Premium Member howworkclutch Posted June 23, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted June 23, 2015 Choppers aren't for everyone. But I love em. If you don't: feel free to ignore what goes on here. Last week I was traveling with a group of home-built choppers/bobbers/rats. We had a great ride. The first day, we were on the WV Turnpike and I jumped out in front of the group to enjoy some high-speed sweepers. At one point, one of the home-built chops (550 honda hard-tail with long springer and ape-hangers) was right there with me. It was inspiring! When we arrived at our camp we began discussing the idea of a sports chopper (spoken in Jeremy Clarksons voice). Everyone agreed it was time for a nice little performance-oriented custom to be given to the world. So, we set about the task of defining criteria for the sports chopper. Every night, when we arrived in camp, we talked about the features of this mechanical oddity and how we should go about building it. So, over the next year, I'll be heavily modifying my fz07. The goal is to have it ready by next years Long Road. I'll occasionally update this thread with pics of the build. -HowWorkClutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botbullet0 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 This is a cool idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member howworkclutch Posted June 23, 2015 Author Premium Member Share Posted June 23, 2015 Criteria: 400lbs wet (without a weeks-worth of gear). No spokes. Low seat. Mid controls with highway pegs. Insane lighting levels. Excellent suspension. A rack for hauling a weeks worth of gear. Integrated back-rest. Lots of well-thought-out tie-downs. Its got to sound bad-arsed. Its GOT to look awesome. Slim. Trim. Everything you need, nothing you dont. Super-clean styling. No wimpshields or saddle-barges. Excellent cornering (for a chopper). 140 mile range. The fz07 is the perfect platform. Basically, whack off the tail section and rebuild it, tune the suspension, toss the plastics, and hack off anything thats not needed. -HowWorkClutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member norcal616 Posted June 23, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted June 23, 2015 If you take off the rear passenger landing gear, swap out the stock tail fender for a tail tidy and swap out the stock exhaust...the bike will weigh just shy of 385 lbs with a almost full tank... 2015 fz-07- Hordpower Edition...2015 fj-09- 120whp- Graves Exhaust w/Woolich Race Kit- tuned by 2WDW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member No Hater Posted June 23, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted June 23, 2015 Oh boy, this sounds exciting. IM STAYING TUNED in anticipation. Chop that &itch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeisan Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I can't justify spending that kind of coin on a $7k bike. No way. Ever. ... But honestly you gotta be out of your damned mind to put so much money into a $7k motorcycle. I really hope this build is done for less than $850. Anyone that would spend more would be out of their mind. ;P Seriously though... I can't wait to see what you come up with. Should be interesting. Life is good on 2 wheels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemer Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Sorry. Even though I have my doubts I should inspire. Good luck, I hope you achieve your goals! Beemer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member phicurious86 Posted June 23, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted June 23, 2015 Cool beans man! Best of luck with the project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan4130 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 '15 FZ-09 Cadmium Yellow '15 White Fz-07 - Sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member hobbs Posted June 24, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted June 24, 2015 This sounds pretty rad, look forward to seeing your results. I'm on the hunt for a build candidate for a sweet chop. Not a sports chop like this though. My FZ can't be sidelined for that long. Everything went braap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomascrown Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Good luck man. I know when I have all the plastics and tank off the bike, and I just look at the frame, it begs for a simple tank, wire tuck, and the crazy tail section to be chopped for something more horizontal. It has the makings of a perfect cafe bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member so1102 Posted June 24, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted June 24, 2015 Or you can go this route too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertigo Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I think you're crazy, but to each his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member howworkclutch Posted June 24, 2015 Author Premium Member Share Posted June 24, 2015 This sounds pretty rad, look forward to seeing your results. I'm on the hunt for a build candidate for a sweet chop. Not a sports chop like this though. My FZ can't be sidelined for that long.consider the dohc cb450's. its not popular like the xs650 so you can get them pretty cheap. its no speed demon but is fast enough. the frame has a single down-tube and backbone, so altering the rake is easy. you can still find new-old-stock fork tubes cheap, but girders and/or springers are better front ends than long teleforks. you can get rear axle plates from places like led-sled if you're interested in hard-tailing... $40. if you do a drop-seat and keep the top shock mounts, you can go with shorter shocks, or stretch the swingarm three inches and get the same results. although most prefer the look of a hard-tail, i love a smartly-done swingarm chop. a good friend of mine built a softail chop and hard-mounted the fender to the swingarm. then he built a back-rest w/ rack onto the frame. it looks really good and serves a purpose. if you're going to chop, read as much as you can about motorcycle geometry. the information is out there just waiting for you to use it. i've ridden a lot of choppers and most were poorly setup. but a well-built chop handles really well and will go around a corner at brisk speeds without drama. my first chopper was a dohc cb450. it was built by a guy who had no clue. my dad helped me fix the geometry and the bike handled really well for a hard-tail. i rode that thing for years and never wanted another bike. it didn't have a speedo/odometer: i'd guestimate i rode it 120,000 miles. i have another one in boxes waiting for me to get time to build it. -HowWorkClutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruizin Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 All FZ-07's are welcome here with open arms and I look forward to seeing your creation and work. This thread will probably be popular over time and will inspire the creative minds that push innovation. But if you put any Harley parts on that bike we'll kill you! Yamaha MT-10 ForumYamaha Tracer 900 Forum Yamaha Ténéré 700 Forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member howworkclutch Posted June 24, 2015 Author Premium Member Share Posted June 24, 2015 hd dynas use 41mm fork tubes and raked trees are abundant. just sayin' -HowWorkClutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ralph Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 May be better starting with a cheap SV would think a V twin would be more the thing, but good on you post pick when done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemer Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 [attachment id=608" thumbnail="1] Im' with ya on that! Beemer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemer Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 thomascrown Is that from a 920 Virago? Beemer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member hobbs Posted June 24, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted June 24, 2015 This sounds pretty rad, look forward to seeing your results. I'm on the hunt for a build candidate for a sweet chop. Not a sports chop like this though. My FZ can't be sidelined for that long.consider the dohc cb450's. its not popular like the xs650 so you can get them pretty cheap. its no speed demon but is fast enough. the frame has a single down-tube and backbone, so altering the rake is easy. you can still find new-old-stock fork tubes cheap, but girders and/or springers are better front ends than long teleforks. you can get rear axle plates from places like led-sled if you're interested in hard-tailing... $40. if you do a drop-seat and keep the top shock mounts, you can go with shorter shocks, or stretch the swingarm three inches and get the same results. although most prefer the look of a hard-tail, i love a smartly-done swingarm chop. a good friend of mine built a softail chop and hard-mounted the fender to the swingarm. then he built a back-rest w/ rack onto the frame. it looks really good and serves a purpose. if you're going to chop, read as much as you can about motorcycle geometry. the information is out there just waiting for you to use it. i've ridden a lot of choppers and most were poorly setup. but a well-built chop handles really well and will go around a corner at brisk speeds without drama. my first chopper was a dohc cb450. it was built by a guy who had no clue. my dad helped me fix the geometry and the bike handled really well for a hard-tail. i rode that thing for years and never wanted another bike. it didn't have a speedo/odometer: i'd guestimate i rode it 120,000 miles. i have another one in boxes waiting for me to get time to build it. Thanks for the advice. I've been on/off researching for almost a couple years now. A lot of good info out there for sure. I even took a years worth of SMAW courses to tackle most welding I'd encounter. I almost started something last year, but plans changed and I lost my garage, boxed up my tools and most of my disposable income went away. I hope to get started early next year. I dig the CB450s but they are not as abundant as I thought they would be. I've waffled around between the various CB bikes, an XS650, a XLCH/XLH (ironhead), an evo Sportster and have considered an older big twin like a FLH. I guess it'll just boil down to whatever I can find that's the most un-molested, complete bike for a good price when I have the cash and space back. I don't want to inherit a bunch of OPP. (other people's problems) Good luck with your build! Everything went braap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steviede Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Following this one! 2015 Matte Metallic Grey FZ-07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member howworkclutch Posted June 24, 2015 Author Premium Member Share Posted June 24, 2015 I ordered the first part today: a Cherry Bomb glasspack. $40 shipped. So, that covers 80% of the exhaust customization I'm not sure what the stock muffler weighs. The Cherry Bomb weighs 3 lbs. Should sound badass. -HowWorkClutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thestache Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Can't wait to see how this turns out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Jane Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I'm really having a hard time imagining what this would look like. Need someone with some photoshop skills to help enlighten... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member howworkclutch Posted June 25, 2015 Author Premium Member Share Posted June 25, 2015 Imagine the bike without plastics. Cut the tail section off. A new tail section with lowered "bucket" seat grafted in. The new tail section will have a backrest with a carrying rack. All the lights will get tossed in favor of hidden LED lighting. Lots of it. When all the lights are on it should burn retinas. When off, the lights should be invisible. The front suspension: I have no plan yet. I need to pull the front end off and weigh it. And I need to weigh the bike at each wheel to get an idea of the weight bias. If I can get a girder front end that's lighter/ stronger I'll go that route. That'll let me install an ohlin shock at both ends of the bike, and push the castor angle out to 32 degrees. 32 degrees is the angle of late model sportsters. They can keep up with most anything on the twisty mountain roads. They require more effort in a chicane but I'm not worried about it since I know of only one truly challenging chicane in the southeastern us. I will teach myself to work with carbon fiber for this build. Seems appropriate. -HowWorkClutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.