Hippie Big Bang Theory

Vehvis – This build started as I had a little extra time during summer (no I didn´t, that was a lie). I figured I´d finally build that big bang motor I had been planning for years. I had this chopper XS which some of you might remember the hippie-xs-from-finland and I was just gonna throw the big banger into that and call it done. Of course we all know it´s not that simple. It never is. I had almost completed the motor years ago, having put lots of good parts in it, and now it was just modifying the camshaft and putting it all together. Well, modifying a camshaft can be a real pain in the butt! Breaking the shaft in halves wasn´t that hard, but welding it back together isn´t quite as simple as it sounds. Having tried different approaches with tig welding, always ending up with bending and broken welds, I asked my friend Juice to weld it with a stick. A good pre- and after heating was needed, but the shaft proofed to be ok for welding. Only very minor bending occurred, and after balancing it was ready to be installed. I assembled the engine without any issues, and was ready to roll.

I now had this monster 650, which I was told to be impossible to kickstart. I weight 67kg (less than 150 pounds) and I must admit it takes a full effort to get the engine started! And yes, It definitely has some extra power compared to a stock motor, this one really pulls from idle to the red line!!
So after putting the engine to my chopper frame and taking it for some test rides, it was clear to me this wasn´t a chopper engine. It wants to be ridden hard and fast, and that’s not my idea of how to ride a long chop with limited brakes (a brake actually…).

Since the gas tank of the chopper had started to leak a bit earlier and I had fell down causing some little dents, I decided it wasn´t much of a shame to go on and re-build the whole bike. At this point, I really had limited time to spend on this one. I had planned two other major chopper projects for the winter, so I just did a quick job on this one. Well as quick as possible, considering it included frame modifications, new front end, new wheels, tank, seat and pretty much everything else. As you can see, all that’s left from the hippie bike is the rear part of the frame and footpegs.

After engine was completed, the rest of the build took only about two months. I was aiming for a vintage street racer look, leaving original wassel tank and rear fender painted as they were, and making everything function-over-form. Even though this one was a really quick build, it wasn´t as stressful as these projects usually are. Maybe I should consider doing this more often, after all I think this is supposed to be fun!!!

Vehvis