Author Topic: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?  (Read 6947 times)

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Cormac

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Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« on: February 03, 2010, 10:52:44 PM »
Found a couple references to Konging a bike, but no real good pictures of process and results. Anyone care to relate their experiences? Just thinking that it might be better than a hard-tail conversion, but I don't know. Any opinions would be helpfull, I'm trying to figure out what direction to take after I get my taxes back...

Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2010, 11:18:24 PM »
Looks fantastic mate, particularly the black bike with the flamed tank! Be aware though, that by removing the support rails you'll weaken the frame and ruin the handling, but the Chopper look is all about form over function, so who cares?

Just don't go chasing modern sports bikes through those canyon roads, or you'll be getting to know the local hospital staff on a personal basis, ha ha!

You could try bracing the frame by adding more steel to the backbone, or making a bracket to tie the cylinder head to the frame a la Harley Davidson, which will be a good thing, for sure. Good thing is the stock (but modified) OEM frame fits the engine much better than any of those goofy hardtail frames that were designed for Harleys, with a huge gap between the rear of the engine and the rear wheel, where the HD gearbox would normally go.

I've got a junker frame here that someone cut (badly) so I think I'll give it a go myself! Cheers, Terry. ;D
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Offline 55fbomb

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2010, 10:22:01 AM »
Go dig around at hondachopper.com there is a ton of info about konging over there.
or maybe im just dumb . . .

Offline The_Crippler

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2010, 10:33:03 AM »
What, exactly, is konging?  The googles weren't much help.  The best I saw was an article that showed a bike getting its frame hacked up and then was instantly a show piece...so there seems to be some middle ground I'm missing.

Offline mystic_1

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2010, 11:18:15 AM »
http://www.hondachopper.com/garage/konging/konging.html


There are variations but that's how Kong did it.

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Offline Toxic

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2010, 11:21:38 AM »
Dang, I learned something new today.

Cool, for a chopper.

Offline The_Crippler

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #6 on: February 04, 2010, 12:37:11 PM »
http://www.hondachopper.com/garage/konging/konging.html


There are variations but that's how Kong did it.

mystic_1

Heh...that was exactly the article I was referring to...

Offline 55fbomb

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #7 on: February 04, 2010, 12:56:02 PM »
looks good to me.
or maybe im just dumb . . .

Offline Inigo Montoya

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2010, 01:13:43 PM »
Ya know, that is pretty cool really. You drop the seat yet keep all your suspension travel.

Offline mystic_1

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #9 on: February 04, 2010, 02:10:08 PM »
http://www.hondachopper.com/garage/konging/konging.html


There are variations but that's how Kong did it.

mystic_1

Heh...that was exactly the article I was referring to...



That's about as close to a step-by-step as you're going to get.  What else would you like to know?  It's assumed that the reader is a good enough fabricator to understand gusseting, fishmouths, welding, etc, and creative enough to solve problems like the oil tank, battery tray, side covers, seat, etc.

Another approach to Konging a frame involves cutting off the upper third of the frame as a unit, from the shock mounts through the steering head and down to the downtubes, and then re-welding it back on at a different angle.

I've attached below some pics I've collected from teh interweb.

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Cormac

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2010, 05:45:13 PM »
Good machinist, ok welder, just grew up chopping up jeeps, bajas, and rails... Dad sold his harley as soon as I moved in, and didn't get another until I was safely in the Navy; 'cause he wasn't going to lose another one to yet another teenage son...

Thanks for the link, looks good... But I'm guessing that the oil bag and battery are the issues? Can't tell from the pictures, where did they stash the battery? I wonder if a guy could stretch the backbone and lowers enough to use a harley style horseshoe bag...

Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #11 on: February 04, 2010, 06:11:35 PM »
Actually, if you removed the stock backbone and replaced it with a length of say, 4 inch x 2 inch thick walled tube (Oval tube would be really nice) you could use the new top rail as an oil bag, and it would fix the "flexy flyer" frame weakness too. Any small 12V battery would be fine if you only use the kicker. Cheers, Terry. ;D
I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Cormac

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #12 on: February 04, 2010, 06:17:11 PM »
What, kinda like the triumph? Not a bad idea... Suppose you would have to devise a plug, polish the inside, etc.

Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #13 on: February 04, 2010, 06:42:47 PM »
Yeah mate, but you could buy an old oil bag offa EBay and just cannibalise it for the cap etc. I wouldn't worry about polishing the inside though, as long as it was pretty clean, it'd be fine. Cheers, Terry. ;D
I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Offline The_Crippler

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #14 on: February 04, 2010, 07:35:59 PM »
What else would you like to know? 


Really, I fall off back at the curb - I was kinda looking for a definition of what "konging" is.  Is it just what was said above - Dropping the seat and keeping the suspension travel?

Offline mystic_1

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #15 on: February 04, 2010, 07:51:31 PM »
heh well I guess the best definition is "what that Kong guy did to his bikes" :)  but yes lowering the seat rails and keeping the rear suspension is more or less the gist of it.

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Offline 754

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #16 on: February 04, 2010, 08:01:09 PM »
Terry, your oval tubing should only  be a 1/2 hr and a walk to a shop press away...
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Offline The_Crippler

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #17 on: February 04, 2010, 08:02:48 PM »
heh well I guess the best definition is "what that Kong guy did to his bikes" :)  but yes lowering the seat rails and keeping the rear suspension is more or less the gist of it.

mystic_1

Well, all right then - fair enough.  Thanks for explaining.

BTW, love the sig line.  One of my favorite movies of the last year (And I go almost weekly to see one.)

Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #18 on: February 05, 2010, 03:24:20 AM »
Terry, your oval tubing should only  be a 1/2 hr and a walk to a shop press away...

Thanks Frank, that's a good idea, I was thinking of forming an oval tube if I couldn't find any, but I really do like the idea of a "Konged" CB750, I've got a lot of the parts already and I don't have to chop up a good frame as I've got one that was "hacked" and discarded that I saved from the dump. A chopper seat, tank and fender will be easy to find on EBay, I wonder if I can build my own springer front end? I don't really like extended CB750 forks........... Cheers, Terry. ;D
I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Offline JS550

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Re: Anyone Kong a bike and care to comment?
« Reply #19 on: February 05, 2010, 04:27:48 AM »
Looks good. Wouldnt you need a brace between the shocks though? I dont know know? I think just cutting the shock mounts & moving them down where the top tubes meet the rear might work to. With a shorty shock. But the look wouldnt be the same.
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