Topic: All you hard tail people...

[ColinMc]

Lol, I have welding skills, and I did well in Geometry in high school...lol.

But seriously, I will be having a friend come over to help plan things out as far as the geometry goes. He was a custom bike builder in the late 80's...then became an electrical engineer when he thought the chopper craze wouldn't last...lol talk about bad decisions.

[kerryb]

Spend the $495 on a welder and a bender.  Buy quality tubing, measure twice cut once.  Leave room to change your mind along the way.  And by all means...have a good time and enjoy the "ride"

Elbert Hubbard is credited with saying,  "Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you anyway".

I'll let you know how harsh the ride is when I finish.

[bucky katt]

Spend the $495 on a welder and a bender.  Buy quality tubing, measure twice cut once.  Leave room to change your mind along the way.  And by all means...have a good time and enjoy the "ride"

Elbert Hubbard is credited with saying,  "Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you anyway".

I'll let you know how harsh the ride is when I finish.

i REALLY like the lines of that chop. exactly what i want to build one day.

[Raul CB750K1]

I have always liked the looks of hardtails, but let me share with you an experience that changed my view of them.

I have mentioned sometimes that I have a modern Suzuki GZ250. It is a small commuter bike, cruiser style -you can google if you want to see how it looks like. It is no hardtail, it has double shock in the rear wheel, and it has always been rated as "soft".


There is a section of road that I don't take usually, where the asphalt, for some reason, has "ridged". It is like if it has dilated and in some sections it has created "mountains", as wide as the road, and I would say the bigger one is at least 2 inches tall. I have gone through them with the car and you don't notice almost anything, just like those tiny speed traps that sometimes you go across, that are there just to warn drivers to slow down.


One day I was going fast on that road with the CB750, and my rear wheel -and butt- literally jumped off the road!!! I heared the engine revving up -being the wheel in the air there was no load- just to return to the same speed once the wheel came in contact with the road again. I thought my 40-year-old shocks needed replacement, and it was a scary moment.


Another day I was riding the same road with the GZ250 cruiser. I was oblivion of the road surface, and the ridges weren't that easy to notice. Well, when the rear wheel came over the ridge, even when the bike has swingarm, I felt an undescriptible pain across my spine. The seating position in the GZ250 is with the feet forward, all your weight rests on the saddle. You are probably seated while reading this. Imagine some force lifts your body two or three feet above the chair, and then your body is loose and you fall on the chair. Sure thing, your butt wont' suffer because the chair plush, but imagine what your spine will suffer. I had to stop right after there to regain shape and it hurted for many days. I was seriously concerned I had suffered a vertebrae-disc squeezed.


I don't want to imagine what could have happened, had I ridden a hardtail that day. We all like to look like badboys, but I think you look cooler on a softail than in a wheelchair.

[754]

People with hardtails avoid sections of road like that.. believe me, you are Always watching ahead..

 and if a lot of roads are like that where you live.= less hardtails..

 America has (or did have) a lot of freeways, and good roads, on which you can ride a hardtail, and that is partly why they are popular. (Interstate from Boise to Mountain Home in 2007 exempted).

Motorcyles have been around for a little over 100 years, and its only the last 1/2 that they all started using rear suspension..

[ColinMc]

Well I HATE forward control, i'll be going with standard footpeg location for sure so that'll help with being able to absorb bumps a little, plus the bars will be low so i can easy push myself up. Plus it's not gonna be super stretched...PLUS I have an idea about rear shocks to make it still have the look of a hardtail but not QUITE as bad of a ride. That air ride setup that Bucky Katt mentioned sounds sick but 1200...well that's too steep lol.

[The_Crippler]

and if a lot of roads are like that where you live.= less hardtails..

Which is why they aren't super popular around Pittsburgh.

[fishhead]

Then put the shock on the seat.
  I went with this set up because the seat was too low for use when mounted to the frame. No worries about my back with this set up.

    Like so (CB 450).
Both top and bottom shock mounts have adjustments built into them.

[JAG]

I think they are freakin sexy, however rough of a ride they may be. I'm planning on doing one with a Yamaha XS650 soon.

Here is a a site that use a concept with a drop seat on the Hondas.

http://www.freewebs.com/glchoppers/

Just hope you have the ability to post your build in the project section or something..

[JAG]

Ecosse posted this in the Inspiration Gallery =)

[ColinMc]

Ok so it's final, I will be building a hard tail, no more trying to convince me otherwise...

I have a great welder and am confident in my welding skills, no tubing bender though...might use the one in the machine shop at work where I am stuck right now because of my boss leaving early "sick". I love the low to the ground short mean look. Back tire exposed short of a tiny rear fender. I want the backbone to be one straight line if that makes sense. I think i'll be doing some steering head angle changes too after talking to my friend who knows more about this stuff than I do. Either way, this is going to be a zero dollar investment other than tires and time. This is striclty to use up spare parts that aren't worth much, and make a bike that'd be fun for short rides on SMOOTH roads lol. I'm not worried about great handling, great suspension...or any of that. I just want it to go halfway decent, and to stop. lol.

I love the look of the XS bike posted by JAG. But the tank needs to be lower, and the seat a little higher for my liking.

[The_Crippler]

Ok so it's final, I will be building a hard tail, no more trying to convince me otherwise...

Get down with your bad self.

[JAG]

Ok so it's final, I will be building a hard tail, no more trying to convince me otherwise...

Get down with your bad self.

Hahaha..

All I ask is if you'd Please, post step by step pics and what not of the build. I'd like to see it come together myself.

[ColinMc]

Oh I will, but first my Tracy Cafe project has to be finished, i'll probably be working on both projects in tandem since I don't need to buy any parts to do the chopper/bobber build but the Tracy seems to be fighting me the whole way. In the mean time anyone with cool looking hard tails or advice feel free to post in this thread!

[JAG]

In the mean time anyone with cool looking hard tails or advice feel free to post in this thread!

The only ones Ive been looking at that are Hardtailed, are the old Yamahas and Triumphs, if I come across any sweet looking Honda ones, I'll be sure to add them..

[apoji187]

I recently posted this in another thread, but what the heck, I'll throw it in here too:

[Retro Rocket]

I know it has a Harley engine but i just love the look of this bike.



Mick

[bucky katt]

I recently posted this in another thread, but what the heck, I'll throw it in here too:

that yours? thats one sweet looking chop! i'd love to have it parked under my backside ripping up the road.

[ColinMc]

That's the look i'm going for if possible...for reference. Not sure it's gonna be possible without some SERIOUS steering head modification though...and a different front end lol. Oh and it's gonna be a Honda of course hehe...

Oh but with mid controls too...NOT forward controls...

[apoji187]

that yours? thats one sweet looking chop! i'd love to have it parked under my backside ripping up the road.

Thanks! Yeah, literally just put some finishing touches on it tonight. Just in time for it to be parked in the garage all winter.

[bucky katt]

it's just absolutely stunning, the paint job really catches the eye doesnt it

[JAG]

That's the look i'm going for if possible...for reference. Not sure it's gonna be possible without some SERIOUS steering head modification though...and a different front end lol. Oh and it's gonna be a Honda of course hehe...

Oh but with mid controls too...NOT forward controls...

I've never been to keen on gas tanks that sit so far back from the triple tree/steering column or whatever. Free floating designs jut seem like they just threw something on there.. I love the over all theme of that bike.

It looks like a springer front end on there..  I wonder what the true benefits of using one of those are??

All I know is this is gonna be a fun build 

[ColinMc]

Lol, or a ruined CB750 frame...i'm gonna use a junk frame I have that is bent/rusty just for mockup and cutting/welding before doing it on a clean frame with a title...

I want to figure out a way to have the tank be bigger than that though...we'll see. I know it'll never look like that bike, but that's the low and mean look i'm going for...A springer front end would be cool, but that'll destroy my el cheapo budget on this one. The springer front end kicks the wheel out a little further which definetly adds to the look. No idea about how well they work though lol.

[IHWillys]

Not mine.  I saw this ad just this morning:
http://denver.craigslist.org/mcy/1449128184.html

The pics from this ad:



While I like the look of some hardtails, I don't care for this one. Having never ridden one, I don't know what they're like to ride. 

Ken

[754]

Jag, when you run extreme rake, you get more interference from the fork to the gas tank. And that gets compounded ehen the triple tree is the height of the tank or lower..

 You either use a pointy tank, cut big reliefs into it, slide it back, or combinations of those things. That is part of the reason some frames are goosenecked, to build in room for the tank..