JTH's HD 883 Dual Sport'ster conversion

Jim, congratulations on a) your feature story in CityBike magazine (full disclosure, I'm the art director) and b) your inclusion in the top ten best bikes of the year on BikeEXIF!

Congrats on the bikeexif top 10! Well deserved.

I subscribed to CityBike years ago for a period of time in order to get it all the way down here in South Texas; I've never even been to SF.

I used to really enjoy Joseph Glydon. Were his columns ever collected in book form?

Congrats, JTH. The honors are well-deserved. Gorgeous bike.

Hello there -- That's cool that you've been a reader.

To my knowledge, Joe Glydon or his heirs did not publish a collected works.

However, John D'India's daughter did, and it's available on Amazon Kindle, and hard copies available through Blurb.com

Thanks all for the congrats! We appreciate it.

To all that contributed with comments along the way of this build thread helped shape this bike. I thank all of you for that.

I just re-read the whole thread and I don't believe you have comment on Ohlins' rear shock? I spoke with Ohlins people and the guy said his opinion is that Ohlins work much better than Works Performance. Of course, I am not trying to knock on Works Performance here but you must be happier with Ohlins?

And I want to know what type of suspension do you prefer? Personally, I like soft and comfort riding on a bad washboard so I am not sure if that is your preference? My cousin hate that and he prefer rough bouncy feeling to soft feeling so I figured your might be different? I would hate to get similar set-up to find that we had different preference of riding off-road.

Thanks!

Sorry, you wouldn't expect Öhlins' people to praise shocks of another maker, would you?
Kind regards, Bambi

Bambi,
1) The person who told me carry Ohlins AND Works Performance shocks along with few other brands in his shop.

2) Jimmy jumped from Works Performance (his second of three different brand) to Ohlins (3rd and current shocks on his bike) so it would help to hear his perspective of Ohlins after he made comment on why he jumped ship to Ohlins.

Thanks!

After a long haul of development and a few trips to LA and back, the IMS plastic gas tank is now completed and ready for some testing. We opted to keep the capacity at 5 gallons to keep it streamlined on the bike for better offroad feel, but it still has plenty of range on a Sportster that gets 40-50mpg.

I also test fitted it on a stock Sportster and it works with a minor mod to a stock seat - just remove some of the foam under the cover and it fits good.

Here's some pictures and I'll be posting more as the testing progresses.

We're anticipating having the tank kit ready to sell by June which will include petcocks, cap, mounting brackets, and fasteners.

I prefer the suspension on the stiff side and have the spring rates set that way. Its a bit harsh on the road, but works very well in the tight switchbacks and off-road on rough terrain - especially when it gets in the air and needs to be able to handle the landing without bottoming out.

Ohlins was willing to work with me on both the forks and rear shocks for custom builds to spec. The forks have stiffer springs and the rears are custom builds to get the desired stroke and length.

The YSS and Works Perf were decent shocks, but I wanted a matched set front & rear and Ohlins USA was willing to work with me, not to mention they are damn nice products and work well.

I agree on ohlins being easy to work with. That is what put me on them. Willingness to work outside the box. I haven't had any issues with min and they have about 15,000+ on them.


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Looking good, Jim!

Thank you JimmyTheHog and JohnWesley! I appreciate the input

How about some more 360 degree photos of that nice bike? You've some nice engineering there. Show it off!

Jim

Was curious about your final exhaust. Was this a custom fabrication?



I ask because I need a source for stainless exhaust flanges. Not the portion that bolts to the heads; but the end that inserts into the exhaust port. I can pick up the mild steel type from Biltwell; but I would prefer stainless for my next exhaust build. Any help would be appreciated.

Regards

Rod

Rod - Yes, its a custom fabrication sst exhaust header made by BTRmoto specifically for this bike. Contact Curt at BTR and he may be able to help you on this. http://www.btrmoto.com/

Here's a front view of the tank...

Thanks, I'll give him a call

Rod

Well done on getting that tank to production.

Jim, it was nice meeting you today. You and your bike got a lot of attention! Glad you brought it.



You were busy and I was just about to leave when I remembered to snap a shot. Maybe I should photo shop that guy out.