Street Chopper's 40th Anniversary Bike Build

LOVIN' FROM THE HIPPY KILLER OVEN



Kutty sent us over some clear Hippy Killer Garage grips and foot/shifter pegs to use on the bike. These will match perfectly with the Lowbrow Customs plug wires and magneto cap we got hooked up with a few weeks ago.  

MACHINE WORK NEEDED

We hustled our frame over to Mitchel Bros. (the SoCal machinists, not the San Fransico strip club) to have a notch machined into the head tube for the internal fork stop.






The DNA fork cup has a hardened pin in the lower cup which located into the rear of the head tube in the frame, only ours did not come with it.





After the boys at Mitchel Bros. jigged-up the frame and made the perfectly-sized notch that looked much better than the Dremeled one we were going to do.






As you can see the pin slides right into the frame now and will keep that springer from knocking into the frame and f-ing the chrome all up.


 

KUSTOM TECH KICKSTAND FROM EUROCOMPONENTS



Check out this sweet lil beauty. Designed and made by Kustom Tech in Italy, this simple weld-on design has an internal spring and good looks.

if you want one for your build, you can get one right here in the USA from Eurocomponents.  

DETROIT BROS TANK ARRIVES







This is the Instigator tank from our favorite ruffians in the motor city; The Detroit Bros. We opted for the "frisco" version that holds 2.2 gallons.

The shape is superb and it is a great size for the bike measuring up at 14-inches long, 9-inches wide and 7.5-inches tall.

for more info check out the Detroit Bros. website at: detroitbros.com  

3GUYZ SPRINGER INSTALLED


We started by pressing in the DNA lower neck cup in using a press tool by Icetoolz





We did the same with the upper cup making sure they both if in the frame flushly





The DNA internal stop is a grooved piece of stainless steel that fits into a detent in the lower neck cup limiting the motion of the springer fork.





The internal stop installs onto the springer fork with the use of four screws





Skinhead Todd installed the lower bearing then slid the 3GUYZ springer into the bike.




Todd then slid the upper bearing and dust seal onto the fork.





The lower fork triple clamp nut was tightened up and adjusted.





It was at this time that our favorite skinhead slid the top tree onto the bike.





With unbroken concentration, Todd installed all three top nuts to the springer fork.




And we are done melding the frame to the fork...  

MORE GOODS FROM CUSTOM CHROME

 

MORE ENGINE WORK PROGRESS FROM RICO AT HIGH-BOND MODIFIED

Guys,
It took long enough  but the engine case and Stevenson's Cycle rocker boxes sure look killer after we polished the HELL out of them. They were a little boxy for my taste, so we rounded em off and give lots of curve - just like a good woman.
They look amazing..

The engine case's are the same, smooth & shinny like a young hiney. We blended in the horrible welds & gouges perfectly.

Of course now, the biggest headache of the entire engine build is washing & cleaning the cases because the polishing compound is an engine's worst nightmare at this point, so hot hot soapy water combined with careful rubbing & brushing. mid you these parts after polishing are slippery and you don't wanna drop & scratch em or all the hard work is for not.

After the cases got a bath I had to get down and dirty cleaning the many many oil hole's, threaded hole's, blind hole's, crevasses and corners... Alot of freeking crap to make sure they are perfectly clean and still pretty as well as shiny when done.

This is why all the fitment, line honing, bearing sizing, clearancing etc. is done before polish, but the case's still have to be man handled when pressing in the bearings, flywheels, 3bonding together, oil pump, cylinders etc. It's a total pain in the ass to keep pretty the whole way, but someone's got to do it, and that someone is me.

Look for more pics as it comes together

Rico









 

GETTIN' WHEELED UP!


Now that the 3GUYZ springer is on the bike, the next step was to get the Invader wheels mounted on the bike so we can measure for proper spacing and get the Flyrite Sproter mocked up as well.








We started by Installing the sproter on the rear wheel and then checked for any alignment issues, which there were none of.







We added a healthy amount of red threadlocker to the mounting bolts and attched the sproter to the wheel.







We measured and marked the center of the frame so we could properly space the rear wheel





We then used 3/4-inch washers to mock up the rear wheel. We will then take the measurements of each spacer needed and whip some up on the lathe out of aluminum stock.







At this time we mocked up the caliper of the sproter and took measurements for the mounting tab and spacers.




Skinhead Todd then slid the front Invader into the springer.







We installed more 3/4-inch washers and then measured them to make sure the wheel was centered in the fork.




Ladies and gents, we now have a roller.  

SPYKE PETCOCK



Spyke, who are mainly known for their charging and starting products also make this universal swiveling petcock among other non-electric things.

This petcock (yes, I like saying as well as typing that word) is a really nice and compact design that doesn't have any appendages hanging off of it to clutter things up when a smaller tank, like the Detroit Bros insigator is used.  

WE LOVE (BAKER) TRANNIES!

Now that the bike is up and on it's own two wheels, we decided to mock-up the Baker 6-into-4 transmission and the Chassis Design Co oil tank.




Todd Slid the Baker trans into place and sees what kind of wiggle room we have on the adjustable trans plate.





We then attached the under the trans oil tank to check of any clearance issues.





This left-side shot shows Baker's optional Standard Mechanical Four-speed kicker cover that we chose for more of a traditional look.





Check out how neatly tucked away that oil tank is under the highly polished jewel of a transmission.  

JUST A LIL SEAT TIME

We thought now would be the good time to measure, fit and weld our seat mounts on. We are going with a Biltwell seat pan and foam kit that our pal Duane at Duane Ballard Custom Leather it currently hand-tooling. So we didn't have to wait until the last minute to get the mounts correctly welded to the frame, the boys at Biltwell were kind enough to send us a seat as well seat bracket to get the show on the road.





After sitting on the bike and getting a good idea of where we wanted the seat, we  measured the center of the frame's backbone and marked it with a Sharpie.





We then cleaned up the welding surfaces of both the seat mount and the frame with the help of an air tool and 3M Roloc sanding disc.






We then Fired up the trusty Miller welder and got busy mating metal.





Here is how the mount looked when welded to the frame. Not too shabby huh?






We then started measuring for the rear mounting tabs. We used set of tabs and seat spring bungs from Flyrite Choppers that will both hold the seat springs and look good doing it.






We then measured just how much we had to cut off of the tabs to allow them to align with the seat springs correctly.





Then out came the cutting wheel.









With the help of a straight-edge ruler we mocked the tabs and spring mounts up yet again to make sure the tabs were in the right position before we got down to welding them permanently to the frame.






And we can now sit our ass on some class...  

TANK TIME

last week we got the seat situated the way we wanted we moved on to the placement and mounting of the gas tank.

After we zip-tied the tank to the backbone of the frame we spent a couple of days inching it around to see just where the best place was to call home.





Once we found the place there our Detroit Bros. Instigator tank will permanently reside, we busted out our sharpie and marked where our tank mounts would go.





We then got busy with our Craftsman electric drill and drilled a small pilot hole.





To make the right size hole for our threaded bung to fit in the frame, we moved on up to the correct drill size and reamed `er out.






The Flyrite supplied bung was then checked for fit and cut to fit flush with the outside diameter of the tube.





The area to be welded was cleaned off with our 3M clad air tool and ready to go.





We then welded the bung into the tube with a tig welder.





Here is how the bung looked after welding.





This is how it came out after a bit of massaging with a die grinder.






A tap was used to re-chase the threads so the hardware would thread in ease.



And the tank is mounted!  

TAKING CHARGE



We just got our mitts on a complete charging system from Custom Chrome  

MORE ENGINE BUILD PICS FROM HI-BOND MODIFIED

Hey guys! Here are some more assembly pics.





Here's a shot of me pressing the new bearing races into the case's. notice that when I do it, the case is supported underneath inside. Some people press against the case and thats a sure fire way to F it up.





The new Timken bearings.





I am now setting the bearing end play = some people just assemble
what comes in the new bearing kit, but I like to get them
just perfict which takes a supply of spacers & patients.





The S&S flywheel assembly ready to have fresh bearings
installed.





Installing bearing to sprocket shaft of flywheels.





This is the final assembly of case & bearing to sprocket shaft.





See the pinion shaft oiler? The flywheels come from S&S with the option of either an end oiler or side oiler (how oil gets through the pinion shaft to the piston rod bearings) We used the one with the hole in it - end oiler . It just taps in..

Some how my camera or me F'd up & the pics of installing pinion bearings & mating the case half's together with 3bond. Sorry about that.  





The next step is the installation of the oil pump.
The RevTech oil pump came assembled & polished, but it did'nt pass muster for me, so I took it apart & polished it myself. This is the most important part of the engine, because if there is no lube the motor will sieze, so I would of taken it apart anyway just to make sure it's working perfictly & lube'd etc regardless.

Installing & setting up oil pump is very important, so I make sure everyone I put on a bike spins with no bind and is nice & smooth.





The S&S Sidewinder kit comes with an updated pinion gear conversion kit which has an oil pump drive gear , spacer,nut and pinion gear. Also here is the S&S 585 cam, it may be a little big, but it has great duration & will create great power  in the mid range on up, which is what you want in a bike your gonna ride. I feel low  or high end power cams are a waste of time if you want to ride it on the street.





After the oil pump, cam & the mag cam cover are installed, the new S&S lifter blocks & bad ass S&S hi lift lifters are installed. Once thats all done, I connect a hose & funnel to the feed side of the pump then attach another hose to the return side. I then add H-D 20-50 oil and spin the engine by hand using the rods. This primes the oil pump, cam cover & the lifters. I also make sure the top end oiler is pumping along with oil getting to the rod bearings - it takes about half quart to run through it all & then start coming back out the return line.

Once all is perfect no air bubbles or any other issues, the top end is ready to go on.

Rico  

FORWARD (CONTROL) THINKING

We were fortunate enough to have the fine folks at Performance Machine hook us up with a set of their Contour forward controls. We loved the updated "retro" look of  both the shifter and brake sides and the chrome plating is top-notch. To finish off  the look we were going after, went with a set of Hippy Killer Garage clear foot and shifter pegs.