitely need ideas on that.

I was thinking of also side mounting my licence plate but i think ill just keep it where it should be on the bike, i dont want cops to have any reason to pull me over haha. NY state law allows it if you have a light over it and is able to be seen i believe like 50 ft away. May or may not do this, not sure yet.

For tail light and blinkers i got a LED strip that's a 2 in 1 kinda deal so i think that will look sleek which will be mounted right on the license plate or just above it (same width as the license plate)

Other then that i replaced the throttle cable and put on Euro bars which i think look sick to day and will continue to work on this more as soon as i pick up some metal.

I wish i was still working as a welder, the shop i worked at they bought a hypertherm plasma table and i ran it, definitely would have made my life easier with this hahah. :thumbsup:

Bike has been done for a little bit. ive been so busy i have not been able to upload the finished product......... well here ya go!

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Neat paint job....Just be careful on that rear, make sure you have enough distance between that tire and your fanny:eek:, cause that tire moves up pretty high when swinging up and down...Keep us posted, like you have some snow now and won't be out and about on a bike for awhile...Spad
 
Whats with the swingarm its nice and shiny,did it come from another bike or did you just strip the paint?Oh I see why its different looking your bike is dohc seca or maxium frame?
 
Whats with the swingarm its nice and shiny,did it come from another bike or did you just strip the paint?Oh I see why its different looking your bike is dohc seca or maxium frame?

maxium. i just literally wiped like 5 lbs of dirt and grease off of it
 
Transformers? Hell Yeah!! I actually was brainstorming ideas with a buddy of mine a few months ago about the same skeleton idea on the back of his kz650 custom build. only his was gonna use different size chains welded in arcs. I have often thought about using the ass end of a fuel tank as the hump on the back of a build. keep this build going. I'm interested to see where it goes.
 
i was thinking of doing the same thing actually but im not sure i like the look enough
 
It would depend on what type and size of chain you went with. Logging or hauling chain of any type..... NO! but maybe some lamp chain and a little silver soldering could produce something cool. Who knows :shrug:
 
Going to be grabbing the sheet metal for it this week and hopefully get to my buddys shop to use his plasma cutter to get it all sorted out.
 
Finally made it out to my buddys shop. Started the metal work for the rod skeleton cover part. pics will show what i am doing better then i can describe. Its not totally done, i still have to grind around the edges to make perfect, cut notches in towards the back end to flex it around the skeleton more to give it more of a curve look then boxy.

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Have you done anymore work as painting or clearing coating on the gas tank?Also the grey area are you going to paint it or leave it?I think red would look good there.
 
That tank is bad ass, I am not even into transformers and I love it.

Thanks bud. Im glad i haven't gotten a negative comment on that yet haha

Have you done anymore work as painting or clearing coating on the gas tank?Also the grey area are you going to paint it or leave it?I think red would look good there.

gas tank need a little work again :banghead: .....minor chips on the sides when i experimented with clubmen bars. as well as underneath where the transformers sticker is their is marks from the original seat that need to be buffed and painted. Their was 2 coats of clear coat that i rushed last year so i could start riding and i need to re do that :doh: What grey area are you talking about, the bar tail section? I want to incorporate red somewhere on this and that is actually where i was thinking but im not sure if that will look weird with the black framed bike.
 
Havnt posted my updates as regularly as i wanted but here is what i have done so far since the last update......
Shortened tail section
made fiberglass seat pan for the upholstery work
mounted electrical components
welded on mounting c channel for mounting the tail section
Started the bike today batteries fed but other then that it ran haha

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More pictures will be posted in the next couple days.
Things i have left to do....
finish the apohlstry
get the LED flashers to work


and yes i am jumping my bike using my car in the picture haha my battery was deader then all hell
 
Ive been a little busy to post pictures of my progress. The bike is basically done (finishing up some blinker stuff). I created an album of the pics i did take here http://festy112.imgur.com/ i have yet to upload the finished project ( finished for this riding season ) hopefully this posted by tuesday.... ill have the ol' girl washed and ready for your eyes.

Just wanted to add because of all the weight i took off this thing has some serious gid'up. Cant wait to see how far i can push it!
 
^^ near buffalo

I also just updated the album with the finished project... i added it b4 but it looks like it was not shown in the album i posted so no one could c it.
 
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