Giving the bike a slimmer look

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desert_indian
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Giving the bike a slimmer look

#1

Post by desert_indian »

I was looking for ideas to let the bike have a slimmer look. I think these bikes have pretty good lines for a bike of their size, but to my eyes a little "chubby" (just my opinion!). Anyway, my own ideas are to lose the gauge cluster by getting an early shelter or fabbing a plate. Replace speedo/odo with much smaller gauges. Get a slimmer seat, different handlebars, & a cb900 front fender. Oh, and maybe a tombstone tail light.

I've even considered leaving the side covers off. I like the look of the right side with the gas tank exposed, but the battery side is without the cover is not a good look.

Anyways, I'd love to hear what you all think could be done to accomplish a slimmer looking bike. Ultimately I'd like it to have more of a scrambler look.

Any ideas would be appreciated!



Heres a pic so you can see what equipment I have.
wing1.jpg
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

#2

Post by wingrider »

One of the bikes in the running for bike of the year is very slimmed down...he made a new false tank for it. Took him a while to do it, but looks very nice. I believe it was the November bike of the month.
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

#3

Post by rnelson »

This seem like it would be tough to pull off aesthetically. With the engine being so wide, slimming down the rest of the bike might just make the engine look even wider. But because I like to see new ideas, I say go for it. lol.
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

#4

Post by desert_indian »

Wing- I really like that bike. I am hoping to steer clear of all but the lightest fab work though. That is the what I'm after in theory, so I appreciate you speaking up.

rnelson- I appreciate your support! LOL. As far as the engine is concerned, I don't mind it. I think its an attractive powerplant. I see what you mean though. I could paint the valve covers black, that might give the illusion of a slimmer profile.
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

#5

Post by fish »

if you do NOT want to do involved fabrication work there are still several things you can do
1) superbike bars
2) black mirrors
3) solo seat
4) flat black paint
5) bob the fenders
6)keep the stock ride height or even raise the bike.
7) get rid of all chrome and/or bright colors
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

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Post by hmratbam »

I made flat side covers for the Bopper,welded little tabs with threaded holes to the frame and held the side covers on with 1/4 socket head screws. Slimmed her down some.
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

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Post by desert_indian »

^^^^^ Any pics of that hmratbam?
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

#8

Post by NCScooter »

No matter how slim you get it, put the front brake caliper back over the disc. They work better that way. :lol:
I need to remember to keep my expectations tiny so I don't end up so whiny.
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

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Post by desert_indian »

Soooooooo........ The caliper goes ON the disc?:lol:
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

#10

Post by theburgundian »

Wrenhmonkeys have done a great work on a GL 1000, the monkey n° 58
http://www.wrenchmonkees.com/motorcycle ... -1000.html

and another work I like from east europe, but I don't have any time before work this morning to search the link...
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

#11

Post by desert_indian »

I like that bike. I actually like the lines of the gl framework, I like that it's shown off.
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

#12

Post by theburgundian »

I thought about this one this morning

http://chopfeed.com/honda-gl1000-by-er-motorcycles/

sorry for the delay
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

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Post by desert_indian »

I like that one even better.
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

#14

Post by hmratbam »

desert_indian wrote:^^^^^ Any pics of that hmratbam?
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Re: Giving the bike a slimmer look

#15

Post by Norbert R »

desert_indian wrote:I was looking for ideas to let the bike have a slimmer look. I think these bikes have pretty good lines for a bike of their size, but to my eyes a little "chubby" (just my opinion!). Anyway, my own ideas are to lose the gauge cluster by getting an early shelter or fabbing a plate. Replace speedo/odo with much smaller gauges. Get a slimmer seat, different handlebars, & a cb900 front fender. Oh, and maybe a tombstone tail light.

I've even considered leaving the side covers off. I like the look of the right side with the gas tank exposed, but the battery side is without the cover is not a good look.

Anyways, I'd love to hear what you all think could be done to accomplish a slimmer looking bike. Ultimately I'd like it to have more of a scrambler look.

Any ideas would be appreciated!



Heres a pic so you can see what equipment I have.
IMO the 75-77 shelter has much sleeker lines, so a swap would be good.
Fit a narrower seat, if it fits between the rear frame rails it really slims the bike down.
Bob the rear fender, and fit a smaller tail light
I love the look of the exposed fuel tank, so I de-tabbed my frame and left the side covers off (which I feel are too large as well)
I moved the electrics from the side of the battery to inside the shelter (solenoid, reg, main fuse) and fabbed a snug battery box to tidy up the right hand side of the bike.
The big, wide motor is the nicest part of these bikes in my opinion - being a boxer their visual centre of gravity is very low, so the wide low motor looks good in a slim bike as a result.
Euro style bars lower and narrow the front nicely, but are still comfy and let you keep your stock cables with a little experimenting with the routing.

Here's what mine looks like with the above mods:
22.jpg
22.jpg (102.81 KiB) Viewed 382 times
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