Right folks, as if I hadn't enough going on with sorting the Polo and work and uni, etc I decided to start my chopper project. I duno how many of you will appreciate this but thought I'd post it up anyway. Here goes:

Got the bike on Christmas day for my birthday. Its an early 80s Yamaha XS 650. I hate the style of bikes the likes of OCC build (ugly, over the top unrideable heaps) so I decided to build an old skool bobber/chopper.

This is how I got it:

Tonight after a day of doing a 5000word assignment for tomorrow, I decided to relieve my stress by taking the angle grinder to the bike. i cut the rear end off and ended up with this (ignore the mud guard as its too big):

Then i took a high tunnel Harley Sportster tank and moved the brackets to make it sit higher and set it on for positioning:

Thats all for tonite, hopefully get a few more updates soon.

P.S. All I'm using of the original bike is the engine and part of the frame so wheels, bars, forks etc are for the bin

Edited 8 January, 201016 yr by McCann

This will be a nice interesting build thread IMO. Il be keeping an eye on this

thanks mate. hopefully the updates should be regular enough

haha my mum has one in the shed, my old man did a chop xs 750 and 1000cc virago.

i'll keep popping in to see how it's going, i gave up trying to convince me dad to give me his kwaka ltd 1000 to chop.

might try again come the summer months!

u gonna go for hi bars or flats? i reckon flats would suit the short forks well well a handmade leather saddle,

thin leather sprung saddle will be on it :p

and i can guarantee a good update tonite

haha you crazy mofo you! look forward to where this is going..

okay so i headed down to martys house tonite and when i arrived he had the basic frame welded. still need to do the brackets etc but you can see the basic lines of the bike forming.

next up we made a box for the electrics out of an old oxygen tank. made it to look like an oil tank so it'd fill in the space in the frame nicely. this will house the electrics and switches, etc. below are pics of it and roughly where it will sit.

i then striped the stupid looking headlight, clocks and indicators off the front and it looks alot tidier already. all getting replaced with a single Bates headlight.

now for the best news I'm locating all the switches, ignition, etc to the electric box so all the bars will have are grips and levels AND because the bike is pre-1987 i dont have to use indicators :D sweet

mad bastard. good luck with that

the rake is abit sharp but i want to keep the bike short. the new bars should help the line of the forks. if not it'll get raked out :p

cheers lad

this is looking intresting, gonna keep my eyes on this

good luck with it, looks smart so far

You got the bike on Christmas day for your birthday.... is your name Jesus too?

Sorry had to be said lol. Whats your plans for the front fork, are you going to cut and weld a new section to change the angle it mounts? Nice work so far!!

my birthday's christmas eve so my name is santa :p i got the bike as a bday/cmas present on christmas day.

i want to keep them at the current angle but if not i'll cut the headstock out and weld it into the new position

Nice one then. A constructive evening then Santa.... mine was as constructive as buying a mirror for my bedroom and then cutting my hand on the glass while lifting it out of the car.....

Really like how this is coming along, looks so strange at the minute if I'm honest. Seems hard to picture as a chopper with the original wheels, have you a link/picture of your inspiration?

Your mate Marty must be quite the skilled welder, did he even bend the pipes too?

he's a welder by trade so i got him to weld it. my welding would be just as strong but not as neat. i bent the tubes on our hydraulic bender. we've been building bikes and trikes for years so well used to this now. i grew up round this sorta thing

no real pics, iv an idea and trying stick to it. the wheels will be spoked ones tho. once the rear mudguard (and prob the seat) is on you'd see it better

Sweet, then keep us posted on the progress!! Nice to see DIY projects, always a lot more interesting than threads with "just got this done...", the progress pics always are more interesting than a before and after pic...

Sick project mate, love it!!

I'm sure with a smaller wheel on the front it will sort out the sharpness of the forks

looks awesome soo far man :) good luck with it

not much into bikes but this is a fun thread and big up yer skillz you mad bastid

yeah like this project, nice work so far, I'm feeling straight bars :)

LEE

this is kool as mate, i am on the hunt for a bike atm. If i was to have a copper type i would go down the bratstyle root. but your is realy kool.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dWAgEpl-YHU

cheers folks. i didnt think i'd get any interest in this :p

*UPDATE*

ok so tonight after fannying about the house, i didn't get to the bike til abit later than before. tonight seen the electric box mounted. just need to make a lid for it now. I'm well pleased with where its sitting in the frame too. also got the header pipes back onto the engine.

next up the chain guard was made and mounted

finally got the headlight mounted too.

not a great deal done compared to the previous nights but we didn't spend long at it. made a few phone calls and with any luck i should have my rear mudguard, speedo, taillight and other wee odds and ends tomorrow afternoon meaning can really get tore in

nice to see a different thread once in a while

coming along nicely :p

btw is that a raptor i see hiding under that cover? :grin:

paul.

coming on awsome like !! i used to have a chop project and loved working on it. . . . untill some c**t stole it. keeping an eye on this looks great :p

nice work mate!

me,me brother and me old man build scoots so i can appreciate the work you're putting into it,in the middle of doing a cutdown lambretta at the moment!

you need to put a tractor seat on it and a suicide shifter!