Cousins of Organization - A two-wheeled build

[Capt. Obvious]

So, at this point the only parts left of the original bike are the tank, engine and about 2/3 of the frame.



Rob from Flipside and I are having a blast with this stage of the bike build. We have a very similar style and mindset about what this bike is about, so we just sit and bounce ideas off each other and then he busts out his welder and brings them to life.

The idea with the seat is I want it to pretty much look like it's floating off the back of the bike. There will be some additional frame work added to support it though because it's needed to ensure it's strong enough to support my weight. We're still trying to think of a good way to accomplish that last part of the frame. Thinking something along these lines, but this seems really "safe" and I'd like to do something with a little more flair:



Here's how it looks with the seat and tank off the bike:





I'm super happy with how this rear section of the bike has turned out. The suspension works great, is height adjustable, we've lost a good 20 pounds off just the frame, and it looks downright badass.



One really neat thing that Rob thought of was to add some gusseting to the upper part of the frame for a little extra strength where the shock ties in. Also, it looks cool and Rob wanted to use his new toy that can bunch these holes in sheet metal. LOL





Once the subframe is complete, it's time to start putting the bike back together for final fitment checks and detail work, then it all comes apart again for finishing!

[99sil-teg]

Love this so far!

[Capt. Obvious]

Progress has been a little slow due to life getting in the way lately (both for me and for my friend doing the welding/fabrication for me). I was hoping I'd be starting final assembly by now when I started this project. Oh well, I still have some time since the weather isn't that great yet.

Some more progress has been made on the bike though, and it's starting to look like complete bike again.

The rear suspension is all tacked in place now and is almost ready for final welds. The new upper mounts turned out awesome. The three holes in the mount will give me some height adjustment should I need it, and the resorvoir for the shock will mount on the other side of it.





The motor mount was also moved down a bit to make some room. You can see the hole from where the original cross bar was (that will be getting filled in).



Once everything is all done being welded up, the center stand and all the old shock linkage brackets will be getting removed as well to cut some more weight.



One issue has come up while getting the new suspension geometry in place, and that issue is the battery. I thought I was going to be able to fit it between the shock and the transmission, but I don't think that's going to be doable now. The battery I have isn't exactly huge, but it's a not a small one, either. I might need to find myself a smaller battery that is still powerful enough to be used on a daily rider.

One idea for where to put it was right here next to the shock, but I don't think it will fit there once the foot controls and rear brake master cylinder are mounted. Maybe it will have to go back under the seat.

[Capt. Obvious]

Hey man, check out www.customfighters.com/forums there are a ton of good dudes there and they have a lot of knowledge that could be helpful on this build. Killer job so far by the way

I've spent a lot of time on customfighters, I really like that site. I should probably make an account though, I just lurk on there right now.

Also, since you like Cressidas, click the link in my previous post and check out Flipside Customs' site, Rob loves them and makes a ton of badass custom parts for them.

[Capt. Obvious]

Oh man, my bad. I totally forgot I had a build thread on here for the bike!

So here's where I'm at now:

First off, the bike more or less got put on hold for about a month and half due to the holidays and stuff, so there hasn't been any major progress. Also, it took the machine shop almost a frickin' month to make two damn brass bushings so I could get the swingarm properly mounted.

When we last left off, the bike looked like this:



In that picture I have front forks from a Suzuki SV1000 on the bike. They're decent, but the Showa forks with Brembo 4-pots from my Triumph parts bike were better, so those went on in their place.

Once I finally got the swingarm back I was able to finalize fitment of that, which meant it was time for one of the most important parts of the build: Chopping the frame up!

Lucky for me, I happen to live down the street from Rob Hancock, the man behind Flipside Customs (http://www.flipsidecustoms.com/) and this guy is a fabrication/welding GOD. Which is good for me, because I'm pretty good at thinking up cool things, but I can't weld to save my life.

So, the bike got loaded up into my truck and off to Rob's we went.



The original rear subframe of the bike is pretty much useless to me now, so the whole thing just got lopped off to make room for the Ducati Monster seat that's going on in its place.



Along with chopping off the subframe, some more things were chopped out of the frame to make room for the new suspension mounts, such as the old suspension mount and the rear motor mount.



Rob came up with a really slick design for the new height adjustable upper suspension mount as well as new motor mounts that will incorporate the battery box so I can get the weight from the battery down low on the bike instead of under the seat. Even better, Rob as access to a waterjet table, so the brackets are going to look factory made when he's done.



More updates soon! I need to get this bike back together so I can ride it when the weather starts getting better.

[Hitman Cody2130]

Hey man, check out www.customfighters.com/forums there are a ton of good dudes there and they have a lot of knowledge that could be helpful on this build. Killer job so far by the way

[Icana4dit]

updates plz

[Capt. Obvious]

That picture of the copper valve cover is actually a guy in Lakewood. Adam I believe. He's got a build thread on here with his 2 door Volvo Amazon.

He a build thread on here? Sweet, I'll have to find it. My friend Curt took that pic.

[Jlyons617]

Sweet,

Taking Hwy 20 out past Diablo lake to Wintrop is my all time favorite ride evar, last time we did it 2 guys ran out of gas because we were having so much fun no one was watching there Km's..

lol.

You got some great roads in your backyard.

Hwy 20 is the best. I do the radios for the National Park there. It's amazing in a helicopter.

[Jlyons617]

That picture of the copper valve cover is actually a guy in Lakewood. Adam I believe. He's got a build thread on here with his 2 door Volvo Amazon.

[Arteeste]

Yessssssssss !

[Z.Cockburn]

Sweet,

Taking Hwy 20 out past Diablo lake to Wintrop is my all time favorite ride evar, last time we did it 2 guys ran out of gas because we were having so much fun no one was watching there Km's..

lol.

You got some great roads in your backyard.

[TeckniX]

Hmmmm SSSA
Looking good dude - Did you check out the bandit that are on CustomFighters.com?

[Capt. Obvious]

So, I've spent a lot of time thinking about the paint and color scheme for this bike over the last couple months.

Originally, I was thinking I wanted to do something really bold with the paint on the bike, like Porsche Riviera Blue (similar to BMW Laguna Seca blue, but a little lighter), or bright orange, or something along those lines. The cool thing I've noticed about bikes is you can go totally Florida on the paint scheme without it looking ridiculous since there isn't as much surface to paint on a bike.

However, the other day I saw a picture of a motor a friend of a friend is building and it really got the gears turning in my head and I'm pretty sure where I want the bike to go now in terms of color and finish.

Despite my original plan to go with a bright-ass paint scheme, I think I'm going to embrace my love for choppers and go for an all-black scheme on this bike: gloss black frame and swingarm, matte black engine and tank, etc.

BUT, to add the pop of color and detail the bike needs, I'll have things like the valve cover, headlight bucket, gas cap and some bolts copper plated. Depending on cost, I may do the swingarm as well.

Another variation on this I'm considering is painting the tank and/or frame a creamy color, like Mini Cooper Pepper White, so the bike isn't completely blacked out.

I contacted a few companies that do plating and I'm waiting to hear back with a cost estimate for the copper plating. If the copper ends up being cost prohibitive, other possible options are nickel plating or black chrome.

The picture that got the gears turning:



Other pictures I found that are similar to what I have in mind:






And that's where I'm at for now while I wait for some parts to arrive.

More updates coming soon.

[Capt. Obvious]

Glad everyone is liking the build!