easy bike to make a bobber?

[Drod13]

I've got an itch to build a bobber and was wondering if anyone knew of any bike that wasn't that bad to convert over.
I've seen some Honda V45's around pretty cheap but they are water cooled and wouldn't go with the look I'm after.
I have the tools and the resources to build one but was wondering if any of you built some and maybe some do's and dont's.

Thanks Dan.

[bagobones]

I'm TRYING to make a mild bobber/chop out of an early Virago. This particular bike is turning out to be sort of a POS so I hope I haven't bitten off too much with this one.

[dt]

Hi Drod13. I highly encourage you to pursue your itch and keep us posted on every detail.    IMO the coolest looking bobbers I’ve ever seen had the Triumph logo on them. Conversely, the worst looking had the BMW logo on them (got some pics of some local bikes to prove this one). I don’t know how easy/hard bobbing either, or anything in between, would be, but I’m thinking if someone has done it…it can be figured out.

[dt]

Conversely, the worst looking had the BMW logo on them (got some pics of some local bikes to prove this one).

Hah! I knew they were in here someplace. I saw them at Big Louie's Swap Meet in Plant City. Actually the first one is kind of cool. I might have to make a retraction.

http://bikerflorida.com/forum/index.php/topic,306.0.html

[Drod13]

That first one's not bad...But that second one I don't know about. 

I just spoke to my buddy and he in the gated security business.He said the ppl that makes his gates
had no problem with me getting some stuff powder coated but I have only the following color choices...
white,black,gray or bronze.I'm thinking a bronze frame and maybe some nice powder coated black rims.
And to really make it a deal it's free!!!!

[dt]

Hey, free is good! That’s some big savings to use for cool stuff. Excellent!

Bones, didn't you do the cafe' frame in bronze?

[Drod13]

You have a pic of that frame in bronze? love to see it.

Just showed my buddy a bunch of bobber pics and I convinced him to help me build it.
always nice to have someone else to share the blame if all fails...lol

[mrbones]

Yeah, my CB360 Cafe project is painted bronze. The pics are on this page of the thread, http://bikerflorida.com/forum/index.php/topic,146.15.html.

To me, the best bobber is built around an air cooled v-twin or parallel twin engine. Radiators spoil the look. Single carb bikes are easiest since there's less to fiddle with. Building one is easy, just start cutting things off and/or replace big, ugly stock parts with smaller stuff. The less that is on the bike, the more a bobber it becomes.

[Drod13]

found this bike on craigslist.I think it's a little small but probably a good starting point for me.
I just think it would be a shame to chop this up.What do you think?

It's an 82 $375
Kawasaki KZ 250 CSR Single Cylinder Street Bike with Belt Drive. Yes this little beauty only has 688 Actual Miles. This bike has been Garage Kept and looks great. Clear title.

Tires and Belt drive are in good condition. Seat, Gas Tank and Battery require assembly. All-in-all a great first bike. You would be hard pressed to find a cleaner, low mileage bike than this one.

[flapug]

Taking a perfectly good classic with low miles and chopping it up would be a shame (in my opinion). Better to get one with a good motor and bad cosmetics since most would be redone anyway.  That KZ 250 CSR would be a great bike for a beginning rider.

[mrbones]

Nothing wrong with hacking that bike up, but if you're gonna do it, it might as well be a 600cc + bike.

[dt]

Did you get the Kawasaki, or still looking around?

[Drod13]

I called the guy back to get his directions and A neighbor came by 10 min. before I called and took it off his hands.

Found another though but have a question.Did Yamaha make a 700 in 1983 or  was it introduced in 84-87?

I'm asking because I'm interested in a bike I haven't seen yet and the seller is claiming it's an 83 700cc.He's was asking $550 and he emailed me back and said he dropped the price to $300.Also said the bikes been sitting for 2 years and ran before he put it up.I read about the starter issues but is there anything else I should be looking for before I make a jump on it? Thanks.

[dt]

A little checking around and it looks like the 700 (in the Virago) didn’t come out until 1985 or 1986. According to a few sites I just surfed through the Harley Davidson tariff business (i.e. tariffs on import bikes over 700cc) happened in 1984 and all the Asian makers started knocking their 750s down to 700s, and it doesn’t look like for long. Yamaha had the XJ, FZX and XV (Virago) 700s all between 1985 and 1986 and then back to 750s starting in 87. The Virago would make for a cool bobber imo.

Here’s a site I look at sometimes for specs that's supposed to list all models. It's searchable. Here’s the Yamaha section:
http://www.bikez.com/brand/yamaha_motorcycles.php?page=1

_________________
EDIT: btw, if you wind up with an old Yamaha, I’m linking a good supplier of old Yamaha parts based out in Oregon…Northwest Vintage Cycle Parts. The dude that runs this place buys up OEM parts stocks from dealers that go out of biz and has been doing so for years and years. They’ve really come through for me on some really off stuff!  

http://www.nwvintagecycleparts.com/

[Drod13]

thanks for the info great stuff! I emailed the guy back and said check your title to make sure.
I'll keep you posted.

[dt]

I pulled all Yamaha 700 models off the Zedder website, below. Unfortunately, it didn’t list all the VINs. That’s ultimately where you’re going to tie down the year, which will become real important when chasing parts. I also have the Zedder Yamaha cross reference software. What the software does is match up all parts (by OEM Part Number) to the specific models it was used in. It’s particularly useful when you’re searching for a part on eBay or Craigslist. You might want to search just the specific model; but, someone may be parting out another model that used the same part. More good stuff when working on older Yamahas. He has software for Suzuki and Kawasaki, also.

[Drod13]

This guy sticking to his 83 700cc claim.He said they short produced a few but I can't find anything that supports that anywhere.
I gave him my # but he has yet to call.He said he will send me pics in a few.I don't want to annoy this guy with all these questions but I'd
really like to know.What I don't get is that I told him that it would be better if I just came over and had a look and hasn't responded yet about that either.
Says he has "title in hand" We shall see.

[dt]

I suppose the guy could be right on the year. Either way, Yamaha must have made a few spare parts for it.

Some sellers (CL or eBay) seem to want to sell but not show, then send pics, communicate via email, etc. I think the reason has more to do with they just don’t want a bunch of lookie-lews wasting their time. A classic bike or one that needs some special attention…they know the market for that stuff is small, but when dozens call and want to see the item, they start evaluating the buyers. I’ve admittedly done that as a seller before. If there’s a chance you might want the bike, I’d be persistent on the lookie part. That might show him that you're definitely interested. Take a bud; four eyes are better than two.

[Drod13]

well I'm off to finally take a look at it.I'll be posting pics if I get it or posting if it was a flop.
stay tuned....

[Drod13]

well first off it was a 1986 700cc.I knew the bike hasn't been run for 2 years but the guy left it out back without a cover on it the whole time.
All the parts are pitted and the clutch is frozen along with the front brakes.I wanted to put jumper cables on it but the bike sits in a very tight spot and I would have to
pick up the bike in order for me to put it on the center stand and get it close to my truck.All in all the bike makes for some decent parts but something I really don't want to mess with right now.heres a pic...

[mrbones]

Looks like a lot of work. How much was he selling it for again?

[Drod13]

hes started at $550 and then e-mailed me an said $300

[dt]

All in all the bike makes for some decent parts but something I really don't want to mess with right now.heres a pic...

Yup, you'd probably end up spending all your time fixing stuff that's gone to crap on that bike, when you really want to work on bobbing it.

[Drod13]

Well I finally found something that runs pretty good and and is within my budget.
It's a 1978 KZ 750 with only 12k on her.Heres some pics when I just got her off my truck.Oh I paid $400
and the guy gave me another frame thats the same year.Not a bad deal I think.

[dt]

Excellent! Did you get cranking on it this weekend?

Wondering…are you planning on doing the rigid frame thing?

[Drod13]

Yea, I stripped her down to her birthday suit has much I could so I could still take her out for a spin.I bought her a new battery and cleaned out the tank,added fresh gas
and she fired right up . I'm not to concerned how good she's running cause I plan on rejetting and letting her breath better with some carb pods.Not sure yet what I'm gonna do with the exhaust.Either open it up and wrap it or see what aftermarkets I could find.Just started with researching and it's gonna take me some time to learn a bit about her.

I'm not sure if I'm going rigid or not.I took the extra frame to work and talked it over with my friend the welder.I'm leaning towards a mono shock but gotta measure things up to see if the battery box I'm gonna make is gonna be in the way.I'll post pics has I go and keep you guys in loop and I hope you guys don't mind if I pick your brains some cause remember this is my first time attempting this sorta thing and can use has much help has possible.So shoot any ideas you have my way!!!

Don't have time to post pics right now cause I've been slammed at work with overtime.Not complaining cause I sure could use the money for all the goodies I'm gonna need for this project.Gonna go crash for a while till it's time for work...Later

[Drod13]

Here are some pics as promised.I cut the extra frame up and getting ready to get it sand blasted.
I'm about ready to pull the motor and start cleaning it up.I'm wondering how heavy the motor is,At least a couple hundred pounds I guess.
I'll take more pics as I go and keep you all posted.

[dt]

Maybe your bud with the sand blaster can get after the engine with it, at least the jugs, head and covers. Getting in those fins is a huge pia. I have a cheapo Harbor Freight gravity fed media blaster that I’ve used on several restorations with decent results. A pro blaster would certainly do better.. Bones and I got on his café conversion with it too. For example, the pics below are before and after of my 75 Honda MT250. I used a fine wire wheel on the crank covers, then steel wool. Before that I used to paint the engines, but the bare metal always seems to looks better provided the engine isn’t all beat up. If you do this, make sure all the holes get sealed and then check inside the cylinder afterward. Trust me on the check…thought I sealed up an old Bultaco engine pretty good before blasting and when I looked in the cylinder there was a thin layer of glass bead on the piston. 





I'll pull these pics later on so they don't muck up your build thread.

[Drod13]

Wow!!! what a difference.Now I'm gonna have to do the same thing..lol.Maybe I can make up a plate and put some rubber gasket material behind it
for the exhaust ports and carb inlets.

Oh and to answer your question about going rigid,Yea I decided to go that route cause it was just easier and it would take alot more fabricating and money to accomplish that.I know I know it sounds like I'm trying to just throw her together by going the easier route but I feel it's gonna be safer for my first time project.

My bud is kinda pressuring me to finish cause now he want's to go find one and start his own...lol.I told him to have "patience young grasshopper" in a kung fu voice
your time shall come...

[mrbones]

Nice start to the project. So you are hard tailing the bike? What kind of seat do you have in mind?

[dt]

Now I'm gonna have to do the same thing.

If you actually go the gravity blaster route, let me know because I’ve got a few important tips from experience using them.

[Drod13]

I'll probably go with one of those pan seat styles.Still looking for a tank that will work.I saw some
sportster tanks that may work but need to measure more for the tunnel.

popped out the motor last night (not that heavy) and now gonna clean up the electrical and do more research.

[dt]

Here’s a little jingle to hum while you’re working. 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbgkkvIvswU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbgkkvIvswU</a>

[Drod13]

^^ That's to funny...HAHA! I think that was before my time though.

So I'm driving to grab a bite to eat and I see this table left out for bulk trash,so I think to my self "I could use that table to put my motor on so I don't have to
spin the motor every time I want to work on the other side".So being the garbage picker that I am I snatched it up and threw in the back of my truck.I unloaded it and
immediately started to dismantle it cause it was to long for my garage.I cut it down to 2 1/2' and reused all the wood.I then went down to harbor freight and bought some small caster wheels and installed them so now I have a rolling cart What do think? not bad huh?

Oh and I looked at the gravity blasters but didn't know what to get or if I even should do it myself so I picked up some other little things I needed for work and headed back home.

[dt]

I think that was before my time though.

Not your bike though. That commercial was probably out right around when the bike was new.

A small bench to work on the engine is a good idea. I have one that’s about two foot square. You can put the frame up there too when you get to those details. It helps the back by not having to bend over for hours.

[dt]

Oh and I looked at the gravity blasters but didn't know what to get or if I even should do it myself....

Is your freind not going to do it?

What do have, a pet snake or something out there keeping you company?  

[dcameras]

now I have a rolling cart    What do think? not bad huh?

Not bad at all. Looks like a good sturdy cart and a good height too. Good find "garbage picker". 

[Drod13]

Oh and I looked at the gravity blasters but didn't know what to get or if I even should do it myself....

Is your freind not going to do it?

What do have, a pet snake or something out there keeping you company?  

Thats the only thing I don't have a hook up for (sand blasting).Thats why I was thinking about doing it myself,or is it not worth it?
cheaper to just let someone else do it? help me out here

Thats not a snake.It was my kids iguana tank till it out grew it so now I had to build this one.I really need to through that thing up in the attic before I smash it with a tool or something.

[dt]

Wow! It grew out of a fish bowl into that!    Nice job, actually.

I’ll come back shortly with some blasting info to help you decide on that.

[dt]

Okay, back on the bead blasting. There are a whole bunch of portable abrasive blasters out there. I have a Central Pneumatic Gravity Feed Blaster with the 21 oz bin that I got from Harbor Freight for $20 (couplers extra, like $3), so I’ll talk about this one and you can apply it accordingly. First, it’s a spot blaster that I use a lot, not just on motorcycle stuff…but the point is, it’s a spot blaster. It’s not really for big jobs. I’ve never used it on a frame, because there’s other ways to strip them down. You can use it on big jobs; it’s just going to take longer. HF has two gravity blasters. Do not get the smaller one. Bones and I both had the smaller one and it’s a piece of shit.

Like any air-powered tool, the blaster has a CFM rating, which is how much air your compressor needs to suck in to maintain the working psi. The gravity blaster’s is 7 CFM at 90psi. My Craftsman Compressor is rated 6 CFM, which I think is a big freaking lie; I’m sure it’s 4 or 5. You’ve got one of those Home Depot brand Husky compressors that is probably the same rating and tank size. There are some articles out there saying all compressor makers lie about the CFM ratings, and I’ve read about some related class-action law suits…but I digress. Bottom line, imo the gravity blaster operates best at 125psi, so it probably needs a stud 10-15 CFM compressor to maintain the psi. I can still use my Craftsman because the tank is big (25 gal) and I can wait for the psi to replenish. Blast a minute…wait two. That’s the trade off. If I get impatient and try to blast before the psi replenishes, it’s just wasting media. On jobs that take awhile, I blast from 125 down to 90, and actually make my son watch the pressure gauge and call out when I need to stop; i.e. at or below 90. One of these days, I’m either going to get a stud 220v compressor or maybe even a gas powered one. This is the exact same issue with paint sprayers.

Naturally, the blaster makes a huge freaking mess. I don’t use (or have) a blasting cabinet. Rather, I do the blasting outdoors on a big tarp. Even though I do it outdoors, there’s two things. First, I still need a respirator and goggles (the ones without vents…very important); one of those clear full face shields would also be good because the media ricochets back in your face. I actually don’t have one of those, so I kind of angle the blast away. Second, you need to keep the compressor as far away from the work area as possible. I ruined a compressor motor because media got sucked in the intake and scored the pistons to crap. Now I use a fifty-foot air hose ($25), leave the compressor inside the garage and blast in my side yard…and not near my air conditioning compressor. That sucks in air too.

My rule of thumb is to minimize blasting as much as possible to save time and avoid mess. If there’s paint that needs to come off, I use aircraft paint stripper. If there’s oil/grease built up, I use gunk. The MT engine in the previous post was painted black; the first photo is after I stripped the paint with the rattle can paint stripper.

The blaster can use only fine media, no bigger than 24 grit. There’s all kinds of media. I used 80 grit glass bead ($25 for 25lb) on the MT engine in the previous post. In the tech section, there are some photos of where I blasted the rust out of my exhaust tips with baking soda (http://bikerflorida.com/forum/index.php/topic,309.0.html ). The 80 grit has had a lot of applications. I only used the baking soda because we were kind of doing an experiment. 

Pros: Cheap, many applications around the house, compact (fits in a drawer), convenient (no dealing with shops), good for small/medium stuff that shops likely aren’t going to want to do, cheap

Cons: Time consuming if you’ve got a low CFM 120v compressor, limited media, messy, not as good a job as a pro shop

HB's website is acting up. Here's a link to the page that has it and some other models, but I couldn't drill down further. Central Pneumatic Blaster: http://www.harborfreight.com/garage-shop/blaster-accys.html

[dt]

How's this going?

[Drod13]

Ok I know it's been a while but I finally found some time to get things rolling again.
I sand blasted the motor myself and got the frame welded up.just making a false
oil tank(4" pvc) to house my electronics.My rear fender is being painted and just waiting
for some misc parts to arrive so I can paint the frame and finally get this thing together.

[Drod13]

Here's the false oil tank in early stages...

[dt]

Wow…nice job Drod! That is looking good.

[dt]

How did the engine clean-up turn out?

[Drod13]

I went out and bought the blaster from HB and bought the 25lb 80 grit glass media and it
was just like you said...slow but it does the job.I made up some plates for the intake and exhaust
ports and went at it.It took me about 3 hours or so in the blistering heat to finally get it where
I was happy with the results.I also cleaned up some other parts with it very well.I'm looking to buy a
HB freight welder and start practicing so I don't have to rely on others to get what I want.I can't complain
about it cause it was free and the guys did a great job on it.

[dt]

Looks good Drod. I agree on the welder. I've got this guy close buy that does welding/brazing, but it's definitely something I'd like to be able to do myself.

I was going to do some blasting last weekend on my baja bits, and the stupid drain valve on my Craftsman air compressor wouldn't seat after I drained the small amount of water out. Should be getting the new valve today or tomorrow...maybe Sunday I can make a mess with it.