I thought I wanted a Fatbob?

It had always been my intention to fit a Fatbob style rear mudguard to my bike. In my ageing mind I just knew it would look right. After months of searching for a decent second hand mudguard and failing I gave up and bought a fibre glass Fatbob mudguard at a very reasonable price. Not being made of steel wasn't going to be a problem, with no passenger seat the only weight supported by the rear guard would be a tail light.

Rear mudguard just looks plain ugly.

With my new mudguard to hand I dragged the bike out of the corner of my tiny garage to spot where I could work on it. I excitedly positioned the grey fibre glass mudguard over the rear tyre and took a step back, bloody hell it looked horrible!. I tried adjusting the position forwards and backwards but nothing helped, it just didn't suit my little XS. I sat on an upturned crate staring at the bike and that pig ugly mudguard for about half an hour before I saw a simple solution. I tried to imagine the mudguard shorter and mounted in reverse. In my head I thought it would work, but let's not forget, in my head I thought a Fatbob would look good!. Still, nothing ventured nothing gained so, out came the hacksaw and soon I had a much shorter mudguard with a matching angle to either side of what had now become the rear section.

I really like the simpler, less fussy look of the reversed and modified guard.

A simple bracket was fabricated to support the mudguard from the rear frame loop, another will be made to add strength when I get the battery and electric box fabricated. I'm intending to mount both items off the same bracket.

I'll need to cut another slice off the mudguard where the Fatbob tail flick begins but I'll wait to apply the hacksaw again until the battery box is made and I can best judge how to blend the two parts together. For now I very happy with the look of the rear end.  Next job is finding a suitable headlight. I had a small lamp that I tried but it's size and the way it mounted made the front forks look too long for my taste. I need to find something larger that can be positioned lower on the forks to help fill the empty area between the upper and lower yokes.



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Adding Brakes

Front end looks weak.

I have been looking at my bike and worrying how lightweight and puny the front end appeared. From some angles it looked OK but in profile the front wheel looked seriously under nourished. My hope was that adding discs and calipers would improve the appearance greatly but, although I had a set of MK1 Bandit calipers, hoses and master cylinder assembly I had been unable to find a good pair of discs at a price I could afford.
Finally, a pair of lightly used Bandit discs came up for auction and I managed to buy them at a very reasonable price. They duly arrived at my place of work yesterday, Friday, so I hid myself in the garage this afternoon and set about adding some beef to my bike's pointy end.

Just adding the discs vastly improved the look of the wheel.

As this is only the mock up stage I didn't bother adding locktite to each of the bolts, I just wanted to make sure the components would all marry together and that their addition would cure my wimpy looking front end.
With the discs in place I re-fitted the front wheel and set about mounting the twin pot calipers. I still need to buy the correct caliper mounting bolts so am making do with some stainless Allen bolts at present. Both calipers mounted easily followed by the associated pipework. I used some stainless Allen screws to secure the hoses to the lower fork legs and the splitter to the underside of the lower yoke. Not forgetting to use copper grease on every one to save myself the grief of seized fasteners further down the line. Once everything was installed I sat myself down on an upturned crate and enjoyed a mug of coffee. My little XS650 was looking much more muscular and I was happy.



Discs and calipers installed

Unfortunately, the weather outside is awful, heavy rain and high winds mean I am unable to wheel the bike outside to take pictures so I have had to make do with shooting in the confines of my tiny garage but I hope these pictures show just how much installing the brakes has improved the visual impact of the bike.
In the final build I intend to change the current tyre for one with more sidewall height to match the BT45 on the rear. I think the current rubber looks much too sports orientated to be on my little bobber.
But for now I am much happier with how the Yam looks and can now focus on getting the GS500 rear caliper to work with the XS swingarm.



The bike is looking much more balanced front to back now.

Sooty called.

With engine in place

I finally received the phone call i had been awaiting from Sooty to say he had completed the alterations to my frame and swing arm and they were ready to collect. Being a Saturday I was able to jump in the car and drive over to Emberton to collect my parts. I pulled up outside the workshop to see my frame, swing arm and shocks were loosely assembled outside,  As I inspected the lines of the frame and quality of workmanship I knew faith in Sooty had been justified.

The extended swing arm and GS500 rear wheel soon
followed the motor.

The curve of the frame rails was just as I'd specified and this combined with the extended swing arm gave the look I was after whilst ensuring a comfortable ride.
Back in my small garage I soon had the engine in the frame and the frame tethered to my bike lift. The swing arm was slotted into place and some old shocks I'm using for mock up connected it to the frame. I'm using a Suzuki GS500 rear wheel and, much to my surprise this is a perfect fit for the Yamaha swing arm.

Tank mounted on the frame.

Next, I mounted the tank, although at this stage it is only secured at the neck gusset. I've still to fabricate the lower back bone mounts.




Although the Suzuki Bandit yokes will need some machining before final build to achieve a perfect fit they fit well enough to throw on the front end so I can see how the bike sits.


Low profile tyre looks odd but will be changed.

Much to my delight the bike sits as required with engine level to ensure there are no oil supply problems. I will need to change the front tyre in the future as this low profile example doesn't suit the look I'm after. I need something with much more sidewall depth like the BT45 on the rear. Again, something that can be changed as the build progresses.


The front headlamp and bars will need to be changed also. The high mounted lamp makes the front end look too long and lightweight for my taste. I'm thinking of a more traditional seven inch unit mounted between the upper and lower yokes to add a little beef to the front of the bike but we'll see.

Outside in daylight for the first time.

Looking like a bike but still a million things to do.

Sporty Tank

In my attempt to contain spending on my project I have been scouring a certain auction site for a suitable fuel tank. I knew it had to be a sportster style tank and, once I'd looked over a few pictures of XS650 frames I knew it needed to sit lower rather than higher on the frame's backbone. Because my frame is not receiving any major stretch in length I want to avoid making it appear even shorter by mounting the tank too high or fitting high rise handlebars. I'm hoping a low slung tank and some drag or similar handlebars will help create the illusion I'm after. For several months I placed bids on numerous suitable tanks only to lose out to other buyers with more money to spend. A couple of days after once again missing out on a good looking tank to a higher bid I received an e-mail from the seller offering me the chance to buy his Sportster tank at my highest bid. I duly paid the man and very quickly received a very good example of an original Harley Sporster tank.

I was really pleased with the condition of the tank, there were a few minor rust patches along the lower edges where all fuel tanks are most likely to suffer chips and dings but overall it was very good. No visible dents and even the screw in cap was in good condition.

Whilst waiting for the work to be carried out on my frame I decided to use the time to strip the tank and prepare it for fresh paint. Visiting one of the large diy stores I sought out the cans of paint stripper. Instinctively, I initially focused on the familiar green tin of Nitromoors but, in my continuing effort to save cash, I decided to buy the stores own brand of paint stripper. It was twenty percent cheaper and promised to do all that the leading brand would do. I would soon regret trying to save a couple of pounds. Despite sanding the tank prior to applying the paint stripper and layering on two generous coats of the white gloop as per the instructions it had no effect whatsoever on the paintwork. I knew I was in trouble when I managed to drip some of the stripper onto my hand without realising I had. With Nitrommoors you get a strong stinging sensation as the solvent burns your flesh, this brand had no such effect.

Another trip to the shop and I was brushing a layer of clear Nitromorrs that soon had the top layer of paint crinkling up in blisters. I take my hat off to Harley Davidson, they certainly know how to apply paint. It took me two whole tins of stripper to remove the thick coating of paint and lacquer that had protected the tank so well. After much sanding and having treated any rust patches with a neutraliser I gave the Sportster tank a coat of grey primer.

In The Hands Of Sooty!

I loaded the car with the frame, swing arm, rear wheel, rear shocks and associated axles, spacers etc and made the forty five minute journey over to Sooties workshop. On my arrival the man in charge of turning my ideas into metal reality popped his head around the door to his shop and smiled. After accepting and consuming the offered cup of coffee it was time to empty the boot of my car into Sooties workshop. We discussed what I wanted once more and marked up areas of frame that would need to be removed and or modified with a permanent marker pen. 
Now all I have to do is wait a few weeks while the alterations are carried out and I get the call to collect my stretched and lowered chassis parts. I have a long list of jobs I can be getting on with while I wait including, stripping and primer painting the Sportster tank I intend to use, buying and installing XS650 taper bearings onto a set of  Suzuki Bandit 600 yokes in the belief that this will allow to front end and frame to work together in harmony and the XS engine needs a good going over with de-greaser before I think about heaving it into the frame.
For the first build up I'm not concerned with making parts pretty; just making them function efficiently and safely. My intention is to put a few hundred miles on the bike in its rough state before committing to paint and powder coating. No point ruining fresh paint when you find a bracket needs re-locating or you need to wield the grinder to gain another sliver of clearance between two moving parts.

The standard fuel tank mounts by way of two circular rubber fittings that slide into two curved metal cups that are spot welded to the neck gusset as shown in the photo below.

I intend to use a Sportster tank that I have acquired and the front mounting brackets line up exactly where the steel cups are positioned. Using adjustable grips, a large wrench and hammer and chisel I carefully worked my way around the offending metal until, albeit in several pieces, each cup was prised free of the frame.  Left behind was the ugly remains of the spot welds and small lumps of attached metal.

At first I used a file to reduce the blobs of weld but because of the surrounding framework it proved impossible to keep the file flat against the neck gusset. I was forced to use an angle grinder to take off the remaining steel. I'm not concerned about getting a perfect finish as yet because the area being worked will need to be drilled through and a metal tube welded inside the gusset to provide a strong mount for the Sportster tank. I'll worry about making it pretty after all the modifications have been completed.  I sprayed on a  generous coat of primer to keep the dreaded rust at bay. The next time I do any work to the frame should be after Mr Sooty has completed the frame rail and swing arm modifications.



Frame alterations

I visited Sooty's Customs workshop yesterday.
When I finally found the small cluster of unmarked farm buildings I was directed towards an inconspicuous green door by a chap who appeared to be restoring furniture. I knocked on the door and it was opened by the man himself, Sooty. With a broad smile and a friendly handshake I was welcomed into the workshop. All about the building dozens of bikes sat in various stages of build or repair and the delicious smell of oil and grease made an old biker feel right at home.

As Yamaha intended.

In order to achieve the look and riding position I'm after the XS650 swing arm needs extending by approximately two inches, the upper frame rails that would normaly support the seat require lowering and the rear shock mounts will have to be re-positioned. I explained this to the bearded Sooty and showed him a photograph of the look I was searching for. With a confident smile he said he could do what I required and quoted me a very fair price for the amount of work involved. Over a cup of coffee we talked further about my idea and the various components I wished to marry together. I am due to deliver all the neccessary parts to Sooty's workshop next weekend so he turn my ideas into metal reality. Like a small child I'm finding difficult to be patient.