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my budget bobber
Thought i'd post up my budget bobber build in progress.
the bike started life as an 85 Yamaha Maxim XJ700N. pic or two from the day I picked it up http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...28081320-1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...DSC_0069-2.jpg after a few mods... savage rear shocks to get her sitting a bit lower, different grips, fork bag, chrome turn downs, etc http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0822091832.jpg next came progressive fork springs, Bridgestone spitfire s11's, 12" tc bros ape hangers, side plate mount with model a tail light, and some cutting. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...00919-2007.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...00919-1738.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...00920-2139.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...00923-2130.jpg and how it sits currently with the new solo seat... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...10603-1139.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...10514-1714.jpg All told I have maybe $1500 into the bike. I still have lots of plans for the bike too. I have a trailer fender to mount up and new turn signals for the bike. after that forward controls... then who knows |
that looks sick!
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very cool! i love the bobber look, i'd love a late-60's triumph to cruise around on.
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Effin A man, looks great!
I've got two maxims I'm working on right now, both 84's, both are probally gonna end up as rigid solo's. Good luck with it. |
Looks great, not sure I would want to ride with the ape hangers though. But to each his own, still think it looks sick.
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the apes aren't ridiculously high.. they are about shoulder height for me so it makes for a pretty comfy ride.
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Quote:
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hey. i love brat bikes. this one is a great start.
that said. theres a few details that are killing it for me. 1) lower the front end. 2) take the front fender off. you cant remove the rear fender and keep the front. it just doesnt look right. if you want a front fender, at least cut it down and reinstall a rear fender of some sort. (not the stock one)..what i would do for that is chopping up the rear completely and using a tiny sliver of that for the front, then putting the front fender on the rear. it sounds a little weird, but it could work out pretty well. 3) the seat doesnt fit the frame well at all in its current location. make that stop happening. a good start would be ditching the side covers, hiding the electronics, and switching to pod filters. unfortunately, it looks like you dont have a kicker so you cant put one of those super tiny batteries on it for a kick only. ultimately, you may need a different tank in order to move the seat slightly forward so it really fits without hacking the frame up. thats OK, because i think your bike would look awesome with a wassell tank anyway. 4) and this is a nit pick that has to do with personal preference so feel free to disregard, but i love mid controls. i love the look of mid controls. the highway bar with pegs...to me, its clutter. to some, it's a matter of comfort and stretching out. i also hate bike dashboards. i've seen a lot of guys ditching the tacho and integrating the dash idiot lights into the back of the headlight via LED's. do you have rear turn signals? FWIW i think PA is all or none for bike signals. ditching the fronts would visually lighten up the front end too. youre off to a good start. hack at it over the winter. come spring youll be the envy of the town. inspiration: www.thechopperunderground.com www.bratstyle.com www.ardcorechoppers.com |
the front has already been dropped an inch through the triples... i already drag peg and a very low lean angle. any lower and i'll have problems turning.
i have a rear fender for it... just haven't gotten it on the bike yet. ultimately, i plan on deciding on what to do with the front once the rear is mounted up. I plan on mounting the rear as a floating fender so I can get the hardtail gap but keep the rear suspension. pod filters are a BITCH to tune on the maxim/seca motors. yamaha used a system called YICS that equalizes air through all 4 carbs. get rid of the airbox and it's a nightmare. some have had ok luck, others have tried for years and still have not been able to get the bike to run right throughout the rpm range. I'd have to double check the seat mount but I think there may be room to slide it forward. I have it set back as I'm 6'1" and it actually allows me to stretch my legs out on the highway pegs. i'd like to stretch the rear but it's not easy on a shafty. ultimately, I do plan on adding forward controls and ditching the highway bars/crash guards as well as the factory pegs. it's just a matter of saving up for the set i'm looking at. also plan on aftermarket gauges and ditching the stock console but again, it's a matter of saving up money to do so. |
I've got a shafty xs750. its easy to stretch or hardtail. just like any other frame, do it in a jig so the bike rides straight. then sleeve the driveshaft with DOM tubing. get on thechopperunderground.com and do a few searches. i have seen 30 different shaft stretches done 30 different ways. no company makes a bolt on solution for it so everyone thinks its impossible or involves black magic and voodoo. as far as YICS, theres a simple elegant solution. change the carbs! i have CV mikunis on mine which are finicky enough. there are quite a few builders, who in the interest of simplicity ditch the individual carbs in favor of a manifold and a single carb.
why bother with dumping money on gauges? you have a speedo that works. as long as you can see it and your aray of idiot lights while youre seated it will pass inspection. make a bracket out of some old crap you have laying around and mount the speedo where you want it. you don't need a tach. I've seen some dudes mount the speedo next to the tank, just above the head. but its your bike and your money. |
looks nice. and my harley i was going to make into a bobber/hardtail but i lowered the back springs all the way, shaved the seat and it was just killing my back riding over bumps. so dont think id try to make one again. my dad has a softail with apes thats really fun to ride and comfortable. ill try to find some pics
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well theres my sportster. i think i was 18 when i bought it. im 20 now. um the sporty was a 96 and all stock besides the flame tank paint job. it was fun bike, sounded loud and mean, itwas an 883 that had a 1200 kit on it so it was actually faster then a 1200 and i thought it was a very fast bike..until i got my gsxr 1000 lol. but i planned to make it a hardtail or bobber style bike but my back would kill from riding over bumps on it. um a few mods i did like the first was i shaved the stock seat foam down with an electric turkey knife then bought a leather jacket from goodwill and made a seat cover lol. put softail style turn signals. straight pipes, wrapped with header tape, mirrors, pegs, grips, handlebars, arlen ness air filter, hd carb top. just a bunch of little things. then i wanted a sport bike so i traded straight up for the 04 gsxr 1000 which i still own and love. ill def get another harley most likely a softail or my dads softail hopefully. the black gsxr is how she looks now. i got it painted bc previous owner laid it down on both sides
http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/..._5580274_n.jpg http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/..._7323626_n.jpg http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/..._4938884_n.jpg http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/..._5286777_n.jpg http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/..._1922503_n.jpg http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/..._5544497_n.jpg http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/..._2032668_n.jpghttp://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/..._4757583_n.jpg |
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been working on the bike as of late...
pulled the front fender, went with a set of chrome turn downs to give the exhaust a more "finished look, added springs to my solo seat and repositioned it farther up the frame, bolted on my rear signals and am in the process of wiring up a new set for the front. a few from before the work... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...520_200437.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...520_200341.jpg with the turndowns http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...5-21131834.jpg and where it sits currently http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...5-22181211.jpg forward controls will be here Weds. Also picked up a front wheel from an 85 yamaha fazer. it's a bolt on 16" wheel that allows me to retain my front discs (which will be vented vs the solid stock rotors) and means I can the same size tire I run in the rear on the front of the bike. when it comes time for the install, i'll be going with whitewalls. my inspiration http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/...e6285d18_z.jpg |
awesome bike.. i will be transforming my old 83 xs650 into a hardtail. ill be starting in about a month.
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I'd love to pick up an xs. They look amazing hardtailed. check out tc bros if you haven't already. They carry a bunch of parts for the xs including prefabbed hardtails. you can even send your frame to them to have it hardtailed.
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i have checked them out i was actually looking into ardcore choppers hard tail kit for it it seems like it might be a bit easier to cut and weld. a lot less steps http://www.ardcorechoppers.com/
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Very cool. the bike you posted as inspiration looks good too. can't beat a 1500 bike!
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pic of the new wheel
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...5-28213535.jpg and the bike decided to go naked... (lost a side cover on a 100 mile ride over the weekend) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...5-28161122.jpg |
lol, my sporty does the same thing, I use a zip tie for additional support.
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Surprisingly, I really like this, nice job!
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Hey what shocks did you get for the rear. Im new to this making bobbers stuff idk whether i should just hardtail it with a solo springer seat or leave shocks on it my dad gave me his old 82 yamaha maxim xj550 and ive always wanted a bobber. Any tips or advice on how to go about this would be much apreciated thanx
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Typically Shadow 250 shocks are in the 10.5" range. You may be able to use them, but expect the ride to be harsh. Also, the eye size may be off. You might need shims and/or spacers to keep them from rattling around.
Do NOT "hardtail" your bike. Maxims are shaft driven and if you're asking, you don't have the skills to make it look right with a proper hardtail. And if you mean "hardtail" struts...those A) Look awful. B) Ride like utter crap. C) Add an additional triangle of support to tie the rear end together making the bike EXTRA stiff. See also point B. Next. Sprung solo seats on sprung rear ends look awful. Solo seats that don't match the shape of the frame look awful. This is the coolest Maxim "bobber" I've come across. Granted, it's not a traditional bobber, but it blows away most every other maxim I've seen: http://thekneeslider.com/images/2010...zzibobber2.jpg This is probably the most typical way the shafties get hardtailed. The bike itself looks mostly great (though they should have chopped the triple backbone out of it and made a nice single...), but the rear end looks awful. http://www.cheapchopperz.com/Yamaha_...r_xs750_44.jpg The drive shaft tunnel is a structural piece of the stock rear. this doesn't need to be. The final drive should be mounted on a piece of flat stock, with the frame meeting it like so: http://kavach-custom.com/newbike_640...w/xs750_01.jpg http://www.clubchopper.com/photopost...0/DSCF2591.JPG There are tons and tons of poorly done choppers out there. Find one that YOU like, that you have the SKILL and TOOLS to recreate. Bolting on whatever you think looks cool on a picture on the internet will leave you with something like this: http://dwhdesigns.webs.com/XJ%20Bobber%201.jpg From experience, I extensively studied the XS750 frame along with CB750 and Maxim. I was looking for an angle of attack to work on my own XS750. The shaft drive plus triple back bone is a monumental issue to work around. I decided to just do a much simpler cafe and for my next bike I would just get a Harley. I like slim/slender chops. Jap 4 cylinder bikes are NOT slim. I found some inspiration. http://motorcyclesmack.com/motorcycl.../CB750Cafe.jpg http://thebikeshed.cc/wp-content/upl...12/UGLY-RS.jpg Got to work and came up with some perspiration. http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g9...ps25bf80ac.jpg |
I'm running savage 650 shocks in the rear. It's a bit stiff but not too bad.
I'd suggest checking out xjbikes.com it's a forum dedicated to the maxim/seca and there are some very knowledgeable people over there along with a parts guy that can get you pretty much any replacement part you may need. |
Nice scoot
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just a small update on the bike...
pulled the battery box and gauges to see if I want to go that route... ignore the wiring mess where the battery box used to be. I will be cleaning that up with most likely a faux oil tank. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps81f19f3e.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps31e95e10.jpg as with every winter, I have some big plans for the bike but we'll see if my budget holds out... looking to swap to a smaller front wheel and run a matched 130 front tire to match the rear (both will be white walls), cleaning up the bars by ditching the factory signal/starter boxes and hiding wiring, a different headlight, possibly ditching the air box for pods, and some general maintenance items. probably also removing some of the tabs/mounting brackets off the frame for parts that have been removed from the bike and maybe having the frame welded shut where the rear rails were cut. a couple pics of a fellow xj forum member's bike that is running the smaller front wheel with the "fat" front tire: http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/CIMG0070.jpg http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/CIMG0073.jpg |
Pulled the airbox... Still need to clean up some wiring
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps20fcd05d.jpg Plans are to run pods with the stock boots to minimize tuning issues that others have encountered http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...pscc29c106.jpg |
The more you pull off it, the better it looks.
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I agree
Got the pods mocked up... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psbbnxfxwm.jpg Ordering my white walls tonight http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps64rojizb.png |
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Picked up a blue collar bobber rear fender from a buddy. I think it will look pretty good once I figure out how I'm going to mount it...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psvvebbntx.jpg |
Bike looks great...
The Ape hangers are you sure they are 12" because they look more like 16" and TC Bros doesn't have them in 12",,, can you please measure them because i want to something similar to my build.. I am thinking of fabricating my own forward pedals |
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Didn't get much accomplished this year on the bike... Hopefully this winter will go a bit better.
Santa brought me bike parts. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psgbjmxg3h.jpg |
Nice. I sold my Maxim at the beginning of this year.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2878/...06463036cd.jpg I'm in the middle of working on a Virago I bought to replace it. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7415/...c5cca17b0b.jpg |
Very nice. Sometimes I wish mine was a v-twin if for nothing more than the sound. :)
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The maxim has way more scoot though. I would be surprised if I could get the XV up to a buck.
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