Danny – I was hoping for better sun, but Lanceman was after a Japanese vibe with the pics, kind of misty Mount Fuji stuff, and I trust his eye. Think he did good 🙂 The bike details, a 1979 XS650 SF. Started chopping it on Christmas Eve, 2009 in Seattle. (Almost) finished it in fallof 2012 in Reno. I’ve said it a million times, but if it weren’t for Shinya Kimura, I wouldn’t be into choppers. Before I saw his work, all I cared about were cars.
We goosenecked it, designed our own hardtail to fit the 5.00-16 Harley wheels.
Also made the chain adjusters. Modified HD rotor to fit the modified SR500 caliper. Sprocket Specialists’ Sportster sprocket with the stock number of XS teeth, modified to fit the big twin wheel. Made the aluminum fender in one piece, found out later that people usually make two pieces and weld them together. Whoops!
The tail light and head light are pieces from a big box home decor store, given a lot of love by us. We rebuilt the motor, did all the wiring. Ditched the starter, put a little battery where it used to go (still figuring out if that was wise or not). Put on VM36 carbs, which are really too big, but we live up here where there isn’t as much air, so they only foul plugs every other ride, haha! Lance made the awesome tank. I told him to copy a TY175 tank that we used for mockup, but he came up with something that I think is way cooler. He also did the exhaust and the art deco style heat shield.
Made the seat, from the pan to the leather, and my hands are still cramped from all that hand sewing! Did the grips to match. Made throttle cables and adapters to match the HD throttle to the Mikunis. Made the board track style bars. Did a bunch of experimenting and fiddling to match the DNA springer to the stock XS neck (numbers are very important!).
Made the rearsets using the rear framehorns we took off of my Suzuki Titan. Made the brake pedal and master cylinder linkage also. To finish things up, made a stator cover with our logo machined on it (and didn’t pocket enough off of the back, which shorted my brushes out, heheh! Spacers fixed things for now)
Thanks to Lance for the photos, and all the welding! And thanks for sharing our bike, Ted, and keep up the great work!
Danny and Lance Busch
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