Daniel Jordy – Hey guys, finally got my thumb out and posted the pictures of the finished build up here. First off, thanks for an amazing site. Some of you might recognize this build as i posted some pictures of the progress in january this year, when the build was on hold due to me living in winter paradise.
Well, here she is, all in all, it took me 2.5 months, where during the first one i was working full time elsewhere, but on the remaining 1.5 i worked night and day to finish her and get her inspected for road safety. I had to get it done before i left for an island called Gotland here in Sweden for work. Needles to say, it was tight. I put the last bolt on the same day as inspection, and next day I took it on the road 400kms toward the ferry. And she held up.. sort of.
This is my first build, ever. OK, I did do a swing bike the year before, but thats it. I had no knowledge in welding or fabrication prior to this. I live on a farm and my dad was nice enough to let me spread my life in his workshop, and he showed me the basics of MIG welding.
I did a bunch of super noob mistakes, such as not moving the petcock on the tank, and still mounting it kinda frisco style, giving me 6 litres of usable fuel. And I’ve yet to look into the carb jetting, but I believe previous owner had some fun in there, cuz i only get about 30MPG… which results in quite a few gas stops on a 400km run. Haha. Another thing I learned is that everything takes so much longer than what you think. Especially the electrical wiring (me being a complete noob here swell) and having a failing charging system from the get go doesn’t help time wise.
I doubt that i’ll never ever cut a wire short again.. From scrap pieces of metalI welded up a box for the fuses and ignition, and made that my “center of electrical stuff”. All the mounting tabs and what not are made out of junk metal my dad had lying around. I wanted to keep the ability to go 2nd up on her. So after lots of research coming up empty handed. I bent this thick piece of flat metal with a sledgehammer, fitted it on the inside of the fender, and welded it all up. At the end, next to the brake light, the bolts go through and through fender and the metal piece, making it very rigid. Thanks to the lower bracket, that is welded to the frame, behind the electrical box, the fender has nowhere to go. Even when you apply lots of pressure at the very end, there is no movement at all. I had plans on making a P-pad too, but dint have time for that. So yep, she ended up sitting on the fender..
That is why the fender sits quite high, if i didn’t get some distance in there, she’d scrub every time i hit a bump riding 2up. So it was a compromise. And I probably would do that differently the next time.
All in all I enjoy the end result. At least for a first build I’d say i got it pretty alright.. I know the frisco tank has been done before, but I like it.
She’s lowered 2″ in front and back (new shocks)
She’s got a new tank and rear fender, new instruments and reused electrical wiring (not a good idea, but damn, you can’t buy colored wires for personal use in sweden so i had no choice)
Engine stayed stock (she’s leaking a bit of oil, so the engine will be the next thing to tear into)
Frame mods are done by myself with a MIG weld and a grind wheel. Frame and front fender was painted black by someone who knew what he was doing, and the tank and rear fender clear coated by the same guy. I wanted to keep that raw finish.
Rims and engine was water sanded and soda blasted, then painted with rim-color (bad choice) and engine enamel paint (better choice)
All the covers was water sanded and polished to a nice dull shine (once again i like that raw finish)
Headers are stock wrapped with header wrap, then new almost open exhausts from louis.de
Bike is road legal in sweden (horn, signals, brake, hi/low, lit up registration sign)
Next step for me would be to open up the carbs and see what she’s got. Isn’t it strange though, that she still runs very rich even after the straight pipes i put on her?
Thanks,
Swedish Dan.
