Wednesday 26 December 2012

Sportster Unslammed.

One of the guys on Dirty Bobbers mentioned that he wanted to lower the suspension on his Sportster, as I've never really liked the 'slammed' suspension on mine I got in touch with him and a swap was arranged.


The picture above shows the difference between the length of the shocks and the picture below whows the difference between the fork springs...



Sunday 22 April 2012

Sportster done.

Bled the brakes on monday left them with the lever strapped up for a couple of days and everything is working as it should. Rode over to Hay on Wye. Like the new bars but thinking of going for rear sets....

Also been thinking of getting some stock length shocks.

Monday 9 April 2012

Chocolate Zombie Jesus Day

I've never been that keen on the 'cruiser' stance of my sportster and have been gathering parts to modify it to my taste. Yesterday I spent a few hours in the workshop installing a set of Biltwell tracker bars and attempting to fit a set of mid controls.

 The fitting of the mids caused a few problems, first of all the mount for the RHS pedal (and brake lever) was missing. Secondly the holes for the LHS footpeg mount were undersize. The parts were advertised on ebay as off a '96 bike. I had assumed there was no change between '94 and '96 but obviously there was. The centres of the holes are the same as the holes in the primary so I just drilled them out. However the holes are recessed for cap head bolts and the larger bolts would need a larger recess. I decided to get around this by machining up a couple of top-hat spacers that will give the bolt heads a flat surface to grip down on.


I've ordered a few fasteners from www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk and a 'clevis footrest mount' from http://www.jerseyh-d.com. I need to order a shorter front brake cable but that will have to wait until tomorrow when the shops are open and I can speak to a human being rather than rely on websites.

Wednesday 1 February 2012

Motorcycle graveyard.

As part of my clear up I've put all my non functioning bikes in a corner.

There's three motorbikes (three and a half if you count the BSA hardtail frame) and a mountain bike in this picture.


I put some shelves up yesterday, I now have a shelf just for helmets and another just for bike tanks.


I quite like having a place for everything and everything in its place. I bet it will be a tip again within a month though....

The big tidy.

Since I had the pins out of my foot I've been making moves towards really getting stuck into my TriBSA street tracker project. The first thing to be done was sort out my bandsaw. Since buying my secondhand bandsaw I've found its the single tool I use the most, the downside of this is it always seems to be in the way. This is probably because the flimsy stand it came with means it is difficult to move around so it gets left in the middle of the workshop which means its always in the way.

So I got out some 2" box section I got from the scrapyard and welded together a stand.


The new stand is more stable and sturdy. It's also a more convenient height but most importantly the saw is now easily mobile thanks to a set of castors.

After sorting the stand out I've spent a good few days sorting and tidying the shed. I've now got space to move without tripping over.

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Credit where credit is due.

In my last post I mentioned that I had bought some grips from Sumo at Vintage Chop that was Monday. It's now Wednesday and the postman has just delivered them. Top Service.



Now I'm going to read the Limpnickle Builder Manual that arrived from the states at the same time.

Monday 9 January 2012

Boredom Costs ££££

I'm recovering from an operation on my foot. I'm bored. When I'm bored I spend money.

Last week I went to the VAT free day at Machine Mart. I bought a parts washer and a new tool chest (now I have a Harley I've had to buy AF spanners, torx bits etc and I need somewhere to store them).

I've also bought a set of grips from http://vintagechop.bigcartel.com/product/baxter-x-grips

I'm not sure if its worse not getting any shed time because I'm too busy with work or being stuck at home bored and unable to work on bikes while recovering.