XS1100 Brat bike build (was I don't keep secrets I got a new(to me) bike)

[thatdirtykid]

Looking good, I miss having something like that to fiddle with. Check out this blog they feature some good customs, a fair amount with a modern tracker look that would look in place on that bike with those bars.

[VxZeroKnots]

Originally Posted by thatdirtykid

Looking good, I miss having something like that to fiddle with. Check out this blog they feature some good customs, a fair amount with a modern tracker look that would look in place on that bike with those bars.

Oh hell yes.

I'm also in love with this xs 750, but yeah you seem to have the idea of what I'm going for.

[pappa_j]

Originally Posted by VxZeroKnots

Oh hell yes.

I'm also in love with this xs 750, but yeah you seem to have the idea of what I'm going for.

MUSIC VIDEO RIDING SEPTEMBER from Hush on Vimeo.

[Brainless_1]

If your a Facebook user look up "Iron & Air" there is some really cool and well done bikes and also some cool videos that they post from time to time.

[pappa_j]

Originally Posted by Brainless_1

If your a Facebook user look up "Iron & Air" there is some really cool and well done bikes and also some cool videos that they post from time to time.

Is that where the riding September video is from?

[Brainless_1]

Originally Posted by pappa_j

Is that where the riding September video is from?

I found it there.

[VxZeroKnots]

Today I fired up the t-handles and the sawzall



No going back now, might as well make the best of it.



Despite many craigslist postings stating the contrary, this bike most certainly has been down...



Not sure how I'm going to finish this, but here is how it all started.



Feathering off the gap. Get the welder then...



Mocking up with mini clamps.



Mucho agujeros



No más agujeros en la defensa



Hammers plus beer plus homemade tacos plus more metal and some cuts burns and cursing.



Still gotta feather and plate the bottom part of the frame end but I wanted to get the fender lined up with the rear tyre and in place.



Kinda sorta what I'm going for, aside from seat foam, pan and a metric crap ton of rivets it is still missing something.

Bars probably. tank?

[VxZeroKnots]

So in the beginning I wanted a seat with exposed rivets affixing the cover. Having never worked with leather or this technique before I suppose my final result is as good as one could expect.

In the future i hope to revise the seat using what I know now to produce something a bit more "finished". In the mean time we'll see how this one wears in, and it was such a labor intensive process it is worth sporting for a while, at least it is comfortable.

Start with a flat piece of sheet steel, in the future I may utilize alum though that presents its own challenges.



Some hammer, anvil and dolly work gets the beginning shape.



Now cut of some extra bits.



More time shrinking corners and there she sits.



Drill some holes and install the OEM rubber baby buggy bumpers.



I didn't smooth this radius as it would be hidden but that would have probably made the end result better as some of the rivets went in crooked.



Run up the first line.



Start stretchin er out.



First corner is a little rough but they all improved after that.



Now that doesn't look so bad, i was able to clean up that leading edge quite a lt, look much better now. Note tail light mocked up.



Profile of the tail.



From the back



If anyone has a line on a tank from an XS11 standard, that is the route I'm wanting to go as I like the higher more narrow profile. Barring finding a suitable replacement I guess I could try my hand at fabbing one.

[VxZeroKnots]

After taking a couple week break to deal with other things, namely a long weekend riding dirt bikes in AZ, I decided to clean up the rats nest in between the frame rails.



But first to finish the tail light, I wanted to have the wiring hidden since I was going full bore shade tree in the first place it might as well be clever.

So I had to turn this:



Into this:



Some hacking, tapping, and grinding later and an embarrassing amount of messing with the bulb housing I eventually combined two to get:



The side that no one will ever see.



Next I needed a new tool:



So i could make a bulkhead:



Cleaned up the fuse block and got the bulkhead tacked in. I don't want tire spray mucking up my air filter(s?).



Loomed it all up with zip ties and it might all end up living somewhere around here.



Overall there is a little less ugly going on down here and it all should hide nicely when I'm ready to burn things in and put the seat back on.



Any constructive criticism or ideas would be appreciated since all I'm really going off is a bunch of random pictures and builds on the web....

:cheersmate:

[cross-country]

Bad. Ass.

Looks like it's about ready for a quick shot down MX HWY 1 to me! Vamonos!

[C-Stain]

My first bike was an XS750 Standard. I have a very soft spot in my heart for these old XS machines. Keep going - I can't wait to see the results. Subscribed.

[VxZeroKnots]

Originally Posted by cross-country

Bad. Ass.

Looks like it's about ready for a quick shot down MX HWY 1 to me! Vamonos!

Can't be worse than getting a cactus beard.

Originally Posted by C-Stain

My first bike was an XS750 Standard. I have a very soft spot in my heart for these old XS machines. Keep going - I can't wait to see the results. Subscribed.

Nice! I like the look of those too! From what little I've actually ridden this thing (3 days of commuting) they seem smooth and have good power.

So a while ago I built a tunnel for my potentially new gas tank, but didn't take too many photos or anything.

It did require me to fab my own sheet metal brake as bending 16ga reliably by hand is near impossible with my level of patience.



I mocked up the general shape with paper, then traced it onto the sheet and wound up with this. I'm using a fisheye lens for this sequence so everything is going to look warped, but it is all less than precise in real life too.



Then using the cutoff wheel on a grinder, which is all I have and one of the worst ways to do this, I cut out the tank sides. I based these off a paper mockup as well, and threw one side in the break



Got everything all bent:



They match up pretty well, but any imprecision doesn't really matter at this point because everything gets all warped to hell when you shape it.



So using an old shitty anvil, and a T dolly I made myself and a few different hammers I was able to turn a piece of sheet metal and two and a half hours of my life into this:



A while later I had two somewhat matching sides. Not bad for my first go at this, remember, I am shooting with a fisheye so everything looks warped. That being said, the sides are far from perfect.

[VxZeroKnots]

Got into the garage on friday and tacked the tank sides up. I also made a paper mock-up for the top portion, still have to finish the one for the front.

Pulled it out for a proper look.



It's crazy how easy the metal is distorted, it should be easy enough to massage it "square" in the end.



from the back, it is going to be more narrow at the top and lines up nicely with the seat.



What it looks like with a gorilla on it, I ordered a brass thread on gas cap and some drag bars. should be here monday...

[dentvet]

Looks like time well spent. I thought fisher anvils were supposed to be fairly well regarded. If you don't mind, can you measure your front disc thickness and spacing dimensions? I'm considering that front wheel for another bike.

[MODNROD]

COOL!!!
Making a "brat bike" or "tracker" or whatever people tag these things nowadays is bound to be fun.
That XS11 motor is a big old heavy torque lump, a lot like my old Vmax. Also like my Vmax, they tend to jump out of 2nd if they've had a hard life being powershifted (as you do with a shaft-drive tank........*sigh*), easy to fix though.

PLEASE put 4into4s on the old girl for a real trip.......