New Photo shoot with Missi

Just did a photo shoot over at the Busted Knuckle Garage in Port Charlotte. The bike is a 1996 Suzuki Intruder turned into a Bobber. The owner picked it for a $1000.00 and now it is completed. The one thing I like about the bike is the 21" front wheel. Missi Casey is the model and she was kind enough to pose with the bike for me.

Welding to make a Rigid Frame

I took the bike over to friends house to weld the rear end up tight. Once I got there I decided that I wanted to make the frame a little longer so therefore we needed to cut the swing arm. Now keep in mind that this is not a true rigid chopper frame. If so there would be just one piece, like a cage. With this bike we stuck to the conventional Jap Bobber style and welded the swing arm to the main frame. I chopped the swing arm in half and added bigger tubing to sleeve the cut section all together I thing it was stretched about 2 inches and lowered 3 inches. We welded the stays to the main frame and created a cross bar for added support. Keep in mind you will need a new chain and you will have to have new rear brake controls (or just make your own). Some people are already saying "man are you sure you have the rear tire aligned" I say quit being a pussy and chop your bike. This bike is going to ride like a square wheeled donkey dung cart. Do you think that it needs an alignment? Geeze max H.P. on this thing in 1978 was 27 H.P. out of the box from Honda and we know how Honda pads their H.P. rating. I think that my neighbor's lawn mower might blow this thing away, but it's my bike and I am making it. I recommend everybody have one. It is good for the soul and the mind. Last words Don't be a pussy just pull out the saw and chop chop. Thanks for reading take care.

Cleaning The Bobber

As you can see I have chopped the rear section off of the Honda. I obtained a peanut tank which needs some work ($20). I removed a lot more parts and pieces. I also gathered up a new throttle and brake lever from an old Yamaha Seca. The new handle bars are from a Dirt Bike. I am still undecided as to chop and extend the Swing Arm or not. The stays will be solid and should be in soon. I completely cleaned the engine and sanded it down. I covered it with Zinc and then applied $7.00 worth of high heat engine paint Old Ford blue (the original color of the bike was blue) because Honda blue was not available. I sanded down some of the fins on the engine in my spare time tonight. I am still waiting for Pepper to finish up the badly damaged carbs. Could be a while. for now just going to weld her up.

Stripper??

Hey I stripped her down to just about nothing. It took me most of the day, but it gave the wife time to take a much needed nap. I found out that the seat for this bike sells for around $100.00 on E-bay. Imagine that (that is what I paid for the whole bike). The seat will be up for auction soon. On thing I did learn about the tear down was, you should really make sure you label your parts. The headlight should not be tampered with until you are ready to replace it. There are a million wires stuffed in that headlight and once you tear it apart it may be months before you get back to it. So I think for now we will leave it alone. The hardest part of tearing this bike down was taking the exhaust off. It seems to be wrapped around the whole engine like an octopus. anyways it's off and the project is moving along. I am sending the carbs off to be rebuilt by a pro over at the Busted Knuckle Garage in Port Charlotte. Pepper is one hell of a Bike Mechanic if you ever have any issue on an old rod give him a call 941-255-5180 More to come on this old bike soon.

My Bobber Project

Anyone can ask my wife what my passion is and I think that she would just stare at them (with the funny look) and walk away. I am the type of guy that always needs something. Sometimes several things at once to fill that "PASSION VOID". I would say that my number one passion is my family, and then the sky is the limit. I own a boat, a GSXR, and a Camera bla bla. I love them all but it's not enough!
I have always wanted to build a Jap Bobber ever since I learned what one was so.... Here it is! I was able to find a complete 1978 Honda CB400T with 4200 miles on it. It came with the owners manual and the title. Imagine that. The bike was obtained from a good friend for the fair sum of $100.00. I plan on taking this bike completely apart and making it a "real" rigid. More to come on this story as we go on.