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.
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!
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.
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:
We left on Sunday morning with two bikes and the trailer behind the car, me on the bobbed V Star 1100, and my friend Jacky on the Victory Vegas with Brigitte on the back seat. We spent the night in Blakely, Georgia, went on the next day to Silver Springs, Florida, and then on to Daytona Beach.
I had to take the bike to my mechanic because it would not crank up anymore. He worked on the wiring and changed the relay, and while at it, I got him to change all the fluids, the rear tire and rear break pads. He cleaned the front brake pads that had been wet with fork oil when the fork was leaking and are not braking well. We may have to replace them altogether if that does not work. This bike has two disks at the front, and should stop on a dime!
In the meantime, I am working on making the blinkers for the front and back, out of four aluminum conical fence post caps into which a LCD trailer light from Harbor Freight fits perfectly. I made simple aluminum brackets to mount the front blinkers to the lower triple tree just next to the fork tube:
I will decide when I get the bike back from the shop where the rear blinkers are going to attach, either to the fender right behind the seat, or low on the swing arm.
I ground and polished the caps smooth and painted them with 3 coats of black crinkle paint, as well as a steel disk which will mount in front of the triple trees as a racing number, but with the initials "SM" for the name of the bike. No, it doesn't mean what you think, it stands for "Spiritus Michaelis", in homage to my very dear too soon departed uncle and bike/ side-car collector Michel:
I put the bike back together on Sunday. It was a bit of a fight to put the rear wheel back on with my bad arm, but I manages. The rear fender fits well enough, tight to the wheel. It is a little longer than I would like, but at least, the wheel won't throw mud at the back of my helmet. The rough gold leafing has a nice antique look I like, and glows in the sun.
I am working on turns signals made of aluminum fence post tops and an LED unit from AutoZone that exactly fits in. I will paint them crinkle black and am making aluminum brackets to attach them to the lower triple tree:
Today, I took the gas tank and the fender in the studio, which it is cleaner than the workshop, to gold leaf them. I don't know if I mentioned before that although I appreciate the perfectly lined up squares of chine screens, I don't have the china man skill, and anyway, I prefer the messier gold leafing with pieces of different sizes and shapes going every which way and hairline cracks, which gives a bit of an antique look. Also, I am using fake brass gold leaf rather than real gold leaf, which I find garishly shiny. And the color matches the brass parts I made for the bike. The size dries fairly fast, so I did the tank in 4 sections, starting with the bottom part:
The tank finished received 3 coats of clear lacquer:
Then I gold leafed and lacquered the rear fender:
I finally managed to remove the exhaust pipes chrome covers and expose the plain pipes. I had to extend the top one slightly to be able to fit the sound baffle in, and wrapped them with tan colored fiberglass tape:
Then I started working on relocating the wiring( what the hell are all those wires for?), regulator, etc... under the tank in the space left by the removed air box:
As you can see, I also made a copper curly gas line and mounted the pump to the side:
In order to drill the holes in the swing arm and fit the flat rear fender( I couldn't find a round one at a reasonable price I had ordered from J & P Cycles, I had to remove the rear wheel and shaft transmission:
I drilled 1/4" holes in the fender and through the tubes to attach the fender to the swing arm, close to the tire:
It feels quite rigid, so I don't know if I will add the brass braces I had planned.
I bent and cut a 1/8" steel plate to fit the triangular space underneath the seat and hold the back of the Mustang seat in place securely, and painted it semi flat black. I drilled holes in the frame and tapped them 8-32 to attach it with brass screws, and also to securely bolt it to the tank attachment and attach the seat retainer ledge:
I hated the bumpy grey plastic sleeves the wiring was in going to the levers, so I removed them, replaced them with smaller fitted fleck flex tubing wrapped in electrician tape, and slipped over them braided 1/2" copper flat lead I bought a spool of.It is actually wown as a tube , and adjust to pretty much any diameter by pushing or pilling on it. I used black rubber tubing and washer to finish the ends. I did the same with the headlight wiring:
I painted the rear fender 2 coats of black on the inside, and 2 coats of red primer plus 2 coats of gold on the outside to ready it for gilding:
Looks like spring already, and after a break through the Holidays in France, I am back "bobbin" the V STAR. I actually rode it yesterday, and it felt good. Raising the tubes 4" in the triple trees did a lot to improve the handling, and removing all the extra chrome junk made it lighter and more nimble
I got my zigzag fat black handlebars, cut them in half, and attached each half to the top of the fork tubes with my solid brass clip on brackets. It's going to be tricky to figure out the installation of the reversed brass levers, so I temporarily put back the original levers and grips.
I cut off the whole rear end bracket that supported the rear fender, and am looking for a short fender to attach close to the wheel to the swing arm. It looks good with none, but just a little water would soak my pants...
I made a bracket to attach the battery( with plans for a box and leather straps), tied all the loose wires and fuel pump temporarily, gold leafed the front fender after a couple of coats of red primer and a coupe of a dark flaky metallic gold. I painted the gas tank gold too, but will hold of on the gold leaf till I get the rest of the mods done.
I rigged up the Mustang seat in place with a couple of temporary steel brackets. I know some crazy uncomfortable bronze or wood seat would probably look better, but my ass likes the comfort of the big Mustang seat with a back rest!
I made an aluminum bracket to attach the old tag holder sideways on the right side. It has a built in rear/stop light. I am not sure at this point whether I will use blinkers, they are not required in Alabama.
I bought some 2" wide beige exhaust tape and wrapped the two short exhaust pipes. I had to weld a short extension to the top one to be able to slip in the baffles that cut the noise level considerably.
I will have the front and rear wheels powder coated satin black, as well as the drum brake and shaft drive.
