VN800 Bobber project

[A2rider]

WOW! It is really beautiful and unique. Most people just want to slap bolts-ons and be done with it. I am impressed with your patience and the end results. It has been cool to watch this, thanks.

[Hayes]

That's a beautiful bike, congrats!

[Wharfy]

Mate, it's looking great!

Have you thought about repainting the frame to contrast against all the black?

I'm thinking white (yep, I know, hard to keep clean) to match the sidewalls on the tyres.

Just trying to blow your budget.

[El Skitzo]

Painting the frame did cross my mind, although if I were to do it I'd go with the blue. Two problems I see with this: 1) It's way more work that I want to get involved with stripping the bike down to a bare frame. 2) The frame design is not actually all that clean and smooth (like a custom bike) so once you change colour you'll see all the ugly nooks and krannies that the black hides.

It will look a heap better once I get the back fender on too.

[Metal_God50]

Originally Posted by El Skitzo

Painting the frame did cross my mind, although if I were to do it I'd go with the blue. Two problems I see with this: 1) It's way more work that I want to get involved with stripping the bike down to a bare frame. 2) The frame design is not actually all that clean and smooth (like a custom bike) so once you change colour you'll see all the ugly nooks and krannies that the black hides.

It will look a heap better once I get the back fender on too.

I would say leave the frame black, the bike is looking sweet man. Cant wait to see the finnished project.

[Thullan]

The blue flake and scallops, the white walls and the brown seat really made a difference! Incredible how much that lies in the colors. Compare that with a boring stock bike. And you made a very good job with the hardware to.

I don't think the rear indicators blend in very well with the rest of the bike, and you could do something with all the cables going from the controls. Well that's just details anyway, the bike looks great. The cables from the tail light, will they go throught the struts and up along the swing arm, or will they go along the fender?

[El Skitzo]

Originally Posted by Thullan

I don't think the rear indicators blend in very well with the rest of the bike, and you could do something with all the cables going from the controls. Well that's just details anyway, the bike looks great. The cables from the tail light, will they go throught the struts and up along the swing arm, or will they go along the fender?

The aim with the indicators was to find something I could mount in the holes left behind by the original fender struts, and run the wires in through the mounting stud. These were the only ones I could find to suit the metric thread, and being black they kind of disappear and blend in from most angles, which was the aim. I'm happy to switch to something better if I can find it.

I also though about hiding the wiring for the hand controls and running them through the handlebars, but given the short distance it didn't seem worth the effort. If I had or still do end up changing to 'apes' then I would definitely do it.

The wiring to the tail light will run under the fender right to the point where it meets the swing arm, and then pop out and feed up through a hole I'll drill in the underside of the battery tray. So it will stay hidden for sure! My new fender struts are made from flat bar and are not hollow. I am yet to make the craddle that will hold the wiring for the tail light away from the rear tyre, and needed by back fender to start on that.

[El Skitzo]

I've just last night decided that I'm not completely happy with the position of my seat, it looks too close to the tank and sits to high at the front.

Now that the seat is covered top and bottom I can't change anything there, but after some investigating last night I can see how I could make new brackets on the bike that should move it back an inch or so, raise the back up 1/2 and inch or so, and drop the front by about an inch. So I think I'll spend some time this weekend trying to make that work.

[likearock4x4]

You've got yourself one sweet project there. You should be (and I'm sure you are) proud of yourself. I love what I see so far, and honestly agree with your sentiments on the seat positioning. I can't wait to see the finished project.

[El Skitzo]

Originally Posted by likearock4x4

and honestly agree with your sentiments on the seat positioning.

Damn, now that it's not just me that thinks this, I now really have to solve it

Thanks for the compliments mate

[likearock4x4]

No worries, mate.

[El Skitzo]

I picked up the rear fender from the paint shop on Saturday and it looks fantastic! I also picked up the last load of nuts, bolts and washers I'm going to need to put the rear fender setup together, so there is nothing more I need for the run to the finish.

One of the last tasks before final assembly was to make up this craddle that bolts up under the new rear fender to hold the wiring to the taillight in place. Here it is sitting in roughly the right spot, although I've yet to bend up all the hooks into their final shape. This was made up using a piece of 1mm thick flat scrap colourbond sheet I found at the local salvage yard for $2.00

I'm in the process of painting this, which will be finished on Tuesday, from there it's simply a case of putting everything together, with the aim of starting and test riding the bike this coming Saturday!!



I also finally figured out where to put the registration tag for the bike, as these are usually found at the license plate at the rear but that would look messy on my neat new setup. So down by the left foot peg mounted to the front engine mount. It's obviously hidden when I'm riding, but it unobstructed when I'm off the bike, and being on the low side of the bike it probably won't be visible in any pictures of the bike in future. So that makes me happy, and should keep Johnny Lawdog happy too.

[ispeed77]

looking forward to the finished pics. you must be psyched !

[El Skitzo]

Originally Posted by ispeed77

looking forward to the finished pics. you must be psyched !

You'll have finished pics next Monday. I'm so psyched that I'm moved my plans of final assembly forward from Saturday to a little bit each night this week. I'm so close now I can taste it!

Unfortunately the weather might dampen things though, with the forecast being:

Saturday Shower or two. Min 7C Max 20C
Sunday Shower or two. Min 7C Max 20C

Hopefully a shower or two ends up meaning mainly fine, as the weekend gone was just beautiful. Still, I don't trust the weather people to forecast correctly one day in advance let alone 7 days...

[ispeed77]

play it by ear and keep your fingers crossed.

[Batman]

lookin good man! cant wait to see it all done.

[Thullan]

Originally Posted by El Skitzo

...from there it's simply a case of putting everything together, with the aim of starting and test riding the bike this coming Saturday!!

Don't forget to reconnect the rod to the rear brake before you do that

[Alley Rat]

hey customVN, what are you gonna do with that stock intake set up. if you put a little 5" air clearner on there it would expose more of the engine and make look real good too. its coming together good though. i like it.

[El Skitzo]

Thanks for the compliment Alley Rat, it's your Bobbers we all have to measure up to so that means a lot

At this stage I'm just leaving the stock intake set up on it, but only because I haven't yet found a replacement to fit the bike that I actually like.

[El Skitzo]

The paint is dry on my wiring cradle so I was able to assemble the rear fender taillight assembly ready to bolt on to the bike tonight.

I'm happy the way the scallop and the pin striping meet up with the taillight as this is the first time I've seen them together.

I think my wiring cradle is going to do the trick just fine. I'll bend up the last of the hooks up the front once the wiring from the bike comes in from the front and meets up in the middle.





Tonights effort will be to get the bike back up on the hoist, pull the back wheel out (and clean it up), bolt up the rear fender and struts, join up the wiring and secure it, put the back wheel back in and get it back on the ground.