The New Motorcycle Thread

Discussion in 'Sports' started by Shiva_TD, Sep 11, 2014.

  1. Shiva_TD

    Shiva_TD Progressive Libertarian Past Donor

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    With the closure of the "Why I Like Motorcycles" thread due to "post limit" it's time for a new thread so I decided to create it.

    Mostly I want to share some great developments on my project to create "old school" bobbers and choppers using the new 2015 Harley-Davidson Street 500/750. I wanted to ride my new Street 750 to the first service at 1000 miles just to make sure it was in "good running order" before tearing it apart and voiding the factory warranty and I accomplished that last week. My partner and I have started the tear-down with the initial goal of creating a swing-arm bobber before moving on to creating rigid frame "old school" (circa 1960's) bobbers and choppers.

    The tear-down allows us to see the "bones" of the motorcycle which provides us with the vision of what's required for the future. Since our initial focus is on a swing-arm bobber we started our disassembly from the gas tank back.

    100_0834.jpg

    To remove the plastic battery box we had to remove the rear tire and suspension and that gave us a peak at how the motorcycle will look when we replace the dual springs/shocks that mount outside of the frame with a mono-shock mounted in the center of the frame... and the rear profile is beautiful!!! It doesn't get anymore "old sc.hool" (sexy) looking from the reat that this....

    100_0846.jpg

    Finally, we received the 19" tire that will replace the stock 17" front tire and, while we don't have a rim for it yet, I was able to just place it next to the stock tire for comparison and it is a perfect fit IMHO.

    100_0844.jpg

    I was thinking of a 21" pizza-cutter but now I believe it would be too large and disproportionate to the rest of the motorcycle. Throw in the springer fork that will replace the glide fork with a pizza-cutter 19"x 2.5" wire spoke wheel and it will just scream "Old School" all the way down the road.
     
  2. South Pole Resident

    South Pole Resident New Member

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    you guys sticking with the belt drive? Cool little bike, i might be up in seattle again next month, if youve got time i would love to stop and put eyes on that bike.
     
  3. Shiva_TD

    Shiva_TD Progressive Libertarian Past Donor

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    Absolutely. There is nothing that ever implied "Old School" is "Old Tech" and we embrace current technology. Belt drives are far superior to a chain drive on so many levels I won't even going to go into it.

    Love to have you stop by if you're in the Seattle area. The shop is in Lake Stevens WA so you can get an idea of how close we are to Seattle (we're about 35 miles north). PM me if you're making the trip and we'll work out the details.
     
  4. South Pole Resident

    South Pole Resident New Member

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    I run chain drives, but im doing stupid (*)(*)(*)(*) with a big motor, i was a belt breaker for a good long while.

    The wife and I make a run up to seattle every oct for a training thing she has to do for work, i will message ya when i know for sure when it is.
     
  5. Shiva_TD

    Shiva_TD Progressive Libertarian Past Donor

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    LOL - Yes, stupid (*)(*)(*)(*) with a big motor can break belts.

    Of course being "Old School" we don't use big motors which is why the Street 500 and Street 750 are perfect for an Old School chopper and bobber. They're right there in the perfect engine size when compared to what we had in the 1960's.

    I did a bhp comparison between the bobbers of the 1960's and the Street 500 & 750 and they're about the same. The iconic Harley WLA of WW II that set the "style" for all of the bobbers of the late 1940's to the end of the 1960's had a 45 cid (740cc) flat-head engine that only had 27 bhp. Even the Triumph Bonneville (650cc) and early Sportsters (883cc), perhaps the two most common bobbers of the 1960's, only had about 45 bhp which is about the same as the Street 750 today.

    The Street 500/750 are just the perfect platform for "Old School" bobber and chopper designs.

    As I've shown in my first post the rear view of the Street (750) is so perfect once the external shocks/springs are replaced with either a center mono-shock swing-arm or a rigid frame that there is nothing that could possibly be better. I've never been a fan of the fat tire choppers because they just look like a fat woman's ass going down the road. I'm into the thin and sexy look of the Old School choppers and bobbers and the Street motorcycle, with it's stock 15"x4" rear tire provides that sexy slim look. The 19"x2.5" pizza-cutter on the front is also in perfect proportion to the rear tire and the size of the motorcycle.

    It just doesn't get any better than this in my opinion.
     
  6. leftlegmoderate

    leftlegmoderate New Member

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    Bummer... it's starting to cool off pretty quick out there. Won't be too much longer before having to put the two wheeler away for winter.
     
  7. South Pole Resident

    South Pole Resident New Member

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    I am not a fan of the big tire look on the modern choppers, i like my bikes to be fast and nimble.
     
  8. Shiva_TD

    Shiva_TD Progressive Libertarian Past Donor

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    Buy warmer clothes. LOL

    It is true though, the days are getting shorter and the mornings are a bit more crisp (although I like really crisp riding in the mornings) and with Labor Day already past the winter fast approaches. For us it just means rain, rain, and more rain up here in the Seattle area. I'm already thinking of next year's road trips and that is not a good sign.

    - - - Updated - - -

    A fat tire motorcycle, from the rear, reminds me of a fat-ass shopper at Walmart with too much butt-crack showing. LOL

    I like motorcycles like I like my women. Skinny, hard-bodied, and sexy.
     
  9. Ctrl

    Ctrl Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    So... I am in the middle of a resurrection and repurpose. Thought I'd share. I learned to ride on this bike when I was 16 or so. It was my ex's. I have never been able to get rid of it. Too many stories around it. It experienced a pretty horrific crash in the 90s, and was resurrected for a brief time in the 2ks until I blew the motor. It has sat for 15 years in one garage or another, shedding parts from move to move.

    Now I am gonna bob it.

    It began life as an EX 500, Kawasaki. Here I am in the late 80s next to it on a hurricane 1000.
    bikes.jpg

    It looked like this originally (with optional lower fairing)
    [​IMG]

    I put a new motor in it about 10 years ago, but couldn't get it firing. Assumed it was a bad motor.

    I occasionally look at craigslist for another. I found one last week, and began here.

    20180419_194214.jpg
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2018
  10. Ctrl

    Ctrl Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Remembered having an issue when I did the first motor swap in that the original gen 1 had 2 magneto pickups and the new gen had one. So I swapped the stator cover from the gen 1 to the gen 2 and forgot about it. Turns out the flywheel is veeeery different in the gen 2 due to the electronics and the single magneto, and why the engine never kicked. So, some mods were in order.

    20180422_081153.jpg
    [​IMG]

    So to the grinding wheel.


    20180422_133106.jpg 20180422_133133.jpg

    Yes, this is how you deal with it. Now I have 2 motors.

    20180420_154708.jpg
     
  11. Ctrl

    Ctrl Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Clean, grind, sand, clean.
    20180421_195027.jpg 20180423_133106.jpg
    20180427_141438.jpg
     
  12. Ctrl

    Ctrl Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Scuff, prime, sand, paint, sand, clear, sand.
    20180428_195144.jpg
    20180430_193546.jpg
    20180429_193122.jpg 20180429_193107.jpg 20180501_152753.jpg 20180501_160107.jpg
    Tomorrow urethane, a few more days sand, cut and buff.

    Meanwhile all new bearings, seals etc. Carb rebuild... and wait around for some parts to start shipping before I hack that subframe to bits.
     
    Last edited: May 4, 2018
  13. Ctrl

    Ctrl Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Not that anyone is reading this thread I necroed... but 20180507_191606.jpg 20180508_095853.jpg 20180508_112314.jpg 20180512_085906.jpg 20180508_001539.jpg

    Not keeping the fosters can on the GPS Speedo, but it was a funny thought. Will use it, however, to create a fiberglass gauge cluster.
     
  14. JakeJ

    JakeJ Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    There is not such thing as an "old school" Harley with a belt. Nothing wrong with belts and they've been around long enough to start falling into the collectible category. I have 5 Harleys from 1965 thru the last year the Heritage model was had a carb. Size ranges from 350 to 80cid.

    My personal favorite was my 65 900cc until a shop broke the crankcase putting in too long a bolt while replacing the clutch. I have a vintage 900 motor with all new internals been sitting for 3 years - no time for it. The original motor had been thru a lot of owners as the parts are all different vintages - heads, jugs, crankcase - all different years. I like that it predates the US government dictating switching sides on foot controls to match the Japanese. It was one of the early electric start/kick start (your choice) models. Candidly, I wish they still had the kick start option on Harleys - though recognize how many knees those blew out and how many guys were thrown over the handle bars when it kicked back.

    My first bike was a Norton 850 Commando small-tank model. I had it set up as a street cruiser, touring bike and at one point a supercharged cafe racer. For how lightweight it was it was incredibly nimble, kidney shaking tight suspension, and when I tricked out the motor, suspension, racing wheels and lightened it to the max it was a true sub-100 mph performer. 0-60 is under 2 seconds. But 100 mph was all they could do for the gearing. Had I kept it, it would be worth 50 times what I sold if for back them.

    My vintage 1000 Sportster is all black and chrome (not chrome covers) with a wide glide front and old school hotrodded all the way - full race cams, high compression pistons, big carb, hot ignition, and a mere 4 speed tranny, chain drive of course. At least $10k in chrome and the front end. The 1200 Sportster, 5 speed, some chrome, beltdrive actually is as fast due to the 5 speed and smoother, but it doesn't have the old hot rod feel, ride or sound. The 80cid Limited Edition Heritage is totally chromed out and a real crowd pleaser, but its sluggish and cumbersome. I also have a 350 Harley Arimoche - called a "Sprint" in the USA, which someone before me turned into an awesome looking black cafe racer style.

    The great years for customizing Harleys was 2004 to 2006. Guys were spending $50,000 and more making choppers. Custom motors, custom frames, superchargers, you name it. Most used hardtail frames, though the smart ones used swing axles. They can't hardly give away the hardtails now. If they spend $50,000 on parts alone if a hardtail they can't get $10,000. A fella I know spent over $60,000 building a customer hardtail chopper - in perfect condition - and could sell it for $8000. No one wants a hardtail. The swing axle was one of the greatest advances of Harley - the hardtail look without the hardtail ride.

    In my opinion, the era of Harley Davidson desirability is coming to an end. The generation that yearned for one in their youth and now can afford one in their old age is dying off. I have watched the prices on used Harley's crash over the last few years. Even old guys who want one want new ones for reliability. My Limited Edition Heritage - as chromed out as it gets - in show condition - was only $7000 - and that was from a dealer. Less than cosmetically perfect old big twins but running just fine are selling for as low as $3000. 5 years ago they would have been around $6-7000.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2018
  15. Guyzilla

    Guyzilla Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The best thing I see is the chopper guys have done away with level of braking being the size of cojones. Meaning, sissies need a front brake etc. AND, they are starting to require that choppers go around corners without falling down.
     
  16. JakeJ

    JakeJ Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Scariest time on a motorcycle eons ago...

    I was racing a pal. I was on my Norton before all tricked out - basically stock except for 2-1 megaphone exhaust - and he on a Honda 750. At that time, Norton was the fastest quarter mile production bike in the world, but that was back then. We did a drag race, quarter mile marked off - and I won it by a few lengths. My bike topped out at 99 mph. A Honda 750 then could reach about 115 mph. At the end of the quarter mile he didn't shut it down - but instead he kept coming - his butt up in the air and nose down at the gauges to reduce drag - and he was catching up.

    I was looking at him wondering what the hell he was doing, a quarter mile is a quarter mile. He was looking at me intensely, determined to pass me by. When finally us side by side, I looked forward. Less than 100 feet ahead cars were coming out of a left turn lane directly ahead of us.

    We both jumped on our brakes. Mine slide beautifully into to a box-turn stop (sideways) it the cross walk - but his instantly went all squirrelly - like all Japanese bikes back then would do with their mushy suspension. So he dropped down and hit the throttle. He went between two cars coming out of that left turn lane, him doing 100 mph. God it was close. 1/100th of a second off and he was dead. We both stopped a ways down the road. He was shaking so hard he collapsed as the terror of what had just about happened hit him. Can't image what went thru the driver's mind of the car he went in front off - out of nowhere a motorcycle a couple feet from his front bumper at 100 mph.

    I've never been on any "big" bike that handled as well as that Norton, but pure misery on a road trip for how stiff the suspension was. Low center of gravity. Lightweight (for then). However, the Ducati 750 of that era was a better road course bike - but well outside my budget.

    When the Kawaski 900 came out, it was the death of all Brit, Harley and Italian bikes as street drag racers. The Kawaski 1000 then became the indisputable fastest accelerating bike, but their suspension was trash. When tricked out and a performance exhaust you could hear one coming a quarter mile away and knew exactly what it was by the sound.

    The one thing I don't like about Harleys is they all handle badly. VERY badly. They're just too heavy and weight too high. Don't even think about locking up the brakes 'cause you're gonna go down if you do.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2018
    ModCon likes this.
  17. JakeJ

    JakeJ Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I always liked Triumph choppers with an long extended front end provided they raked it so it didn't just kick the front up in the air. While no brake on the front looks sleek, that is just TOO dangerous in my opinion. The old long springer front ends look better than what you can buy now, though technically they are illegal on the road.
     
  18. Jarlaxle

    Jarlaxle Banned

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    Not quite 1,000 miles on the Sportster I bought. I like it!

    Three weeks to my vacation...
     
  19. ModCon

    ModCon Well-Known Member

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    Terrifying story, your pal must've been riding two up with a well intentioned spirit!

    I've only had few close calls, none of which were near as bad as the one you mention. All the old timers tell me that "it's not if, but when". Also, in the medical community, donor cycle has another meaning (donorcycle haha, get it?). Gotta respect the nature of the beast.
     

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