Herrrre's Ol' Sparky












The Build Starts Here;

I came across this '83 gem about 6 months ago. My thought was to do it for Sunny's HOT STOVE LEAGUE 2010-2011 2ND ANNUAL and see if I could meet a deadline (my customers would probably tell you no! LOL). It sat in the Cave right where I could see it everyday. So the ideas piled up. The green flag dropped on the Nov. 16th. Here is a quick catch up.
It starts like this;

tear down will stop at the motor and forks for now.....

Box O' Stuff. not much will be reused here. I'm hearing the cash registers now.

OK here we go !
Stock rake is somewhere around 26deg. I think we want to be in the 30's. Don't you ?

I used a motorcycle jack with a block of plywood to hold solid and true. By keeping the motor in I can use the weight of the lump to execute the stretch.
1st cut. (this will be the area where the drop of the steer tube will be decided I'll remove 1'' from here later)

2nd &3rd cut. This I did by starting with a cut off wheel on the weld and finishing with recip. (you can see crossbar has also been severed) Are we having fun yet ?

We're just about ready to drop the front end but first a 3/4 cut to the upper stays (this will allow front to drop with the weight of the forks)

after double checking all the cuts for alignment i.e. a sprung or twisted frame I removed 1'' from vertical brace ( cut#1)
By RAISING the jack the head is lowered.

Now, double check alignment and TACK WELD (very important) the vertical brace (#1)
Final Cut. Using a cut off wheel make a V cut only 3/4 thru. just in front of the vertical brace. (I wound up with approx. 3/16'' at top of V)

Now the jack can be lowered to original ground clearance hieght and....

with the welds tacked in place you're now free to roll it around the driveway. She now sets at 32-33deg. with about 4'' of trail and the wheelbase has been extended by 3''. Why??? Because we Can.

I will double check alignment in the shop with my trusty Home Depot laser before final welds are made, but by doing it this way the steer head stays straight. I'll save final welding and connect radiator crossbar when the frame is bare. Right now it's on to the rear suspenders.

_________________
If we can't fix it, we can fix it so no one else can.

http://www.ngwclub.com/gallery/v/wingmans/HOTT/



____the CONDOR 2011 BOTY_______________________________ Ol' Sparky - Dec. BOTM
_____________________
'76 GL1000 the Condor
'80 GL1100 Black Dress
'81 GL1100 Red Dress(in worx)
'81 GL1100 Lucky #13(in worx)
'83 GL1100 Ol' Sparky

Looks good. Keep taking photos and teach us how.

_________________
77 WING, under magnaficent scalpel
77 Wing. black and ready
83 Wing, ready to alter, finally... A title.

good way to do it. should track reral good on the highway

_________________
click the banners below:

Thats a good way to do it. Similar to the way we do some drag bikes. It will steer a little heavy at slow speeds but like Doug said it should track real good on the highway. The only bad is now it takes a lot more room to turn it around.
You get used to that though real quick. Keep us updated.

_________________
1976 Goldwing Super Sport
1982 GL1100 Standard Bagger (in progress)
1985 Honda Elite
1976 KZ900 Dragbike
1992 ZX7 Dragbike (KZ900 style motor w/NOS)
and a rotation of various purchases

Nice way to do it..keep the pics coming!

_________________
Brian Crow
1977 gl1000, with California sidecar
"KBO"!! Keep bungling on! Winston Churchill
"Bound is boatless man"

having altered the upper frame, have you thought aboout the faux tank/shelter mounting?

_________________
click the banners below:

Yep, we used to call it 'kickin' the front end out'. give me 40 acres and I can turn it around

...Like Butta...

_________________
If we can't fix it, we can fix it so no one else can.

http://www.ngwclub.com/gallery/v/wingmans/HOTT/



____the CONDOR 2011 BOTY_______________________________ Ol' Sparky - Dec. BOTM
_____________________
'76 GL1000 the Condor
'80 GL1100 Black Dress
'81 GL1100 Red Dress(in worx)
'81 GL1100 Lucky #13(in worx)
'83 GL1100 Ol' Sparky

Sweet. I'd put a solo seat on it and ride just like that. LOL

_________________
I found the end of the internet

---- Bradshaw Bikes offers polishing and upholstering for your Wing!

You and I have the same degree of patience. Work in progress. We'll have to see where it goes.

_________________
If we can't fix it, we can fix it so no one else can.

http://www.ngwclub.com/gallery/v/wingmans/HOTT/



____the CONDOR 2011 BOTY_______________________________ Ol' Sparky - Dec. BOTM
_____________________
'76 GL1000 the Condor
'80 GL1100 Black Dress
'81 GL1100 Red Dress(in worx)
'81 GL1100 Lucky #13(in worx)
'83 GL1100 Ol' Sparky

Looking forward to hearing how this rides. It looks like it is going to be a sweet looking Wing.

_________________
77 WING, under magnaficent scalpel
77 Wing. black and ready
83 Wing, ready to alter, finally... A title.

YUMMY!! I like where this is going.

_________________
And they shall mount on Wings like eagles

this is good hott.....

_________________
1979 1000

that is wicked looking!

_________________
Joe
Chicago, IL
1980 GL1100

Sweet. Thanks for the how to demo pics.

_________________
83 GL 1100 bagger mongrel
ALL WE WANT TO DO IS DRINK OUR ESPRESSO, RIDE OUR MACHINES, AND NOT BE HASSLED BY THE MAN
Owning a motorcycle is not a matter of life or death. It's much more important than that.
"Don't sweat the little things, guys, take care and appreciate all that you have around you!" - Fewman

Monowi, NE
My Big Summer Adventure 2010
LTD Migration

That is so cool, I keep drooling at it. It would be the same for a 1000 wouldn't it? If I get my welding skills up to snuff, I will have to try this.

_________________
77 WING, under magnaficent scalpel
77 Wing. black and ready
83 Wing, ready to alter, finally... A title.