First I was 4 years old when this bike came out.. So cut me some slack on my build
..
I bought this bike for $1,200 around 2005 in running condition but definitely needed some love.
Not sure if this was the correct mileage but bike was pretty original and the wiring hadn't been cut, there wasn't wear on the bolts,,,, it looked bad but hadn't been apart a hundred times..
At the end of 2006 I took the motor to a guy in San Diego to start the rebuild.. The thought was it was going to be about 4k to build something that would be the specs of a Denco 90hp motor that would be reliable for a street bike but still enough to get you through a turn..
7 months later with all kinds of stuff that came up I got milked for a cool $6,760. Live and learn..
I started to gather some suspension to update the bike so it doesn't live up to it's name of widow maker.. This is in 2006..
I decide about a year ago to get the project complete and running before the motor needed another rebuild from sitting.. I took it to the garage company in Los Angeles and they were going to start the project and get it together for me.. They didn't want to do a lot of fabrication,,, said it would be too much so I left the bike with them and after 6 months and they still hadn't started it,,, I went and picked it back up.. They are always busy so I understood and put all the stuff back in my garage..
I talked to another guy who I bought a bike from in the past Lock Baker at Eastern Fabrications ( a ridiclous builder).. This guy is a master fabricator.. Check him out.
http://www.easternfabrications.com/.The bike I bought is the steel butterfly ( I think it is still on his site) He is solid and stands by his work.
He thought my money would be best spent on another chopper vs. the H2 because it would cost the same.. So I said (banned word) it ,, I have a few friends that work in the automotive industry and with their help we are going to build this thing...
December 2010.. Needed some wheels to start. Found a set of super motard wheels off a 2007 YZ450 and brembo brake set up..
The theme of the bike is somewhere in between modern but keeping as much of a vintage 70s feel as possible..
Next was trying to get the wheels on it..
This excellent fabricator Vince Zine here is LA pushed out the stem for the triple tree spun it down to fit the neck of the stock frame. He is crazy.. Love to make nut and bolt out of aircraft aluminum.. Anything for less weight We used the stock FZR rear axel it was a perfect fit for wheel (when does that ever happen),,, and made a front axel and spacers for both wheels.. Had to use spacers to get the brake setup to work for the front with the single large rotor.
It is not a wonder that the frames flexed on these things.. The welding was more spot welding than actually laying down a good weld. Haven't weighed it but hoping we lost 30 pounds. (the frame without swingarm weighed 35 pounds)
Need to add some small additions for strength.. Should have pics soon..
In trying to keep it vintage we shortened the back of the frame ( H2s were the longest bikes, I always thought they looked funny / ugly... Just my opinion,,, don't bite off my head
and will fit the stock tail with a solo seat.. I have never seen one of these out there in all the pics I have looked at but find it hard to believe that someone hasn't already done this( I have heard a lot of people used to do it but I am surprised I can't find a pic of one).. It seems like an obvious mod for the tail section with the oem stuff.
Trying to get the rearsets figured out.. Painful...
Hope to have some more updates soon.
Here is pics of the motor.. Need to powdercoat a lot of pieces black and eventually would like to put a reed valve kit on it..
It looks like the a good set up and you could get some bottom end power!!
Going to order some 34mm Mikunis so I can ditch the stock carbs..
It is tough to get the geometry when you are not a bike builder...
I want to give it a crazy stance but can't have the chain rubbing on the swing-arm.
The stock look is so low in the rear,, I really wanted to raise it up a bit.. We will see how it goes once we weld tabs to the swing-arm and really get this thing set up..
This thing is really a puzzle..
The motor sits so low you are limited on the swing arm angel and mounting the rear shocks. Making the expansion chambers work with rear-sets is a bitch if you want to keep the pipes tight to the bike. There may be some serious hammering on the pipes to make it all work..
It looked like a really big bike until I sat on it.. Now I am thinking I am riding a 250..
I just keep thinking take or cut off anyting we don't need.. Horsepower to weight ratio
..
The pipes could turn out pretty cool..
The are a set off knock off dencos or something (actually not really sure) and have the very long lame look to them so we decided to give them a make-over.. Hopefully they will turn out good or the next option is to buy cones and start making a set.. I really like that they have a very 70s look that we are adjusting to have a more aggressive modern feel. Will definitely build / buy some in a phase two but no cash for it now..
Got the shocks mounted and like the stance of the bike.. That was one of my biggest worries that it would be too low in the rear..
Got the oil injector bag started.. We were going for having the space where the side covers used to reside as a more open area but no too open so that it looked funny.. This oil bag should take up space and not look like an oil bag..
Have been using aircraft aluminum to re-fab some of this stuff to get the weight down.. It is probably way overkill but who cares..
Kickstand in progress
Rear sets finally mounted
Frame reinforcement.. Not really needed for the street but hell why not
Got a cool very small minimalistic gauge from Trail Tech that also has a cylinder temp gauge on it.. Great for los angeles in the summer!!
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