Submission #2, and I do believe this one is a bit of a head turner. It was actually one of the bikes featured in Hanz’s Top Ten list. The builder and I have exchanged words before about it, and I couldn’t resist digging for more info on the bike. He was more than willing to dish out what info I needed along with a good story of how it started to take shape. Enjoy….
Xs 650 Hartailed Frame Was Up For Grabs. (karma?)
“I did a guy a favor once, by picking up a bike, and dropping it off at his place. This guy returned the favor about a year later, by letting me know that his buddy couldn’t finish an xs-project, and that the hartailed frame was up for grabs.(karma?) Nice welds, only one inch stretch, and straight as an arrow….done deal!
I then found a farmer (via the dutch version of “craigslist”) who was in the process of selling his farm, and was cleaning out the barn. As a result, he sold me his xs softail chopper with a 21″ Santee mini-drum front wheel, along with lots of other cool parts which had been his pride and joy back in 70’s and 80’s. The bike was hidden in the barn, and had not been used for several years.
Getting the motor to run took some rewiring, cleaning up the carbs, points, and a new battery. It came to life nearly running perfect. I traded some wheels left over from previous builds, for an 34mm front-end that had an axle and spacer machined for the front wheel. Add into the mix a 16inch rim/drumbrake hub powdercoated black, and laced with stainless spokes for the complete mock-up roller.
The majority of all the other parts where either found at swapmeets or donated by friends, such as: riserclamp, lights, z-bars, tires, seat, tankcaps, handles. I also found the rear fender at a swapmeet. It is an aluminium front fender off of a 70’s dirtbike, with the perfect radius needed! The narrowed mustang tank was purchased from a guy who was selling his bike in parts. The footpegs and shift/kicker rubbers came from Wes at Four Aces Cycle Supply. TC-bros supplied the dummy oiltank and battery box. The Supersixties grips were an E-bay purchase(had to have them). Struts,mounts, and mids where homebuilt while my buddy Jan helped me out again with the welding.
After polishing/cleaning the motor, I painted the bike in my backyard(rattlecan off course).
Thats it man. Take care.”
Cheers,
Dennis
You built a truly well finished chopper Dennis. I like the WHOLE package.
CAPTAIN AWESOME :MULLIGAN MACHINE:
