Chopper Forums

What are you going to use as a front fender?

Progress for today 9-10-09...

Glued up the coil with JB weld and clamped parts together with ty-wraps. Set it off to the side to set up. Shouldn't need it until next week sometime.

Drilled new bars for internal wiring. Still have to smooth/deburr the holes so that wires don't get damaged.

I couldn't get the legs in the lower tree. The holes had some excess copper/nickel inside from the chroming process. Took a brake cylinder hone, kept it wet with WD-40 and honed the holes out. Legs now fit real nice. Tried hand sanding the holes with 120-grit paper. But, that was taking forever. I got lazy and the brake hone worked real well...

Still need to grind a tab (fork lock) off the frame before I can install the trees on the frame and assemble the front end & wheel...

Guessin' ya'all might be interested in some pictures...

Here's the fork lock tab that needs to go. There isn't a mate there. That's a reflection...


Here's a shot of the top of the trees with the bushings installed...


And one of the trees...


And finally, a look at the assembled forks...

Here ya go Puzzled...

http://www.chopperforums.com/index.php/topic,555.0.html

T-Boned a guy in a Honda when he turned left in front of me...

Search the part number online. Someone without a doubt will sell it for less.

b k rider on ebay has 3 1/2 in. diameter lights for 39.00 each.. did you get the steering stop set up on those trees.. i think i would get a new coil.. you can expect problems with that one.. too bad about the fins on the motor ..

b k rider on ebay has 3 1/2 in. diameter lights for 39.00 each.. did you get the steering stop set up on those trees.. i think i would get a new coil.. you can expect problems with that one.. too bad about the fins on the motor ..

Dave, do you have an item number or link. I searched on sellers named  "b k rider", "BK Rider" and "BKRider", came up with zero results. Nothin'...

Lightnin - I got a bro that runs 'em on his Shovel chop and loves 'em. So, I'm just goin' on a recommendation from him. I thought that they'd look great too...

But, I'm still lookin' for a set of lights from a local shop, if I can. Even eBay source (like Dave mentioned) if I can...

The lower trees came with steering stops. There are a couple of socket-head bolts that hit against the frame on each side. I just don't have 'em installed in the pictures...

The coil is gonna have to work for now. I know what you're saying about it. Chances are its gonna take a dump. But, I got it all glued up with JB weld right now. Has been sitting in ty-wraps (as clamps) since Friday...

Yeah, the cooling fins suck. I'll blend 'em out the busted ones with a file and try to straighten the bent ones out as best I can. I figure once I get it runnin', I can get it up to operating temp and work 'em a bit (if I'm real gentle) should be able to get 'em close without breakin' 'em...

bk-rider  item # 140344995089 .. thats the one..

52.00 in that tire & wheel... DAMMIT !!!

LOL...
Yeah, $40.00 for the wheel, tire was a freebie and $12.00 for a tube...

My local Indy takes care of me with deals and freebies from time-to-time...

Yeah, I noticed that too. (Bunch of us gettin' bikes up)

Just hope I manage to pull it together into something that resembles what I want it to. Not just a collection of parts...

Ok, it's been awhile since I updated this. I've made some progress. But, I've had a few problems to work through also. I'm done with the mock-up and into final assembly. The smaller pictures are with my cell phone and the larger ones were taken with my camera...

Got my head-light decision made. Indy helped me out with a couple of 4-inch H4, 60/55 watt lights. Made up a mount from 1/4-inch aluminum. The mount is hanging under the bottom tree. Originally, I had it mounted on top of the bottom tree. I like it better below. Difference is, you can't see as much of the mount and the lights are 1-3/8ths of an inch lower...

Lights mounted above the bottom tree...


Lights mounted below the bottom tree...



In that last picture, you can also get an hint of the front fender I'm using. Its a stock replacement from the Custom Chrome catalog for a Fatboy. Not sure if I'm gonna trim it or not. But, its a starting point. By the way, its only hangin' on by 2 bolts in the near side of the picture. So, if it looks a bit off, it is. Actually, its not in as bad a shape as I expected. There is a small dent in it. On top, towards the front. I've read way too many horror stories about buying fenders and tanks from various vendors and had an idea of what I was gettin' myself into here. So, I'm ok with it. But, I am also thinkin' about lowering it a bit to clean up the look over the front tire...


The bars I've decided to use are also sorta shown in the first picture. They're 16-inch apes. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that before. Here's a profile veiw, ignore the messy area I'm workin' in. But, it gives ya an idea of what I'm workin' towards. The fenders should work pretty well together. Both are short and sorta gotta bobbed tail on 'em. I'm goin' for the short, fat look on this...


I've got the front wheel spacers set. The wheel had a couple of 1/2-inch spacers in it when I bought it. So, I picked up a couple of 3/4-inch spacers. Had to do a bit of grinding and filing on them. Ended up with the front wheel off-center by about .060" and the rotor is centered nicely in the caliper. So, I figured I could live with it and it wouldn't be noticable to anyone but me...

So, now I'm pretty much down to wiring, plumbing the front brake and some assorted hardware. Holes are drilled in the bars and cleaned out real nice & smooth. All the wiring will run inside the bars.

The brake line will be a "hard-line" that runs down the bars and under and across the bottom tree to a braided stainless steel line to the caliper. I did it that way with the 12-inch bars that were on it and it worked great. Why mess with something that works...

You can see how nasty lookin' the paint is on my pipe in this picture (again, ignore the mess), I've got to pull it off and repaint it. Got a brand new can of satin-black Wally-World rattle-can BBQ paint sittin' here waitin' for me to get that done...


If or when I decide to, the bike can come off the jack and sit on its own two wheels again. So, I've made some progress. Its a bitch limpin' around and tryin' to do all this. I had a few problems along the way too.

I had the top tree installed upside down. It fit in either direction. So, me bein' the dumbass that I am, did it wrong. Didn't figure it out until I had all the locks in place and loc-tite on all the bolts. That was an adventure to correct. The lower tree has a set of hole in it that take a taper-lock type of set up. The taper-locks are sorta like a spacer. But, they've got a taper ground on one side and they go into a hole in the bottom tree with the taper towards the leg. They're held in place by a 3/8-16 socket head bolt that screws in flush with the surface.

I didn't have a lot of confidence in 'em either. Not until I found out I had that top tree on upside down. Try gettin' them fuckers out!! Almost impossible. But, finally after walkin' away from it for a day, I managed to get everything tight, right and adjusted so that I had good "fall-away" on the front-end.

The steering stops were creating a bit of a problem too. The ones that came with the trees, wouldn't allow enough movement (left/right) on the front end. I had do some grinding on the bottom of the neck, below those the bungs shown to get more. If I find out I still don't have enough movement, I'll figure out a plan "B"....

Anyway, I'm headin' in the right direction, again...

Thanks Dave...
I've got to take a good hard, long look at that front fender. I really think its sitting up a bit too much. If I can trim off the existing holes and lower it (raise the holes) that would really clean the front end up. Just too much of a gap between the fender and tire right now...

As for the rear fender? I like what you're saying. I've even given some thought to usin' the rear fender from a Fatboy too. Didn't know about a blank made specifically for the FXR. The fender that is on it now, is from a mid-90s Softail. I just welded up the holes and drilled new ones for my struts. If I do decide to go that way, I can always do the same thing again...

The idea for the tail lights is a good one. I really like that. Should be fairly easy to do. I could do it with what I've got, sorta. But, I'd still need to swap out that rear fender for it to look right. Gotta work up a side mount for the plate too. Not too many out there (That I like) for a swing arm though. None in the "off-the-shelf" category. Ability to fab here is limited (Lack of tools more than skills) But, you've given me some great ideas for this thing...

Well, the bars are stuffed full of 18-gage wire. All the wires are hangin' out the bottom, separated and labeled.
Bars are installed on the bike. Master-cylinder is on it too.

All I gotta do with the brake is bend up a piece of tubing to run between the banjo and the stainless steel flex line connected to the caliper.

Now, I've got some more decisions to make, on the clutch and on the electrical...

Clutch - hand clutch & foot shift or would this be the perfect time to go jockey shift & suicide clutch? I've got a couple of spare clutch cables layin' here. I could sacrifice one of 'em to give it a shot. Then, it would just be a matter of gettin' a slap-stick for the trans and learn how to ride it all over again...LOL

Otherwise, I can just buy and install a longer clutch cable to the bars and run it as is...

Electrical - Since I went to the dual headlights, I ain't too fond of the idea of runnin' the full power for 'em through the bars. That's a little more load than I really feel comfortable with runnin' on a piece of 18-gage wire. So, I'm thinkin' I should run a couple relays for the head-lights (One for high beams and another for low-beams) I know they'd burn a little brighter with the relays. Any thoughts on that from you guys?

Since I'm thinkin' of runnin' a relay for the head-lights, might as well run another one for the horn and get a real horn. I've been runnin' a squeeze bulb bicycle type horn for a few years. Again, 18-gage wire runnin' through the bars. A relay would allow more power to the horn and it should be louder. Any thoughts?

Since we're speakin' of relays, it might be time to actually replace the starter relay. I've been usin' a piece of bent feeler gage to jump the starter for a couple of years. Replace the relay and the starter button would actually function again...

Then, I've been runnin' without turn-signals for a few years also, might be time to wire them up again. I don't have wires for turn-signals and horn in the harness since I cleaned up the wiring awhile back and I'd have to get a flasher and figure out where to mount it. The old one was mounted inside the head-light bucket. Left side cover...

If I say "yes" to all of these, I'd basically have to rewire the bike (again) to make all this shit work. I've got a perfect spot for the relays. Under my left side cover where the ignition module used to sit. Since I went with the Ultima ignition, that spot is empty. So, it would just be a matter of mounting the relays and gettin' power to 'em from the fuse block (under the right side cover) and runnin' all the wires...

Feel free to jump in with opinions here. I'm thinkin' that I probably should do all the things I mentioned...

Dave, I do like your suggestions on the fender, plate and tail-light set up. Maybe at some point, I'll go that route. I've gotta keep an eye on my budget and I wanna get this sucker back on the road.

OL finally started askin' questions the other night. "What are you doing with the bike?" Apparently she hasn't looked at it too much...LOL

No Dave, I will be running the headlights off a set of relays. I know that all the use of relays will be over-kill. Its also gonna cause a few extra wires to be used. But, at $4.00 a pop for Bosch-style relays, I'm gonna do it anyway. 

I will be using circuit breakers/fuses in the electrical system. All wires to the hand-controls are 18-gage routed inside the bars. Using the relays will give me the ability to upgrade to HID without doing much more than changing bulbs and maybe the sockets and I want as much power as possible going to the headlights. And as little power as possible running through the handlebars.

Same with the horn, as much power as possible going to the horn, least possible going through the bars. Reason - Louder horn. And depending on the horn I get, I may need to do that anyway. I don't have an electric horn on it now...

Turn-signals will be on their own circuit, flasher unit and circuit breaker/fuse.

And, I'm finally gonna fix the starter so that I can hit the button on the bars to start the silly thing. The feeler gage has served me well. And I'm not gonna get rid of it. It will stay in place as a back-up. So, that will be one more relay...

I've got a great spot built into this bike for all the extra stuff (Relays) Under the left side-cover. The ignition module used to sit there. But, since I replaced it with an Ultima single-fire system, the module is all in the cone...

Screwed up in my previous post, the "great spot" for all that stuff (relays) is under the right-side-cover...

Also made a few revisions to my plan on the wiring. I'm gonna power the headlight relay from the starter relay (terminal 87a) that way, I never have to turn my headlight on, it will be on when the key is in the "On" position, except when I hit the starter button.

That will also allow me to replace the key switch with a 2-position switch. Mine is pretty worn, I can't even keep the key in the bike when I ride. It falls out...

Originally, I had intended to run (4) individual relays for Hi-beams and Lo-Beams, Horn & Starter. Now, the headlights will run off a single relay, Lo-Beams on post 87a and Hi-Beams on post 87. That will save me (1) relay, and (1) "trigger" wire in the harness. Also, leaves me with a spare relay already in place. Just swap wires if necessary...

But, it sorta screws up my plan for running the starter and the horn off the same fuse/circuit breaker. I don't know about anyone else, but I've never had the need to use both at the same time...

So, I'll have to come up with something a bit different at the fusebox...

Anyone got an idea for some quick disconnect electrical plugs? Last time I rewired, I didn't use any. So, changing the bars, I had to cut the wire harness in half at the neck. Don't wanna have that problem again. Looking for something that easy to install, weather-tite and doesn't require some expensive special tool to assemble.

I've been giving some serious thought to the plugs used for hooking up the lights on a trailer, flat, 2, 3 & 4-prong male/female type of plugs, covered in rubber. A few of those might work for me. Anyone used them? Comments?

Anyway, I've still gotta drain the gas tank so I can pull it off and run my wiring up/down the back-bone. Simple enough to do, just a PITA...LOL...

yeah, you can shim the rotors outward, or the calipers inward, which ever shim you use.. i align the wheels then shim or spacer the brake stuff accordingly.. on a last note.. that is a tremendous amount of relay, breaker, fuse, stuff your are using.. tops you only need 2 circuit breakers & a starter relay to function everything on that bike perfectly.. more wiring makes more issues if you ever need to trouble shoot it..

yeah, you can shim the rotors outward, or the calipers inward, which ever shim you use.. i align the wheels then shim or spacer the brake stuff accordingly.. on a last note.. that is a tremendous amount of relay, breaker, fuse, stuff your are using.. tops you only need 2 circuit breakers & a starter relay to function everything on that bike perfectly.. more wiring makes more issues if you ever need to trouble shoot it..

I know what you're saying on the electrical. I agree, sorta...

I want relays in place for the starter, headlights and horn. So, I've got 3 relays, I could run it on 4. (Hi & Lo-Beams get separate relays) But, that would add wires (and a relay) that aren't really necessary coming out of the bars and running down the back-bone under my tank.

Starter and horn can run on the same 30-amp fuse. Headlights will have its own 20-amp fuse. Gives me 2 fused circuits. 

Then the trigger wires for the relays should be fed from a 10-amp fused circuit as well. That adds at least one more circuit.

Tail-lights and turn-signals will add one more 10-amp fused circuit.

Giving me a total of 3 relays and 4, maybe 5 fused circuits...

This is sorta what I've got in mind (tail light ain't been figured in yet) It ain't color-coded. But, it gives you an idea...