Nightster Winter Makeover
#131
#133
Ok, I guess I can't rag on you about $. That joker machine stuff don't come cheap.
#136
Trying like hell to get in the shop a few hours this week so I can assemble the front end. Don't know if I'm gonna make it but if I do there will be pics.
#138
#140
Progress
Got some things done yesterday. Put the rear wheel back on. Left the brake rotor off for now but did put the newly powder coated rear sprocket on the newly powder coated rear wheel and it looks pretty nice. Then I went to install the front end and found out that Vulcan sent me the wrong axel. The one they sent is way to big in diameter and won't fit through the forks. So I'll have to deal with that. In the meantime, I used a piece of threaded rod to at least get the front wheel in place and get the bike on the ground. Check it out.
As you can see, I purchased new Wilwood black rotors from Scooters Performance to go with the black wheels and the powder coaters did the bolt heads. I couldn't bring myself to put the old stock rotors on those wheels.
Put the tank in place.
For now the tank is just bolted at the rear tank bracket and I have it blocked up in the front with a piece of wood. The front tank brackets have to be removed and I'll have to craft a new mounting system for the front...when we chopped the frame it moved the steering head back about half an inch and we removed the front mounting holes. So now the tank sits too far forward and the mounts hit the upper triple clamp. I'll probably chop the rear bracket and shorten it about an inch...there's pleanty of room between the rear of the tank and the seat. I also want to lower the rear of the tank so that it sits right on the frame. Due to the way the rear bracket works, when you lift the front of the tank it increases the angle at the rear bracket and raises the *** end up off the frame. So the whole tank mounting system has to be modified. But I knew that going in. It just looks kinda goofy for now. No headlight on the front adds to the goofiness.
However, I am loving the look so far. It's raked just enough that you know it's a departure from stock but not so much that it's over the top. I was concerned that raking it 4 degrees was going to lower the front end too much and I might have to buy longer fork tubes. But it's fine. The bike is definitely lower but the shorter shocks on the rear seem to have leveled it out quite nicely.
More to follow...
As you can see, I purchased new Wilwood black rotors from Scooters Performance to go with the black wheels and the powder coaters did the bolt heads. I couldn't bring myself to put the old stock rotors on those wheels.
Put the tank in place.
For now the tank is just bolted at the rear tank bracket and I have it blocked up in the front with a piece of wood. The front tank brackets have to be removed and I'll have to craft a new mounting system for the front...when we chopped the frame it moved the steering head back about half an inch and we removed the front mounting holes. So now the tank sits too far forward and the mounts hit the upper triple clamp. I'll probably chop the rear bracket and shorten it about an inch...there's pleanty of room between the rear of the tank and the seat. I also want to lower the rear of the tank so that it sits right on the frame. Due to the way the rear bracket works, when you lift the front of the tank it increases the angle at the rear bracket and raises the *** end up off the frame. So the whole tank mounting system has to be modified. But I knew that going in. It just looks kinda goofy for now. No headlight on the front adds to the goofiness.
However, I am loving the look so far. It's raked just enough that you know it's a departure from stock but not so much that it's over the top. I was concerned that raking it 4 degrees was going to lower the front end too much and I might have to buy longer fork tubes. But it's fine. The bike is definitely lower but the shorter shocks on the rear seem to have leveled it out quite nicely.
More to follow...
The following users liked this post:
Elzer0 (11-28-2020)