Post 43: Black Fiberglass Wrap, Handlebar choices

   UPS delivered my roll of 2" fiberglass heat wrap tape today, and I wrapped it on immediately, after soaking it for a while in water. This stuff will make your hands look like a real mechanic hand, black nails, nasty cuticles and all. But the pipes look great. I used a pair of turned down chrome curved exhaust tips to finish them up

   Now I need to make the tank with seat support, the fenders, and the battery box.
I was going to get rid of the floor boards and replace them with pegs, but I have gotten used to them, and have to admit they are easy on my bad right ankle.
   The forward riding position is a little tiring, and I am looking at several different styles of handlebars, with different shapes and a few inches of pullback:

   At this point, I am leaning towards the last one.

Post 42: Short pipes fattened, seat support

   I got the bike back from the shop, and it is day and night. Basically, one of the cylinders was very weak, and I now have  much better acceleration and full power. We might even be able to get more power re jetting. The only problem is loud back firing on deceleration with the throttle off. I covered the skinny 1" exhaust pipes with 1 1/4" and 1 5/8" stainless steel exhaust repair flex pipes to visually beef them up, and ordered a roll of black fiberglass heat tape. I also got some curved chromed exhaust tips. It will look pretty nice wrapped in black:

  I was awake last night brainstorming, and had the idea to prolong the tank bottom piece to support the seat:

  I can then cut out the rest of the frame section supporting the seat and expose the shock.
  A crazy skinny seat would of course look better and more stylish, but my butt(pun intended) prefers some padding(this is a rider bobber, not a show bike)...

Post 41: A Rough Running Bobber

  Removing the mufflers,the air filter and air box under the tank really changed the mix, and made the bike run extremely lean. It cranked up fine, but it was really hard to keep it running even on full choke(I had to keep toggling the throttle till it warmed up). Then it ran, but only with some choke, and very rough. I barely made it to Lander's shop, and he is now re adjusting the carburetors. But he had to put the air box and air filter back on.

  Bummer, I was dreaming of two velocity stacks sticking up through the top of the new tank...

  When I get it back, I will start making a cardboard mockup of the "Non Skid Tank".

Post 40: Revised design

   I had to revise the original concept for practical and financial reasons. It's too difficult to fit a Harley rear wheel with a chain transmission to the V Star shaft transmission, and too hard to replace the drum brake with a disk brake. So I will keep the rear wheel and shaft. But I can use a 21" Harley spoke wheel on the front.

  In fact, I found this 80 spokes wheel for only $200 at DEMON CYCLE:
   

  I will have the front and rear wheels powder coated satin black, as well as the drum brake and shaft drive.
  I replaced the short fitted rear fender with a flat strip of thick non skid aluminum(or steel), and added a matching one on the front.
  I don't know yet whether to make the tank out of aluminum and have it anodized black, or to make it of steel and have it powder coated.

Post 39: A headlight from Lowe's garden lighting department

   I already used a $25 black yard uplight from Home Depot as the headlight on Bobber 1, so I went back looking in the same department at Lowes, and found a different flatter LED version. It will accommodate a $12 standard 6" halogen headlight from AutoZone. I had to cut a hole in the back to fit the reflector in and let the 3 pins out:

  I covered the hole with a circle of soft rubber with 3 slits for the pins of the bulb, held in place by a hard 4" rubber washer attached with brass 8-24 screws and acorn nuts. 
  Only 3" thick and 7" in diameter. Looks darn good for a $40 motorcycle headlight!

Post 38: I Got up in a radical Bobbing Mood this morning

   It took a few days to get the new battery and test drive the bike. It is very cold nature, and takes at least 10 minutes of warmup on a finicky choke before you can even ride it.
   I took a long ride on it with my friend Adam last Sunday. It is light and  nimble enough, but pewny compared to the 1100, and not as stable at high speeds. I scared myself pretty bad hitting the groove between two lanes at 85, especially when the handlebars started swinging after I finally got out of the groove. 
   Also, as pretty as it is with its two tones finish and all that stuff hanging on it, it is a very very traditional looking bike, trying too hard to look like a Harley, without the roar and the power. And I bought it specifically to bob...

  So I got up early a couple of days ago and started unbolting everything off it: fenders, bags, rear seat, mufflers, chrome covers real and plastic, air box and plastic intake filter.
  I have to say I much prefer it naked! I even chopped off the rear part of the frame that serves no purpose but make it look "sort of like a hard tail", and hang stuff on. I was going to cut the top part all the way to the tank to fully expose the horizontal shock and suspend the seat on a leaf spring, but decided to keep a support for the existing seat, which is pretty comfortable, at least for the moment:

  I also took off the ugly handlebars, and put on short black half bars I had. I moved the battery and all the electrical peripherals flat on top of the swing arm(to be fitted later in a pretty brass )box:

   Yes, the short pipes are too skinny, but I like the clean look of the back end. The tank mounted speedometer will have to go when I cover the tank with non skid aluminum, and the big fat headlight too. The floor boards should make way to cool pegs, but I have to say they are less tiring on my weak right ankle...

As is, it is too noisy, and runs awful(won't even run without choke), so I took it to the shop for adjustments. 

Post 37: A Fifth Bike? Why not!

   I am always looking at what good deals are on eBay, and there are a plethora of bikes for sale. It is definitely a buyer's market... Anyhow, I was watching that 2008 V Star 650 with only 2800 miles that did not sell. So I called the owner and made a low offer of $3000, and he took it. I went to Georgia last week end and brought the bike back on my trailer(the battery was dead from sitting unused most of the time). It is in nearly mint condition, a full blown indigo blue and black Classic Silverado with all the bells and whistles,removable leather bags, windshield, and dripping with chrome(most of it not plastic actually... I took a picture before I started taking all of that heavy unnecessary stuff off:

Why a smaller V Star 650?I ran across a number of nice bobbers based on this particular bike, the frame is actually good looking when you chop it and leave only the necessary pars, and the rear shock is mounted horizontally under the seat and can be exposed. I had made an early rendering of what my Mean Clean Satin Black and brass(or gold)650 Bobber might look like, with non skid plates for the tank and the side swing arms, and a girder fork: